Homeward Bound | October 2017

Happy Halloween!

Creeptacular!

In honor of Halloween, please visit the Seattle Animal Shelter on Saturday October 28 for their first annual Creeptacular on Saturday, October 28th from 12 – 3pm. The shelter will be transformed into a creepy, crawly and scary haunt. Enter if you dare!

The Critter Team has been working on this event for several months. The goal of the event is to educate people on the other types of pets that the Seattle Animal Shelter often gets, such as lizards, rats, guinea pigs, mice, gerbils, rabbits and birds.

The PNW Herpetological Society will also be at the event with reptiles from their members.   There will be interactive critter exhibits, including feeding and holding animals!

Costumes are encouraged. There will be a photo booth for some Creeptacular selfies. This should be a super fun and educational event. Bring the entire family. The Seattle Animal Shelter is located at 2061 15th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119.

 Why Do Black Cats & Dogs Take Longer to Adopt?

Peruse through the online photos of available dogs and cats for adoption and you will notice a trend. There are more black, or mostly black cats and dogs than other colors. Why is this? There are, of course, some silly superstitions around black cats and black dogs. But the real culprit is a marketing issue.

Black cats and dogs are harder to capture in photos. As Steve and I always say, if we can’t get people excited with our photos, we’re not going to get them through the door. It’s the same for marketing available pets for adoption! We all judge by what we see.

A 1992 study presented in Animal Welfare journal showed that 65% of participants preferred dogs with lighter coats. Another study in 2013 found that participants rated yellow dogs significantly higher than black dogs on personality qualities such as agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability. The same study found that participants considered black dogs the least friendly. This was all based solely on a photograph!

Black cats have similar problems. While a few cultures, like Japan, consider black cats to be good luck, for centuries they were considered evil. In the 14th century black cats were targeted because of their (ridiculous) connection to witches. These poor cats were killed in masses. Some historians speculate that this may have contributed to the proliferation of rodents and consequently the spread of the plague.

The real problem for modern day black cats and dogs in shelters is conveying their personalities in photos. If you have a black cat or dog, you know how hard it is to get a really great shot that captures their funny, quirky personality. Our cat Samantha is a long haired, beautiful black cat, who is impossible to get a good photo of. On the other hand, our Siamese mix Murray photographs very well—even with his cross eyes! In fact, when we were looking for a second cat, I showed my husband Samantha’s photo and he rejected her because of the photo. However, I was attracted to her bio and personality qualities that her foster family posted, so I went to visit her, and of course the rest is history. Even though I actually picked her out, she is definitely George’s cat!

These three lovely ladies have been available for adoption for some time now. Maybe you know of someone who is looking to add a cat to the family. If so, please have them check out these black beauties. Zoe, Esther and Samantha have been waiting way too long for their forever home!

Your referrals help improve the lives of local shelter animals…

Steve and I are happy that we can help out the Seattle Animal Shelter. If anyone you know is considering making a move, wanting to buy or sell their home, please refer them to us. They will receive excellent care and service. And as you know, we back our performance for both buyers and sellers with our Performance Guarantees.   Not only will your friends and family receive our award winning service, but we donate a portion of our commission to support the Help The Animals Fund. It’s our way of saying Thank You for your loyalty and trust! So YES! your referrals help local shelter animals.

Lovely Miss Maggie, to the left, is still looking for her forever home.

We want to make it easy to refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members considering making a move. Here are your options:

1. Visit BrennerHillRewards.com.
2. Email Sandra with your referrals at sbrenner@windermere.com.
3. Of course you can always call or text us directly! We would love to hear from you. Steve 206-769-9577 or Sandra 206-271-7100

You and your referrals mean the world to us. Please know we are extremely thankful for you being a part of our business.

Project Update—Senior Pets for Senior People

We are working on scheduling our first event in November at a local senior independent living facility. We have been contacting facilities and getting good response. Of course, some facilities are significantly more pet-friendly than others. I’m looking forward to having this first session under our belts!

Our Performance Guarantees

Life moves fast for some and we are eager to make the home buying and selling experience a smooth and rewarding one. Over the past decade we have helped hundreds of families sell their home and/or buy another. We have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you!

All clients receive the following guarantees!

Your Home Sold Guaranteed, or We’ll Buy It!* Learn more at BrennerHillGuarantee.com

If You Are Not Satisfied With Your Home Purchase We’ll Sell It For Free—Guaranteed!* Learn more at BrennerHillBuyerGuarantee.com

Your Referrals Help Improve The Lives of Local Shelter Animals. Learn more at BrennerHillRewards.com

Why We Support the Seattle Animal Shelter

As you all know by now, I am a huge animal lover! My home life includes 12 pet pigeons in an outdoor aviary, a ring neck dove and pionus parrot in my home office, two 3 year old cats and, thankfully, a very easy-going husband! All but one of the pigeons are rescues, the dove is a rescue and our 31 year parrot was adopted 11 years ago, and, of course, the two cats were adopted from the Seattle Animal Shelter and PAWS. I’m a huge believer in giving animals a second chance.

The Seattle Animal Shelter is, for the most part, a no-kill shelter. Meaning, they will not euthanize an animal because of space or time. They rely heavily on volunteers and donations. Please help us to help improve the lives of these shelter animals!

We donate a portion of every transaction to the Help The Animals Fund. Donations to this fund are put to work in numerous ways to promote animal welfare. The top priority is to rehabilitate animals that are the subject of cruelty and neglect. Donations to this fund pay for veterinary care for shelter animals along with promoting educational outreach to prevent homeless, unwanted and abused animals. This fund also supports the shelter’s foster and volunteer program ensuring that each animal receives loving care while at the shelter.

With much appreciation – Sandra & Steve

Recent Client Review

Steve was a pleasure to work with. He was responsive, very knowledgeable about the neighborhood market, and patient when we were stressed about timing since the purchase of our new house was contingent on the sale of the one Steve brokered.

Check out all fifty of our Five Star Reviews at BrennerHillReviews.com