Twas the night before Christmas

 

Twas the night before Christmas and all through CHS

The kitties were tidy… The puppies? A MESS!

The bunnies were nibbling on lettuce and hay

While the birds in the flight deck flapped and twittered away

 

The hammies were nestled all snug in their beds

While visions of yogurt treats danced in their heads

The adoptions staff closed up the place for the night

Making sure each sweet pet was tucked in safe and right

 

When up from the office arose such a clatter

Gary the cat was as mad as a hatter

“Stuff a POOCH PAD?!” he cried as he stomped past the vents

He was sure those darn dogs would steal all of the presents

 

Past all the cubicles he flew like a flash

He hacked the computers and looked through the cache

Gary searched through the Facebook and read all the emails

He dug through the photos and tried to find details

 

“The cats deserve gifties” Gary thought from his palace

Then he got an idea just dripping with malice.

“I’ll steal all the presents from those mean greedy hounds”

“I’ll hide them all somewhere, those gifts I’ll impound!”

 

Gary cackled and purred as he plotted his plot

He imagined the dogs waking up all distraught

“The kitties!” he thought “Will be merry indeed!”

“But to make this all happen I must act with speed”

 

He snuck through the hallways and gathered some bags

But when he got to the door, his plan hit some snags

“LOCKED!” Gary grumbled as he rattled the handle

He wished that the door could be struck by a vandal

 

But Gary was always a determined cat

No locked door would stop him, and that would be that

He looked round the office with determined intent

And that is when Gary remembered the vents

 

He unscrewed the screws and pulled back the cover

And crept through the ducts to remain undiscovered

He snuck past admissions and through the vet clinic

“Bah Humbug to holidays!” thought Gary the cynic

 

Gary trekked through the ducts leaving fur in his wake

He kept up his speed – no time for a break!

He ran through each tunnel and left behind sheddings

He jogged with no clue as to where he was treading

 

At last Gary reached his goal destination

Then crashed through the screen that provided filtration

He ran through adoptions, his face filled with glee

“I’ll get gifts for all felines… especially ME!”

 

Gary peered in the pooch pads to find all the gifts

He looked and he scrambled… he jumped, scratched and sniffed!

He snuck round the corners and stared down the halls

He inspected each doorway and even the walls.

 

Then finally he found it, the room filled with loot!

“AH HA!” cried the cat “It was worth the commute!”

Gary leapt for the handle and swung open the door

And was astonished to find he could not see the floor!

 

There were boxes of goodies, too much to behold

There were bags full of food, and treats wrapped in gold

There were stuffies and catnip and big fluffy beds

Gary had not forseen such a bountiful spread

 

There was plenty! Enough for pets all to share!

Gary flopped on a soft poofy bed like a chair

He thought of the pooches, tucked in safe and warm

And that was enough to make Gary reform

 

“There are gifties for all here” Gary thought as he sat

“There are gifties for bunnies, birds, doggies and cats”

“But who gave these gifties? Who brought us so much?”
“They deserve lots of thank mews and smooches and such”

 

Gary sat and he wondered, he thought and he pondered

Then he got up and wondered and thought while he wandered

He walked past the bunnies who quietly slept

He walked past the tanks where the turtles were kept

 

He crept through adoptions and eyed all the cats

He checked out the fittings for each feline flat

Each kitty had bedding and lots of fun toys

And each flat was themed for a girl or a boy

 

Gary slunk to the pooch pad with feelings of shame

Now his plot to steal presents just seemed rather lame

There were plenty of presents, each shiny and new

A flood of new gifties from a generous crew

 

As he headed back home he thought of the stuff

And coated the ducts in a pound of his fluff

Back in his office, Gary could not believe

That he ever could possibly be so naïve

 

Gary drafted a letter to send to reporters

To say thank you to all of our awesome supporters

You make CHS a great place to be
Thanks to you there’ll be gifts for pets under our tree

 

Your generous gifts will make all the pets merry
We may even see a small smile from Gary

A safe home for all pets would surely be great

But thanks to you they’ll be presents for all as they wait.

 

So as we head into Christmas, a great festive season

We have to point out that you guys are the reason

We can house every critter, the old and the new

And for that we must give you a big huge THANK YOU!!!!!

 

So to all our supporters, the big and the small

THANK YOU for this wonderful holiday haul

But more than that THANK YOU for all that you do

You inspire us daily, this much is true.

 

***

 

From all of us at Calgary Humane Society (including Gary) to all of you, our awesome supporters, THANK YOU for another amazing year of our “Stuff a Pooch Pad” campaign. We are not even at the finish line yet and we are already amazed at how generous everyone has been! Thank you for making the holiday season brighter for all of the pets that are still waiting at CHS for their “purr-fect” family.