It seems only fitting that I start this blog at the start of RESCUE's 14th year in existence. On 1/31 we celebrated the previous 13 years and all the volunteers that helped us throughout the year. It was a lovely day and I was so grateful to our amazing volunteers. They have given so much throughout the year and what a difficult year it has been.
Many people are losing their homes and their jobs. Countless dogs and cats are also losing their families and their homes too. While sadly this is not a new occurrence it is happening with more and more frequency. Just this past week we saved a 6 year old Bluetick Hound that was dropped off with the family cat. Her family lost their home and wouldn't be taking the family dog or cat with them. When RESCUE arrived the cat had already been placed but Brooke as she would now be known as was still there, waiting. While she was waiting for her former family that wouldn't come, RESCUE did and we made a promise to her. We would find her a loving permanent home that she could live out all the days of her life. Watch a video of Brooke!
Brooke's story is not unique. We happen to know a bit about her past - that she lived with a family and a cat and that "she barks at thunder" and with that her life changed forever. But what is Winston's story? Winston is a small, scared terrier that we saved on 2/3. Winston was a stray dog that was brought into the West Side Animal Care & Control four days before and today, unbeknownst to him was to be the last day of his life. But thanks to the resources at RESCUE, we prevented that from happening. Winston has no "story." He's just another dog in a cage with a number denoting who he is. Did Winston have a family? Why was he there? Why was he going to die? These are questions that we get often. I'm sure I had the same questions years and years ago when I got involved in RESCUE. Honestly, I can give you plenty of answers, some of those answers might make you feel better about why Winston and hundreds and hundreds of other dogs and cats end up at Animal Control week after week. Some of those answers might make you angry or even spark additional questions. For RESCUE none of those answers or questions matter. Winston matters. Saving his life matters. Giving him hope that he will have a loving home and that we will care for him every day until his forever home is found. Watch a video of Winston.
Long time RESCUE dog Molly found her forever home this week too!! Foster parents Teri and Pat adored and cared for Molly for 18 months!!! Molly was a challenging placement but we never gave up and thankfully her foster parents didn't give in and "just adopt her." Molly, like many Jack Russell's was an opinionated gal! She was very, very picky with which dogs she would allow to play with her. :) We also learned that Molly really disliked children and because of barking concerns she couldn't be placed into an apartment or a condo. So Molly's pool of potential adopters was smaller than most but finally her perfect home came along. While Teri and Pat were sad to see her go, they are eager to foster again. Stay tuned to hear about who their new foster dog will be. Watch a video of Molly.
One of our "juvenile delinquents" Cooper was adopted this week by past RESCUE adopters of Billie. Cooper is a young, super active boy who will provide tons of laughter and joy to his feline brother, sister and human parents. Watch a video of Cooper.
RESCUE dogs Nellie and Ketina also found their forever homes this week too. Nellie got a home as a spoiled only dog with two human siblings and a stay at home mom and dad. Ketina will be the only dog amongst three former RESCUE cats and two human siblings to spoil her rotten!
Recent feline additions, Harley and Tristan finally recovered from their feline colds that almost all our new cats get from their stay at Animal Control. Harley was neutered on 2/6 and by 2/7 he was up, about and introducing himself to fellow RESCUE cats. Harley is another young "teenage" cat that will have many cats with similar personality to hang out with while we search for his forever home. Tristan on the other hand is a middle aged kitty that was dropped off at Animal Control on New Year's Eve, four years to the date of when he was adopted from the same location. His owners gave no information during his surrender. Tristan stayed there terrified and shaking for 17 long days. When we saw him and how many days that he had avoided being killed we had to help him! He surely had used up many of his nine lives during those days. Tristan was neutered already but was in dire need of a dental. On 2/7 Tristan had all his teeth cleaned and thankfully only needed one tooth removed. We are looking forward to seeing Tristan blossom and we will do everything we can to help him heal this heart while we search for his loving parents. Watch a video of Harley and Tristan.
Last Saturday (1/31) we had one of our former RESCUE cats returned to us. She had been adopted for nearly two years. A couple of weeks prior the adopter developed asthma and her doctor told her she needed to get rid of her cat Ana. Ana was none to happy with the decision and let all of us know about it. Within a couple of days we noticed that Ana had blood coming from her back end. We had out vet check her out and Ana had a whole slew of issues going on with her. :( Ana was overweight (17.1 pounds). This caused our long haired Ana to develop rolls of fat, particularly around her "back end" area. Now I won't go into all the details but the jest is that Ana could not clean herself because she couldn't reach those areas. Ana developed several bad infections and now requires medication and cleaning of the "area" twice a day every day for two weeks. Now if any of you have cats you know this is not an easy task nor one that you would want to do. But RESCUE's volunteers are extremely dedicated and they have stepped up to help Ana during her time of need. Hopefully Ana will be feeling a ton better in no time.
On Sunday (2/8) RESCUE was scheduled to attend the annual Willo Home Tour, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. A big rain storm rolled in and so we had to cancel. Sadly, the loss of this event cost us exposure for our RESCUE dogs (possible adoptions), spreading the word about what we do and funds that we would have raised from the community during the event.
Thankfully we did have some good news on Sunday (2/8). RESCUE cat Fergie was exposed to a deadly virus while she was at Animal Control. Sunday was the day that we found out if she had contracted the virus. The results couldn't come fast enough but the news was negative - she didn't have the virus!!! YAHOO! We are so thrilled! Now we need to get her spayed and then placed up for adoption. Watch a video of Fergie.
RESCUE kicked off it's fundraising efforts for our 9th Annual Beauty to the RESCUE. This event has live music, services for humans and animals alike. We will have a silent auction, food and local animal merchants on hand. Our raffle is key to the success of this event. We have two Grand Prizes. A year of Beauty, donated by Mane Attraction Salon. This is a $1000 value. The other Grand Prize is $500 in cash!!! Now who can't use an extra $500 right now?! A limited number of raffle tickets are available and are only $5. You don't have to be a local resident or present to win. Purchase tickets online NOW! The event is 3/1/09 and 100% of the proceeds from this event benefit all the dogs and cats of RESCUE. We couldn't do the work you read about in this Blog without help from the community. Every single dollar adds up and is needed now more than ever! Please help us continue our much need work by purchasing a raffle ticket or two.
Well I hope you have enjoyed RESCUE's journey for the first week in February. Please stay tuned for the next edition. Here's to a great week for the dogs and cats within our care and the new lives that we will save this week. I look forward to sharing their stories!
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