Do You Shop at Petland?

With almost 8,000 dogs and puppies rescued from puppy mills in the U.S. just since February of this year, I would have thought that the atrocities inflicted in these operations would by now be nationally recognized and condemned, especially by companies devoted to selling products for pets. However, a recently completed, eight-month long investigation by the Humane Society of the United States has revealed that the national pet store chain, Petland, is selling dogs from cruel puppy mills to unsuspecting customers. The investigation into Petland stores in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio and other states showed that many of the puppies sold at these stores came from massive commercial breeders in Missouri and other Midwestern states where hundreds of breeding dogs live their lives packed into filthy, crowded cages. These dogs spend their lives birthing litter after litter, with minimal human contact, no exercise, and never knowing the love of a family.

Please take the time today to ask Petland to stop supporting the puppy mill industry. You can do this by clicking here to send them an email through the HSUS's "Stop Puppy Mills" campaign, by contacting your nearest Petland store, or by calling their corporate headquarters at 740-775-2464 or toll-free at 800-221-5935.

OR... why not do all three! The more we bombard them and let them know we will not shop in their stores until they are no longer selling puppies the more important the issue becomes to them!

Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves!

Scotty Goes Home

Well, Scotty left last weekend... Saturday morning I took all three dogs to the research park one last time together and then I went home, dropped off the girls, brushed Scotty, and headed out to the drop-off location for his Homeward Bound transport. I talked to him all the way out there and told him he was going to live with his new family and to be a good boy and that we would miss him. I wished he could understand.

I didn't think I was going to cry but when we got to the girl's house I couldn't leave him. I asked to sit there with him for a while and I just sat on her couch hugging on him and rubbing his belly and breaking down intermittently. Luckily, all the Homeward Bound people are animal lovers too and they totally understood. They let me stay with him as long as I wanted while they got everything ready and I did... for an hour and a half. :-) I just couldn't overcome the (probably irrational) feeling that he would think I was abandoning him.

So, I finally pulled myself away from him and walked, crying, to my car, then drove, crying hysterically, home. I felt like I was giving away one of my own dogs... and, in a way, I was. The experience I've had with him has meant so much to me.

So, where is Scotty now, you ask? Well, after a short stint with a family who, due to unforseen circumstances, decided that they were no longer in a position to have a dog, he is now at the home of the owner of Luke's Place, the New Jersey rescue he was adopted through. I spoke with Pat, the owner, last night and she just raved about how great a dog he is! She said he and the other dogs she received from the transport were all a little shaken up after the 15-hour van ride, but that he was doing wonderful now and can already heel and shake. She said he is great with her three-year-old granddaughter, which is a relief because I had never seen him around children. As I was talking, she said his ears were perking up so she let me say "Hi" to him, haha :-) She also said if he didn't get adopted in the next day or so, she really just wanted to keep him! I am just elated over how well this has worked out for my sweet Scotty and I feel really grateful for having been a part of it.
Fostering has been such a fulfilling experience. Really, it is saving a life, because in most cases you are helping shelters keep more animals and give them a better chance at adoption. As long as people continue to neglect spaying and neutering their pets, we will always have an overabundance of animals and shelters will never have enough room for all of them. Four million dogs euthanized each year is a tragic, sickening number. You CAN help though!

• Spay or neuter your pet! In just six years, a female dog and her offspring can multiply to 67,000 puppies! And you can often qualify for discounted or free spaying/neutering, so there's really no reason not to! Check with your vet or local animal shelter.

• Be a hero - Adopt your next pet! With a homeless dog being killed every nine seconds in American shelters, why wouldn't you?

• In fact, you can quite literally save a life by going to Dogs In Danger and entering your zip code. It will show you adoptable dogs in your area who are soon to be put down, most often due to space limitations.

• Foster a dog or cat! Contact your local animal shelter to find out about their foster program and see just how rewarding it can be.

A Very Happy Ending

SCOTTY GOT ADOPTED!!!

We are all so absolutely thrilled and joyful! Actually he is going with the next Homeward Bound transport to a rescue in New Jersey, who will easily be able to find a great home for him! Hooray for Scotty! He is such a special guy and deserves to live as a beloved pet. The family that gets him is quite lucky.

When I find out more details about the rescue, etc. I will post them here. Right now I am simply ecstatic! When I got the news yesterday, it brightened up my whole life. It is so rewarding to know that I have made a difference to this one dog. If he had gone to the shelter, especially here in Starkville where the euthanization rate is about 65%, he probably would have been put down after a week. Now he has a chance at a wonderful life making some family very happy with his sunshine-y spirit.

What people don't understand is that, when they BUY a puppy from a pet store or breeder, they are perpetuating the cycle of abuse and keeping puppy mills in business, like the one in West Virginia where 1,000 dogs were rescued last week from horrible conditions.

On the other hand, when you ADOPT a pet, you are actually saving another living creature's life. And in return, adopted pets teach you about forgiveness, grace and joy. They know they have been rescued and spend every day for the rest of their lives thanking you. They are the epitome of devotion and, in the end, you realize you were the lucky one.

So be a hero and adopt your next pet!

Adult Male Golden Retriever Mix Seeks Loving Forever Home

This is Scotty. My brother's girlfriend found him wandering across from her work with a little white lab puppy and she picked them up and called me. Our local shelter is so full that we decided they (especially Scotty - a Golden Retriever/Chow mix) would have a better chance on the street than in there. So, after boarding them for one night at the vet clinic where she works, Lauren drove them back out near where she found them but deep in a neighborhood to drop them off. After driving them around in the neighborhood asking everyone she saw if they knew who the dogs belonged to, the last person she talked to said she would put them in her yard for a week to give us a chance to find them homes.

Here they are in the nice lady's backyard. We put up "Found" signs and I posted them on my Facebook profile. After a week and a half, they had to be moved so they spent the weekend at the clinic. On Monday they would have to be moved again and that night I lay awake thinking about them. The shelter would be a death sentence for the Golden mix. But from the time I had spent with him, I knew he was a great dog -- too good of a boy to not be given a chance. He looks at you with such attentive eyes and is so calm and easy-going. I knew I had to do something!

So I came up with a great plan for fostering him and Paul actually agreed to it! We took the lab puppy to another area shelter who said he was "highly-adoptable" and I'm trying to work with Homeward Bound of MS to get Scotty to a rescue or home up North; but I'm also making use of every other resource I have, like this blog. I already know if he doesn't get adopted I will not be able to just dump him at the shelter. He deserves a loving family who will spoil him like I do :-)
He is already beginning to become a part of our family. He follows the girls around and they show him the ropes. The kitten loves to mess with him and get him to chase her... but he is always gentle with her so I just let them play. Here he is below with his buddy, Lux the kitten. He is a very smart, calm boy. He already knows how to sit and walk on a leash and since he is grown there is no destructive or unruly puppy behavior to deal with!

He gets along with everyone, even other un-neutered males. He is a little skittish around Paul -- I think he may have been abused by a man at some point or he's afraid of the beard (a lot of dogs don't get beards, haha). But he will lick his hand if Paul isn't looking at him and he hangs around Paul, like he's curious about him so I think he'll come around with time. It's very strange not knowing where he came from or where he has been, but it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I've gotten him to trust me and I have taught him things and showed him that it's all going to be OK. He leans up against me, hungry for ear scratches and "Good boy"s.

Oh, and did I mention he is beautiful?! He has gorgeous strawberry blonde fur and a crimped light blonde poofy tail. His gold eyes are soulful and his smile is pure sunshine! :-)

Scotty will be neutered and up to date on shots next week and ready to go to his forever home! Transport can be arranged for him to anywhere so if you or anyone you know is looking for a calm, happy, devoted companion to be a beloved member of the family please contact me for more information at 662-694-0347 or esdmsu21@gmail.com.

Iggy in North Carolina

This is Iggy. He has had a sad life so far. He lived at his previous owner's house on a heavy chain, with no shelter, dirty water, little food and ears dripping blood from fly bites. For some reason (and thank God she did!) his owner decided to bring him to a pet store and leave him. The woman she left him with said this: "The "owner" just asked for her chain back & walked away. No, goodbye hug, no concern of where he was going to end up... just walked away with her heavy, 4 foot chain---the only life Iggy had ever known." Luckily Iggy went to a great foster home and has now been there for two months. He has been neutered, given shots, and dewormed. Along with medical care, he was socialized and given basic obedience training, crate training, and has been housebroken. He is almost 2 years old. He LOVES kids, plays very gentle, and loves other animals!

If you live in North Carolina or know anyone who does, please pass this on for Iggy. The foster home has LOTS and LOTS of foster dogs and puppies, and Iggy is getting sad that he doesn't have a family that loves him. Everyday he watches the puppies get adopted and no one comes for him. Let's help find Iggy a forever home where he will know love like he never has!

Please contact Tiffany Jourdain at leovrhs@gmail.com or call Sharon at 828-837-4186 if you can help Iggy! He is located in Murphy, North Carolina but transport can be arranged for him to anywhere!

A Humane Society Starts With You

I did something today that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I volunteered at the Humane Society in Starkville. I worked from 10 am to around 1:30 and now I seriously want to quit my job and go there every day!

It was such a great experience and it changed some of my preconceived notions about an animal shelter. The dogs are not mangy or mean or downtrodden... just really wanting to have a family and their own bed.

The first thing I did this morning was help another volunteer bathe a couple of tiny puppies that we were going to bring into a humane education class with 5 and 6 year old Girl Scout "Daisies." The shelter really needs a room specifically for this activity where the kids can sit on the floor and let the animals run around. It is such an important thing - to teach little kids (and people in general) about how to handle and treat animals.

Anyway, so all the little girls and their mothers came into the cat isolation room where we were holding the class and they all immediately wanted to hold the kittens and the two puppies. There were about six or seven kennels with cats and kittens and mama cats with kittens. There were two I really wanted to bring home -- two little rambunctious orange and white kittens so we'll see if they are still there the next time I go. Most of the little girls knew how to hold the animals and they were all really sweet with them and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Then after they left we cleaned up the cat room and some of the kennels. Those kittens are messy... and fast -- we chased a couple of them around the room for a good 20 minutes haha! For the last couple of hours the other volunteer and I went out to the backyard where there were seven kennels opening up to the yard. There were three to five dogs or puppies in each and kennel by kennel we let them out to play.


In the yard, there were a couple of half eaten shells of tennis balls, one tug rope and one heavy rubber chew toy -- not much to work with, but I will never forget the excited faces of those dogs. Dogs can be so complex and insightful but they have such simple needs -- to be fed and played with and loved. It was such a joy to just run around with them, tug the rope and throw it for them, and love on them. They wore me out but I could have done it all day

At the end of the day, I checked in the office and one of the puppies we had used for the class had been adopted and a cat had also been adopted that morning. It just made me so happy!

Even if you can't adopt a pet, every charitable effort counts. For example, pick up an extra one of the items below when you go to the grocery store. These unexpected gifts are what keep most shelters running and are essential in providing the best possible care for the animals. The Starkville shelter also collects and recycles aluminum cans for extra funds so now I know where to take all these Coke Zero cans I've been saving.

A small effort by a lot of individuals makes a big impact -- be one of those contributing to the good. I promise it will change your outlook on life.

Humane Society Wish List
Bleach
PineSol
Paper Towels
Disposable Latex Gloves
Purina Dog Chow
Purina Puppy Chow
Purina Cat Chow
Purina Kitten Chow
Non-clumping kitty litter
Fabric softener dryer sheets
Liquid laundry detergent
Dishwasher detergent
Dish soap
Dog chews and chewy treats
Assorted sized dog collars
Leashes
Quality flea and tick spray
Germ-X hand sanitizer

You can go to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society's website and read about other ways to help or browse some really sweet adoptable pets.

Or find a local shelter near you and start doing good right where you are. www.hsus.org