A Weekend in the Life of a Rescuer

This is an actual post from a rescuer on a group I monitor. 

You aren't going to believe this....

It's been an interesting weekend.  Thank goodness we didn't schedule an adoption event!  I had already planned to drive to New Florence yesterday to pick up 3 six week old Chinese Crested/cocker spaniel/schnauzer puppies <I know!  What a goofy mix>.  Friday morning, I got a call from Kirkwood Petco saying that someone had 3 newborn shih tzu puppies that the mom had rejected.  This was at 11 am, the pups were born at 4 am.  I told them, over the phone, what they had to do to hand raise the pups, including every two hour feedings and stimulating them to poo and pee after each feeding.  The lady said, "F*** that!", so I said that I'd be there before noon to get them.  She asked if I wanted the mom, too.  I said, "Sure!", thinking that if I had the mom in a different environment, I might be able coax her to feed her babies.  I got to Petco minutes before noon.  At that point, the 'lady' called and said that they changed their mind, that they were keeping the mom.  Ok.  Whatever.  I went in the office to see the pups and she called again saying that she wanted the pups back, too, since they were 'high dollar dogs'.  Great.  She didn't want to do what they need done to survive, but she wanted them back.  In the meantime, I'm in the office when I realize that these pups are 8 hours old, had never nursed and were as cold as ice.  Petco wouldn't let me take them since the customer wanted them back but I said, "I'm not leaving until this is resolved.  These puppies are freezing and I'm going to feed them, too."  They said ok.  I'm so glad that I stayed.  I fed them tiny bits of formula every 30 or 40 minutes and held them inside my shirt to try to warm them.  An hour later, that person still wasn't there to get the puppies.  The manager tried to call her number and had to leave a message.  Another hour goes by and he leaves another message.  Yet another hour goes by and he leaves the message that if she doesn't call him back within 15 minutes, they will consider the pups abandoned.  Imagine if I hadn't stayed to warm and feed them.  She didn't care a wit about those pups or the way she was inconveniencing everyone else involved.  Finally at 4pm <FOUR hours later> the manager calls her on his personal cell phone and when he identified himself, she hangs up on him!  So he calls the district manager, who's been involved in this almost from the get go, and she said to let me take the puppies home but that if the lady wanted them back within 72 hours, I had to return them.  That give her until 11 am Monday.  I doubt that she'll try to get them back.  I sure hope not.  The are doing well at this point, two boys and a girl - 4 ounces each.  

I had my drive to New Florence planned already so I had to take the newborns with me so that I could feed them.  I picked up the 3 crestie mix pups and headed to Ivan's.  One of them had an enlarged eyeball and I really wanted her to examine it sooner rather than later.  They were super busy at the office so I just hung around and helped out where I could.  She said that the pup has congenital glaucoma and gave me drops to try to save the eye.   Three boys in that crew.  All hairy hairless, all cute.  All 3ish pounds give or take a few ounces.

I went over to my little Walmart last night to get some jumbo cotton balls to potty the shih tzu puppies and as I'm leaving, I drive past an SUV in the parking lot where a young couple is holding a sign that says:  Free Puppies.  Oh good Lord.  Of course, I pull over and they only had two puppies left.  I explained why this wasn't a good idea for the puppies.  What if the person gets the puppy home and their parents/significant other says 'NO!' to a new pup?  What if they tie it out?  Will they get it vetted?  Give it to a 2 year old?  I asked what kind of pups - pit mix.  Great.  They are also 6 weeks old, born the day before the cresties and the same size.  One boy, one girl. 

I wormed and gave neopar to all of the 6 week old pups this morning.  Everyone is eating, their poo looks great and they all seem to be healthy.  Can you believe all of this took place in the space of about 30 hours?  What a crazy life!!!  I love rescue - I really, really do!

Regulating Puppy Mills - More Socialism

Even the Dog Whisperer can't see that a law regulating puppy mills is one more step to making America a communist society.

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Too cute!

Surprise...I'm an Auntie!

See my post from October 31 about the Cane Corso's I transported to WI. Well, we suspected the female (now Sydney) had either recently given birth or was currently pregnant. Her WI rescuer, Lisa and I have been in contact...here's how that went:

***************
Me to Lisa
Nov 5 (6 days ago)
Hi Lisa,

Just wondering how the "kids" are doing. I am in love with Wally now, you know. I wrote about my adventures on my blog if you're interested.

I hope you and your family are well too.


Sara
*********************

Lisa to me
Nov 5 (6 days ago)

Sara,
Both are AMAZING! Alison is the director of Shelter from the Storm in Madison and she too feel in love with Wally! Needless to say he is with her now .... she is fostering him to see if he will be the final fit to her family! I am so excited!!!

Sydney the girl is walking around here as we speak with her baby bunny (stuffed) hanging out of her mouth. This girl is amazing! Loves and makes friends with anything she comes into contact with. I can finally walk her and take her in and out of her crate without her crawling to and from me. I think she is comfortable with us all now that she knows there is a schedule and she knows she has so much for freedom here. She loves to lay in front of the fireplace at night when we have it going.... she nibbles on the wood too! LOL

I will update with better photos..... she is always on the go and Wally has a few outside while playing with his little Pittie sister! LOL


THANK YOU so much for helping get them to us! I have been in touch with another foster mommy... she is fostering a 7-9 yr old and may keep her as well~
**********************

Me to Lisa
Nov 6 (5 days ago)

Hi Lisa

I am so happy to hear about Sydney and Wally. Hard not to love those two. Was she pregnant? So cute how she carries everything in her mouth. I'd love to see some photos and post some on my blog.

Sara
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Lisa to me
Nov 10 (Tonight)


Sara,
You are the 1st person I am writing to tell you of my shock just a few minutes ago.... LOL
I dropped my girls off at church class only to come home to a hysterical 16 yr old.... Sydney is having puppies! So far she has had 1 .... OMG!
We had an appt for her last week and they had to reschedule for this Friday....needless so say she will not need an Xray nor her spay just yet! LOL

I will keep you updated on her progress and how many she has had!


ARGH..... another sleepless night!

Lisa
***************************


Me to Lisa
November 10 (Tonight)
Lisa,

OMG! I suspected she was pg from how she looked and the way she was carrying everything around in her mouth. Well, it would have been too late to spay her at this point anyway and I know you'll do your very best to find homes for those babies (unless you keep them all). I am anxious to find out all about what happens. Have you delivered puppies before? I saw my olde english sheepdog have two litters and it was pretty cool how they know just what to.

Congratulations Gramma :O ... Give Sydney a hug for me!

Auntie Sara

********************** 

I hope to post some puppy pics and I'll let you know the rest of the story when I do. I know there are already too many dogs in the world, but it seems these puppies were meant to be born outside the puppy mill world. I pray they will have a much better life than the one formerly lived by their parents who are now free to be as dogs deserve to be.

Puppy Mill's - Petland's Dirty Little Secret

There is absolutely NO REASON to buy a puppy from a store.  The pet stores that sell puppies are the reason puppy mills exist. It's a simple matter of supply and demand. Go to www.petfinder.com and look up any breed, size, gender or age dog you might consider...you'll find it there, somewhere.  Adopt, don't shop!

The awful truth

View from a traditional shelter manager...

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will. First off, all of you people who have ever surrendered a pet to a shelter or humane society should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would stop flagging the ads on craigslist and help these animals find homes. That puppy you just bought will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. Just so you know there's a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it’s dumped at? Purebred or not! About 25% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into a shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses: "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because the shelter gets paid a fee to euthanize each animal and making money is better than spending money to take this animal to the vet.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down". First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 shelter workers depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a shelter worker who we call a euthanasia tech (not a vet) find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. You see shelters are trying to make money to pay employee pay checks and don’t forget the board of directors needs to be paid too, so we don’t spend our funds to tranquilize the animal before injecting them with the lethal drug, we just put the burning lethal drug in the vein and let them suffer until dead. If it were not a “making money issue” and we had to have a licensed vet do this procedure, the animal would be sedated or tranquilized and then euthanized, but to do this procedure correctly would cost more money so we do not follow what is right for the animal, we just follow what is the fastest way we can make a dollar. Shelters do not have to have a vet perform their euthanasia’s so even if it takes our employee 50 pokes with a needle and 3 hours to get the vein that is what we do. Making money is the issue here not loosing money.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? Or used for the schools to dissect and experiment on? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right!

I hope that those of you who still have a beating heart and have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head, I deal with this everyday. I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and start educating the public. Do research, do your homework, and know exactly what you are getting into before getting a pet. These shelters and humane societies exist because people just do not care about animals anymore. Animals were not intended to be disposable but somehow that is what they are these days. Animal shelters are an easy way out when you get tired of your dog (or cat), and breeders are the ones blamed for this. 

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about taking their dog to a shelter, a humane society, or buying a dog. For those of you that care--- please repost this to at least one other craiglist in another city/state. Let's see if we can get this all around the US and have an impact.

Fight Animal Cruelty

When I see stories about animal cruelty I feel a mix of sorrow, revulsion and anger.  I can't understand how anyone could abuse or mistreat an innocent animal.  Here's one horrifying story that recently found my inbox:


Dog found in ditch had live roaches in fur


LOS ANGELES - Its hair was so matted and overgrown, the poodle had to be sedated just to be groomed. Veterinarians found live and dead cockroaches snared in the 2 1/2 pounds of fur they cut from the dog.


The dog's condition was so unbelievable that Tracy Lapeyrouse named him Ripley.
The 2-year-old poodle was found Oct. 19 in a ditch in LaPlace, La., with no identification. He was taken to Lapeyrouse, who runs My Heart's Desire animal shelter in Houma, La., about 60 miles from New Orleans.


"He didn't know he had ears. When his ears would touch his skin, he would shake his head," Lapeyrouse said in a telephone interview from Louisiana. "It took a week before he could walk normally."


The dog was skinny but not malnourished, and no one could figure out how he ate because his mouth was blocked by overgrown hair. He has packed on a half pound since his rescue and now weighs 5 1/2 pounds. Sores hidden beneath the fur healed once they were exposed to the air.
"Now he's a social butterfly," Lapeyrouse said. "We have to go slow, but he wags his nub of a tail and is seeking interaction with people."


Several people have filled out adoption papers. Ripley Entertainment Inc., parent of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! brand in Orlando, Fla., will offer the new owners a gift card for future grooming and other expenses. It also donated $400 to the shelter and may feature the former fur ball in its next book.

Poor baby - Before, Amazing baby - After

The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere. Their mission, as stated by their founder, Henry Bergh, in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”

The ASPCA is very active in lobbying and advocating for animal rights. They maintain a website full of information about preventing cruelty to animals.  I found this article and thought it was helpful in understanding what we can do as individuals to help our animal friends. 

Signs That an Animal Might Be Abused

Recognizing cruelty is simple, right? Not quite, say ASPCA experts. Aggressive, timid or fearful behavior doesn't always tell the whole story. Animals may appear to be timid or frightened for many reasons other than abuse.

“It’s almost impossible to make conclusions based on a pet’s behavior alone,” says the ASPCA Animal Behavior Center’s Kristen Collins, CPDT. “The best way to tell whether a pet is being or has been abused is to examine him and his surrounding environment.”

Check out our list of signs that may alert you an animal needs help:

Physical Signs

• Collar so tight that it has caused a neck wound or has become embedded in the pet’s neck
• Open wounds, signs of multiple healed wounds or an ongoing injury or illness that isn’t being treated
• Untreated skin conditions that have caused loss of hair, scaly skin, bumps or rashes
• Extreme thinness or emaciation—bones may be visible
• Fur infested with fleas, ticks or other parasites 
• Patches of bumpy, scaly skin rashes
• Signs of inadequate grooming, such as extreme matting of fur, overgrown nails and dirty coat
• Weakness, limping or the inability to stand or walk normally
• Heavy discharge from eyes or nose
• An owner striking or otherwise physically abusing an animal
• Visible signs of confusion or extreme drowsiness

Environmental Signs

• Pets are tied up alone outside for long periods of time without adequate food or water, or with food or water that is unsanitary
• Pets are kept outside in inclement weather without access to adequate shelter
• Pets are kept in an area littered with feces, garbage, broken glass or other objects that could harm them
• Animals are housed in kennels or cages (very often crowded in with other animals) that are too small to allow them to stand, turn around and make normal movements possibly with too many other animals

“Reporting suspected animal cruelty ensures that animals in jeopardy receive prompt and often lifesaving care,” says ASPCA Special Agent Joann Sandano. “By making a complaint to the police or humane society in your area—you can even do so anonymously—you help ensure that animals in need are rescued and that perpetrators of animal cruelty are brought to justice.”

If you see signs of animal abuse, don’t keep it to yourself. Here’s how to report cruelty in your area.

Questions or concerns about calling in a cruelty complaint? Take a look at our Reporting Cruelty FAQ.

The joys of fostering

The easy thing about fostering is that you get to meet some great dogs who really appreciate and need some help.  The difficult thing about fostering is that, if it works like it should, they find someone else to love them and they leave you.


My first foster was Bernie, the very scared and anti-social Pomeranian who came from a hoarder and possibly a puppy mill via Happily Ever After.  After 3+ months, I decided to hold Bernie on my lap, despite his protests, extending the time each day.  He put up with the "holding sessions" but didn't like them much, except for the treats that followed.  Then one day, he jumped up on my lap without any provocation.  That was the day I knew he was destined for a forever home and he now lives happily with the Briggs family where he is considered to be their "lap dog".

Bernie on his way to his new home

Next came Princess, who was surrendered by an elderly man's family when he went to a nursing home.  Princess is still with us.  She's deaf and elderly and sometimes a pretty crabby old lady who startles easily, but underneath there's a sweet, gangly old gal who needs love just like we all do.  I have become pretty attached to my first "girlfriend" who I call Princess Maxine after the Hallmark card lady Maxine.  She's been here since early summer and she helped me get through the loss of my little sweetheart Zacy.  Right now her forever home is my home and she can stay as long as she needs us.

Princess Smiling for the Camera

Note:  Princess is now an official adoptee...guess where?  Ok, after a year and a half I could not imagine surrendering her an anyone else.  I'm her mom now.  She is so sweet.

Benni came on the heels of Gizmo, the bichon mix, who didn't get along well with Princess.  I had to send him back to HEA.   It was just one of those doggie dislikes that I never understood, but she was here first.  Benni stole my heart totally and I knew giving him up would be tough.  Enter Pat and Ron who live a few blocks away and lost their beloved dog about a year ago.  I liked them immediately and knew they loved Benni too.  He now lives with them but visits when they go away for an extended time which is often as Pat does a lot of volunteering.  We've seen him every week since he left and that's a bonus.

Benni lounging at the pool with Gizzy

Shadow came when Benni left.  She is a sweetie too who was left by her family at the vet's office when they learned she needed some expensive surgery.  Happily Ever After paid for her surgery, the removal of a benign growth on her back and a dental.  She's now in great health and a real joy to have around.  She's very submissive and Princess sometimes gets the dogs all worked up by playing the "bed troll", growling and barking at anyone who attempts to jump up.  Gizzy, my cairn, accidently bit Shadow today in a fit of craziness initiated by Princess.  That was just before I took her on a home visit.  It went well for her where she met an older woman and her truck driver hubby.  The family does not have other dogs which seems like a good fit for Shadow.  I may be having to say good bye to her soon too.

Shadow at Happily Ever After event

Note:  Shadow was adopted but a couple of months later they found she had cancer that had spread throughout her body.  She was returned (as requested when things are not working).  HEA kept her comfortable until her death surrounded by people who cared.

Although each dog who has lived here has been deeply loved, I know that each deserves the very best home and long-term relationship that can be found.  I have been fortunate to have some input about their re-homing and I have had every confidence that they will continue to have the same good treatment and affection they received from me.  I am so proud of my Bubba and Gizmo for allowing these foster dogs to have a part in our lives and our home. That is why I foster and I encourage anyone who can to experience the joys and rewards of fostering.

Bubba looking shaggy and big