March 28th, 2009

Welcome!  Another busy week for RESCUE.  Here's the re-cap:

On 3/24 we were honored to saved four new lives!!  

Alexander is a 7 year old, chunky German Shepherd mix.  He is very sweet and loves to lick you.  Despite his photo, he only weighs 75 pounds.  He does need to lose about 10-15 pounds.  He is in foster care and doing really well.  We'll have him down to a healthy weight in no time!

Kira is a 2 year old cocker spaniel.  

As you can see from her photo on the right, she has some eye issues. She had an ulcer and a condition called Cherry Eye.  We have treated both and she is recovering nicely.  Kira is a very mellow gal. Hopefully with her medical conditions taken care of she will be a bit more spunky.  Stay tuned.

Kole is a 4 year old Chihuahua mix.  Kole is a happy go lucky kind of dog.  He loves all dogs and all people.  He wants to be everyone's buddy.  Sitting in your lap is a favorite of his, although walks are fun for him too.

Shani is a one year old terrier mix with a horrible case of Demodex.  This is a very treatable condition.  As you can see from her photos she has not received medical care in sometime, if ever.  :(  We have given her a bath, put her on antibiotics and are treating the Demodex.  We are in the process of moving her into foster care so that she can recover more quickly.  Stay tuned for updates on her.

Lelah and her baby kitten are doing well.  The kitten is now 16 days old, eyes and ears are open and she/he now weighs 12 ounces.  The kitten is starting to move around and explore a bit.  Lelah is an excellent mom and has been taking very good care of her kitten.  Soon RESCUE will start "kitten socialization."  Just like puppies, kittens need to be socialized too.  They need to learn how to cope with all the things that happen in the world, like getting in and out of a cat carrier, exposure to hair dryers and vacuum cleaners, dogs, other cats, other people, etc.  It's actually quite fun!  We have "kitten socialization parties" and have the guests take turns handling the kitten, brushing them, clipping their nails, etc.  We'll keep you posted on the kittens progress.  

On 3/24 Bailey moved into foster care.  He is enjoying romping around with his foster sister and going on long runs with his foster parents.  The attached photo is of him and his happy tail in foster care.

On 3/28 RESCUE dog Mia had an adoption appointment.  Her potential adopters recently lost their dog of 11.5 years.  They really want to have a dog in the house again but are struggling with their grief and with some guilt.  In an effort to help them with their decision to adopt, Mia will be having a sleepover.  They are great pet parents and we hope that Mia will be able to help them heal their hearts!  Keep you posted.

Well that's it for now.  We hope you are enjoying reading about all things RESCUE.  More to follow next!!!  I hope you have a great weekend!

March 22nd, 2009

On 3/19 RESCUE had New Volunteer Orientation.  We had about 15 people in attendance.  I hope that they enjoy their time with our fantastic organization.  We greatly appreciate their willingness to dedicate their time and love to our efforts.

On 3/19 long time RESCUE cat Lacy was adopted.  Lacy was adopted by her foster mom.  Her foster mom Valerie is a RESCUE volunteer on the "dog side" of our organization.  She came to me a couple of weeks ago asking if she could help with cat fostering.  Her life was not really conducive to having a dog but she would really enjoy the companionship of a feline.  I gave Valerie a couple of names of kitties that could really use her help.  She got back to me right away and said that Lacy was the one.  She picked her up shortly thereafter and the love affair began instantly.  Both Valerie and Lacy were having a grand time.  Lacy was showing her true playful personality and Valerie enjoyed her companionship  so much.  Lacy brought such joy to Valerie's life that she felt she couldn't let her go.  So Lacy became an official member of Valerie's home!!  We couldn't have been happier for both of them.

You may recall the RESCUE cat Anastasia and her medical conditions 

that we were treating.  Her primary health concern (the skin infection) has completely healed.  Unfortunately Ana's weight continues to be a problem.  Ana has only lost a couple of ounces in the last couple of months.  :(  She is down to a whopping 16 pounds 10 ounces.  Last week the weight caused her to limp on her back left leg from a prior injury.  The limping has subsided and we continue to work on her weight loss.

Our recent feline additions are doing well and almost completely recovered from their kitty colds.  They should be spayed and neutered in the next week or so and then they will go up for adoption.

On 3/20 another long time RESCUE cat Violet was adopted.  Violet's new parents have no other dogs or cats and are eager to spoil our girl.  We have already received an update and the attached photo is from her new home.  A detailed update can be found on our Facebook page under our Photo Album section - Violet.

On 3/21 RESCUE dog Betsy was adopted. Betsy was adopted by a past RESCUE adopter.  She is the only dog in a house with three other feline sisters.  They are already sleeping together!!  Her new parents are already madly in love with her.  More details can also be found on RESCUE's Facebook page.

Our recent feline mom Lelah is doing well and her new kitten is growing with each passing day.  The kitten is up to 10.25 ounces.  The kittens ears are up even more and you can see little slits of the kittens eyes now.  By next week she/he will be seeing and hearing all the noises and sights of her foster home.  

I think that just about covers all things RESCUE for the moment!  Please continue to come back and follow RESCUE's journey.  Here's to a great week!!

March 18th, 2009

Hello,

I hope you are having a great week.  I can't believe it's getting so warm already!  I hope we have a few more weeks of the 70-80 degree temps before we get into the 90's!  :)

Here's the latest updates on RESCUE:

On 3/12 Willie was adopted by a retired couple from Prescott.  They have a place here in the valley too so we did the meet and greet at their home and it was love at first sight.  Willie's mom was so excited to meet him that she couldn't sleep until she meet him!  Teri, Willie's foster mom spoke to Willie's new mom this week and he is doing fantastic.  They take him on about 6 walks a day!!!  They have renamed him Mr. B....not really sure of what the meaning behind that is but that's his new name.  He has an awesome life I'm hoping they'll send photos soon.

On the morning of 3/12 I received a call from Teri who is fostering Willie and Lelah our FIV+ cat.  I assumed Teri was calling about Willie's appointment that was taking place in a couple of hours.  Teri proceeded to tell me she had some interesting news to share with me.  I was a bit concerned but I waited for her to continue.  She told me that Lelah gave birth to one kitten around midnight!!!!  OMG!!!  Due a myriad of issues, Lelah's spay appointment had been cancelled and postoned.  She was due to be spayed this past Monday, 3/16.  Since we had rescued Lelah just after the New Year, Lelah must have gotten pregnant a couple of days prior to ending up at the pound.  

Lelah has been taking excellent care of her new kitten.  The kitten (we don't know it's sex at this point) is eating well and yesterday it's ears started to pop up a little.  If you look closely at the photo you can see her kitten.  The kitten's eyes will be opening in the next week or so.  He/she is gaining weight each day and currently weighs 8 ounces.  I'll continue to update you on both mommy and kitten via our blog.

On 3/15 RESCUE attended an adoption event held up in Grayhawk. 

On 3/16 RESCUE dog Odie was adopted by his foster parents.  He had been in foster care for just about 3 months.  He fit in so well and enjoyed the many hiking and lake adventures that his mom and dad went on that they felt he was meant to be apart of their home.

On 3/16 RESCUE cat Howie was adopted.  He got a wonderful home.  He will be a well loved only child.  His mom is a nurse and was looking for a kitty to keep her company and she found it in Howie!!!

 

One 3/17 we saved two new dogs from the "kill list.  Bailey is 21.7 pounds. He is about a year and a half and a Catahoula mix, although Animal Control had him listed as a brindle Pit Bull. :0 Bailey is similar in personality to the RESCUE dog Brandi – loves to be pet and snuggled. He literally walked up my legs and sat on top of me and my legs. Apparently he wasn’t comfy enough, so he proceed to make “circles” while standing on my legs until he found the right spot!!! Thank goodness he doesn’t weigh too much!!!  Our second dog has stolen my heart (but don’t tell the others though)!!! I’m quite surprised honestly because this dog is really not “my kind of dog.” First of all he’s wire haired...I like the softer breeds and he’s a dachshund!!! Sigmund, or Siggy is all of 5.8 pounds. He is red with blonde highlights. He has the most adorable blonde “faux-hawk” with what looks like blonde, sideburns with just a bit of curl in them!! :) Then he has a blonde mane of hair across his shoulders. And he has very expressive brown eyes. He is very kissy and happy to run around playing chase with you too!

As I type this, RESCUE dog Dusty has officially been adopted!!  His new home consists of a loving mom who works from home and three canine sisters.  The youngest dog, Rowdi is in agility and Dusty's new mom is eager to have another dog that can join her and Rowdi in their agility competitions.  He'll first start with basic obedience training and then move onto agility.  There is a big weekend long event this weekend in Tucson so Dusty will be able to see firsthand all the fun that he is going to have.  

We couldn't be happier for our fluffy boy.  He is very cute but also very active so this is the perfect home for our young guy.  And he also will have three beautiful sisters to play with when he is not practicing his new skills.  We hope his new mommy stays in touch and sends us lots of photos of his new life!!!  Congrats to Dusty and his new family!!!

On 3/19 RESCUE has New Volunteer Orientation.  Hopefully we will gain a number of new volunteers that want to join in our efforts to help save and place the orphaned dogs and cats on the "kill list."

Since Twitter is all the buzz, I set up a Twitter account for RESCUE.  While I'm not really understanding all the buzz I am open to trying anything that will help promote our cause.  Please feel free to become a "follower" at www.twitter.com/AZRESCUE.  I'll do my best to give you all the most up to date information on RESCUE as it happens!

One of RESCUE's long time RESCUE cats Violet (pictured to the right) and Candy have an adoption appointment this Friday.  We are on pins and needles awaiting the outcome of this adoption.  While Candy is also a long timer with RESCUE, Violet has been with us longer and is a HUGE favorite amongst our cat volunteers.  Here's a bit more on Violet....

Violet, she is a cat that was adopted out in 2000 and returned to RESCUE 5.5 years later because their 2.5 year old child was pulling Violet’s tail and ears. After nearly a year of this, Violet started to hide away or if cornered she’d smack the child. So the adopter returned Violet back to us and sadly Violet has been with RESCUE ever since. Violet has many loving, dedicated volunteers that have cared for her and she even moved into foster care but she really didn’t do well in a house with other cats so she moved back to our Feline Care Center. One of RESCUE’s supports, a gentleman by the name of Alan ADORES Violet and comes to visit her often. He would adopt her himself but he has a house full of FIV+ cats and so he couldn’t bring Violet into his house but our special girl is always happy to see him. 

Violet's potential adopter is leaning towards Violet and so we are hoping that the love affair continues when they actually met her in person.  Fingers and toes crossed!!!

I received a call today from Beate, one of the owners of Mane Attraction Hair Salon.  You may recall that we had our 9th Annual Beauty to the RESCUE at their Salon just a couple of weeks ago.  RESCUE received an additional $500 donation from a supporter that was out of town during our event but still wanted to make a donation for our efforts!!!!  YAHOO!!!!  We really appreciate the donation and the support!!

I'm working on RESCUE's spring mailer, which will out on 4/27.  I'll be sending out an email to our volunteers asking for help with the mailing party which will take place on 4/24.  Hopefully the mailer will be successful.  RESCUE relies solely on the support from the community in order to continue our efforts to save and care for the dogs and cats on the "kill list." 

Well I think that's about it for the moment.  More to follow.  I hope you continue to come back and follow RESCUE's journey!  

March 12th, 2009

I apologize for the delay in getting the latest blog entry completed. It's been very busy at RESCUE. This entry will be a bit longer due to the delay in getting this completed.

                                                    

 

Charlie, the long haired Dachshund moved into foster care on 2/25. He has two other Dachshunds in foster care with him and is really enjoying himself. However he does have an adoption appointment on 3/13 so it may be a short stay for him in foster 

care. I'll keep you posted.

Buster is doing well in foster care as well. He is a young dog and his foster parents are working with him on appropriate items to chew on. They have been keeping him busy with hiking and playtime, which he really enjoys.

Brooke was adopted on 2/28. Brooke is the Bluetick hound that was dropped

 off at the pound with the family cat when her family lost their home. The cat was quickly adopted but due to Brooke's age (6) she was of low interest to the public. RESCUE stepped in and 

was honored to make her apart of our RESCUE family. She now has a loving, gentle family with two kids and a canine brother. I'm confident that with time Brooke will come to feel safe and loved by her new family.

On 3/1 our 9th Annual Beauty to the RESCUE event took place. It was a HUGE success. For all the details please see our detailed blog post - Beauty to the RESCUE Re-cap.

On 3/3 we rescued a new dog, a Whippet mix that we named Brandi. She was spayed yesterday and will be going up for adoption shortly.  Brandi is a young, active, smart dog.  She loves being petted and if you want her video on our Facebook page, yo

u'll see that she actually will fall asleep while you pet her!  :0

On 3/4 Winston was adopted. Winston was on the "kill list" due to his shy, timid nature. His new family is a semi-retired couple who wanted a small canine friend. They fell in love with Winston and were eager to provide him with a quite, loving home where he can blossom.

On 3/5 we rescued four new cats. Jonas is a 6 month old long haired black kitty. He is very mellow, gentle and what I'd call a love muffin. Sophia is a one year old medium haired white and brown tabby cat. She is a recent mom of three polydactyl kittens. The kittens went up for adoption but due to Sophia having a case of mastitis (swollen mammary glands) she could not go up for adoption. Tucker is a big brown tabby. He is affectionate and playful. Giselle is a beautiful short haired mixed breed kitty. She looks like she has some tortie, tabby and cornish rex or Siamese in her. She is a very narrow kitty with a mild mannered personality. All four of the kitties have colds and are being cared for by our volunteers. In another week or two they 

will be healthy and we will then spay/neuter each of them and place them up for adoption.

On 3/6 Howie was adopted. He will be an only kitty, which I'm sure he will love getting all the attention.

On 3/7 Fergie was adopted. You may recall that Fergie was the cat that shared a cage at animal control with a leukemia positive cat. While the other cat, Nola had to be sent over the Rainbow Bridge, Fergie used one of her nine lives and escaped exposure to this terrible disease. Fergie, now known as Tycho, shares her 

home with two teenage boys and a new feline brother Gabriel. They are already fast friends.

On 3/7 Lexy was adopted. Her new parents are a retired couple with 

no other dogs or cats. Her new mom is hearing impaired. She wanted a canine friend but also a dog that could be her "ears." Lexy passed all the tests and will be starting her 18-month Guide Dog training on 4/1. We couldn't be happier for Lexy. She is a really smart dog and this is a perfect home for her!!

On 3/11 Betsy went to the vet to 

have her teeth cleaned.

On 3/11 Tristan was adopted. His new mom is a single woman with no other pets. Tristan is the cat that was abandoned by his owners on New Years eve. He was adopted four years prior at the same location on the exact same date. Tristan was up for adoption for 16 days, terrified and shaking. RESCUE stepped in and made him apart of our RESCUE family. His teeth were in terrible c

ondition and his fur was matted. We had his teeth cleaned and to our surprise, Tristan LOVED being brushed. He now has a gorgeous coat which he is happy to show you or have you brush. He has flourished in a short time and we know that he will continue to show his loving personality in his new home.

Thank you again for following RESCUE's journey and here's to a great week!

Beauty to the RESCUE Re-cap

Good morning,

The 9th Annual Beauty to the RESCUE was wildly successful and an enormous amount of fun!! Below are links to photos and a video of the event! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92323&id=27379542493 – photos http://www.facebook.com/video/?upload&oid=27379542493 – video

This year, with your help we raised a whopping $13,000!!!! YAHOO!!! That’s fantastic!!!! We couldn’t be happier and are so very thankful for all your support! For those of you who bid on auction items, thank you. The winners of those items will be contacted by Mane Attraction this week. The Grand Prize winner of the $500 cash was Marty Guy! Congrats Marty!!!!

This event has been hosted for the last nine years by two HUGE RESCUE supporters and adopters Kendall and Beate Ong! We can’t thank them enough for all their support and continued dedication to RESCUE’s mission! Their staff donated all their time to yesterday’s event and one very special staff member Suzanne did a enormous amount of work for the event as well. Suzanne secured almost all the silent auction items for the event! RESCUE is enormously grateful to Mane Attraction and all their staff!

We’d also like to thank the following folks for donating their time and/or services to the event:
Animal Attractions, Ilene McMahon, Chipotle, Gelato Spot, Pets on DVD, Noble Beast, Nadine M. Rosin, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Nick Ferrara, The DelRayz, SHOP RESCUE, Duck & Decanter, Fred Astaire Dance Studio, AJ’s Fine Food, Susan Barken, Cookies in Bloom, Two Mom’s in the Raw, Smart k9 Academy, Poochini Pet Salon, Rebecca’s Sunnybrook Farm, Painted Tails, Wei of Chocolate, Barbara Paster, P@G Beauty, Tarbell’s, Hot Air Expeditions, Hava Java, Village Racquet & Health Club, Vincent on Camelback, Paris Paris Studio, Ryan’s Pet Supplies, Fast Frame, Keegan’s, Delux, Trader Joe’s, Arizona Health Foods, Pug Notes, Tea Forte, Bluez Gallery, Macaroni Grill, Margo Media, Channel 10 and Channel 3.

It takes an enormous amount of RESCUE volunteers to staff this event too! I’d like to thank all the RESCUE volunteers for giving up a gorgeous Sunday to help the dogs and cats of RESCUE:

Teri & Pat Yeates, Katherine Johnston, Cindy Haverstock, Tanja Cooper, Mike Berry, Margie Olmsted, Diana Rowe, Julie Daughtery, Debi Mykitiak, Lisa Thomas, Khrisann Bond, Alissa & William Letendre, Bob Graham, Janette Brix, Karen Fanning, Alana Stroud, Katie Kasperek, Melissa Davis, Jennifer Purdon, Antonia Tichindelean, Leslie Lockhart, Kelly Mosher, Madison Thompson, Liz Taylor, Karen Currie, Bob & Carolyn Townsend, Beth Fredricks, Susan & Steve Manolis, Christine Devore, Cheryl DeRison, Sue Smalley, Jim McNerney, Chris Tussey, Kat Lippard, Valerie Yrigolla.

And of course the last and most important person we’d like to thank is YOU!!! You made this event successful! You helped us raise $13,000!! Your support of our event allows us to care for the dogs and cats of RESCUE and continue our efforts to save more lives that are awaiting their fates at Animal Control! We could not do any of this without you and we greatly appreciate your continued support!

We hope to see you next year!!!

Jennifer Berry