Thats right. The entire month of October is national Adopt-A-Dog month so I'm doing what I can to help spread the word for future Octobers as this October is almost over.
As someone who occasionally fosters and one who has seen the inside workings of shelters, this is a subject close to my heart.
Here are a few of the stories regarding dogs that have been "rescued" and the fabulous pets they turned out to be:
Punky came to Wendy by fate. She was a sighthound/shepherd mix. Her owner had fallen on hard times and been forced to move in with her sister who's dog constantly attacked Punky. In fear that Punky would be seriously injured or killed, her owner gave punky to a family she knew from work. After a month the new home dropped Punky at the local Humaine society because she was chasing their horses, they did this without notifying the owner. For reasons unknown, 24hours before Punky was set to be euthanised the shelter called her original owner and notified her of Punky's impending doom. She set out on a mission to find a foster family or home for her dog. Completely randomly she was able to get ahold of Wendy, someone she had never met before, and Wendy took Punky in. As I was Wendys babysitter/dogsitter I spent plenty of time with this odd-yet-cute looking dog with the sweet and hyper personality. We had her for 2 months before finding her the perfect home. Her new name is Missy, she has been with her adoptive family for a little over a year now and wendy still gets the occasional Email/pictures from them. Last we heard they were looking to adopt another "brother" or "sister" for Missy.If it wasnt for people like that who had big hearts and open minds dogs like Punky/Missy would never have the opportunity to experience a loving forever home. Please remember the homeless pets out there when you decide to get a pet of your own.
Meet Sugar. Before I tell you about Sugar I will have to explain a little more about Wendy and me. Wendy got the idea to start a website called FACES to help educate on the homeless animal plight. It is still under construction and not nearly as big and thorough as we would like it to be once finished, but it still gets its point across. Shortly after she created it, she moved near me and I jumped in to help her with it. I created a myspace to compliment it and help get the word out. And on the myspace we joined lots of groups and began to spread the word. One of the people in those groups who was a friend on the FACES Profile emailed me about a dog that he had been told about and he gave me all the contact info for the person who had brought the dog to his attention. I got in contact with this person and was then told the whole story.Sugar (nameless at this point) had been abandoned when her owner had moved out of his house and just left her in the backyard. After he moved, sugar had 9 puppies. a couple of the people on the street were watching the pups and occasionally leaving food for the dogs, but they still were not being fed on a regular basis and had no shelter. One of the neighbors who had known this man kept trying to get ahold of him but was continually blown off, then he noticed that the puppies were slowly disappearing. He got another woman involved and she (karen) was the one who brought Sugar to my attention and who gave sugar her new name. Sugar was too far away for me to be able to take in myself so I contacted Karen and gave her all the info of all the contacts I had in her area. I found some possible transport options and sent her advice on how to screen potential foster homes and adopters. I also helped screen some myself. We found a rescue to take in the two pups who were left but could find no one to take in sugar. Karen decided to take sugar in and foster her herself. Things were going well until Sugar got sick. She was coughing and wheezing, the vet said Pneumonia. Then Karen got the call. The pups had distemper and one had died. She emailed me scared and upset. Her dogs had begun showing signs of Sugars sickness and she was afraid they all had distemper.
I hopped online for info on distemper and how to treat it holistically. The news on symptoms was devastating; distemper is often misdiagnosed as pneumonia. She brought sugar in to be tested. Distemper was the result. After weeks of holistically treating, and many vet visits Sugar was clear. Unfortunately two of Karens own dogs were not as fortunate and died due to distemper.
Sugar now lives with Karen permanently, and while she doesnt cover the ache of losing Patches and Bitsy completely, she still holds a special place in Karens heart. I still get updates and emails from Karen regarding Sugar and she is doing very well. That skinny dog in the picture is not recognizable as the happy, healthy full of energy dog that Sugar has become today with Karens love and kindness.
Meet Squishy. He is the pink hairless puppy next to the shepherd mix. Thats right, puppy, he was less than 3 months old when this picture was taken. He was a BIG puppy. and a sick one. Squishy came in to the Orange County shelter with his brothers and sisters. He was the only one sufferng from demodectic mange and the shelter didnt want to deal with it. They also didnt want the expense of finding out wether it was demodectic or sarcoptic so the decided to hide the puppies and put them to sleep quietly without ever giving them the chance to be adopted or taken in by rescues. One of the volunteers there found out and made the puppies VERY public. two rescues stepped in and took the puppies, all but squishy. No one wanted to deal with his medical issues. Sammy and Wendy were working with a rescue at the time and the rescue asked them if they would be willing to take in one more. A specail needs puppy. Of course, they said yes. So Squishy came to live on the sanctuary that had become Wendy and Sammys home, and got his name.with much love and daily holistic treatments Squishy began to grow hair and to resemble a normal dog again. He also got puppy energy and started acting like a normal healthy dog. When Sammy and Wendy had to move due to unforseen circumstances another foster person for the same rescue took Squishy on and fell so in love with him that she ended up adopting him herself. He lives a very happy healthy normal doggy life thanks to everyone that had the heart to take him on and give him tha chance he deserved.
If you would like to learn more about Adopt-A-Dog month you can go here:
American Humane
If you would like to learn more about the pet over-population problem and how you can help, go here: FACES
**WARNING** some of the content on the FACES web page can be extremely heart-wrenching.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog. And thank you to all who ever have or ever will do anything to help out with rescue in any way shape or form. You are all angels.
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