Our Hurricane Roommates

The local animal shelters have really stepped up to help out the shelters on the coast.  Lots of local rescues had multiple transports to the coast to then take animals to partner rescues up north.  Some of the shelters in areas with mandatory evacuation orders were able to send all of the animals in their care to other shelters.

This represents so much progress.  For years, many of the shelters on the coast had no choice but to euthanize a lot of animals ahead of catastrophic storms.  Now, thanks to rescues in multiple states reaching out to help, that’s not nearly as common.  There’s still a very long way to go, but there’s definite progress.

The shelter we adopted Duke, Tara, and Cookie from asked for temporary fosters for all of their animals until next Friday, due to the bad weather we’re expected to get from Florence.

Initial forecasts had the remnants of Florence arriving in our area tonight, and into tomorrow.  Now the forecasts have Florence, currently moving at two miles per hour, arriving tomorrow night into Monday, and basically stalling against the mountains.  They say we’ll start getting some wind and rain tonight, but our major impacts will be later.  We’re told our area will likely receive six to twelve inches of rain, with some areas getting up to fifteen inches of rain.

Malmo, a.k.a. Motimer

The shelter is in a flood prone area, so they wanted the animals out in case it floods there.  If it doesn’t flood, they can be a stopping off point for animals being transported up from the coast, or from the coast or midlands of South Carolina.

It has been quite some time since we’ve done any fostering, and while we’ve made the decision to never bring another dog into our home, we still want to foster cats as we’re able.  This seemed like a good time to make the leap, and get back into it.  Every animal out of our local shelters frees up space for an animal from the coast, and generally allows the rescues here to divert more resources to helping the shelters on the coast.  We signed up to temporarily foster two cats and were told we’d be matched with two cats based on our application information.

We went to pick up our cats after work on Thursday, and were sent home with Malmo and Copenhagen.  They’re about 10 months old, and full of energy.  They also seem to be very bonded.

Neither one of us are very fond of their names, so we’re calling them Mortimer and Charlie while they’re here.  Cats don’t exactly come when they’re called most of the time, so we don’t think it’s doing any harm.

Copenhagen, a.k.a. Charlie

We’re currently keeping them separated from the rest of the pets, so they’re in our bedroom.  Thursday evening they only really came out to eat, and spent the rest of the time under the bed.  We heard them wrestling, and playing with some of the toys.  They just didn’t seem very sure of us. 

By Friday evening they were starting to warm up to us, and started to come out and let us pet them.  They’ve also decided that sleeping in the bed and cuddling with us some is kind of nice.  They definitely like the food here, and they seem to love the toys we’ve given them.   

We have no plans to go anywhere this weekend since the weather is supposed to be so bad, so we’ll be able to spend a lot of time playing and cuddling with them.   It’s not a bad way to weather the storm.

Tyson’s Transport

Nick and I got to be part of getting this cute little guy to his forever home last weekend. Tyson is a bull terrier, and the first one we’d ever met, so it was a lot of fun to be part of his transport.

Tyson was traveling from his foster home near Columbia, SC to his forever home in Minnesota. He was rescued through Recycla-Bull Terrier Rescue. He was a fun little guy, and very well behaved during our trip to Morristown, TN.

It was a good transport day. The weather was beautiful, and everything went smoothly. There were also at least two other transports going through our area, so it was a good day for rescue animals.

Tator’s Transport

As promised, here’s a much happier post. Nothing helps the loss of a beloved pet hurt a little less than helping another animal in need.

If you’ve been around for a while, you may remember that I used to be involved in rescue transports. We have a much higher euthanasia rate here in the south than in other parts of the country, particularly in more rural areas. To help combat that, many shelters and rescues in other areas partner with shelters and rescues in the south. The animals are pulled from the southern shelters and rescues and then transported to other parts of the country, to shelters and rescues that aren’t faced with as much overcrowding. In some cases they even go straight to their new homes.

The transports are how they get there. Usually the trip is broken down into legs of about an hour or so, and people sign up to drive a certain leg. You meet someone, usually right off the Interstate, and get the animal(s), drive your leg, meet someone else and deliver the animal(s) to them to continue the trip. There’s a coordinator who sets times, makes sure all the slots are filled, monitors the trip, and basically makes sure everything runs smoothly.

The transports are pretty amazing. Because it’s all volunteer, it doesn’t cost the rescue or shelter anything, and sometimes dozens of people (depending on how far the trip is), most of whom will never meet, work together to get animals to safety. It’s a pretty incredible thing to be part of.
We took a long break from driving the transports while Emma’s health was so bad. We felt like we needed to be with her, to give her the best quality of life possible. But within two weeks of losing Emma we both really wanted to help with a transport. I emailed some of the coordinators and asked to be put back on the lists for volunteering. One responded almost immediately to ask more about availability. We live kind of between two of the usual legs, so can easily drive either of them. If it’s a hard one to fill, we’ve driven both. 

This particular transport was for a boxer named Tator (no, that’s not a misspelling on my part; it’s how his name is listed on the rescue’s website). Tator was in the Greenwood County Shelter, and was heart worm positive. Across America Boxer Rescue was willing and able to take him. They had a foster family lined up, ready to get him through his heart worm treatment. He just needed a ride, and he needed it in a hurry because the shelter was full.

 Because Tator’s circumstances were pretty dire, Nick and I decided to volunteer to pick him up from the shelter and drive him to meet his foster dad. It was about a five hour round trip for us, but we reasoned that it all balanced out after taking such a long break from transports, and we knew it would make us feel better. Nick was off, and I’m allowed a certain amount of paid time off every year for community service work, so it worked out well.

Tator was incredibly sweet. He was scared and nervous, but still sweet, and clearly wanted to trust people. He was a great passenger; very well-mannered in the car.

It felt so good to do a transport again and have a small part in getting Tator on his way to a better life.

It’s National Dog Day

Today is National Dog Day. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it, but I love it. The purpose of National Dog Day is "to honor dogs, and to rescue dogs from homelessness and abuse. It’s an opportunity for us to appreciate the value and importance of dogs in our lives." There’s also a goal of saving 10,000 dogs today. Isn’t that a great day? You can also read a little more about it here if you’re so inclined.

In honor of National Dog Day I thought I'd share some adorable dog pictures with you. Some are of our babies, Emma and Duke, and the rest are dogs from transports or that have been fosters. And since the goal of National Dog Day isn’t just to look at adorable dog pictures, but to help save dogs, here are five quick ways you can help save dogs in need:

1. Opt to adopt instead of buying. Shelters and rescues are full of great puppies and dogs in need of loving homes. Even if you’re looking for a purebred, there’s a huge chance that a rescue or shelter can help you find one.

2. If you’re able to, consider fostering a puppy or dog from your local shelter or rescue. It frees up more space, and can help them learn the people skills they need to be adopted.

3. Make a donation to your local shelter or rescue. It can be monetary, or something as simple as a blanket or a bag of dog food. Everything helps.

4. Drive a leg of a transport. Sometimes all a dog needs to make it to a better life is a ride.

5. Spay and neuter your pets. Also, consider supporting an organization that makes spay and neuter surgeries readily accessible.

And now, enjoy some pictures of some adorable dogs. And feel free to tell us about your dog(s) in the comments. It’s okay to brag about your dog on National Dog Day.

Welcome Cookie & Dot

We’re foster parents again. It’s only short term, while the cat room at the no-kill shelter is being renovated. There’s a lot of work being done, so all of the kitties had to move out for it, which means Cookie and Dot are our house guests for the next week or so.

Cookie

Dot is very nervous and has decided to take up residence underneath the armoire for the time being. We’re sure she’ll be fine once she’s had a little more time to adjust and get used to being in a new place. And I’ll share a picture as soon as she’s ready for her photo shoot.

Cookie is very friendly and outgoing. She seems perfectly happy to be here, and doesn’t seem to be the least bit concerned about being in a new place. She has been exploring their room and looking out the window. Hopefully Dot will follow her example soon.

We’re looking forward to spending the next week with these lovely ladies and pampering them. 

Kitten Season

It’s the beginning of Kitten Season here at our local shelters. Kitten Season usually begins with the warmer weather and often lasts through the early fall. It’s when shelters and rescues are inundated with kittens due to so many cats who haven’t been spayed having litters.

During Kitten Season, the shelters and rescues need a lot of extra help to take care of so many new babies all at once. Here are some of the ways you can help:

1. Spay and Neuter: This is huge! Eliminating litters of unwanted kittens keeps them out of shelters in the first place.

2. Adopt a cat or kitten from your local shelter or rescue. If you’re looking to add a feline companion of any age to your family, the shelter is the best place to go. You can help save two lives, the one you adopt and the one who gets the space freed up by the one you adopted.

3. Short term foster during Kitten Season: We did this last year with two adorable little kittens named Chandler and Pansy. Sometimes no-kill shelters or rescues have to turn away animals simply because they don’t have enough room. Short term fostering helps to free up some space at the shelter until they’re able to accommodate more animals.

4. Donate: An inundation of kittens means the shelters and rescues are going through a lot more supplies than usual. Cash donations are always appreciated as they can use that for whatever their current needs are. Kitten food (wet and dry), cat litter, blankets, heating pads, laundry detergent, and cleaning supplies are also very much needed during Kitten Season. Even just a few cans of cat food really helps.

Every little bit helps the shelters and rescues during Kitten Season. And it’s a great feeling to look at these sweet little faces and know that you’ve helped.

So what about you? Is it Kitten Season in your area?

Chandler & Pansy

During the summer our semi-local no kill shelter was inundated with cats and kittens; at one point there were nearly 400 cats and kittens in their care.  They sent out a plea for temporary foster homes and we ended up bringing Chandler and Pansy home for about a month. 

They weren’t even two pounds when we brought them home.  Frankie is our baby, and he’s five now, so it had been a while since we’d had tiny little kittens in the house.  They have so much energy when they’re that little!  Everything was interesting to them, and every day was an adventure. 

We had to keep Chandler and Pansy in a separate room because Duke seems to believe that tiny furry creatures are snacks, not guests, but we spent lots of time playing and cuddling with them.  And being climbed. Apparently we both make great human jungle gyms. 

After about a month the shelter had adopted out enough cats and kittens to have a little breathing room and Chandler and Pansy were able to go back to the shelter to be put up for adoption.  We really enjoyed having them.  It was a lot of fun to watch them explore, grow, and really start to develop their personalities. 

June Is Adopt A Cat Month

I haven’t forgotten about or abandoned this project!  It’s just that June has also turned into something of a crazy month for me.  I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me when a month I see as license to indulge my inner crazy cat lady turns crazy.

There are a few modifications to my plan, however.  Obviously, I am not featuring a different cat and/or shelter every day as I had originally hoped. I do still have some guest posts lined up, and I’m very excited about those. It’s not too late to have a guest post.  If you’d like to share anything relevant to the world of cat rescue, just send me an email.  It’s all about the cats!

I’m still entering all of the rescues featured into a drawing for a $25.00 donation from me, and will announce that on July 1^st. 

In closing for today, I’d just like to encourage everyone to do something nice for shelter cats this month.   We’re not all in a position to adopt another cat, and that’s perfectly understandable, but we can all do a little something to make things a little easier for shelter cats whether it’s donating to your local shelter, dropping off a bag of food or litter, changing litter boxes, or helping to socialize the cats.  After all, it is their month. 

June Is Adopt A Cat Month

Howard

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a crazy cat lady.  I feel no shame, and actually proudly proclaim my title.  I love cats.  Always have.  Always will.  We currently have four cats (Howard, Milo, Frankie, and Tara) which seems to be our limit for the moment.  All four of them are rescues, and I like to think that we’re giving them all a pretty good life. 

Frankie

Unfortunately, not all cats who wind up in shelters are as fortunate as our quirky quartet. 2012 statistics show that 70% of cats in shelters are euthanized.  That number is really high, and really scary, especially when you think about the fact that so many of those cats are perfectly healthy, adoptable cats.  There just wasn’t a place for them. 

Milo

Fortunately, June is Adopt A Cat Month!   A month all about adopting your very own feline companion or two!  Shelters are full of cats and kittens of all ages, colors, and personalities just waiting for their very own homes. 

Marta - a cat we fostered

In honor of June being Adopt A Cat Month, I am planning to give my blog over to cats for the entire month of June, and I’m hoping for your help and participation.  I’m also offering a prize to encourage participation and further help the kitties.  I want to feature rescues and shelters, and maybe some stories of rescued cats, and I’m looking for guest posts to do this.  Is there a cat in your local shelter who has been there too long?  Is your shelter trying to raise money to build/expand/improve their cat area?  Are you a rescue looking for volunteers for transports, foster homes, etc.?  Are you trying to place a special needs cat?  Does your area have a spay/neuter program in place for cats?  Are you a rescuer who has found an effective way to make the shelter/adoption process less stressful for cats?  I’d love to have your blog post on it.

Here are the rules:

1.       Absolutely NO cats and/or kittens for sale, NOTHING from breeders.  I am a FIRM believer in “adopt don’t shop”!

2.       You must send a link for the shelter or rescue the cat is from or that the story is about.  The link will be included in the post.

3.       Please include a link to Sweet Tea Reads on your regular blog, (you’re not required to have a blog to participate) if you have one, on the day that your post is scheduled to appear. 

4.       All posts and pictures must be received by Friday, May 23, 2014.  Please send them to dlzecher@gmail.com.  Once I get them all scheduled I will email you with the date that your post will appear.  I cannot guarantee the acceptance of all posts, but I will respond to all entries, and post updates as to the number of spaces left, etc. 

5.  Please keep an eye on your guest post to respond to comments and any questions about your cat, shelter, etc.  You're in a better position to answer specific questions than I am.  

Let’s use the power of Blogger for the good of cats during the month of June.  Maybe, with a little luck, we can get the right cat (cats) seen by the right person (people).  Crazy cat people unite! 

Tara

Now, on to the prize.  Every rescue or shelter (must be a non-profit organization) featured in a post will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 donation from me.  Multiple posts featuring the same place will result in multiple entries.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. 

Please be patient with me, as this will be my first experience with guest posts.  If something isn’t clear or just doesn’t make sense, please ask in the comments, and I’ll do my best to improve things.  Let’s keep this fun and in the spirit of helping cats. 

Feeding Feral Cats

About a year and a half ago a local spay and neuter organization asked for volunteers to help feed a local feral cat colony.  I didn’t know anything about feral cats, but being a cat person, I called the volunteer in charge of the colony. 

 

I learned that there is a colony living behind a nearby hardware store, and that volunteers feed and manage the colony.  I also learned what makes a cat feral rather than stray.  Basically, stray cats are cats that have become lost or been abandoned.  They’ve had interaction with humans, and can be approached and petted.  Feral cats are much more wary of humans, and usually cannot be approached or petted.  They are often cats who are the offspring of stray cats. 

Because feral cats cannot be adopted into homes the goal is to humanely manage a colony through providing adequate food and water, a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) program, and providing medical care for any cats that may become injured.  The goal is basically to keep them healthy, and to keep them from reproducing. 

Estimates vary as to the number of cats in our local colony, but most of us believe there are somewhere around a dozen cats.  One gentleman who is retired largely heads up our little group of feeders, with about five of us taking a day or two a week to feed the cats. He’s also the person who coordinates with the local T-N-R group to make sure any new cats are spayed/neutered, and to get medical care for any cats that any of us notice with an injury. 

Most of us have never met in person; we just exchange emails to work out feeding schedules and to discuss what’s going on with the cats.  We’re all cat lovers, so we’re happy to work together to get them fed, adjusting the feeding schedule as needed to make sure they’re fed on holidays and any time one of us is out of town. 

We’ve all managed to find a favorite cat, or two, and we update each other whenever we haven’t seen a particular cat in a while.  One volunteer builds shelters for the cats during the cold weather, and most of us take them treats when we feed on a holiday. 

It’s not a complicated or official system, but it seems to work.  The cats look good, and the colony doesn’t seem to be growing. While none of us are able to pet the cats, or even get very close to them, they do seem to know and expect us.  They sit and wait just a few feet from the feeding area in the mornings.  It seems like they know we’re coming, and maybe know they can trust us, even if it’s only to bring them food every day. 

It Takes A Village

Sometimes it seems like the people mistreating animals far outnumber the folks working toward keeping animals safe, healthy, and happy.  And sometimes it seems like the task of animal rescue is overwhelmingly huge, and doubt that it can be done begins to creep in, just a little.  But then something happens that makes you realize that while sometimes it takes a village to rescue one animal, there IS a village out there willing and able to make it happen.

Monday was one of those “it takes a village” days.  Around 3:30 in the afternoon I received an email from the no-kill shelter asking if I could pick up a dog, named Bear, from a local vet to bring to the shelter.  There wasn’t much information about the dog at the time, just that he needed a place to go, and a spot had finally opened up with the shelter. 

Bear turned out to be an eleven month old lab mix.  His first owners intended to take him to the county (kill) shelter because he jumped on them and is terrible about walking on the leash.  I’m just going to take a minute to go off on a side rant here: those are 100 percent fixable problems AND they’re usually caused by the owners not taking the time to teach the dog proper behavior.  Furthermore, an eleven month old dog is high energy.  They jump and they pull.  You just have to accept high energy as part of having a young dog.  You have to exercise the dog and teach them to walk on the leash and not to jump on you.  It takes time and patience, but it can easily be done.  End rant.

Someone else took Bear in, temporarily, just to keep him out of the kill shelter and contacted the vet about trying to find a home for him.  The vet contacted the no-kill shelter and agreed to keep Bear until a spot opened up for him, which ended up being a little over two weeks. Bear’s place in the no-kill shelter opened up on Monday. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me since I left straight from work, so I have no pictures of Bear.  I promise he was adorable!  He was super sweet, too.  He rode in the car well, and seemed to want to please once he figured out what was expected of him.  He tried to get in the front seat at first, but after a few times of firmly telling him to stay in the backseat he caught on, and was a perfect gentleman for most of the car ride. 

Bear will most likely be placed in a foster home, at least for a while, so that he can be taught proper leash behavior and not to jump on people when he’s excited.  And the shelter will work hard to find the right family for him.  So, yes, it’s taking a village to save Bear, but there IS a village committed to saving Bear and other pets like him. 

Number 5 – Trying to Help Truffle Find a Home

If you’ve read more than a post or two of mine you’ve probably figured out that I’m something of an animal lover.  So you had to know that some of my 31 Things project would involve animal related things. 

One of the blogs I follow is Animal Shelter Volunteer Life.  It’s a great blog featuring the adoptable cats at a rescue called PAWS.  It’s a well written blog and alternates between featuring cats in need of homes, sharing PAWS success stories, and generally providing a little encouragement for the folks involved in animal rescue. 

One of the recent posts was about a cat named Truffle.  Truffle is 10 years old, and has been at the shelter since 2009.  That is way too long for a cat to be waiting for their furever home. The post asked readers to please share Truffle on various social media outlets in hopes of helping her find her furever home.  So that is what I’m doing.  You can read all about (and see great pictures of) Truffle here or here.  I’ve also shared her story on my Facebook page. 

I’m also asking for your help with this part of my project.  Please take a minute to share Truffle on whatever social media outlet(s) you prefer.  It doesn’t take much time, and you never know if you might be sharing her information with her perfect match.   Adding the right furry family member might just be someone’s biggest Christmas wish. 

Meet Duke

Well, I promised that my next post would be a happier one, and I don’t think it gets much happier than fur kids.  So, as promised, here’s my happier post, and your introduction to Duke.

Nick and I finally took the leap into long term fostering.  We’ve done short term fostering before; when puppies weren’t old enough for the shelter, when a cat needed to gain weight (our house is a great place to come if you need to gain weight), and short term fostering when a friend who fosters regularly was on vacation.  But we’d always held back on long term, open ended, they might be here for months or longer fostering. 

Saturday that changed.  A friend who regularly fosters through the no kill shelter forwarded me an email about fostering Duke, a Boxer Dalmation mix.  Duke is heartworm positive, and has a broken leg that didn’t heal properly, so he hops along, not using the leg.  He was in a kill shelter, and could be saved by the no kill shelter if a foster home could be found in time.  We decided to make the leap.

We picked Duke up on Saturday afternoon and brought him home.  He and Emma were instant friends, and he has done well with the quirky quartet of cats.  He has settled into the rhythm of our home without any issues.  It almost seems like he has always been there.

Duke is finishing up some medication for kennel cough, and tomorrow we go for a booster shot and to get the first round of heartworm medication.  At this point we’re told that likely nothing will/can/should be done about his leg until after he’s finished with the heartworm treatment.  We’ll probably know more after his first vet’s appointment. 

In the meantime, we’re just enjoying having him.  Emma seems happy to have a dog friend, and Duke seems happy to be staying with us.  He seems to crave attention.  He follows us through the house, and stays in the same room with us pretty much all of the time.   He’s a very happy guy; always excited about treats and toys, and happily greeting us when we come home.  I think he knows he has been given a second chance for a better life. 

Johnny & June

We are foster parents again.  This time we are temporarily housing two eight week old hound puppies.  The semi-local no kill shelter was contacted by a kill shelter in a neighboring county about taking in 34 puppies who were on death row, and sent out a plea for foster homes.

The no kill shelter was able to take all 34 puppies, but only if they could find foster homes for two weeks for all of them.  They were out of room themselves, and don’t typically keep puppies that haven’t been through all of their vaccines in the shelter. 

This is our first time fostering puppies.  We typically prefer older dogs or cats, but looking at the puppies’ sweet little faces and knowing that stepping up was literally the difference between whether they would live or die made us take the leap into fostering puppies.  We reasoned that it’s only a two week commitment.  Two weeks of something new and different for us really isn’t much compared to saving their lives. 

All 34 puppies arrived at the no kill shelter at 3:00 on Tuesday afternoon, and were all parceled out to their various foster homes by 7:30 that evening.  Some brave souls took groups of four puppies. 

Johnny and June weren’t named at the shelter.  They were the last two hound puppies in a carrier, so were sent with me for convenience sake as we hadn’t spoken up for specific puppies, just agreed to take two.  The foster coordinator told me we could name them.  It’s about a 45 minute drive home from the shelter, and the only time they stopped crying in the car was when country music was playing, especially anything old school.  At that point I had to name them Johnny and June! 

Johnny and June have to remain separated from Emma, and cannot go outside at all due to their age, coming from the first shelter, and vaccine status.  We have the puppy crate in the added on room because that’s the best place to keep anyone separated from the other fur kids.  It has changed up our routine a little bit, but so far it hasn’t been terrible.  It is more work having them around, but it seems to be worth it. 

Caring for them seems to mostly consist of constantly changing out the newspaper and cleaning their crate.  It also appears that they’re going to need near daily baths.  They are very loud when they want attention, but they play with each other and they sleep a lot.  They’re beginning to discover toys, which is fun to watch, and they seem to be developing their own little personalities.  June is feistier and wants to play and chew on things.  Johnny is cuddlier and wants to be held and petted. 

I’ve been told that they will likely end up on the northern transport program since hounds are usually adopted very quickly that way.  It’s just nice to be a very small part of that, and to know that soon they’re going to have their forever home(s).  

Enough Wallowing

Lately I have found myself sort of wallowing.  There have been some things happening that have made me unhappy:

My grandparents were evaluated for home health care and we learned they are in much worse shape than any of us realized.  They think it’s 2010.  They also think it’s late September.  The fact that it’s 100 degrees and they’ve been watching tryouts for the 2012 Summer Olympics just doesn’t compute with them.   There are others things, too, but mostly along the same lines.

We are being told by their healthcare providers not to correct them because it can scare, upset, or somehow agitate them.  Home health care has been started, and my aunt is coming in from out of town.  Hard decisions are going to be made in the next few weeks.

I realize there is nothing I can do to change my grandparents’ dementia.   I don’t have a magic wand.  We can’t turn back time and we’re told it’s not going to get any better at this point.  I am resigned to the fact that there will likely come a time when they don’t know who I am. 

That being said, I am in a position to help the Alzheimer’s Association.  The semi-local Walk to End Alzheimer’s is being held on October 20 this year.  It’s between where I live and where my parents live.  I talked to my mom about it yesterday, and we are going to walk.  I also asked my friend Lorie about joining us and she said yes.  I was feeling optimistic and ambitious, so I created a friends/family team for us.  Right now we’re a team of three and they suggest at least ten for a team, but my mom and I are both planning to ask other friends to join us.

I chose Making Memories as our team name.  I think we’ll have a good time and make some lasting memories during the walk, and I’m hopeful that it will contribute toward making memories last for people who benefit from the Alzheimer’s Association’s work.  I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m nervous and excited at the same time. 

It hit me (again) recently how devastating cancer is.  This has come from a few different directions.  There are some people on my husband’s job battling cancer and there have been some fund-raising efforts to assist them with the expenses insurance doesn’t cover.  We’re not especially close to any of these people, but it’s terrible to hear about, and it has brought back some bad memories. 

One of my husband’s co-workers, a man he very much respected and admired died of cancer a few years ago.  I think the fact that other people on his job are now dealing with cancer has brought that loss back to their minds.

My best friend’s mom also died of cancer almost six years ago.  She was young, only 47.  I think about the things she has missed and will miss in Crystal and her brothers’ lives, and it seems so unfair.  I also realized recently that it seems to have made Crystal very afraid of losing other family members.  One of her brothers is in the military and he’s currently on a base on the other side of the country.  Crystal worries so much about him that it makes me really sad for her.   I think it’s compounded by the fact that after her mom, this brother is the closest family member to her.

Once again, I don’t have a cure.  I can’t make cancer and its devastating effect on people’s lives go away.  I can, however, do what I can to support the American Cancer Society, and I can give blood.  Many of the donor stories on theRed Cross website involve donating blood because the donor has a family member who is alive due to donated blood, or was given extra time because a family member was able to be treated with donated blood.  The stories are very touching. 

I’m O Positive, so I’m told I should give blood as often as I’m able.  I’m sorry to say it has been a while since I’ve given blood.  There’s apparently a real shortage right now, so I’ve made an appointment.  There’s a blood drive right across the street from my office building on Monday, so I have an appointment to give blood during lunch.  My hemoglobin isn’t always high enough to donate, so I’m trying to eat iron rich foods now so I won’t get deferred on Monday.  There’s also a local blood drive on Wednesday, so that’s my back-up plan if my hemoglobin isn’t high enough on Monday.

It seems that animal rescue efforts have been failing lately.  Lennox was euthanized and there have been some dogs and cats networked lately that weren’t able to be saved.  There have also been some that were in really bad shape and just didn’t make it.  It felt like we’ve failed them.

But then there was an email from Gino’s foster mom.  He has been re-named Journey, which seems very appropriate.  He is doing very well; the sores on his body have healed, he’s no longer covered in fleas and ticks, and he gets along extremely well with children and other dogs.  She said he’s very affectionate, and extremely well-behaved.  She also says there are multiple qualified adopters applying to adopt him, so he will be in his forever home soon. 

As transport drivers we very rarely hear much about the dogs we drive after the transport ends.  We just make sure to work with reputable rescues and coordinators.  And the efforts are very quickly moved on to the next one, so it was doubly wonderful to hear how Journey’s journey is going.

I also received a belated birthday check for the local no-kill shelter from a friend.  I had asked for donations for them for my 30th birthday.  This friend wasn’t able to attend the cookout we had, but still wanted to donate to the shelter.  That donation brought the total to over $300.00. 

So, while not all of the adoptable animals are being saved, many are.  I can’t save them all, but I can keep transporting, donating, and anything else that may come along that I’m able to do. 

As I said, enough wallowing.  

Driving Miss Sheila

I think she's happy to be on her way home!

Today’s post is a little later than usual because today I was able to be a small part of getting this sweet girl to her forever home.  This is Sheila; she was in a shelter with a very high euthanasia rate in a rural county.  She appears to have had multiple litters of puppies and is also heartworm positive.  Sheila’s outlook was very bleak until a rescue got involved and a very kind person stepped in to adopt her and take care of her heartworm treatment.  Sheila’s new family is about nine hours away from the shelter she was in, so that’s where the volunteer transport came in. 

I was able to drive Sheila for one of the hour “legs” of her journey.  There are about seven people driving Sheila on legs of about an hour each, and her new dad is driving the rest of the way to meet her, so by this evening this sweet little girl will be settling into her new home.

 It was a great way to spend part of the weekend; I got to hang out with an adorable, sweet dog, and meet some really nice people.  It’s always a good feeling to drive on a transport, but today was especially good because Sheila’s new dad is SO excited to have her; he has been calling to check on her and personally thank the drivers.  It feels good to help, even if only a little, to get her to a home like that.