Melody, a senior Pit Bull, is at Longmont Humane Society, which just received a disaster grant from the Petfinder Foundation.
We’ve sent $6,000 in disaster aid to Longmont Humane Society (LHS) in Longmont, Colo., where staff members have been working tirelessly to care for 190 pets displaced by the region’s deadly floods. This grant follows yesterday’s $3,000 disaster grant to nearby Humane Society of Boulder Valley, which is housing 70 displaced pets. (Read about HSBV’s grant.)
“We are incredibly grateful,” LHS Executive Director Liz Smokowski tells us in a phone call from the busy shelter, which has stayed open to help pets despite being located in an evacuation zone.
Development Associate Carrie Brackenridge tells us that some 1,500 homes have been destroyed and another 17,500 have been damaged by the flooding, which began on Sept. 12.
As with HSBV, the displaced pets arrived when the shelter was already full. “Single-occupancy capacity at LHS is 368 animals,” Brackenridge tells us. “As of Sept. 17, we are housing 441 animals. As a result of caring for evacuated animals, LHS is experiencing an increase in our daily operational costs. Supplies such as food, healthcare items and cleaning products have been in increased usage, and resources such as staff time and utility usage have increased dramatically.”
Shelter staff are fitting in the extra animals wherever they can, housing many in office spaces.
To make matters worse, some of the displaced pets are showing signs of Giardia infection that they may have contracted from the floodwaters. An outbreak of Giardia, a highly contagious intestinal parasite, would threaten all the shelter’s animals, so staffers are disinfecting aggressively and feeding the affected pets special food. “We are really starting to worry that the next chapter in this crisis is going to be medical issues,” Smokowski says.
Our disaster grant will be a huge help. “This funding from Petfinder Foundation will be instrumental in relieving the costs associated with current rescue efforts,” Smokowski says. “We are very grateful!”
The animal flood victims have joined more than 200 homeless cats, dogs, birds and pocket pets that are already being cared for by the always-full shelter, CEO Lisa Pedersen tells us.
“I so appreciate the grant,” Pedersen says. “That will really help.”
HSBV is caring for displaced pets at its shelter and at an off-site location it is managing in conjunction with the Red Cross, Pedersen says. As evacuated families find temporary shelter, some of them are returning to HSBV to pick up their pets.
But even more families, whose homes either were destroyed or are inaccessible because of washed-out roads, may need HSBV to look after their pets for months.
“We are preparing to match these pets up with foster homes, or to provide them with long-term care,” Pedersen tells us.
“We couldn’t have done it without that equipment,” Shannon Walajtys, IFAW’s animal rescue program manager for disaster response, tells us.
The Petfinder Foundation granted the truck and trailer to IFAW in 2007, just after Hurricane Katrina struck.
IFAW Animal Rescue Officer Jennifer Gardner says the truck proved essential when HSUS asked IFAW to travel from Cape Cod, Mass., to Georgia to assist with the dog-fighting bust.
“The truck was one of three animal-rescue rigs that were integral in our support of HSUS,” Gardner says.
The rescued dogs had been subjected to extreme heat without fresh water or food. (Photo: ASPCA)
The truck and 36-foot trailer were loaded with field equipment and also offered a refuge for first responders. “It was that go-to vehicle that had the first-aid kits, the coolers with water and Gatorade, the fruits and vegetables we brought for responders. It was the place for people to take a five-minute break when they needed to after being on the crime scene,” Walajtys says.
Walajtys says the 367 seized dogs have been moved to temporary shelters and that IFAW will continue to assist HSUS and the ASPCA as needed on the case. Meanwhile, the Petfinder Foundation’s truck and trailer have moved on to their next assignment with IFAW.
“It’s been demobilized and sent to Mississippi,” Gardner says, “so it can be ready and staged during the hurricane season.”
The Petfinder Foundation truck is ready for its next lifesaving IFAW assignment. (Photo: IFAW)
BIVI veterinarian Marian Little with Wrangler on her wedding day
Not only is Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI), a major partner in our Shot At Life campaign to vaccinate 2 million homeless pets — many of its staff members are adoption advocates who found their best friends on Petfinder. That includes veterinarian Marian Little.
Little, who works for BIVI’s Equine Professional Services division in Lexington, Ky., tells us how she came across her dog Wrangler’s photo in 2006 as she was searching for a running buddy from Roane County Animal Shelter in Rockwood, Tenn.
“I was attracted to his photo because he seemed so incredibly cute, yet desperately afraid and disheveled,” she says. “He looked like a mess in his photo, which was out of focus and likely taken when he was cornered in his dog run.”
Little looked past Wrangler’s unflattering photo and went to meet him. (Our One Picture Saves a Life grant program, which, like A Shot At Life, is supported by The Animal Rescue Site, teaches shelter and rescue group staff and volunteers to take terrific photos, so that adopters like Little are smitten right away.)
After being abandoned at a shelter, Wrangler lives the good life today.
Little was instantly smitten with Wrangler, who was about 8-10 months old. They’ve been together ever since, through milestones such as surgeries (Wrangler needed his knees repaired) and Little’s wedding.
Adopting Wrangler turned Little into a dedicated proponent for adoption.
“One decision. One dog. One chance,” she says. “For Wrangler, my decision to adopt meant a chance at everything he’d never known — a stable home, family, and a long happy life he wouldn’t have had otherwise. And for me, the decision to adopt him has meant the world. Every day since, he rewards me with his love, companionship, and unabashed devotion, and he adds a brilliant color to my life that I couldn’t imagine not seeing.”
Wrangler also inspired Little to welcome Gringo, another shelter dog, into her family.
“I thought Wrangler needed a buddy, being alone while I worked during the day,” she says. “Gringo was also on Petfinder — adopted, returned, reposted — and then I found him and adopted him, sight-unseen.
“He’s an odd little dog. But when I brought Gringo home, there was no snarling or growling — he and Wrangler were immediate friends.”
Wrangler (left) and Gringo
Today, Little advocates for adoption with her friends, family and colleagues at BIVI. And her employer has followed her lead by working with us to send weekly all-staff e-mails about adoptable pets.
“Right now, thousands of dogs of every breed, size, color, gender, and personality sit in shelters desperately awaiting just one single chance at a future, just one person who chooses to visit that day and happens to look their way,” Little says. “There’s no reason to buy a dog when every one of those lives, and undoubtedly your own, can be transformed by the single decision to visit a shelter. So make one decision. Pick one dog. Give that one a shot at life. It’s that simple to me.”
We’re rushing $2,500 in disaster aid to the Humane Society of Tuolumne County in Jamestown, Calif., a small shelter that’s working day and night to care for 30 dogs and cats displaced by California’s raging Rim Fire.
In addition to our cash grant, we’ve partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., to send the shelter cat vaccinations, dog vaccinations and pain medicine, which will help pets recovering from spay/neuter surgeries. We’re also working with our friends at Thundershirt to send the calming shirts to the shelter, which will not only help the 30 displaced pets but the 25 homeless pets also in residence.
“We’re so happy [about all the donations],” Shelter Operations Director Doryene Rapini tells us. “We’ve been wanting to buy Thundershirts, but we can’t afford them. This will really help because some of the animals are so scared.”
Our granted Thundershirts will help calm Harvey.
Rapini says one of her staff members has worked for 12 days straight, and that she’s had to hire additional staff to care for the displaced pets.
“In addition, we have called for all available volunteers to help with the increased workload of cleaning, walking, cuddling and nurturing the animals in our care until this crisis is over,” she tells us. “Although at this time we are unsure how long [the crisis] will last, we are currently at day 12 as the fire continues to spread and 4,500 structures are threatened.”
Rapini says our grant was going to make a huge difference: “We’re so small, and our community is not the wealthiest, so getting help is just amazing.”
Here are updates from three shelters who received our SNAP-X spay/neuter grants.
Dixie, a pit pull mix in Florida
Sarah Humlie, managing director of the Humane Society of Pensacola, tells us about a timid pit mix:
“We operate a no-kill shelter in an area where the county animal shelter euthanizes approximately 3,000 dogs every year. A large portion of those dogs are bully breeds and pit mixes, due to the difficulty of finding suitable adoptable homes for those breeds. With the help of this grant, we were able to transfer two pit-mix mothers, with their litters of puppies (14 total!), from the county shelter to our facility, where they were able to receive the time they needed to wean their puppies and be adopted into loving homes.
“One of the mothers, Dixie, was a very timid pit bull-Lab mix. When she first arrived at the Humane Society, she wouldn’t walk on a leash at all, only lie down, and she had to be carried everywhere in order to go the bathroom, play in the yard, or go to the vet. At the time of transfer, she was very pregnant, and within a week she gave birth to nine healthy puppies!
“Dixie stayed with a wonderful foster family while she nursed and weaned the puppies. They brought her out of her shell, housetrained her, and taught her how to play fetch. Now, you will never find her without a favorite toy in her mouth. She is still learning how to walk on a leash, but with her new, trusted owner, she has made remarkable progress. Thanks to funding through this grant, Dixie, only a year and a half old, was able to be spayed and adopted to a wonderful home!”
Pat Getter, president of Doberman Rescue of Nevada in Las Vegas, sends us the story of a Doberman who couldn’t stand up:
“Dottie, a young female Doberman stray, was picked up by animal control and taken to a Southern California shelter where she wouldn’t get up in her crate. She was sweet and friendly and apparently had just weaned a litter of pups. But if the shelter couldn’t get her to stand, let alone walk, they would put her down. Nothing showed up on the X-rays, so vets didn’t know what to treat. Could it be Wobbler syndrome? Could it be a cruciate [knee] injury? A shelter volunteer got the word out to local rescue groups, who then spread the word throughout the western Doberman-rescue network.
“With the wheels in motion to try to find a rescue group to pull her, the shelter gave her time, and Tuesday was now Thursday. By Friday, this black-and-tan beauty was a little stronger. And by Saturday, she was standing when DRNV’s volunteer came to see her and make arrangements to pull her on Tuesday to bring her to Las Vegas.
“The shelter vet joked that maybe she heard all the commotion about being euthanized and she realized she needed to stand up for herself – literally. Or perhaps, she simply had a badly bruised leg – maybe she’d been hit by a car – and needed a few days for the soreness to subside. But when she arrived in Las Vegas to be spayed, she was up and around, walking on all fours, and you would have never known this was the same Dober-girl who, one week earlier, was nearly put down just because she couldn’t get up.
“She is now spayed and ready to find her forever home. We posted her photo on our Facebook page while she was in transport and we already had an applicant by the time she arrived in her new city – before we even posted her on our own website or Petfinder! Plus a possible adopter from our list of already approved applicants. So life is finally looking up for Dottie and she should be in her forever home soon. A meet-and-greet is set for this weekend. All paws are crossed!”
Our SNAP-X grant made Dottie’s rescue possible, Getter says: “We appreciate it more than you can ever know. Our Dobie boys and girls give you paws up for your generosity and support!”
Leah, a pit bull in Wyoming
Leah with her new family
Britney Wallesch, founder of Black Dog Animal Rescue, Inc., in Cheyenne, WY, tells us about an emaciated, but still friendly, pit bull:
“Spay and neuter surgeries are by far the largest recurring expense we currently have. By providing money for this purpose, the grant allowed us to allocate other funds to program services that are lower on the priority list but also badly needed. We believe that all animals should be spayed or neutered prior to adoption and by doing so we are helping them to go onto happier, healthier lives with their new families.
“Leah was a 2-year-old blue pit bull-type dog who came to us from a shelter in one of the largest communities in Wyoming. She was emaciated and had stayed too long in a kennel. But, in true bully style, she was all kisses and wiggles for everyone she met. Like many other communities across the country, Wyoming’s shelters are faced with handling an abundance of pit bull and pit bull-mix dogs. As a result, a greater number of them face euthanasia every year.
“Leah was one of the lucky ones and she got to come to Black Dog Animal Rescue for safety. She was spayed thanks in part to funding from the SNAP-X grant and gained weight well. She overcame some initial shyness and became a great snuggle buddy for her foster siblings. Leah traveled to New York State over the summer with her foster family, where she learned to run of-leash and that she loves to swim! Upon her return from the family vacation, Leah was quickly adopted by a local veterinarian and her family. Don’t be deterred by her serious expression — she never did learn to love the camera. But rest assured, she has found a happy, forever home. She was the 134th adoption in our Summer Adopt-a-thon.”
Elmer, by artist and Petfinder Foundation supporter Ron Burns
Our friends at Ron Burns Studio believe in supporting and promoting pet adoption as well as raising awareness that animal shelters and rescues need our help.
So when you adopt a pet, Ron Burns Studio will thank you by sending you an Adoption Appreciation gift certificate good toward 20% off the purchase of a Ron Burns limited print, lithograph or book.
And when you make a purchase, Ron Burns Studio will donate an additional 20% of your original purchase price to the Petfinder Foundation in your name. Not only will you get a fantastic pet portrait to adorn your home, you’ll know you’re helping save homeless pets, too.
Griffin, painted by Ron Burns
Are you an adopter? Go here to request your certificate.
After waiting six months in foster care — and watching all her puppies find homes — Lindy, an Australian cattle dog mix in Arizona, has finally found her forever family thanks to our One Picture Saves a Life program, which teaches pet rescuers to take great photos of their adoptable pets, and also grants DSLR cameras and Photoshop photo-editing software to adoption groups.
“Shortly after coming back from the One Picture Saves a Life seminar, we took new pictures of Lindy,” Tiffany Rosler, president of the Tucson-based rescue group In the Arms of Angels, tells us. “The lady who adopted her said her photos 100% were the reason she came in to adopt her. She felt a connection to Lindy off of the photos.”
Rosler adds that the techniques she and her volunteers learned at the One Picture seminar are making a huge difference for the harder-to-adopt dogs being cared for by her group: “Our adult adoptions have increased tremendously since getting the new camera, learning how to use it and working with Photoshop to take out leashes and add watermarks.”
With The Animal Rescue Site, GreaterGood.org, John Paul Pet and Underwater Dogs photographer Set Casteel, we’re hosting One Picture Saves a Life workshops around the country for shelter and rescue group staff and volunteers. In the Arms of Angels was one of 10 groups that attended the June workshop in Las Vegas, where participants learned how to groom their homeless pets for the camera and get high-quality images of them to share online.
Rosler said she’s used the program’s online tutorials to teach foster parents to take great pictures of pets like Ace, below, whose foster mom took new photos that helped him find a home.
“We sent her the link to the online tutorials of what camera settings to use and other helpful tips,” Rosler says. “Ace had so much attention from his new photos that we were able to get another adult dog adopted as a referral off of Ace’s photos. His adopter said his pictures were awesome, and he knew Ace was going to fit in perfectly — which he did.”
The program has worked so well for In the Arms of Angels that Rosler has started teaching the tips to shelters and rescue groups around Southeastern Arizona.
“I love the online tutorials and have shared them with many rescue groups and shelters because the information is great,” Rosler says. “We are so excited about the endless possibilities these tools have given us.”
Ten-year-old Hannah is up for adoption at Shadow Cats.
Our grant of John Paul Pet Ear & Eye Wipes to Shadow Cats is making a huge difference for the elderly and FLV+ cats being cared for by the Round Rock, Tex., sanctuary.
President Sheila Smith sends us this report of how the Ear & Eye Wipes have helped decrease the incidence of illness for the organization’s most vulnerable cats:
“Since we are a sanctuary environment and focus more on long-term and hospice care, we don’t do as many adoptions as other groups. We focus on long-term care for those cats who are perceived to be less-adoptable — feral, scared, seniors, feline leukemia-positive, etc. — although almost all of our cats are available for adoption.
“We currently have 86 cats at the sanctuary, and we primarily used the Eye & Ear Wipes with our 24 feline leukemia-positive cats. We most definitely saw an increase in overall health and cleanliness of the cats. We did not have an instance of upper-respiratory infection in this area, and I believe much of that was related to product usage and the ability to keep the cats cleaner and to clean off facial/eye/nose drainage as soon as it was observed.
Born as a stray in San Antonio, Ashley is a feline leukemia-positive cat being helped by our John Paul Pet grant.
“We love this product. It is handy and we are able to grab it quickly when we need it. It’s soft and we are able to wipe the cat’s eyes and face quickly without distressing the cat.
“We have one cat, Polly, who was rescued during Best Friends’ Great Kitty Rescue in 2007. She is feline leukemia-positive and has a blocked tear duct. Her eye often has drainage. She is now very used to us cleaning her eyes! I’ve attached a pic of her getting one of her frequent ‘eye baths’ from one of our volunteers, Susan VandeVoorde!
Volunteer Susan VandeVoorde gives Polly an eye bath.
“It also makes a difference in some of the cats who are elderly and have less-than-stellar grooming habits. We are able to keep them clean. This really is a great product, and I feel safe using it with the cats. I have also asked my husband, Dr. Roy Smith, the 2013 president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, his thoughts, and he feels this is a great product in helping us help the cats to live healthier lives.
“Thank you for choosing Shadow Cats and our community of fragile sanctuary cats to help — we sincerely appreciate it!”
Polly looks looks clean and happy, thanks to our John Paul Pet Ear & Eye Wipes grant.
Sissy and her puppies soon after their rescue. Note Sissy’s deep neck wound.
After spending her entire life on a chain that eventually became embedded in her neck, a dog named Sissy, along with her severely neglected puppies, was saved thanks to our Shelter+ Challenge grant to Start Over Rover in Hastings, Neb.
Start Over Rover Vice President Amy Michalek tells us how the grant, made possible by our partnership with The Animal Rescue Site, gave Sissy and her family a second chance:
“Start Over Rover was asked to help a mother dog and her seven puppies. Located approximately 1,000 miles away, this canine family was scheduled to be euthanized the next morning. They were being temporarily housed at the St. Martin Parish shelter near St. Martinville, La. They were all victims of severe abuse and neglect. The Sheriff’s Department had taken the animals from their abusive owner and they were taken to the local municipal shelter. Because no one had adopted them within seven days, they were slated to be euthanized. The shelter manager posted a plea on the Internet, hoping that someone would come through for the family of dogs. Everyone involved hated the thought that they had been rescued from their abuser only to face being euthanized seven days later.
“The momma dog, whom we now call Sissy, had been chained to a tree when she was just a pup. As Sissy grew, the chain grew into her neck. She gave birth to a litter of puppies when she was approximately six months old and still chained to the tree. After neighbors complained about Sissy’s embedded collar, her abusive owner tore the chain out of her neck; she then had no way to ‘keep’ Sissy except to put her in a chicken coop with her puppies. They all became flea-infested. Chickens are omnivorous, and as they pecked at the fleas on the puppies, some drew blood and then the chickens ate off part of the limbs before Sissy was able to get them off of the puppies. This resulted in two of the puppies missing limbs or parts of limbs. Sissy had a two-inch deep wound around her neck after the embedded chain was removed.
Sissy nursing her puppies
“Two of Start Over Rover’s board members flew to Louisiana to retrieve the family before they were euthanized. The Rover volunteers arrived at the St. Martin shelter at 11:30 that night, retrieved Sissy and her babies, and started the 19-hour drive back home. During this time, they grew especially fond of the smallest puppy in the litter, whom they named Runtley. He was the sickest of the pups, so he got to ride up front, being cuddled and loved during the trip home. About six hours into the trip, Runtley suffered severe diarrhea and started crying out in pain. He ended up passing away in the volunteers’ arms just as they entered a veterinary clinic in Oklahoma to get him some help. The volunteers were heartbroken.
“The emotional Rover volunteers arrived back in Hastings around 6 p.m. that evening. They arrived to a TV truck with cameras, and lots of volunteers to greet them, as well as a newly built isolation room. Volunteers at Start Over Rover worked around the clock to build the air-conditioned, separately ventilated room in only 24 hours, just in time for the arrival of Sissy and her pups.
Sissy’s pup Aggie was missing a limb and suffering from a staph infection, which is visible on her torso.
“Momma Sissy was named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. Little Fay was named after Lafayette, La., which was the city into which the Rover volunteers flew. (Fay passed away shortly after arriving in Nebraska due to complications from a staph infection.) Marty was named after the St. Martin shelter which saved the dogs initially and then put out the nationwide call for help. Aggie was named after a woman on Facebook who aptly applied a not-so-nice name to the abuser of this family. Beau was named after a town near the St. Martin shelter, Breaux Bridge, and we swear that the staff at the shelter were all pronouncing it ‘Beau Bridge.’ Annie, who is the largest of the puppies, was named after the director of Start Over Rover, Anne Halbert, who was one of the volunteers on this rescue trip. Selah was given her name because God clearly had His hand in all of this.
“Finally, there was little Runtley, our sweet baby who passed on the way home. His and Fay’s ashes are in two urns located inside Start Over Rover. We are sad they are gone, but we are so happy that they knew that they were loved before they passed. All of the remaining puppies have been adopted and are doing very well.”
Momma Sissy’s neck wound was too wide to be stitched or stapled, so volunteers treated her with hydrotherapy three times a day until it could be stitched closed. “Today you can’t even tell that Sissy had such a severe wound,” Michalek says. “Her coat is shiny, she has put on weight, and she loves to play.”
And in even happier news: “Sissy is finally adopted and in a very happy home where she is much appreciated,” Michalek says. “After hearing Sissy’s story, her new family promised that they would never ever put another collar around her neck! She uses a harness when needed.”
Storm E. has a condition called string halt which causes her to walk funny, but with minimal pain.
We’re keeping homeless dogs — and donkeys — safe this summer, thanks to your support of our Summer Cooling Campaign.
Lusco Farms Rescue in Malvern, Iowa, and HOPE Animal Shelter in Tucson are the latest recipients of Summer Cooling grants. Each has received $1,000 to help keep the animals in their care cool, comfortable and safe in the heat.
For Lusco Farms Rescue, that means donkeys like Storm E., who came there with multiple medical issues caused by a lifetime of poor nutrition, will finally have new, shaded lean-tos in her pasture.
“Because we’ll have more areas covered with shade, we can take in more donkeys,” Lusco Farms President Lura Shehan tells us.
Many of the group’s donkeys come from people who acquired them as pets without thoroughly researching the care the animals need, she says. Still more come from cattle ranchers, who purchased the donkeys to protect their herds but lost the herds when the economy worsened.
In Tucson, HOPE Animal Shelter will use its grant to install a new misting system and sunshades so dogs can be cool in their outdoor runs.
“It has been over 100 degrees for 24 days in a row,” Executive Director Susan Scherl tells us. “Because of our hard water, the inexpensive mister we currently use keeps getting clogged.”
Our executive director, Lisa Robinson, chills with Rizzo, an affectionate 10-year-old at HOPE Animal Shelter in Tucson.
The improvements will help dogs like Rizzo, above, get more socialization and exercise time outdoors. HOPE has a soft spot for senior dogs, Scherl says, so she works with other local shelters to take in older dogs who are at great risk of euthanasia. She also takes in abused and abandoned dogs like Evie, below, who was tied to the shelter’s fence overnight and spends many hours in its outdoor runs.
Evie waited for days for the person who abandoned her at HOPE Animal Shelter to return.
“We don’t have air conditioning, so anything that can cool off the dogs outside in this Tucson heat is wonderful,” Scherl says. “The misters will be a great addition.”
George has been evacuated from RezQ Dogs’ shelter because of the flood.
When the shelter housing pets rescued by RezQ Dogs — which saves extremely at-risk dogs from two isolated Indian reservations in Montana — was destroyed on June 4 by a flood, we rushed $3,000 in disaster aid to Dodson, Mont., where RezQ Dogs is building new kennels so it can keep saving the area’s stray, abused and unwanted dogs.
“Every inch of the property is covered with three to four inches of silt and mud,” RezQ Dogs President Anita Wilke tells us. “Ten kennels are destroyed, as is the perimeter fence. All of the dog houses are either contaminated or destroyed.”
Flooded dog runs at RezQ Dogs’ shelter
RezQ Dogs takes in dogs, cats and other animals from the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy’s reservations. Together, the communities cover roughly 1,200 square miles in North-Central Montana, and the prospects for homeless dogs are dire in both, Wilke says.
On Fort Belknap, Wilke says, “Dogs spend their mandatory three-day hold cramped into the live trap in which they were captured.”
“Because there is no budget for animal control, there is no budget for medical needs or even food for the dogs that find their way to ‘animal control,’ ” she adds. “Prior to RezQ Dogs, the Fort Belknap Animal Control euthanized 95 percent of all incoming dogs. Only 5 percent were reclaimed by owners or found new homes. Strays on Fort Belknap were held for three days, if they didn’t cause a problem, and then were euthanized by gunshot. Owner turn-ins were shot immediately.”
There is no animal control presence on Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Wilke says.
“Their customary response to the ‘dog control issue’ is to conduct round ups which result in the animals being hunted and shot,” she says.
In the last three years, RezQ has saved and found loving homes for more than 800 dogs, Wilke says.
Katniss came to RezQ Dogs with a porcupine-injured eye that had to be removed.
Wilke says Dodson’s heavy rains began several weeks before the June 4 flood hit. Fearing the weather would worsen, RezQ Dogs transported 11 of its dogs to a boarding kennel 180 miles away in Great Falls. Eight dogs remained in the group’s care when the flood struck, and they were evacuated by boat. Some of these displaced dogs have been taken in by shelters and rescues in the region, but the demand on RezQ Dogs to take in imperiled dogs from the reservations has not slowed down.
“We are looking forward to making the necessary improvements to continue helping dogs from the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy’s Indian reservations,” Wilke says. “Everyone at RezQ Dogs is very grateful for your support!”
Donate so we can keep helping pets when disaster strikes.
Your donations and our Pedigree grants are helping Madison County Pet Shelter in Huntsville, Ark., save pets in its rural, low-income community. Shelter board member Anne Greene tells us about two of the dogs our grant helped save:
Rickie, later known as Fergus
“Rickie was found near death and brought to the Madison County Pet Shelter in March 2013. His left eye was badly damaged, he could barely walk, and his weight was so low that his hip joints were starkly evident. Caren, the shelter’s manager, took him home with her each evening for nine weeks and nursed him back to health and a good weight.
“Recently Henry, a 5-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder, came to the shelter with his grandma and 5-year-old cousin. The boys always want to visit our shelter to see the animals when they visit their grandma. When Henry sat on the shelter floor, Rickie came right to him and stayed with Henry until he left. Henry had always been a bit leery of dogs, his grandma said, but never showed anxiety with this one. ‘Some dogs really seem to understand children’s needs,’ she said.
“Over the next several days, Henry kept talking to his Grandma Sue about Rickie. Except Henry knew Rickie’s real name: Fergus. Sue said she had read a story to Henry when he was 2 about a dog named Fergus, and once Henry saw Rickie, he talked non-stop about ‘Fergus.’
“Of course, Henry adopted Fergus, and Grandma Sue reports that Fergus and Henry are fast friends. She said that Fergus took to his new home immediately and noted that her grandson’s ability to interact with others is improving.
“We are too small and under-funded to be a no-kill facility but do not euthanize arbitrarily at X number of days. We work hard to place animals, and Petfinder Foundation’s Pedigree Operational Grant for 2012 helped in that effort. Henry and Fergus are deeply grateful.”
Greene also tells us about Blondie:
Blondie
“Blondie, a Great Pyrenees mixed maybe with some Setter, came to the home of Denise in rural Madison County, Ark., in April 2013 with no traceable clues. But Blondie (a he, not a she) had been so well-trained and was so well-behaved that we think he might have been a service or therapy dog. When a person touched him lightly, he would stop and stay by that person’s side. Denise was heartbroken to take him to the shelter but she could not keep him. Our shelter manager found a loving home for this beautiful, courteous dog, an outcome supported by the Petfinder Foundation’s generosity.”
The money came at just the right time, Greene says:
“The Petfinder Foundation 2012 Pedigree Operational Grant helped us continue to give abandoned dogs food, safety and health. The Madison County Pet Shelter is a 501(c)(3) in a poor, rural Arkansas county where the long-engrained cultural attitude toward pets as possessions first and companions second means that our base of support is limited. The county government, which had been giving the shelter $1,000 monthly, cut its funding to $500 monthly in January 2013 because of its decreased tax revenue.
“Though we had planned to use the money for dog food, we received two unexpected gifts that changed those plans: In December 2012, three grade-school classes conducted a fundraiser from which they gave our shelter $1,000, and a local bank was so impressed with the children’s work that they gave us a $500 Wal-Mart gift card. In March 2013, another local bank’s employees selected our shelter as that quarter’s recipient of their ongoing Jeans-on-Friday fundraiser. They gave us $1,920.
“We had purchased $100 of dog food during late 2012, then decided to use the balance to support more adoptions and vaccinations through our adoption-support account, which subsidizes the cost of adoptions for qualified adopters.”
Your donations to our Summer Cooling Campaign are saving lives at Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) in Tucson, Ariz., by helping the dogs there get adopted. The shelter used our Summer Cooling grant to install an overhead misting system in two visitation yards, meaning potential adopters can now comfortably spend time getting to know the resident dogs.
“It’s a game-changer,” Animal Care Advocate Justin Gallick tells us. Here in Tucson, temperatures have already topped 111 degrees, and before the outdoor misting system was installed, potential adopters did not have a cool, comfortable place in which to visit with the shelter’s dogs. “Now they can take the time necessary to make that bond,” Gallick says.
When we visited PACC to check out its new misters, we brought along kiddie pools for each of the yards. We also made cooling catsicles to share with the shelter’s cats (get the recipe for catsicles here), and pupsicles that we made by freezing low-sodium chicken broth in an ice cube tray.
Tipper loves her pupsicle.
The grant came at just the right time, since the shelter – which takes in nearly 25,000 lost and homeless pets a year – is currently being inundated with unwanted litters (read our previous blog post about PACC).
“It’s raining puppies and kittens,” Adoption Coordinator Ellie Beaubien says.
Adelle has since been adopted.
While the misters in the visitation yards certainly make adopters more comfortable, they also give the shelter’s nursing-mother dogs a place to take a break from their puppies, Beaubien says. Before the summer, staff members would give each nursing mother half an hour of exercise and fresh air in the yards – but when the high temperatures arrived, that became too dangerous.
Now, thanks to the misting system, “nobody’s getting overheated,” Beaubien says. “We really needed those. It was a great investment.”
With Colorado wildfires still raging, our disaster grants are helping to reunite evacuated pets with their families and to protect 950 homeless birds from the deadly effects of smoky air.
After the state’s most destructive wildfire broke out near Colorado Springs on June 11, we rushed $3,000 to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR), which has cared for nearly 1,000 animals affected by the disaster. We also sent $1,500 to The Gabriel Foundation so it could purchase the expensive air filters it needs to protect the delicate respiratory systems of the 950 homeless Parrots and other birds in its care.
Our grant is helping Nelson the senior Parrot.
“We are downwind from the fires, and because we use swamp coolers and birds’ respiratory systems are extremely delicate, our birds’ health is greatly at risk,” The Gabriel Foundation’s Administration Manager Jennie Wyrwicki tells us. “We need to make sure we have filters running constantly.”
HSPPR’s Grants and Corporate Relations Manager Marsha Wayman tells us that her organization has already reunited 315 animals with their grateful families. Many displaced pets are or were in the shelter’s care because their pet parents were evacuated and had to bring their pets to the shelter for temporary care, Wayman says.
HSPPR also went into homes to retrieve pets who had been left behind, like Callie, below. When Callie’s family was forced to evacuate, she was hiding and they could not find her. They were thrilled HSPPR was able to save her life.
Callie was reunited with her grateful family at HSPPR.
We’re proud to be supporting these happy reunions and the hard work Colorado’s animal-welfare organizations are doing to save animal victims of the disaster.
The funds raised will go towards Summer Cooling grants to help shelters purchase misters, sun shades and other cooling devices.
We visited the first grant recipient, the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA), this week. HSSA, which takes in about 10,000 pets each year, received $1,000 to help keep its animal residents cool as temperatures in Tucson hit triple digits over the summer. HSSA Public Relations Lead Samantha Esquivel showed us some of the ways the shelter keeps pets comfortable in hot weather (and you can too):
Benson cools off in a kiddie pool.
1. Fresh, cool water – for both drinking and playing in – is key for keeping dogs like Benson, a 9-year-old flat-coated retriever, safe and happy. Not only does Benson benefit from HSSA’s overhead misting system, he loves the shelter’s sprinklers and kiddie pool, which you can set up at home.
2. Homemade frozen treats – such as a Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter and kibble stuck in the freezer for several hours – are an easy way to keep your pet entertained and cool. You can try our recipe for catsicles to give your feline friends a frosty, tasty snack.
3. Shade sources – such as trees, dog houses or the sunshades HSSA uses in its visiting yards – are crucial when your pet is outside. But even if plenty of shade is available, be sure to limit your pet’s time outdoors and watch closely for signs of heatstroke (learn the symptoms of heatstroke).
Emmit, left, and Lily enjoy their catsicles.
“The best part of our dogs’ day is when they get to let loose in the visiting yard with volunteers, but we always have to be vigilant about heat and usually cut playtime short,” HSSA Public Relations Coordinator Sara Gromley tells us. “Thanks to a grant from the Petfinder Foundation, we’re able to extend the fun!”
When Tippy the Maltipoo was thrown over a six-foot-high shelter fence onto concrete, our grant from Orvis — which matches donations dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000 — arrived just in time for k9.5 Rescue in Greenville, S.C., to save her life.
“She was literally on the verge of death, with a heart rate of 36,” k9.5 President Allison Rathert tells us. “During a period when we only had a few hundred dollars in the bank and an emergency-room fund that was soon to be maxed out as a result of Tippy’s visit, the $1,000 grant allowed us to cover a life-threatening crash and do what we needed to do to save her.”
The 2-year-old dog’s left hip was completely out of its socket, and she suffered nerve damage, too, Rathert says. Tippy spent three days in critical care. Veterinarians also diagnosed her with Addison’s disease, an adrenal condition that affects dogs like Tippy for life.
Despite her acute injuries, chronic condition and the past abuse she suffered, Tippy was cheerful, affectionate and friendly. After three days in the hospital, she entered a foster home for an extended recovery and is up for adoption (learn about adopting Tippy here).
“Tippy is currently doing remarkably well and responding to her medication,” Rathert says. “She is back to her feisty, active and joyful self.”
Now that his eye has healed, Bryson is available for adoption from k9.5 Rescue.
After paying for Tippy’s care, k9.5 still had $200 in grant funds remaining. Rathert says she put that money toward medical treatment for Bryson, a 2½-year-old Great Pyrenees suffering from entropion. The painful eye condition caused Bryson’s lower eyelid to curl inward and scratch his cornea.
“Bryson has recovered successfully and his eye looks fantastic,” Rathert says. “He has not squinted or had drainage since.”
We’re proud that our grant allowed k9.5 to help these two beautiful dogs.
“The joy and immense relief that flooded me upon opening the envelope simply cannot be described accurately,” Rathert says. “It was literally a lifesaver.”
When Utah Animal Adoption Center in Salt Lake City rescued a very pregnant Pit Bull from an abusive situation, our grant from Orvis — which matches donations dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000 — helped pay for the mother’s and her seven puppies’ medical care.
“Sunny was extremely malnourished,” Resource Development Director Samantha Johnson tells us. “You could see her ribs.”
Despite being badly mistreated, Sunny had a gentle and loving temperament that endeared her to the staff. Five days after the shelter took Sunny in, they helped her have her pups.
“She was the sweetest thing ever,” Lead Shelter Assistant Lindsay Ortega says. “She let us assist her, she let us rub her belly, she let us clean her babies off. She was the best momma.”
One of Sunny’s seven puppies
The grant helped the shelter pay for Sunny’s spay as well as her puppies’ spay/neuter surgeries, microchips and vaccinations. Johnson tells us that the organization took in 1,175 animals last year and found homes for 1,139 of them.
“Our ability to take on a pregnant animal, rehabilitate her, and find homes for her puppies is greatly impacted by the funding we received from Petfinder Foundation,” Johnson says.
We’ve rushed $3,000 in disaster aid to Colorado Springs, Colo., where the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is caring for 358 cats, dogs, birds, pocket pets and other animals displaced by the raging Black Forest fire.
“We’re working around the clock,” Grants and Corporate Relations Manager Marsha Wayman tells us.
The fire is the most destructive in the state’s history, with officials saying 360 homes have already been destroyed. Thousands of residents are being evacuated, and many of them are bringing their pets to the shelter for temporary housing and care.
“We’re working right now with animal recovery, trying to locate animals that have been left behind,” Wayman tells us.
“The good news is we have an incredibly experienced and talented team,” Wayman says. “That’s kind of a silver lining, but the impact is going to be larger this time.”
As the manager of the area’s Community Animal Response Team, the organization is tasked with providing professional response, resources and community education during and after disasters, Wayman says. They are housing displaced animals at several locations, including one site where pet parents can stay with their pets. They working to transport large animals – such as horses and goats – to other organizations that are better equipped to care for them, Wayman said.
The organization expects to spend a significant amount of money on transporting and housing pets while their caretakers are indefinitely displaced. Wayman says she is grateful for the Foundation’s fast assistance.
“We appreciate it so much,” Wayman said. “We need all the help we can get.”
Petfinder Foundation Executive Director Lisa Robinson walks Nina, a Pit Bull mix, at Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson.
Once in a while, we like to deliver a grant in person. So this week we headed to one of our local Tucson shelters, Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), to present a $1,000 Summer Cooling grant. The funds will be used to install a misting system in the shelter’s meet-and-greet yards and outdoor dog runs to make both more comfortable for the pets and potential adopters.
While we were there, we also spent some time walking a few of the resident dogs — including Nina (above) — and speaking with staff and volunteers about the positive changes the shelter is making. We left feeling prouder than ever to be supporting its work.
Animal Care Advocate Justin Gallick tells us that the county-funded facility, which takes in nearly 25,000 homeless or lost pets a year, is undertaking a radical outlook shift.
“Our culture, and reputation, has for years been based on the animal-control model,” he says. “Now there’s a lot more emphasis on customer service, finding the right match and post-adoption follow-up.”
PACC’s Justin Gallick snuggles with Snookums, a 6-week-old Pit Bull.
The organization recently increased its live-release rate from around 50 percent to nearly 65 percent, Gallick says, adding that he expects that number to continue to rise. In the past, PACC did not have a staff member dedicated solely to increasing adoptions, but it recently hired its first full-time adoption coordinator, Ellie Beaubien. It also hired its first full-time volunteer coordinator, José Ocaño. Since February, Ocaño has increased PACC’s volunteer force from 90 people to more than 300.
When it was time for us to walk dogs, two of the shelter’s regular volunteers, Laura Hines and Kainan Jarrette, paired us with pups who needed exercise. PACC is situated next to a small lake – a rare sight in the desert! – and devoted volunteers such as Hines and Jarrette ensure PACC’s temporary residents enjoy daily excursions around the water.
Petfinder Foundation Senior Program Manager Toni Morgan, Robinson and PACC volunteers Laura Hines and Kainan Jarrette (from left) walk adoptable dogs.
Hines and Jarrette come to PACC several times a week to exercise and socialize dogs such as Ernie, a 1-year-old German Shepherd mix (below). Their apartment complex won’t let them adopt any more pets (they already have two cats), so the volunteering helps them get their pet fix.
“I have a very strong love for animals, and it’s nice to be part of the solution,” Jarrette says.
“It’s mutually beneficial, really,” Hines adds. “You get to do something for them but they also give a lot to you.”
Hines and Jarrette with Ernie
We left excited to return to the shelter to see the new misting system installed in time to help the resident pets beat the summer heat. As Adoption Coordinator Ellie Beaubien tells us, “Our animals need it so desperately. I really can’t thank you enough!”
We’re also thrilled that PACC staffers will be attending our upcoming One Picture Saves a Life seminar in Las Vegas, where they’ll learn how to take lifesaving photos of their adoptable pets. PACC’s One Picture Saves a Life grant also includes a digital SLR camera and Photoshop photo-editing software.
Both grants are sure to help save the lives of pets such as Preston (below). We can’t wait to come back!
Preston the English Bulldog is available for adoption from PACC.
Little Fella is comforted by his ThunderShirt (and a pal).
Our ThunderShirt grant to Friends of the Animals in Lancaster, S.C., transformed the life of Little Fella, a 1-year-old blind Beagle who was abandoned by his guardians and terrified of the world.
“Once the shirt was on, I could pick him up and place him in a crate with a stuffed dog to begin his socialization training and to provide him comfort,” Friends of the Animals foster mom Renae Barnett tells us. “It worked!”
Little Fella wore the Thundershirt continuously for a month, during which time he bonded with the other dogs in his foster family.
“I have a pack of dogs,” Barnett says, “mostly big: two blind and deaf Aussies and some small elderly dogs. Little Fella came out of his shell and within two weeks he was sleeping with them and playing with them.”
Little Fella has been adopted.
Although he couldn’t see it, Little Fella managed to map out his foster home and get around the house well. He was eventually adopted, and we’re thrilled that our ThunderShirt grant helped make room in the rescue for another dog in need.
“He is an awesome boy and we miss him and love him,” Barnett says. “But the goal is always to find the best home for each pet.”
