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Birthday wishes help supply animal shelter

Brennan Curry’s party guests brought toys, food, cash for dogs and cats at PAWS center.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Brennan Curry, 13, pets a cat at the PAWS facility in Middletown on Friday.

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By Andy Sedlak, Staff Writer 3:07 AM Saturday, January 29, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — For his 13th birthday, Brennan Curry passed on video games, gift cards and DVDs, instead asking the attendees of his birthday party to bring donations to Middletown’s PAWS Adoption Center.

“Kids were walking in carrying dog food and cat litter and things,” Brennan said of his party at Verity Lodge on Jan. 15. “One person brought animal toys, a bag of dog food and cat litter.”

Partygoers brought in an estimated $400 in donations of leashes, rope toys, dog brushes, cat litter and other animal care products, along with $90 in cash, which will be delivered today to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society shelter.

Brennan said while the 40 kids who attended his party danced to Rihanna, Maroon 5 and Snoop Dogg, supplies and donations were being stored in an attached room.

“It was cool to watch it all stack up,” Brennan said.

Stephanie Michna, PAWS’ facility manager, was “overjoyed.”

“We get donations from the public and everything and we have Girl Scout troops that volunteer, but very rarely do we have somebody of his age so determined to make a difference for an organization such as ours.”

Michna said PAWS is in particular need of cat litter. The adoption center uses about 480 pounds of it a week.

She said the shelter always needs dog food as well, which they often share with other shelters in the area.

Brennan, a seventh-grader at Central Academy, said the idea to donate to PAWS struck him after he recently took a field trip to an animal health center at Miami University.

“I got to thinking about (adoption centers), who may not have enough food and cat litter for their animals,” said Brennan, who has four dogs, a cat, rabbit and fish at home.

His mother, Tricia Perdue, said Brennan has always been a giving child.

“I think he’s going to be like this his whole life,” she said with a smile.

To donate to PAWS, contact the organization at (513) 422-7297. The shelter is located at 2790 Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or asedlak@coxohio.com.

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