The Humane Society’s Dog Tags program helps  soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They sign up to help the shelter dogs learn to behave,  when the soldiers get out of the hospital they know how to care for and train the dogs.  The dogs learn better behavior, making them more adoptable.  In my book that’s a win-win.

Here are the details from Army.com.

The program began simply enough more than a year ago. The shelter is located just across the street from the Walter Reed campus. Soldiers out walking would come across shelter staff members walking the dogs. They would stop and pet the dogs and seemed to enjoy getting to know them. Officials at the shelter had the idea to hook the two together through a training program for the troops and the dogs.

“We want the program to be educational so that if there are service members in the program that want to potentially pursue this as a career, … they’re getting as much information as possible and as much hands-on time as possible with the dogs,” Foley said. “We also want it to be recreational, too, for people who … just love animals and like spending time with the dogs.”

The skills the dogs learn in the classes translate to better placement opportunities, Foley said. The program has far expanded the amount of training the shelter’s dogs received previously.

“This is another way our dogs are outside of their kennels being talked to and touched and interacting with people,” she said. “That’s extremely beneficial to reduce the stress levels of the animals in our kennels, and at the same time, it makes the animals far more successful in their new homes if they come into it with some basic obedience training.”

But for all of the good it is for the dogs, it is equally beneficial for the recovering troops, Foley said.

The article shares a wonderful story about Army Captain Lawrence Minnis and Ebony, a pit bull, who he ended up adopting. You can read how they saved each other on Army.com.

* Pic courtesy Army.com

Many of the animals were about to be euthanized until Ginger’s Pet Rescue in Seattle intervened. They all have a story – we can see it in their eyes. They really even don’t need to tell us,” says Martha Gibson-Wolfe, one of the rescuers.

Volunteers with Ginger’s Pet Rescue say the dogs were on Death Row – frightened and confused – animals of all sizes, breeds and backgrounds.

All were lost, separated or abandoned by their families during the chaos of the recent wildfires in Southern California.

Animal shelters there could no longer house them all, and many were on the verge of being euthanized, until this group saved them.

“You see all these really nice dogs, and you think if the truck was just a few days later or even just a few hours later, they could be put to sleep,” says rescuer Catherine Hannan.

The forgotten dogs are searching for a new start.

WE HAVE 32 MORE FOREST FIRE DOGS COMING THIS SUNDAY ~ NOVEMBER 22th !!!

We desperately need fosters homes for this coming Sunday’s arrival!

The last four Sundays we took in over 120 dogs that were saved out of the California Forest Fires in San Bernardino.

There are over 800 acres on fire and over 1300 Firefighters and all these forgotten dogs were refused by the local shelter due to lack of space.

They give us two options either board them or euthanize them and because these dogs are so great we are boarding them & saving them and bringing them up to Seattle 30 dogs at a time !!!

These dogs are so lucky to be saved as many dogs did not make it out alive.

We are making arrangements to bring them up here on Sunday ~ November 22nd.

Please ask around to your friends, family and co workers for a month or two of loving a dog in desperate need.

* Must fill out a Foster Application

Date of Arrival: November 22nd SUNDAY

Time: Late Afternoon

Place: South Seattle

* Remember it’s all about saving one dog at a time !

* Please e-mail me and let me know that you can help !

If you can not foster, donations would be deeply appreciated as many of the incoming dogs are sick.

* Leashes, Collars, Dog Food, Crates, Pee Pads would be great and you can drop off to address below!

Our address is 322 North 105th ~ Seattle, Wash 98133

You can PayPal your donation to our website at www.gingerspetrescue.org, contact via email.

Thank You and all the dogs really appreciate all your help!

Ginger

Pit bull puppies being housed at the emergency shelter.

Linda Campbell plays with dogs at an emergency shelter.

In July the largest dog fighting raid in US history took place, hundreds of dogs were rescued.  Sadly 160 of the rescued dogs had to be put down due to illness, behavior, or injuries. The good news is that 120 of the dogs are now going to foster homes, and hopefully the remaining ones will get to do the same.

Here are the details from the Associated Press.

They are not a vicious animal. They are the victims of abuse,” said Debbie Hill, vice president of operations for the Humane Society of Missouri. “That face and their eyes tell the story. They only want to be in someone’s home, on a couch, or sleeping at someone’s feet, maybe chew up a rug or two for entertainment. They’re learning for the first time how to be a dog.”

Once at the Missouri shelter, dogs were tested by a national team of certified animal behaviorists, taken on walks, and allowed to chew on bowling balls stuffed with peanut butter. Some finicky eaters were treated to home-cooked chicken breasts to supplement meals of dog food.

The Human Society offered The Associated Press first access to the site Tuesday. During the tour, puppies born since the raid took turns playing tug of war with a chew toy in a play room. Humane Society staff members pulled a catering cart down a long row of dog cages, calling animals by name as they slid them bowls of food.

This is such a great story because usually all the dogs involved in dog fighting get put down, they’re never even given a chance.  Maybe this is the foreshadowing of changes that are going to be put into place so the victim, the dog, isn’t the one punished for the perpetrator’s crime.

*Courtesy AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

How sad is this, a beautiful senior lab who is going to be put down without anyone even knowing her name?  She was picked up as a stray and is only known as 1054.

I have no doubt she was a very loyal, loving companion and now she is nothing but a number. Her age is unknown, but she is obviously an old gal.  Don’t let old age fool you, if you’ve never adopted an older dog before this girl can bring more joy than you can imagine.

She is located at  Portage County Dog Warden Shelter in Ravenna, Ohio. You can reach them at 330-297-6924.  There is no time to spare,  I know there is a perfect family out there for this beautiful girl, is it you?

Please post and crosspost this message, before it’s too late.

She is currently being fostered at a wonderful home but needs her own permanent loving forever home.

Hope was neglected and abused until, as a 6-8 month old puppy, being thrown into a rock quarry in an attempt to drown her. Her spirit and determination allowed her to fight for an indeterminate amount of time, acquiring significant injuries to her feet and legs as she tried desperately to free herself. Somehow, she found a small ledge, where she huddled for another indeterminate amount until Fire and Rescue rock climbed and rafted her out. By this point, she was totally catatonic and responsive due to her fear.

The reason my home was chosen for foster care was because of the very special pack of rescued animals who lives here. There is a rescued fighting dog who was used as bait and subsequently lost a rear leg and underwent 3 surgeries, another dog that was abandoned twice before the age of 3 months who is now a Therapy Dog for humans and other animals, and three elderly cats who were abandoned at various stages in their life. They now work together to help other animals adjust and recover from bad situations. One of these cats keeps all arriving foster dogs company by spending the night sleeping in front of their crates, as well as by engaging in boxing matches with the dogs regardless of their size.

The other two cats perform grooming rituals on the foster animals, washing faces, ears and paws. The dogs patiently engage the newcomers, coaxing them out of their shells, educating the traumatized dogs about how to join a pack.

Within hours, this group had enticed Hope to let her guard down and engage in a bit of play with them. In a few days, she began to initiate interaction with me. In a week, she was allowing select strangers to approach her. In just a matter of a month or two, Hope transformed from catatonia into a happy, playful, engaging dog who has adopted the philosophy of “I’ve never met a stranger”. People are shocked to hear of her past when they meet her….they see her as a typical puppy.

We all knew that the magical pack could bring Hope around. We assumed that because of her public story (she was in the newspaper, and has her own journal on our website) she would find a home quickly. But despite the fact that Hope loves people–including kids, other dogs, and cats, and despite her good manners in a home environment, she has had little to no interest from potential adopters.

Unfortunately, in this tough economy, many people have chosen to forgo the added expense of a pet. Not only are people not adopting, many are actually dropping their family pets off at the pound to cut costs.

This is not a good time to be a dog without a home. But Hope is a fighter, and a survivor, and we continue to fight for her. We have spread the word about this wonderful girl in as many ways as we could think of.

Thank you to Amy, the volunteer at the shelter who sent me the letter as well as Hope’s  foster, for showing her that people are good. Let’s see if we can’t help find this beautiful girl a home in time for Christmas, what a gift that would be. If you are interested in Hope please contact the North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue for further information. You can also read Hope’s daily journal and see a video of this amazing girl, you’ll fall in love when you see her playing with the other pups.

Please tell everyone you know about Hope, send out emails, post and crosspost.  If we all work together we can find her the home she deserves. After all, where there’s faith, there’s HOPE.

They are located at a high kill shelter in Kentucky, so time is of the essence.

Soxy

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14934088

Cupcake

http://www.petfinder.com/petnot/displaypet.cgi?petid=14934672

Luna

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14934933

Mitzi

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14934945

The pups are at the Daviess Animal Control located on 2620 Highway 81 Owensboro, KY 42303.   You can reach them at (270) 685-8275 or via email,  click here.

Please post and crosspost this message, let’s help save these senior gals.  They still have a lot of living to do, give one a chance and in return you’ll get an endless amount of unconditional love.

I’ve always thought Hilary Swank was an amazing actress, now I know she’s also a great person.  Swank is the owner of two rescues, Karoo and Rumi, and according to USA Today she is the new face of Iams “Home 4 the Holidays” pet adoption drive with the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

Their goal in the campaign, which runs until Jan. 4, is to find homes for 1.5 million pets. I posted about their adoption drive last year, they not only met their goal, they exceeded it. One Million Eighty-Eight Thousand, Five Hundred and Six Pets found forever homes last year thanks to Iams ‘Home 4 the Holidays.’

*Photos courtesy Timothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images

]]> http://dogblog.dogster.com/2009/10/22/rescues-get-swanky-new-diggs/feed/ 2 http://dogblog.dogster.com/2009/10/16/losing-logan/ http://dogblog.dogster.com/2009/10/16/losing-logan/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:37:33 +0000 Lisa Hoefinger http://dogblog.dogster.com/?p=23740 I had some posts planned for today but sadly our beloved rescue Berner, Logan, passed yesterday. At the moment it’s hard to focus on much else so my last post of the day will be a tribute to our boy.

Logan lived at a puppy mill for 4 years, he was the stud dog. He had no name, was kept caged, used and abused.

Eventually when the owner of the puppy mill thought he no longer fit the bill as a stud dog he was put up for auction. Yes, auction, so possibly another breeder could come along to buy him and continue his life of abuse. Or,  if he wasn’t bought he probably would have been put down.

This is where a wonderful organization called the Bernese Auction Rescue Coalition comes in. They bought him, got him medical attention, and put him in a wonderful foster home until he got adopted. On June 6, 2008  Horst and I went to pick up our new family member.  When I saw him I had tears in my eyes, he was so beautiful, and so scared.

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary in June, I left a message on his page because it truly was a celebration. Logan had overcome so much in a year, he was a different dog.

When we first got Logan, I’m not going to lie, it was hard. He barely moved, spent most of his days in our 1/2 bath where he was comfortable. We never pushed him, always let him do things on his own time schedule. Every day we spent quiet time laying with him and petting him. We started taking him for walks everyday and that was when we got our first glimpse at the dog who was waiting to come out.

We made progress, and had setbacks, working with Logan was like nothing we had ever dealt with. We’ve always had rescues but Logan was in a whole different category. I remember after a few months had passed wondering if we were just going to be Logan’s caregivers, which was  fine, or we would eventually breakthrough and show him life could be good and people could be trusted.

I don’t have an exact date or incident to mark the change but it happened. I do remember the first time he wagged his tail it touched my heart in a way I didn’t think possible. Every breakthrough brought us such joy.

As we were saying goodbye to Logan yesterday we knew our tears were for us, we would miss him but he would be fine. In the short time he was with us he went to the park everyday, up to the lake on weekends, had a vacation in Asheville at dog friendly B&B, came to Wilmington with us and saw the ocean, played with his siblings, and was constantly fawned over. He packed a lot of living into a year and a half.

On our drive home from the vet, without him, we didn’t think we could ever go through this again. We knew the risks of  adopting an older dog going in and we knew Berners are susceptible to cancer, yet we thought our dog would live to twelve. What happened wasn’t a total surprise but the pain that came with it was.

Yet this morning, although I’m still crying as I type, something happened. We brought such joy to Logan and him to us, isn’t it out of selfishness to not do it again? It doesn’t seem fair to not give what we gave Logan to another dog in need. So somehow Horst and I found ourselves looking at the BARC board this morning to see if maybe, just maybe, there’s another Berner that needs us as bad as we need him.

Rest in peace my dear sweet Logan, you will be missed every day you are not with us.

Here are the details from The Associated Press.

“We understand Vick is trying to right his wrongs and is very interested in redemption, but you can’t find redemption without acknowledging your victims,” Racer said. “Making amends to the dogs themselves would have helped to create some closure for many of us, especially those people who worked so hard to keep them from being destroyed. It seems that Vick is not ready to go there.”

The visit would have taken place at a location where Vick could view the dogs from a distance so that it satisfied the conditions of his parole that bar him from being near animals.

Despite the fact that Vick claims he is trying to ‘right his wrong’  he declined the offer.  Maybe he was afraid the dogs would recognize him.

*Ollie is available for adoption, he’s on Dogster’s Adoption & Rescue Center.

The shelter is a lifeline for animals that need a home,  many dogs there have been abused or abandoned. Here are the details from KAKE 10.

“If we close down, absolutely it would be terrible because there would be nowhere for someone to take an unwanted animal,” said the Pratt Area Humane Society Board President Pam Howell.

“We’re pretty desperate. It’s a crisis situation,” said Howell.

Now they are pleading with the public for help. If they are forced to close, the animals already there would go to other shelters. But for those who still need help, it could be devastating.

“If animal control did pick up an animal, it would just be euthanized after the three day hold so there would be no adoptions. If you’re out of town for those three days, tough luck,” said Howell. “We’re working hard trying to do good things but we can’t do it without their support,” said Howell.

To help the shelter, you can send money to the Pratt Area Humane Society, 10233 Bluestem Blvd., Pratt, KS, 67124. Or go to their website and make a donation.

Pictured  is Angel,  she’s a Plott Hound/Catahoula Leopard Dog mix.  See more adorable Pratt Humane Society dogs by going to their website, adopt your new best friend.