Help Your Local Animal Shelter While on a Budget!

So, you already have two dogs and two cats, or 1 dog and 3 cats, or 3 dogs and no cats. There is no more room at the Inn. You know that bringing home another animal could be expensive, mostly because you know how much divorce lawyers cost.  You look into the eyes of that dog or cat that needs a home at your local shelter, but you just cannot take another one home.  Writing the shelter a big check may be out of your comfort zone in this economy as well, but wait!  You may have more to offer that animal than you realize.


Just because you cannot take another animal home does not mean that you should just walk away.  If you do turn a blind eye, you become part of the problem, when in reality you NEED to be part of the solution!


Do you drive a car?
Volunteer to transport shelter animals to new homes, new rescues, or to veterinary appointments.  You might be surprised to discover how often this need arises.  Consult with your tax consultant, the miles you travel in support of a non-profit shelter may be tax deductible! 

Transport coordinators are in extreme demand! If your weekends are quiet and you have a computer, this may be the job for you!  A future blog will discuss this job in more detail.

Do you sew?
Ask if your shelter needs blankets or beds sewn. Perhaps you can sew little signs for the adoptable pets to wear in parades or at adoption events that say "adopt me" for the dogs to wear. Perhaps your blankets could be sold as a fundraiser for the shelter.  Old fleece pullovers from goodwill can easily be sewn into cushy beds for pets, and it is a way of recycling!  Just cut off the sleeves, stuff the body of the pullover, and sew the neck, sleeve, and waist openings and you have created an easily washable and comfortable pet bed. 
If you don't sew, fleece and fleece remnants from sewing stores, make GREAT bedding  for homeless pets!

Old blankets or fleece remnants can make it cozy!

Do you bake?
Hold a bake sale to benefit the shelter.  Ask your friends and family to participate.  Shelter volunteers LOVE the leftovers too!

Do you shop?
Ask the shelter for a list of items of which they are in greatest need.   Many of the items are inexpensive, but they go through them very quickly, so each small donation helps in a big way.   Bleach, ping pong balls for cat toys, fleece remnants, paper towels, cat litter, copy paper, etc.  Just $5.50 can buy over 40 lbs of clay cat litter at Walmart!  Hit second hand stores for old towels, fleece, and other bedding materials.  They will often have inexpensive used pet carriers and cages as well.

Can you spare a few hours during the week?
Volunteer to walk dogs or clean kennels or man a booth at an adoption event.  You do not have to be there every day.  Just think, if seven people did commit to once a week, it would be an amazing show of support to your shelter.

Are you afraid to be doing hands on work with the animals because you don't want to risk falling in love, only to see that animal go home with someone other than you?  Then assist by washing dishes and litter boxes, doing laundry, cleaning floors, pooper scooping their play yard.  These tasks will win you a volunteer appreciation award for sure!  So many people want to come play with the animals, not realizing that their assistance is desperately needed throughout the shelter.  No one said volunteering would be easy, but the friends you make just might make it fun.

Do you like to hold social events?
Hold a party at your house as a fundraiser! Many "home party" sales groups do fundraisers, such as Scentsy Flameless Candles. 

Not comfortable asking friends over to buy "stuff"?   Invite friends or family over for snacks and a movie, a cookout, or for the big game.  Ask them to bring a "donatable" item for the animals in your shelter as an admission ticket to the party.  Provide them with a list of what the shelter needs?  Then enjoy your evening. 

Some restaurants, such as Pizza Ranch, have fundraising opportunities in which you and some friends bus tables for a few hours, and all tips go to the group of your choice!  This is great for earning funds, and for making people aware of the needs of your local shelter.

Do you have too much stuff in your house?
Donate anything that the shelter can use to the shelter.  Your shelter should be able to provide you with a wish list.  These items might include old towels, sheets, blankets, fleece, old dog collars, leashes, pet bowls, baby pack-n-plays/ play pens, pet carriers or crates, ping pong balls, tennis balls.  Then hold a yard sale with some friends and donate the proceeds.  Your house is now clean, you have recycled,  AND you have helped your shelter!

Do you work in a large corporation?
Have your workplace encourage donations to the shelter by starting a collection!  The business can actually do this monthly for different causes, IE animal shelter one month, womens shelter the next, etc.  If each employee brings in a can of cat food, or a roll of paper towels, while it is not a lot for a single person to spend, the collection will grow and the shelter and it's animals will be very grateful.

Do you like to craft?
Create some cute craft items for the shelter to sell in their entry way or at events.

Golfers don't like old balls, but we do!

A feather boa is easy to make and great for photo ops, and for fundraising!

Bandannas are a simple way to dress up adoptables or sell for fundraisers!

Catnip cat toys!  Easy to Make!  Good for shelter pets and fundraising!

Do you like to scrapbook?
Create a scrapbook of adopted animals for the shelter to show at events. This may also help them get through difficult times by showing them how much they have succeeded in doing for so many animals.  Working or volunteering can take an emotional toll.  This type of gift can be very rewarding!

Do you work with kids?
If you work with kids, have the kids volunteer or fund raise. A t-shirt sale or a scavenger hunt for items the shelter uses IE cat litter, pet food, paper towels, etc. is a fun way to involve kids of all ages.  Kids can make posters to hang around town with photos of adoptable pets.  Kids can make "adopt me" outfits for dogs using felt cloth and glue, or hand sewn depending on their ages.  This not only helps the shelter but teaches the children about responsibility.

Do you enjoy taking photographs?
You do not need an expensive camera to do this!  You can take and share photos of their adoptable pets.  Perhaps your photos will be so good, they will use them on their website!  Let your photos show off the pet's personality!  A good photo is key to getting a homeless animal noticed.  A photo of the animal in it's kennel at the shelter, behind bars, does not show off the adoptable nature of that animal.  Let your lens be the eye of the potential adopter!  Show the animals off in a new light!

Do you know your way around computers?
Helping a small shelter with their website updates, or helping them design a website is a great way to offer your assistance.  I can spay a cat, but don't ask me to design a website! 

So you cannot adopt, but...
Perhaps you are good at housebreaking or teaching dogs about manners IE sit, stay, come, fetch?  Perhaps you can temporarily add another cat to the house, but you are not comfortable adding another pet on a permanent basis?  FOSTER!  When you foster a pet, you are not just helping that pet.  You are opening a cage up for another pet in need of help!

Do you Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter?
SHARE your shelter's pets on your page!  If your shelter works with Petfinder.com, Petfinder has links on the side of each adoptable pet's photograph to share on these social networking sites!  Click those links!  Wouldn't it feel GREAT to be the one who shared a photo that united a homeless pet and it's new family?

Consignment anyone?
If you have a local consignment shop, ask the shelter's permission for setting up an account for the under the shelter's name at the consignment shop.  Make people aware that they can donate their items to benefit the shelter at this consignment shop.  Spread the word with fliers, social networking, emails, etc., all inexpensive ways to share the news.  Place a sign in the store letting shoppers and consigners know about the shop's support of the shelter.   The shop should appreciate the free publicity they get from participating, and again, your shelter gains support!


The point is, you don't need a lot of time or money or a special degree to be instrumental in helping to save an animal's life.  You just need to decide to help.  You can make a change, so become active and encourage your friends to do so.  No more turning your back, covering your eyes, or feeling helpless.  You have nothing to lose, and homeless pets have so much to gain from you, so GET GOING! 

(If you have more suggestions for ways people can help their shelter while on a budget, submit them to me and I will add them!




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Lights, Camera, Action!

I can no longer watch animal movies, not even the animated ones. 

I can remember as a child getting very upset when Bambi's mother was killed.  I can remember being upset by the teasing that Rudolph endured just for being different.  I don't think I need to bring up my feelings about Cruella Deville!

The effects of these movies were evident in my youth.  In grade school, on rainy days, during recess I would pick up worms that were squirming in the puddles on the play yard and move them over to the moist but safe grassed area. 

I can remember trying to raise a few orphaned fledgling robins and baby squirrels. 

I remember bringing home a friend's hamster that he could no longer keep, without the permission of my mother.  The little stinker escaped the cage on the first day!  I looked and looked but could not find him.  I finally decided I had to fess up to my mother.  After all, scraping my mother off the ceiling after she sees a hamster in her bed would NOT end well.  I told her the truth, and boy did she yell!  "Find that thing!"  I sulked back to my room, and shut the door.  As I turn around, there is Remington the hamster sitting in front of his cage, wiggling and washing his whiskers as if asking, "Hey, where have you been?  This room is great!" 

I have already discussed my "Zoo Unlike Any Other" , a fabulous tale about my unique pets.

Walking by a neighbor's house in high school, I blurted out to my friend, Valerie, "I can't believe they have not neutered their dog!"  Her response, "What is your obsession with dog's testicles!"  Apparently it was not the first time I had made such a remark.

Now that I have my own children, I watch those "cute animal" movies with them, and I cry.  I don't cry because of the story line.  Okay, I do cry because of the story line, but not JUST because of the story line.

I cry because the bad guy in the fictional movie is so damn real to me.  In the movie, the bad guy is often the evil animal catcher, or the guy who wants the reward money, or the rich guy whose son wants that particular animal regardless of the costs.  In the movie, we laugh at his stupidity, and he usually gets his just desserts in the end. 

But in my world, this movie never ends.  Charges are rarely pressed, perhaps due to flawed investigative techniques, lack of evidence, ill defined laws with weak punishments, or apathetic prosecutors.  If an animal is removed from a person's care due to abuse or neglect, they easily go and find another animal to treat the same way... tied to a tree, left out in the snow, locked in a cage, left behind in an empty house... 

But sometimes it's the good guy who, for me, is the bad guy. 

Tonight, we watched a movie about a family that was moving.  The father was starting an exciting new job.  In order to move, the family had to get rid of their dog.  Apparently Hollywood believes that dogs cannot cross state lines, and this theory has spread rampantly to pet owners throughout the US.  Their young son was devastated by leaving the dog behind.  In an attempt to make it up to the boy, the father bought him season tickets to a major league baseball team.

This story line is appalling!  Couldn't the father have found a place to live where the animal was welcome?  He was not unemployed.  He had enough money to purchase these tickets.  Perhaps a little extra time, or perhaps the money he invested in those tickets would have been enough to keep the boy and his dog together.  Those tickets do not give unconditional love, nor do they teach a child about responsibility.  But no, the father teaches the kid, and the world, that the dog is disposable, and easily replaced by America's favorite pastime.

I don't mean to imply that movies like this should be taken so seriously.  But when you are the one who suddenly has this hypothetical family's dog in your care, while he waits for a new family to find him and make him theirs, you get a tad resentful of the people who make this type of decision so lightly.  To see it portrayed in an acceptable way in a movie can be quite infuriating!

Movies like this have conditioned us to believe that this behavior is acceptable.  I acknowledge that there are situations in life that may not facilitate people keeping their animals, especially in today's economy.  People are being forced to relinquish their houses, their pets, marriages are ending, and it is for these people and their pets that I do what I do.  My services should be a last ditch effort for a family and their pet, not a convenience.  But it is now so customary to dispose of a pet when moving that even those with the means to keep their pet are leaving them behind. 
I would like to see a film that will express the dire state in which this country resides with respect to animal welfare.   I believe the majority of us want to be a more responsible, humane nation, but it is only a minority of us who choose to actively pursue it. 

Discontinuing the on screen disposable nature of our pets would be a start.  Let's get back to Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, and Benji.  Let's show how animals help us, and present ways that we can help them. 

Me with Benji from "Benji of the Leash" 

In many ways, Animal Planet is doing just that.  I appreciate them presenting the horrible cruelty and neglect cases to the general public.  I like them showing that pets in shelters are deserving of good homes and loving families.  I appreciate them teaching people the proper way to train their dogs.  A well trained dog is less likely to become a homeless dog.  I am not a fan of every show they air, but for the most part, I believe many of their shows are educational to the general public and beneficial to the animal welfare world.

I wish Animal Planet would show that most communities are not blessed with the lavish, well staffed animal shelters and financially armed animal task forces seen on these shows.   I wish they could show small shelters who do so much for their communities, but get turned down for food programs and large grants, because they serve too small of a community.

The movie's happy ending usually involves the abusers getting their just desserts. The dog is reunited with the family. The puppies all find loving homes with wonderful new families.

But I know too well that these happy endings are all too rare in the real world.  While I cannot believe in these Hollywood fairy tales, I can believe in the tails of my homeless huggables. 

Their movies are rolling, their stories are just beginning.  Perhaps tomorrow will be the day that my homeless pets may find their new home.  Now, there is a happy ending.  If tomorrow is not that day, then it may be the next.  And if it is tomorrow, that empty cage will be filled with another unfortunate soul with an unknown past, whose future just took a turn for the better. 

How would that be for a happy ending...

Now, where is my video camera...







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Still Perdy as a Picture!

For those of you who missed Perdy's story, you can read it here... http://vetrescue.blogspot.com/2011/02/perdy-as-picture.html

Perdy had lesions on her ears that would not heal.  We biopsied  both of her ears, fearing that she had a form of skin cancer that is quite common in white cats.  The biopsy for Perdy's ears is back.

Post Op Perdy!

She is feeling good, despite the angry puss on her face!

We have good news!  There was no evidence of cancer!  (Happy cat dance!)  Her biopsy revealed that all lesions were granulation tissue, a skin response to chronic inflammation due to her previous frostbite injuries.  By eliminating the frostbitten edges, we have provided her ears with healthy edges that will not chronically bleed or be as easily traumatized.

Perdy's incisions are healing quite well.  When her fur grows back in, her ear flaps or pinnae will be almost hidden making her look like a tiny baby white seal.   She has gained 1.2 lbs, which is like 10 lbs to us!   She is going to a foster home tomorrow, but she still does not have a forever family.

Thank you to D.E. and C. M. for helping pay for Perdy's medical care.  Your contributions helped a lot and are very much appreciated!

If you are interested in adopting Perdy, fill out our adoption application at http://www.jewellvetonline.com/.  She is a happy, friendly, affectionate, well behaved cat, and she would love to be home.



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Dear Mr. President...

Dear Mr. President,

On the day you accepted Bo, a dog sold for profit by a breeder, http://www.petfinder.com/ had over 300,000 adoptable pets available from over 13,000 rescue groups and shelters.

On the day you made your phone call to Philadelphia Eagles to thank them for giving Michael Vick a second chance, approximately 21,918 pets were killed in US animal shelters without a second chance.


Please, it's time for a change.



Sincerely,
The Animals...










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 WESTRGN947NB

I'll Be Right Back!

In the veterinary field, off hours phone calls are the norm.  Like it or not, they happen.  They don't always happen at the most convenient time, but we all deal with them the best we can. 

In the animal rescue field, off hours phone calls are the norm.  Like it or not, they happen.  They don't always happen at the most convenient time, but we all deal with them the best we can.

When my phone rings, I never know which is awaiting me at the other end of the line.

A phone call from the police department during off hours is not uncommon since my clinic acts as animal control for several local communities.  The police have brought me stray animals, running at large animals, hit by car animals, and animals that were passengers in car accidents on the highway. 

The phone call on Sunday was no different, and yet it was very different.

The police called because they had a dog they needed to bring in to the clinic.  This was not different from any other day.  This dog was not a stray dog or a dog running at large, and this is what made this story different.

The dog was sitting along the side of highway 69, the main highway running through town.  A local resident had called the police after witnessing a car stopping at the side of the road.  When the car drove off, there sat the dog.  He is an approximately 8 month old purebred German Shepherd.

Now, I don't want you to get the wrong idea.  These people obviously cared about the dog.  They left him with his toy, and some kibble.  The kibble was left sprinkled on the side of the road.  If this is not love, then I am not sure what it is.  (insert sarcastic undertone here)

Wait.  I do know what it is... stupid...and I don't use that word lightly.  There is a difference between the words stupid and ignorant.  In my book, stupid is a choice that is made despite obvious evidence that it is a bad choice.  Ignorance is the lack of knowledge present to predict an outcome of an action or choice. 

Abandoning your dog on the side of the highway... STUPID! There is no possible way you could NOT know that this is a hazardous situation for the dog.  What you may not know, is that it is illegal.  What you may not know is that you have also created a traffic hazard.  Another car could easily have swerved to avoid hitting your dog, and hit another vehicle.  How would it feel to read that in the paper the next day?

Let us discuss the choice of leaving kibble on the side of the road, a highway, where you just abandoned your dog.  Did you really want to give the dog a reason to sit by the road until he gets hungry enough to eat.  That's right, you didn't wait around to see him get hit by the semi tractor trailer truck whose driver couldn't stop in time to spare your dog's life.  Well, your dog didn't get hit fortunately, but he easily could have.

Let's discuss the choice of toy that you left with him.  It is a small Great Dane, possibly Scooby Doo, figure.  It is a kids toy, possibly from a kid's meal.  It is so small in comparison to this dog that swallowing the entire thing or a piece of it could put this dog at risk for foreign body obstruction.  This toy or its parts could easily lodge in his intestines, blocking passage of food and other stomach contents, until there is rupture of the intestine, and subsequent death. 

As a matter of fact, when I posted this photograph of the "toy" on Facebook, another veterinarian was the first to comment, " Did you take this out of something's stomach?".

Your dog is now safe. He is warm.  He is fed.  He will hopefully soon have a new family that will not make the dangerous and irresponsible decision that you made.  He has a new name, Dietrich.

While I see your stupidity through your actions, your dog saw what he thought was your loyalty.  He certainly gave it to you.  He did not run away.  He didn't check out the new surroundings.  He didn't chase any squirrels.  He didn't trot up to the nearest house.

He sat down. 

He sat down right where you left him. 

He sat down right where you left him and he waited.

He did not sit because you so thoughtfully left him kibble.  The kibble still sits beside the road.  He sat down, because he was awaiting your return.  He knew you would come back for him.  You didn't have to say the words "I'll be right back," for him to believe them.  He just did.

He gave you love and loyalty.  He hoped for that in return. 

I wonder if you looked in the rear view mirror after you left him.  I am sure he watched you drive away.  He was confident that you would be right back.

I don't know if the witness was able to get your license plate numbers.  What is comforting for me is the fact that neither do you.


If you are interested in adopting Dietrich, there is an online application on our website, http://www.jewellvetonline.com/ .








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Perdy As a Picture!

The phone rang on a day like any other.  The caller was concerned about a cat that her grandmother, who had recently passed away, had been caring for before she became ill.  She wondered if we could take the cat into our rescue.  We don't always have room to take in more cats because they are much slower to adopt out than dogs, even during an upswing in adoptions.  Fortunately, we were able to say yes to this particular kitty.

The woman brought in the kitty and shared more of the story.  The granddaughter was the only one who thought about the cat after the grandmother passed away.  She went back to her grandmother's property to find her.  When she did, the cat was very thin, and she called us. 

The cat was normally taken inside during the winter by her grandmother who worried about the cat's well-being during these cold Iowa winters.  During the summer months, the grandmother would set her outside to play and be a cat.  The granddaughter could recall the cat having been spayed, but doubted that the cat had been to the veterinarian for annual check-ups anytime recently.   She estimated the age of the cat to be around 6 or 7 years old. 

When we looked into the cage, we saw this beautiful all white cat.  I could immediately see some health issues that would need to be dealt with, but I was so glad we took her into rescue.  She needed us.  She was so skinny.  She had runny eyes.  She had shortened, shriveled ears.  But she had a spark in her eyes.  And her white coat was pathetically dirty.

Perdy's purrsonality is purrrfect. (say that three times fast!)  She is a sweet and gentle angel.  She is gaining weight.  Her tail is very odd in the way it lays down flat on her back with a curl when you pet her.  It is not a health issue in any way, but an adorable trait.  She has tested negative for both feline leukemia virus and FIV virus.  She has been treated for worms, fleas and earmites.  She has been vaccinated for distemper virus and rabies.  She has been microchipped.  It was also discovered that she is spayed and front declawed.  She has had the run of the clinic for a few weeks now, and enjoys sleeping in small boxes.

Perdy's stubby ears are consistent with either frostbite or ear tipping.  Ear tipping is a type of ear notching where instead of taking a small triangle off the side of the ear, the top point of the ear is removed.  Ear tipping is usually performed on only one ear, and the intent is to let people know from a distance that a cat is fixed. It is often used when colonies of cats are fixed so the caretakers know who has been done without having to get "personal" with the cat.  The problem with ear tipping versus ear notching is that it can mimic frostbite lesions or other traumatic ear injuries.  Since both ears were involved with this girl, it was not likely that this resulted from an intentional ear tip.  It is more likely that she has had frostbite on her ear tips.  With frostbite, severe cold damages the peripheral tissue (usually ears, toes or tail) and, as a result, the blood vessels quit providing the area with blood.  The tissue dies off leaving the ears with this stunted appearance and the edges are often comprised of unhealthy tissue.

There were also scabs on the top side of Miss Perdy's ears.  I was hoping they were minor injuries that would heal and go away...unfortunately, they did not.  They persisted .  White cats are very susceptible to skin cancer on their ears and on their face, two areas that the sun is easily exposed to because the hair is shorter and more sparse.  These lesions could be such a cancer so, today, we had to amputate much of what was left of Perdy's ear flaps, aka pinnae, and are sending them off for biopsy.  We should know in a week or two whether these lesions were cancer or chronic inflammation.  Either way, her ear flaps will have healthy edges with less of a tendency to bleed with even the most minor or traumas. 

Please pray for our Perdy.  She seems to have been through a few of her nine lives, and we hope to keep her around for some time. 

We need help paying for Perdy's medical care, surgery, and biopsy.  If you can help hinder the costs of the veterinary care for Perdy and the other animals that we rescue, you can send contributions via http://www.paypal.com/ to email address immydog@msn.com, or mail contributions to South Hamilton Animal Alliance PO Box 354, Jewell, IA 50130.  Your funds will go directly to the veterinary care for Perdy and other animals in our care.  You can visit them online at this link:  SHAA

Please stay tuned for updates on Miss Perdy.  Biopsy results should be back in 7-14 days.


UPDATE:  http://vetrescue.blogspot.com/2011/02/still-perdy-as-picture.html

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Anyone Want a Brandy?

I DO!

Meet the real Brandy...

Brandy was a senior Collie / Golden Retriever mix that came to us, South Hamilton Animal Alliance, from an unlicensed rescue in Eldora, Iowa.  This "rescue" was raided following accusations of severe neglect in February of 2008.  Over 15 animals were found dead at this horrific "rescue" with over 45 other animals starving, neglected, and in need of medical care.  Brandy was just one of these survivors.

She came to us underweight, unspayed, with extremely long toenails, and with severe dental disease.  She weighed in at 45 lbs and would need to gain about 10 lbs to be considered healthy. She was a very sweet girl and needed a loving home to repair the heartache caused by her experience at that horrific place.

Please read the story about her experience here  http://vetrescue.blogspot.com/2010/02/speak-loudly-for-silent-ones.html  .  It will touch your heart, and give you an idea of what this poor girl and her friends went through.  I hope the links and videos are all still active.  They are eye opening.

We took care of Brandy's vet work and gave her nice healthy meals, filling that skinny belly.  In just hours of knowing her, we fell in love with her.  We asked a fellow rescue group, RAGOM (Retrieve A Golden of Minnesota), to help with a handsome Golden Retriever boy that came to us with Brandy from the same horrific place.  His name was Buddy.  You can read Buddy's story here: http://ragom.org/avail.cgi/Available/dog?dog_id=3392  RAGOM agreed to take in Buddy, and they also agreed to take in Brandy!  We were thrilled because this meant that Brandy and Buddy would each go to foster homes and become a temporary part of a real family again while waiting for their forever family to find them!

Brandy went into RAGOM.  It was soon discovered that Brandy was in the early stages of anal gland cancer.  RAGOM could have decided to euthanize Brandy at that moment.  Such a diagnosis would certainly bring with it a high emotional and financial expense of caring for such an illness.  Brandy's adoption possibilities would now be almost non-existent having been diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness.  Who wants to adopt a dog and invest their heart and soul into a dog that may very soon be leaving this life behind?  Instead, RAGOM followed their veterinarian's suggestions and they followed their hearts, and decided to pursue treatment for Brandy.  Brandy's story encouraged people to sponsor her veterinary care, and Brandy's temporary foster home became her permanent foster home. 

Brandy went through treatment, loved her family and her family loved her.  She had a round belly, a soft bed, and all the love she could possibly desire.

While online tonight, the director of the rescue that organized the raid on the horrific rescue was also online.  Amy, from HEART (Hardin Eldora Animal Rescue Team) was in the habit of following the RAGOM page to see how her rescued "kids" were doing.  She told me that Brandy had passed away.

Brandy had touched my heart.  I had named her Brandy after a dog that my cousin had when I was just a kid.  In my memory, the two dogs looked very similar.  The original Brandy was named in honor of my Uncle's favorite drink which happened to be the color of her beautiful coat.  The original Brandy got loose one day, wandered down to the main road, and was hit by a car.  I never forgot her.  Sadly, I have no photographs of her.

I never forgot this Brandy either.  Something about her face was very welcoming, very loving.  Those eyes seem to look directly into your heart and heat it up like a bunsen burner.

I want to share the message from the RAGOM website written by Brandy's permanent foster Mom...

"It is with a very sad heart that I have to tell everybody that Brandy has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. When the doctors put her under anesthesia for surgery, she reacted poorly, so they brought her out of it without performing the surgery. She then developed difficulty walking and breathing, and it was obvious that little Brandy had fought as hard as she could for as long as she could, but was not going to be able to beat her health issues this time.
I want to thank first and foremost, RAGOM itself for taking Brandy in and providing her with the surgeries that allowed her to live a wonderful life for the past two and a half years. I am extremely grateful for Brandy’s sponsors - Susannah Charleson, Megan, John & Otto Altman, and Mary & Carl S. for their care and interest in sponsoring this special girl. All the doctors and staff at VCA vet clinic in Richfield were so supportive and caring of Brandy, not only for the last few years, but on this past Saturday when Brandy needed them the most. The doctor and her assistant who helped Brandy cross over went above and beyond to make things as comfortable as possible for both Brandy and myself. Their kindness and compassion for Brandy was overwhelming. In addition, I’d like to thank Dr. Rasmussen who performed Brandy’s prior surgeries, and Dr. Ralph, who provided radiology services.
Brandy devoted her whole heart and soul to myself and my other pets this past few years. She learned that she belonged to a family, and she took that responsibility very seriously. From letting the cats share her bed, to roughhousing with Baxter the lab, Brandy had a special place in all our hearts. She loved walking in the country with buddies Baxter and Asa, and going to the dog park was one of her favorite activities. Her cheese-filled Kong was a daily thrill. Everybody who met her immediately loved her, as her demeanor and beauty could not fail to charm. Brandy will live on in my heart and memories as one of the most special dogs God ever created. I know He is taking care of her for me until we meet again."
 
I, too, would like to thank RAGOM, it's volunteers that helped transport Brandy from Iowa to Minnesota, Brandy's foster family, Brandy's sponsors, and Brandy's veterinary care team.  I also want to thank HEART Rescue and its volunteers for rescuing the 45 survivors and exposing the horror within that rescue.  Without you, Brandy would have died, forgotten.
 
It is rare that a breed-specific rescue will commit to taking a mixed breed dog.  It is rare that a rescue can afford to provide the care that Brandy received.  It is not rare that a dog, a dog that has been cruelly mistreated, can be such a positive influence on the lives of so many people.  Thank you, Brandy.
 
If you would like to send your sympathies about the loss of Brandy, please join the facebook fan page linked here, HEART's Waggin' Tails Rescue Memorial Fan Page.  You will be able to read stories and see photos of other survivors as well.  Hope to see you there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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I Am an Animal Rescuer: by Lisa S. Hindle Deppe

"I am an animal rescuer.



I will save lives.



I will lose lives.



I will make wise decisions.



I will make mistakes.



I will be surrounded by people who understand what I do and how I feel.



I will be criticized by those who do not understand.



I will rejoice when each homeless huggable finds a new forever family.



I will suffer through days when I cannot get those lost out of my mind.



For each day that I continue to move forward, I will help keep more from being lost."


Lisa Hindle Deppe