HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

Sugar is the typical type of dog you find in shelters, not small, not extra large, of unknown pedigree, but looks vaguely like she could have a little lab in her. Oh yes, and she is almost totally black. Dogs like this don’t survive at the shelter. They often get passed up for adoption because perhaps their lack of markings don’t catch someone’s eye, they are hard to photograph attractively on shelter websites if someone doesn’t bother to take them outside, and there are so many others that look like them that they don’t stand out.

Fortunately, Sugar isn’t at the shelter, but she is on her way there!  She and several other housemates are in the same predicament. Their owner has threatened to dump them all at animal control if Saving Shelter Pets cannot help them! The pound in question just hasn’t had a high adoption rate lately if you are a Heinz 57, so this looks like their only chance. Sugar and her housemates have not been in the shelter, so do not need to be quarantined before going on transport to rescue, but they still do need lots of vetting, not to mention being spayed or neutered. It will cost $225 for each dog to be spayed or neutered, transported, dewormed, given all necessary shots and other health care.

Please, if you can give even just a little to help Sugar and her three pals, it would be so much appreciated to save their lives. Click the banner to donate today. All donations are tax deductible.

Just a reminder:  There are twelve days left before election day. Not only will you be electing the next President of the United States, but many of you will be voting for Congress members, state senate, and everything on down to city council. Some of these folks are paid a salary and some are volunteer or receive a stipend that in no way compensates them for their service.

Many people have asked what my views are when it comes to politics. Most national politicians started out on a county commission or somewhere at the state or city level.  You should take care and make it a point to vote in the “little races,” otherwise you have no room to grumble when you feel blindsided that “there are no good candidates.”  A lot of people wish “the little guy” would get in the White House.  You never know…the very best President that ever could be  could have never been because people didn’t turn out to vote for them, even though they believed in them, when they were just starting out in the state house or the city council.  In otherwords….educate yourself and vote.  Don’t just randomly check boxes for your local judges and county commissioners.  Find out what they are about and what they are like.

This could be a needle in a haystack, but the power of the internet has come through before for information posted on this site.  There is a missing dog in Florida that needs your help.  He needs you to keep your eyes open, to contact your friends in the area, and to post elsewhere on the internet to increase his chance of coming home.

He is not a typical missing dog, as he didn’t run away.

A friendly husky mix was rescued from a Georgia kill shelter, and ultimately placed in a foster home in Florida.  It is believed that instead of contacting the responsible organization to move the dog to another foster when they were unable to fulfill their commitment, it is believed that they possibly surrendered the dog to the shelter, or have placed him in the custody of someone whose identity is unknown to the organization.  It is believed that the dog was moved quickly.   The dog was last physically seen in Oveido, Florida, and was known to have moved to a location in Daytona, Florida before the trail cooled.

Needless to say, there are many individuals who helped him along the way who are working around the clock to find him. If I had the means to drive over there, I would be knocking on doors myself.

The local animal control shelter in Daytona Beach has been informed of this dog, but we are contacting every shelter from Orlando to Daytona to Titusville.  If you live in the area, please alert your favorite rescue organizations, and neighbors. Also, if you can take a look at the bulletin boards at the pet stores/vet office or post his story, that would be wonderful.   I can send you the highest resolution photo that is available.

The dog is an adult Husky mix, and closest to what a lot of husky sites call “sable” in color.   His head and color pattern looks Siberian, but his coat and body look less so.  He is not as “compact” as a Siberian if that makes any sense. The fosterer started calling him “Tater,” so that may be what he answers to, but I am not sure if he would.  He will go into a crate or jump up on a car seat on command, and is friendly towards people and other dogs.  The dog is microchipped and registered to the name of a volunteer that helped rescue him, and used her name and phone number on the chip until a permanent home was found.

It is hoped that if the dog does end up at a shelter, he will be scanned for a microchip.  However, if the individual presented themselves as if they owned the dog and were turning him in, not everyone could be expected to check.

If you live on the West Coast from Jacksonville to Titusville or Central from Orlando to Daytona, please leave a comment. We can supply you with a photo to post if you would like to join in on the search and help some nice people who care about this dog.

This dog has a loving home waiting with a wonderful and responsible family.

Dear Friends,
As I wrote a short time ago, there are emergency drivers needed  to save dogs and cats in Lousiana.   The shelters are euthanizing the whole population in anticipation of the storm.   Local Disaster Relief Services has put out a plea for:

- Any trucker in the Gulf Coast who has a refrigerated truck (a.k.a reefers) to report immediately.  Daily rates will be paid, but of course your satisfaction in making a difference will be the bonus. (Or vice versa).

- Other volunteer drivers

Over 160 souls at one shelter alone will be thankful for your effort.

If these adoptable cats and dogs do not get a ride out, they will be euthanized to make room.  Please help get them to a safe destination where they can be reunited with their familes (as some are recent strays) or just get a second chance.

AT LEASE 20 TRUCKS ARE NEEDED!

If you can do this, please call now:

Susan at Kat5 Rescue: 972-898-3300 (in Louisiana)

I also have numbers of another rescue that put out a request:

MuttShack Rescue:
Brian 318-820-9607
David 516-492-6787
or Alicia 516-282-6849

Stay Tuned for More Updates

Our friend at Paws Awhile needs our advice right away.   She does so much to educate people about “InDogs,” the various native breeds of India, and promotes how important it is for the local population to treat them kindly.  She has rescued many beautiful dogs off the streets.

Now, our help is requested.  A neighbor has accused her dogs of killing their cat.  It is completely not true.  The cat had died, perhaps from being hit by a car.   Because the dogs passed by the house after the face, the neighbor is pinning it on the dogs and threatens to harm them.

Can you offer any good advice?

Remember, the usual organizations that you would think of, like the SPCA or Humane Society don’t have jurisdiction there.

CLICK HERE to lend your advice and help out.

There are millions of people that suffer from a silent disease. Sometimes, when people suffer from a serious accident, they lose some of their mobility. Luckily, in many cases there is hope of learning new ways to get around, or with emotional support, one can overcome the initial shock and mentally get back to being one’s self. However, Alzheimer’s Disease is often described as the disease where you don’t lose a limb, or the merely the ability to dance the polka, or ride a roller coaster….you lose yourself.

Did you know that every 71 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It is not just a case of “forgetfulness,” but among the top 10 causes of death in the United States. Some may think that it is a very new phenomena and something must have changed in our environment to cause this. On the contrary, I believe that it has been around longer than we know. I worked in a funeral home’s office for a short time as a college student. One day, we came around some eighty year old records, and in many cases, cause of death was listed as “senility.” I highly suspected that some of these folks could have suffered from Alzheimer’s. It was just not a recognized condition at that time.

Throughout this summer and fall, you can participate in the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk to raise awareness and raise money for this heartbreaking condition. The walk may start at various places all over the country, but the destination is the same: a world without Alzheimer’s. On their site, you can search for local walks. Once you find one, you can even click below to start your own team:

The walk also benefits you. Not only can you feel good about lending a helping hand, but walking and other regular moderate exercise decreases your risk of many diseases. Make it a family affair and start a tradition.

This sweet, sweet lady is formerly an expectant momma. She is at Heard County Animal Control, and has given birth, so far, to nine adorable puppies on the cold shelter floor. She has a rescue that has said YES to her. Only one problem. They are all the way in South Carolina, all the way almost to the North Carolina border. We need a volunteer or two!

Can you:

- Drive from Franklin, in South West Georgia (an hour and a half west of Atlanta) to northern South Carolina.
- Bring a passenger with you to look in on the pups, and periodically make sure no one is rolled on or no one gets crushed, etc. They are only a day old!
- Have an SUV or station wagon, where you can lay blankets down. A crate is not appropriate for them, as the pups could pressed against the sides, and there is so man of them.
- Provide water for mom, and a little dog food just in case she cares to eat.

Alternately, we can break this up into two different “teams” to each drive halfway, though it would be best for momma and the new family not to have to be moved.

If you can do something like this, you can save a life! Actually, about a dozen lives! Wouldn’t that be a great feeling to know that those little tiny puppies whose eyes aren’t even open yet won’t contract a disease in the shelter, but will be able to grow up in a loving foster home. They will be raised up and then adopted into loving homes. Mom will get a second chance to.

It is an unfortunate result of many people still not getting the spay and neuter message. If mom had been spayed, her people wouldn’t have felt overwhelmed with the idea of little mouths to feed and may not have dumped her at the shelter.

If you can help mom, please comment on this blog and I will get in touch! Also, if you cannot, but may be able to drive a different route sometime, please let me know. There are plenty of opportunities available!

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Josie is a sweet little mother dog who is hopeful in extended her paw out for help for her little family.   She is some type of mixed breed dog, perhaps a little corgi in her somewhere.   She was minding her own business, but when her family found out she was pregnant, she was cast aside into the shelter.  They abandoned her at her time of need!  

When SSP found out about sweet Josie, her pups were born at the shelter and hours old. She is hoping to continue to raise her family and see all of her pups off to wonderful homes (and to be spayed when they leave the nest..

For more information on how you can support Saving Shelter Pets, Inc., in helping Josie, and her family’s incredible journey from brush with death to well….brushed with a brush….please visit the SSP Blog HERE.

It is only Monday and already the week is turning out to be rather grim.  

Firstly, there are 13 cats that are stranded and in trouble.   A rescue had agreed to take them.  Volunteers took different legs on the relayed transport.  When the cats were 3/4 of the way on their journey, the rescue told them to turn back around!    Friday was euthanization day at Heard County Animal Control and only because they were being picked up over the weekend by a driver that the shelter knows to be reliable, did the shelter consider holding them over.   In fact, the rescue didn’t seem to care if they had to be returned to the shelter, their lives were immediately in danger.

The transporter had to take them back with her and find a temporary spot to hold them in.   Rescues and temporary foster homes are sought for these sweet cats.  There are 11 kittens and 2 adult cats.   Currently they are north of the Atlanta area, but out of area/state situations will be considered.

Please leave a comment if you can help, and I will put you in touch.

(Above is a photo of one of the actual cats that are in desperate need.)

On Friday, Saving Shelter Pets received word that two shelters were cleaning out.   There were too few adoptions over the holiday weekend and dogs were just coming in with no end in sight.      SSP was able to step up a blockbuster group of eleven of these sweethearts.     Standing between the dogs and freedom is finding the funding.

I am happy to report that 6 lucky dogs are fully sponsored. (4 dogs from Heard County Animal Control, which you read a lot about in this blog, 1 dog from Murray County, and 1 tag along from Elbert County who was next in line.)  Four still need a little more funding.   This funding gives them complete vet care, including spay and neuter, and making them well, if needed.  It also includes quarantine outside of the shelter for 14 days, and transport to rescue.

Sweet Kira is a brindle boxer mix.  For some reason, after the color black, dogs with brindle patterned coats are often overlooked at shelters, too. I am not sure why. Maybe they associate the pattern with Pit Bulls, even though the pattern is very common in Boxers, Plott Hounds, Mastiffs…and can even occur in dachshunds! (Though Kira wouldn’t be a doxie.)

She hails from Murray County Animal Control.

Francesca is a little lady who was overlooked because she was so terrified of being at the shelter.

It was recognized by volunteers how sweet this girl was, despite being scared. They could see through it, and knew she was a dog with lots of potential. Now, she is getting an opportunity to have a family of her own.

Max and Pearl are a brother and sister team. They were abandoned as babies, and had a pretty rough life. They depend on eachother so much. Maybe that is why rescues or adopters overlooked them previously – afraid to split the pair.

Please visit the Saving Shelter Pets Myspace Blog to find out what is required! CLICK HERE.