Meaghan M. McDermott

Staff writer

Over the years, people have surrendered cats and dogs to Scottsville Veterinary Hospital and Pet Adoptions for all sorts of reasons. There have been clawsy kittens and bitey cats; puppies that chew non stop and dogs that won't cease barking.

But Lenny the cat may have the most novel back story of them all: he was surrendered due to excessive flatulence.

Yes, Lenny the black and white domestic shorthair stray was rescued from a Rochester park in February, nursed back to health at Scottsville, adopted out last month, and within two days, returned to the shelter because "he farts all the time," according to the intake papers filled out by his two-day owner.

Indeed, the short-time owner suggested the frequency and duration of Lenny's noxious emissions might make him much better suited for an outdoor life.

"But since he's been back here, there haven't been any problems," said Jessica Giehl, Scottsville's adoptions director. Clean living and a healthy diet may be the reason for that, "but we did still nickname him 'Smelly Cat.'"

Made a minor celebrity by a March 31 Facebook posting on Scottsville Veterinary Adoptions' home page, Lenny's story ultimately has a happy ending.

He was adopted anew on Monday.

But there are plenty more needy animals where he came from.

Lenny's tale (minus the back drafts and the brief return) is one replicated hundreds of times over each year at Scottsville. Last year, the no-kill shelter found new homes for 1,400 animals. They were local strays found and turned in, surrendered pets and hundreds of dogs and cats rescued from looming euthanasia in shelters in Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and other southern states with high kill ratios. They remain until they're adopted.

"Animals stay with us as long as they need," said Ashley Nowak, Scottsville's marketing director.

Overall, between 30 and 50 pets are adopted out through the shelter every week. Nearly 400 have been adopted out so far this year. And staff are always on the lookout for more. In fact, a pair of volunteers left Monday for Tennessee, where they will grab 50 dogs and five cats and bring them back here for veterinary exams and adoption.

Coming in from Tennessee this week is an assortment of puppies and adult dogs, including a 140-lb Great Pyrenees named Jack, Chihuahua mixes, a 10-month old Husky/Beagle mix named Caramellow and a Catahoula mix named Bowie.

Nowak said staff take care to make sure there's a good mix of animals to make sure there might be a potential match for any interested pet owner.

Generally, dog adoptions run $240 for a spayed or neutered pup, while kitten adoptions are $160 and cats more than a year old are $75. The shelter also holds specials for older dogs.

Each time one animal goes out, room is freed up to bring in one more. And keeping the kennels and cages full is part of the shelter's philosophy.

"The way we see it, if our cages are empty, animals are needlessly dying somewhere else," said Nowak.

MCDERMOT@DemocratandChronicle.com

twitter.com/meagmc

How to adopt

Scottsville Veterinary Adoptions is open seven days a week and has locations at 3750 Scottsville Road in Wheatland and at 194 S. Union St. in Spencerport. It also does adoptions out of PetSmart in Henrietta.

Call (585) 889-8340 or go to http://www.petadoption.cc/for more information.