Updates

Great day - yesterday. I was able to catch up on a few things and for once my phone was not ringing off the hook.Had an update from Tank's new mom. Tank is doing very well. He went to work the last two nights with his new mom (lucky boy) and met many of mom's family and friends (so much for the fridge rules - lol). This young fellow must wonder what happened to change his luck so much! We couldn't be happier for you Tank and I can't wait for pictures and more updates from your mom!

I also received another update on Cesar. All good news! Cesar has endeared himself to his mom and dad and when his mom's daughter came for a visit over Christmas she fell in love with Cesar too. Apparently, Cesar is still missing her and wishes she would come back!Two great updates in one day - awesome!

Maxine

I had a few moments to reflect this weekend and I am so proud that ANML-RESQ was able to assist so many animals this weekend. It's a great feeling when you can help a dog, cat, or guinea pig on death-row. It did, however, remind me of a particular dog in a shelter that for some strange reason cannot seem to find her forever home.
Maxine, German Shepherd and almost 10 years old has now spent 3 Christmas's at the Shelter rather than in a loving forever home.
Her only fault is that she does not like other dogs. Maxine's temperament is "rock solid" with people. She adores humans, she is the favourite of all the Shelter volunteers and has endeared herself to many, myself included.
Surely there MUST be a home out there for her. Check out her picture and bio on Petfinder.com. She would be ideal for a couple looking for a mature dog that would be a constant companion and loyal friend.

If you know of someone that could make this girl's wish come true, please ask them to get in touch with Grey Bruce Animal Shelter at 519-372-1911 and let them know you are asking about Maxine. We would love for 2008 to be Maxine's year!

Weekend Transports
Busy, busy, busy ... this has been an incredibly busy week and the weekend has proven to be just as busy.

Transports started on Thursday when we received a young Shepherd puppy that was spared being surrendered to a shelter and quickly found him a spot in rescue. Good luck Scotty! You are closer to finding your forever home!

Friday, we helped transport two wonderful dogs to the Owen Sound Animal Shelter. I fell in love with Leo (the LeonbergerX). He is a very handsome and very gentle boy. He rode very nicely in the back seat and was a perfect gentleman all the way to Owen Sound. Also on that transport was a nice boy named Kelti, a young cattle dog mix. It was a pleasure helping these two fellows to safety.

We were also burning up the highway transporting Tank, our Rotti boy to his forever home. Thank you to ALL that helped get this gentle boy home. He has endeared himself to everyone that has met him. Kisses for ALL! Stay tuned for updates on Tank.

The transports were hectic as they changed constantly ... right up until pick-up times! We even helped get kittens and cats and guinea pigs to safety as a local shelter is possibly going on strike and unless help was found for these animals, we were afraid for their safety.

Good job everyone! Hopefully, you can rest and enjoy your Sunday now that everyone is where they should be!

Boo
This week has been a culmination of good news and bad news. Thankfully it is mostly good news. But, yesterday I received really bad news.

I received the heartbreaking news that the owner of Boo sold his beloved friend. Strangely enough, we had made arrangements the night before to pick him up and take him "out on the town". All arrangements were made and when we arrived to pick Boo up the owner informed us that he would rather get money for him, so he sold him last night to someone that made an offer he couldn't refuse. I asked him if he even knew this person, but his answer made me feel sick. He only met the guy that night and he offered him good money for the dog so he sold him.

Needless to say I lost it, but I could not help myself. I was furious and told him "...I hope you have a good time spending the blood-money you got for your beloved friend. I hope you realize that this dog is now destined for a life of uncertainty and hardship. You would rather take money from a stranger than ensure the proper steps are taken to find a RESPONSIBLE and caring owner."

My heart tells me that Boo will now be used for either a guard dog, tied to a chain OR used as a stud, destined to live life behind bars. I pray this is not the case, but we have seen this happen TOO many times. Boo, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I wish it could have turned out different for you. If we ever cross paths again and I PRAY we do, I will make it all up to you ... this is my PROMISE to you Boo. I have met you, I will never forget you and if I have anything to do with it ... I will FIND YOU and make it right!

Meikah
Today, was a very busy and productive day with much less stress than earlier this week.

I received two pleas first thing in the morning. A shepherd pup was about to be surrendered to a shelter. One of our volunteers intervened and brought the puppy home with her. Of course, she is not in a position to keep him, but wanted to spare him the stress of going to the shelter. She then called us to help find him a good home or rescue. I contacted the same rescue associates who had helped us a couple of weeks ago with another urgent Shep pup that was stressing big time at the shelter. They had room for him and transport was arranged for Buddy to be transported to their foster home today (not an easy task to arrange transport on a weekday). Good luck Buddy ... we know you will be well cared for!

The other plea was in the form of an email about a young Shep/Lab pup. She lost her mother at birth and was adopted to a young owner at 6 weeks of age. The little puppy became too much work for her and she needed her out immediately. We have little Meikah posted as urgent and needing foster care or a forever home, so if you are interested in this very cute puppy, please contact us. We would love to find her the perfect forever home.

Our boy Tank is at the vets now awaiting his neuter and will be traveling this weekend to his new forever home. We also have a beautiful Aussie puppy, Dakota, on our website as a courtesy post. If you know of anyone interested in this very pretty girl, please contact her people directly by email which is listed at the bottom of her bio.

This weekend will be very busy for ANML-RESQ volunteers as we are literally all over the map from Belleville to London to Owen Sound transporting dogs to safety.

All in all, a very good day!!

Tank
It took until noon the next day before we could finally breath a "sigh" with relief.

Tank is safe and will be on his way to the vet's office today for his vaccinations, neuter and they will board him for us until we can arrange to have Tank (the young Rotti boy) transported to his foster/forever home.

I can't tell you how stressful it is when you are fighting for the life of a dog. Sometimes, I wonder why we put ourselves through all the stress of worry and sleepless nights. We often put in 12-16 hour days, networking, cross-posting, phoning and mostly holding our breaths and praying.

Rescue is not for everyone. It is hard work, while the reward at the end of the day is tenfold when you've been successful, it can just as easily knock you on your butt and throw you into the deepest depression if it doesn't work out.

There is nothing worse than becoming "emotionally" involved with a dog ... whether by their story or worse ... by seeing their pictures (if you see them in person - you are doomed!!). You get a mental image in your mind of this dog with his forever people and you take up the challenge of working as hard as you can for the animal. NOTHING will stop you ... it is like you are driven! I was so worried yesterday that Tank's story would be one of failure. After all that work ... please, don't let us lose him now!

It was 'happy dance' all the way around when we heard this young fellow was safe, but we will all rest easier when he is finally in his forever home this weekend.

Thank you to all who assisted in turning this tragedy around. Happy tails are sure to follow, so stay tuned!

Phones Down

What a frustrating day! So, many people to call, waiting for call-backs ... just one of those "tying up loose ends" kind of days.

We were working to get a young Rotti boy (who was going to be surrendered to a high-kill) into a foster/forever home ASAP. Normally our team is up to the challenge of cross-posting and seeking help for this boy and as it turned out within a day of hearing of this Rotti boy's plight we had found a potentially "perfect" home for him. They heard his story and sent in an application immediately. We put a rush on the application and reference checks were done. PERFECT application! What more could we ask for? At this point, it is my cue to get on the phone and start making arrangements for this young fellow to travel to his foster/forever home, except the weather last night got in my way. High winds and heavy rains left me basically cut off of from my phone and computer. I was totally frustrated! People were expecting my phone calls and I was expecting calls back and no one could reach me.

So I contacted a couple of our volunteers via cell phone and told them what was happening and asked if they could make a few calls on my behalf. We have such an incredible group of volunteers and I was amazed at how quickly one of our newest volunteers took the "bull by the horns" and jumped in head-first and made the necessary calls. Perhaps this was not the best circumstance for someone fairly new to rescue to be involved in as situations can turn complicated.

When dealing with third parties on surrenders it is not uncommon for people to be dishonest (or less than forthcoming) about the situation the dog is in. Our volunteer called to make arrangements for transport and was told the dog was surrendered to the shelter ... but this volunteer wasn't ready to "give up" on the dog and insisted that the owners go back to the shelter and reclaim him (wow)!

My last brief update was at 10 p.m. last night and I cannot tell you how this is going to turn out yet. There is a person out there that wants this Rotti boy and we will do everything in our power to make this happen. I hope to have more information today, please cross your fingers so we can make another miracle happen!

My sincere thanks go to Alli and Beth for burning up those phone lines. You ladies have gone the extra mile on behalf of our rescue!

Sheena

I will never forget waking up to the "usual" string of emails, pleading for help. This particular plea REALLY tugged at my heartstrings. Here was a 9 year old Rottweiler girl who spent her whole life with a family and they felt the need to give this beautiful girl up in the golden years of her life because they were moving.

I was heartbroken for her. How could ANYONE give up a beloved family member after all those years? How would she feel being abandoned like this by her loved ones? And worse yet she would be surrendered to a shelter that we know was not fond of Rottweilers. It would mean certain death for this girl. We also know that it is hard enough finding a home for a young Rottweiler let alone a 9 year old. If we wanted to help her we had to start cross-posting like crazy!

We got the plea for help on a Tuesday morning and our cross posting team went to work sending any inquiries of help to me. As suspected there were no offers out there for a forever home or even foster for this precious girl. We did get an offer of help from a shelter that has helped us many times, however, my gut instincts told me this girl would deteriorate very quickly in a shelter environment. She has known nothing else in her life, but living in a home with a family. Often times Rottweilers stress out terribly in a shelter environment. The stress would be ten-fold for an elderly gal.

On Friday morning I received an email that would change Sheena's life FOREVER! A complete stranger emailed me, offering a foster home for this girl. A gentleman that had never owned a Rottweiler before but wanted to give Sheena a chance at life. They promised me they would be at Sheena's doorstep first thing on Saturday morning to pick her up (as Saturday was the day the owners would surrender her to the shelter).

Often times people don't follow through with their commitments so I was on the phone to Beth on Saturday morning to see if they were on their way. They were ALREADY there and David fell in love with her at first sight - WHEW! What a relief that was to hear! It didn't take but a week for David to let us know that Sheena was NOT going anywhere ... she had found her forever home with David.

Sheena has brought two very special people into our lives. Beth and David. Thank-you Beth for bringing David to us and THANK YOU David for giving Sheena this chance. We will be forever grateful to Sheena for bringing these special people to us and we cannot be happier for this jet-setting girl.



She now travels everywhere with her daddy. I think she makes a BEAUTIFUL co-pilot, don't you?

We need to fly 3 pups to their final destinations. The minimum cost per flight is $275.60 up to $500.00 for each puppy. If you can find it in your heart to make a small donation to help, please check out our web site and use our 'Make a Donation' button to help them get to their "forever homes". If you would like more information, please contact us at anmlresq@hotmail.com or 416-256-1DOG(1364).