Good News In Pet Adoption 8.14

This week we bring you two stories, first a pet saving story that spans from Puerto Rico all the way to East Hartford. Second, a NM women who helps military dogs live a healthy retirement.


Rescued Dogs: From Puerto Rico To Connecticut
– A East Hartford women helps take a bite out of pet over population in Puerto Rico.

NM woman works to get military dogs adopted. Debbie Kandoll works with the military and law enforcement to find retired dogs a loving home. Read more about here website and experience with German Sheppard transitioning from the Military to civilian life.

Good News In Pet Adoption 7.24 – Happy Beginnings

Below is a beautiful note we received from Patricia Chavous about the wonderful experience she had adopting not one, but TWO sweet polydactyl kittens (polydactyls, also known as Hemingway cats, have thumb-like appendages on their paws) from Whiskers in Waiting rescue:

Dear Adopt-a-Pet.com,

I want to thank you for your efforts in saving animals.

I have been in animal rescue for many years, I have lost both legs and can no longer help in this way. All my pets have been rescues, we chose each other through fate and need.

My family has had polydactyls since my great grandmother. For once I decided to chose kitties and go back to my childhood. I felt guilty because I always wanted to help those that had the most need.
Adopt-a-Pet.com helped me do that – I adopted two sibling polys from Missouri, from Whiskers in Waiting ten days ago.

They have fit in beautifully with my feral cats who have been with me for thirteen years. They have charmed everyone and have given my family great happiness.

Even though I am in a wheelchair, they climb the wheels when they are tired and sleep in my lap. They will be with my husband and me as long as they live.

Again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Patricia Chavous

World's Oldest Dog Turns 21 – ADOPT A SENIOR!

Today, the world’s oldest dog turns 21.  Chanel, a dachshund who lives with her owner on Long Island, NY, wears goggles to protect her cataracts and long ago faded from red to grey.  She still is a much-beloved family member, though, treasured every bit as much today as she was when she was adopted from a shelter in Virginia as a puppy.

Every dog should be as lucky as Chanel.  In an idea world, all dogs would have a warm, safe home in which to grow old.  All dogs would have a loving family to take care of them in their later years.  Unfortunately, through a variety of circumstances, many senior dogs end up in the animal shelter.  Sometimes their owners, also elderly, must move to a care facility that doesn’t accept pets.  Sometimes, owners can no longer afford to care for a dog that needs age-related medical procedures or medication.  Sadly, in some cases the owners simply want a newer, younger dog.  It’s tragic, but true.

In honor of Chanel, let’s make today Adopt a Senior Dog Day!  Seniors make wonderful companions and they have so much love to give.  Please go to the “Search Dog” page, enter in your zip code, and select “senior” from the age menu.  Find a wonderful senior dog in your area.  If you can’t adopt that sweetheart yourself, post a link to the dog’s information page on Facebook, Twitter him/her out to your followers, or simply email a link to all your friends.  Let’s get those beautiful seniors out of the shelter and into the loving homes they so richly deserve!

Hero of the Month: D.A.W.G.S., a shelter run entirely by kids!

Hard workers who are committed to helping our county’s shelter animals come in all shapes and sizes.  The Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary in Texas’ panhandle is proof positive of that!

This very special rescue group is run almost entirely by children.  One historic spring in 2003 school teacher Dianne Trull was talking to her students about pet over population and one child earnestly inquired, “Why do the dogs have to die?”

Able to grasp the power in that moment and unwilling to tell her students that they were powerless to help these desperate animals, Diane instead took it upon herself to empower these young leaders.  As Diane puts it, together her students, her family and she set out to “change how the world works.  And change the world they have done indeed–in spite of tremendous obstacles– for themselves and the over 5,000 dogs and cats they have placed in loving homes!

Diane’s commitment and that of her students was tested early on when the community forced them out of their existing shelter and they had to move over 500 animals during a blizzard to another nearby location.  Regardless of season, the weather in Dalhart continues to pose some of the most challenging obstacles; Wind speeds get up to 70 mph and temperatures can range from 70 degrees one day to below zero the following day…not to mention tornados and hurricanes that frequent the area.

However, D.A.W.G.S. founder Diane is reluctant to focus on these challenges. She invariably brings the conversation back to focus on the animals saved and the amazing kids who, now in high school and mentoring other young students, are still hard at work helping the animals.

In an effort to protect the shelter from the forces of nature, D.A.W.G.S.  is now enrolled in a USDA conservation program that will match the funds they raise to build a natural windbreak out of trees. This is yet another challenge for the amazing team at D.A.W.G.S, a challenge we have no doubt they will meet.  Especially if we all put the word out and show them that they have the support of all of us. See: http://www.dawgsntexas.com/HTML/newdonations2007.html if you’d like to help.

And with volunteers like fourth grader Hannah, we know the D.A.W.G.S.   animals are in great hands; According to Hannah, the shelter is like “the little engine that could–we just keep thinking we can, thinking we can, thinking we can….and finally we make it!”

Big News…we're promoting pet adoption with Martha Stewart

Exciting news!  If all goes as planned, Adopt-a-Pet.com will be featured on the Martha Stewart Show next Wednesday, March 18th!  We’re heading to NY to join our friends from Purina on a show entirely dedicated to all things pet.

Tune in to see Pia Salk talking about the beauty of pet adoption.  She’ll even introduce a couple of adorable dogs needing homes.  We bet they won’t be homeless for long after they’re featured on national TV.  We hope that a lot of people from all over the country will be inspired to adopt a pet from their local shelter or rescue group and will learn that Adopt-a-Pet.com is a great resource to assist in their quest for a perfect match.

A Leash Lesson for All of Us

I saw a story on the news this weekend about firefighters who staged a daring rescue of a dog who had fallen through a frozen lake in Massachusetts.  Thanks to their heroic actions, the dog survived, but one of the firefighters was briefly trapped beneath the ice and had to be taken to a hospital to be treated for hypothermia.  I looked up the story online and noticed that the user comments fell squarely into one of two camps: there were those who were grateful to the firefighters for saving the dog’s life, and there were those who were angry and didn’t understand why a human being would risk their own life to save a dog.

Those of us who treasure our dogs, cats, and other animals as family members understand.  We can easily put ourselves in the shoes of the dog’s human family and shudder to imagine the panic they must have been feeling during the two-hour ordeal.  It must have been terrifying for them (and for the poor dog as well), and the gratitude they felt to the firefighters must have been beyond words.  I am extremely happy for them that their story had a happy ending.

That said, this incident was avoidable.  According to the fire lieutenant, the dog was not on a leash and traveled 300 feet onto the ice before he fell through.  Had the owners kept a leash on their dog, firefighters would not have had to risk their lives to enact this rescue.  Please, always obey leash laws.  If there are no leash laws in your area, use common sense. Never allow your dog off leash near an ice-covered body of water or any other potential hazard!