We have never, in all of our years of rescue, been in such a position. Once in a while an animal will require extensive veterinary care for one reason or another… but we have recently been hit hard with three major vet bills as follows:

Budweiser

BUDDY (formerly known as Harvey) is a 10 month old Golden Retriever mix – he was found on the side of the freeway after having fallen from the back of a truck. He severed the nerve in his shoulder and without use of his entire leg, it had to be amputated. We took him in to our adoption program to prevent him from going to a very high kill shelterwhere his injuries would have meant certain euthanasia. He’s just a puppy, has no idea he’s now missing a leg…he’s very waggy and wonderful and thankful to be alive. He is now in a loving foster home and available for adoption… but of course his vet bill for surgery and after-care was enormous.

Hanna

HANNA was a 4 year old Shnauzer/Silky mix that was rescued from the Lancaster shelter where she was scheduled for euthanasia. She only had one working eye because at some point in her life someone kicked her in the head and the
injury was never treated. Hanna came to us scared and skin and bones, but quickly settled in to her foster home and enjoyed some love and company and quality food. Only a few days into her rescue, Hanna became very ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia and stopped eating. She spent several days at the vet’s office and after xrays and ultrasounds was further diagnosed with an intestinal inclusion (her Intestines wrapped around  ). She also had several underlying congenital issues and would eventually need to have her eye removed because of that earlier injury. She was  miserable – and because of her condition was not a candidate for surgery….  because intestinal inclusions are re-occurring and because her system was so weak from a lifetime of trauma -  after much heartbreak and over a thousand dollars of  medical care, we had to let Hanna go.

Daisy

DAISY is a 4 year old Corgi/Eskimo mix that wandered into someone’s backyard two years ago pregnant. She had her puppies and when the puppies were about 4 months old the family decided they didn’t want them anymore and they opened up their gate and turned the hose on them… but they wouldn’t leave. We were informed of the situation and rushed over to get Daisy and her pups out of that nightmare. Her pups were all adopted, but she has been overlooked all this time.
Daisy was diagnosed with bladder stones this past weekend and requires surgery to remove them this week… which, ultimately will cost over a  thousand dollars. Daisy will also require prescription food for the rest of her life – and she still needs a home…

Foreverhome Pet Rescue is a “mom and pop shop” grassroots nonprofit organization… we don’t receive any regular funding – and easily half of our operating costs come out of our personal pockets. We are not an organization that brings in 100K per year either – in 2007 we brought in 24K in donations, and spent well over 40K on the animals. We do not have paid staff – we are all volunteers and we all work normal full time jobs like the rest of the world… but our evenings and weekends are dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of abused, neglected and abandoned animals in our communities…. and sometimes in that mission we “get in over our heads” and must ask for help.

If you are able to assist us with a donation towards these recent veterinary expenses, we can certainly provide you with a tax deduction letter and a BIG waggy lick on the face! (or not!)

The link to our Paypal donation page is here: http://www...foreverhomepetrescue.org/..donate.html

please specify that the donation is for Buddy/Hanna/Daisy

Or, if you are more comfortable calling in a donation directly to our veterinarian with a credit card – please call:

East Valley Veterinary, 818-767-7116 - please specify donation for Foreverhome Pet Rescue, Inc.

Thank you for supporting our mission….  and thank you for caring about the animals!

Please also forward this email to anyone you know who loves animals and may be willing or able to help!

Posts on MySpace and Facebook would also be appreciated!

Rest in Peace, Daisy….

Posted by foreverhomepetrescue on December 9, 2008

I rescued a human today….

Some New Doggie Additions!

We currently have SEVERAL puppies available for adoption - and some recent additions.

The Chihuahua puppies (the grey one and the black one) are still available for adoption. They are super tiny and super cute and little balls of wags and fun! These puppies are "pet store"  type puppies and they will be shown at our South location in Long Beach this coming weekend.

We also have a new Pit mix puppy named Chiquita who is the spitting image of our mascott - she is SUPER sweet and kissy. She was purchased by someone who "didn't realize" that she would have teeth, I guess, because she relinquished her to us saying that she was "biting" the kids. This puppy is NO biter - she's just very playful and still very small and wiggly. She has a FANTASTIC personality.

In the next couple of days we will be getting three 8-week old German Shepherd puppies from someone in the south bay who had an "accidental" litter (of course, mommy and daddy will be fixed immediately). Although we don't yet have them, we're told that daddy is a purebred black/tan GSD and the pups look just like him… they will be shown at our NORTH location in Porter Ranch.

Tonight we will be taking in a sweet 3 month old Pit mix male puppy who was found running the street with a nasty wound on his tail. Someone had cut off his tail with a knife - and he was probably headed for a life of fighting when he managed to get away from his owners. Fortunately they hadn't tried to cut his ears of with scissors yet. He is very sweet and darling and his tail is now healing nicely.

Another new addition is Schatze - an absolutely wonderful 5 year old Miniature Poodle. He is healthy, calm, sweet and housebroken. He's also been around very small children and seems to be fantastic with other dogs and cats.

We have several other mixed breed puppies for adoption - have a visit to our website and find a new family member!

Meet Our Mascot!

Candy was unfortunate enough to have been “rescued” by a man who had a kennel up in the desert where he took dogs and left them. They had food and water - but that’s really all they had other than a 6×9 dirt pen. Many of them were there for years. This is where Candy spent 3 years of her life before we got her out of there with the intention offinding her a home. Find her a home we did - with the President/Founder of Foreverhome (me!).

Yes, I broke the number one rescue rule…. no keeping. I kept. Just one. She is my ONLY personal dog - and she is my best friend and is with me all the time - at work, at home, at adoptions. Candy has been blind all of her life - she does not have pupils - and she is currently12 years old. She is the most balanced dog I have ever met - reacting to nothing, she allows puppies and kitties to climb all over her and bite her ears and face.

Candy is absolutely wonderful - and, yes, a Pit Bull. She is the same age as Cesar Milan’s dog, Daddy - and has a similar temperament.  She has never met a dog or cat (or rabbit or rat) that she didn’t like…except the feral in my house that whacks her in the nose every now and then.

Her temperament leads me to believe that this dog had love when she was younger. Someone spent a lot of time training her (she knows sit, down, stay, come, shake) and someone spent a lot of time socializing her with other animals.  I hope that the family that had her prior to me isn’t still wondering where she is… I can’t imagine losing a dog like Candy. She’s my everything.

In the short time that Candy has lived with me, she has slowed down a lot. She sleeps about 20 hours per day and her hips are starting to give out on her. She has gotten grayer and grayer in the face and often requires help these days to get into the car. She barely has any teeth at all.

Everyone has, in their lifetime, one pet (or maybe two) that are their “heart” - and Candy is my heart dog. There will never be another Candy. I hope she stays with me for many more years… I’m not sure what I’d do without her.

Stop by one of our adoption events in Porter Ranch and you can meet Candy (although the odds are that she’ll be sleeping!)….

I suppose that a dog that becomes blind may miss running at full tilt - but a dog that has been blind all it’s life probably wouldn’t know the difference.

Breed-Specific Rescue; A Rant