May 28th, 2009

Hello RESCUE followers!  Here's what's been going on at RESCUE:

On 5/15 RESCUE dog Kira moved into foster care.  She is doing AWESOME!  You may recall that she was the dog we saved with the cherry eye and the ulcer on her eye... additionally Kira was quite despondent when we rescued her. :(  I am very happy to report that through the love and care of RESCUE's volunteers Kira has become playful, loving and happy.  Her foster mom Susan continues to help her flourish and Kira is becoming quite animated!  We couldn't be happier for her!  New photos will follow soon.

On 5/22 RESCUE dog Bailey was adopted.  His adopter is a former RESCUE adopter of Skittles, now Mia.  Bailey and Mia are best buds already and have been playing non-stop! :)  Joe, the adopter promises to send us photos soon of the happy family!

On 5/23 RESCUE dog Hank moved into foster care with Bailey's former foster mom Jessica.  Bailey was Jessica's first foster dog so she was understandable sad (but happy) when Bailey was adopted.  Jessica helped Bailey so much with his confidence and manners and we have no doubt that she'll help our young boy Hank in the same manner.  Stay tuned for updates.

On 5/26 RESCUE dog Gretel moved over to our doggie day care location.  She is going to have an adoption appointment with the adopter of former RESCUE dog Willie.  He has an awesome life and we think Gretel and him will be fantastic playmates.  Stay tuned.

On 5/27 RESCUE was privileged to save two more lives.  Mandi is a white and black adorable young terrier mix.  She is so spunky and fun.  When I look at her video now, I think I should have named her Flower.  She was a CUTE black stripe up the underside of her tail.  She will need to be spayed before going up for adoption but I'm sure she won't be with us for long!!  Danny is a whippet/beagle mix, weighing a mere 12 pounds!!! :(  He is just skin and bones.  But despite that he has an amazing loving personality.  He moved into foster care shortly after we rescued him.  I'm sure he'll get fattened up in no time.  Danny was at Animal Control for nearly a month before we stepped in.  He also had some sort of cloth embedded into his neck.  :(  He lost nearly all his fur on his neck but it is growing back in.  We'll get Danny up to a healthy weight, build up his confidence and he'll be a happy go lucky doggie in no time!!

We have several adoption appointments over the next couple of days - thank goodness!  It's very unbearable slow on the adoption front.  All the groups are suffering, not only from lack of adoptions but with being filled beyond capacity with dogs and cats.  

The Humane Society here in the valley only takes in "owner surrenders," which means that strays are not accepted, only animals that someone physically owned.  It's very sad that we have an organization that solely exists for the purpose of taking in animals that people don't want!  The Humane Society reported this week that they have taken in 2,600 cats during the month of May!!!!! :(  I can personally attest to the overflowing numbers of cats at Animal Control as well.  They had cats in every open cage and multiple cats in dozens of cages.  :(  Animal Control reported that they took in over 17,400 dogs and cats during January through April of this year (normally a slow time)!!  While RESCUE does not take in animals from the public (we save the dogs and cats that are going to be killed at Animal Control or the Humane Society) we too have seen a drastic drop in our cat adoptions.  And the dogs are not fairing that much better either. 

I had mentioned in a previous post that the summer months are the most challenging for the animal community and it appears this year will not be an exception.  :(  While none of this news is good, there are still ways for all of us to help - Adopt, Donate, Volunteer.  If you can't adopt, donate or volunteer, you can help us by telling others about RESCUE.  Believe it or not but there are people out there that don't know about all the homeless animals that are being killed or about how RESCUE helps save and place as many as we possible can.  Please do what you can to help.

We really appreciate your support!  Thank you for continuing to follow our journey.  We hope to see you again.  

May 14th, 2009

Hello RESCUE followers,

Here's what's been going on since our last post:

On 5/6 RESCUE cat Christian was adopted.  His adopters were looking for another cat to keep their 16 year old kitty company.  They had recently lost their other 16 year old cat.  When I spoke to Kimberlie we had just saved Christian and I wanted to get to know him a bit better before his potential adopters came to meet him.  On 5/6 they came to meet him and loved him even more than the photos and videos that I had sent them.  :)  On 5/8 we received an email that their 16 year old cat had suddenly fallen ill, was rushed to the hospital and after many hours of heartache they had to let her go.  :(  They were devastated.  Losing two of their feline companions in such a short period of time was more than one should bear.  But Christian must have sensed their sorrow because he helped them heal and comforted them during their tragedy.  Maybe Christian was meant to come into their lives at that time for this very reason...who knows.  I know that his adopters are very grateful for him and his companionship.  They have renamed him Dusty Bottoms and promise to send more photos soon.

On 5/6 RESCUE dog Diamond was adopted.  Her new home is with a couple with no other dogs or cats.  Her new dad is retired and looking forward to Diamond's companionship, while Diamond's new mom is an avid 2-3 mile a day walker.  This is perfect for Diamond as she is a great snuggler and walker!!

On 5/6 RESCUE kitten Tasha got her first set of kitten shots.  She was none to happy about that!  She continues to grow and is up to 2.6 pounds.  We continue to work on her socialization with other people and cats as well.

On 5/8 RESCUE dog Shani had another check up with the vet.  She looked FANTASTIC!!!  She continues to do amazing and we should be able to spay her soon.  We set up a Facebook page just for her if you'd like to see her progress from when we saved her.

RESCUE and Whole Foods have partnered together for their Wooden Nickel Program.  The program will run from 5/11 to 7/5 at their Tatum and Shea location.  If you bring in your own bags, they will donate a nickel per bag back to RESCUE!!!  Please help support our efforts.  Every little bit helps.

On 5/12 RESCUE cat Big Papi moved into foster care.  Big Papi is a very chatty Black Smoke Mane Coon cat.  He is the only kitty in foster care and has a stay at home mom to chat away the day with.  He is doing well and we'll continue to update you on his time in foster care.

On 5/12 RESCUE was honored to save three dogs lives.  Gretel is a scruffy 8 pound little terrier mix.  Hank is a handsome 45 pound Flat Coated Retriever mix.  Merlin is a 93 pound Anatolian Shepherd.  While Gretel and Hank were stray dogs, Merlin had an owner.  Merlin has ended up at the pound several times.  Unfortunately this last time his owner didn't return phones or come to pick up Merlin.  All three are safe and being well cared for with us.  Merlin is extra lucky because he is enjoying his time in foster care.  We'll keep you posted on all three.

On 5/13 RESCUE dog Fozzy was adopted.  Thanks to a referral from a RESCUE volunteer, Fozzy found his new mom!  He now shares his home with a 9 year old canine brother, a mom that works from home and he only lives a couple of miles from his foster parents!!

I think that brings you up to speed on the last week or so of RESCUE.  Thank you for all your support.  Please help us spread the word about RESCUE.  Here's to another great week!  We hope you continue to follow our journey.

May 4th, 2009

Good morning RESCUE followers!

I hope you had a great weekend.  Here's a re-cap on last week for RESCUE:

On 4/27 former RESCUE dog Diamond was returned by her adopter.  Diamond's adopter took a new job that requires her to travel a great deal.  She was unable to pay for a petsitter or boarding while she was away for work so she returned Diamond to us.  Diamond is adjusting well and already has another adoption appointment later this week.

On 4/29 RESCUE dog Jake moved from foster care to doggie day care.  He is having a blast playing with all the dogs.  RESCUE dog Fozzy also went to the vet on 4/29 for his long awaited dental.  As I mentioned previously, it appeared that poor Fozzy never had his teeth cleaned.  :(  As a result, he needed to have six teeth removed.  :0  However, none of the teeth removed were his canines or incisors, which is good news.  I am happy to report that Fozzy has completely recovered and even went swimming this weekend!!  He has some added energy and is enjoying his foster home.

RESCUE dog Shani continues to do really well with her skin condition.  I'm hoping for more photos that I will share with you as I get them.

RESCUE kitty Tasha will be receiving her first vaccine this week.  While we have a great deal of concern over vaccine protocols it is important to properly vaccine puppies and kittens.  

On 5/1 RESCUE dog Misti moved from foster care to doggie day care.  Everyone adores our beautiful girl.  I'm sure she'll get a lot of wonderful exposure and love from our volunteers while in day care.

On 5/1 I met with GPGLCC in the hopes that RESCUE could make some connections with local businesses to help support our efforts of saving dogs and cats from the kill list.  One of the GPGLCC Board Members recently adopted RESCUE dog Ariel from us so we had one foot in the door.  I think the meeting went well.  There were some wonderful opportunities promised to RESCUE.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that they come to fruition.  I'll keep you posted.

Unfortunately on 5/3 RESCUE kitty Candy was returned from foster care due to a family allergy.  Candy is a long time RESCUE kitty and we were hopefully that this was going to be her forever home.  It didn't work out that way, but we won't give up on finding a loving home for Candy.  She is a bit upset at the moment but she'll calm down again and the RESCUE volunteers will continue to love and care for her while she awaits her forever home.

The last couple of weeks have been slow for adoptions and as a result rescues are down as well.  I did see a bit of an upswing this past weekend which I am hoping will continue for awhile.  Unfortunately the summer months tend to be the slowest months for adoption and rescues for the animal movement.  This is due to a myriad of reasons like moving, vacations, heat, etc.  This summer may follow the past trends or it may not if the economy picks up.  We'll see.  

The saddest fact about this information is that the summer months are the toughest on the animals in kill shelters.  The number of animals that are dropped off or picked up off the streets during the summer months is MUCH, MUCH higher than any other time of the year.  :(  So the need for RESCUE is great, but without adoptions and donations we can't help save them when they need us the most.  But there is hope....YOU!  Yes that's right - YOU.  You can help make a difference.  You can spread the word about RESCUE.  Ask people to Adopt, Donate and/or Volunteer their time with RESCUE.  All of these things make a difference and allow us to continue our much needed efforts.  

Please spread the word about RESCUE.  We greatly appreciate your support.  Thank you for following our journey.  Here's to a great week!!