Transport Arrived in Colorado

Doll and Chele left yesterday from Grenada with 43 animals bound for Every Creature Counts in Denver. After a long night of driving, they arrived safely this morning. Here are some of the animals that are starting a new life in Colorado.

Read more...

Update for April 21, 2009

from Doll

Lauren bought a house and took a week of vacation to work with family and friends to make her place special to her. There is really never a good time to be shy a team member, but backing each other is part of what we do.

Elizabeth and I shared responsibilities, each falling in place to use our strengths to care for the animals and address the needs of the sanctuary grounds and facilities. We planned lunch around delivery and relief efforts.

Chele White, our treasured friend and co-transporter, recently alerted us to a Land-O-Lakes dog food give-away. We did manage to get in on the event. Elizabeth and I delivered some of this food to Carol and Tommy Griffin for the dogs they routinely feed at the Winona dumps (where our Ali, Drew, Wendy, Simone and Tobey were rescued.) We rescued the pups shortly after they were dumped in a dumpster, but Tobey had survived at least 3 years of abandonment with a painfully dislocated hip.

Chele steps to the plate for grueling transports, like this coming weekend; times when we just need help, like this past weekend; and with goodies - like the Land-O-Lakes food donated this past week. We are so blessed to have her as a friend and team member.

Friday our friends at the Tillatoba truck stop called to ask for help for 3 dogs believed to have been abandoned. Elizabeth and I responded, capturing all 3 dogs.

Mornings are about meds, feeding, cleaning, and laundry. Afterwards, Elizabeth is prioritizing fence repairs and reinforcements, while I continue animal care or, if time permits, leave to run errands. Evenings are devoted to more meds, paperwork, communications, more laundry, and keeping up with the needs of our pups.

New Arrivals

Lyla and her boys, Lex and Jacob, took right to the comfort and security that the sanctuary has given them. These were the 3 abandoned dogs at the Tillatoba truck stop. Living just off the interstate and with 18-wheelers rolling in and out, the dogs were most certainly in jeopardy. Only a few years ago a sleek, handsome black lab made it to the door of the truck stop after being struck on Interatate 55. I responded to the call and this precious dog became our Brian. One of the employees of the truck stop contributed significantly towards surgery for Brian. His elbow was crushed beyond repair and amputation at the shoulder was necessary. Friend and fellow rescuer, Pat Hall of Jackson, asked a reporter to feature Brian in an article on the need for guardians for special needs and challenged homeless animals. We’ve also been called to aid chickens who escaped their transport cages while being transported to slaughter. The employees at the truck stop are very compassionate and we've been called upon to help in numerous animal rescues from their lot.

Lex stops playing just long enough for a photo.

Adopted

Clementine has been adopted. She'll remain at the sanctuary for a few more weeks until we get her demodectic mange under control. Her new guardian, Jason, is the father of a friend of Elizabeth's and he and his family had previously adopted a family of gerbils from us.

Our darling Clementine.

Transports

Many of our pups were to head east last weekend, but the transporter was unable to make the trip and it was too late to arrange for another qualified driver/caregiver. The trip wasn’t abandoned, just postponed.

Eight of our pups were to head east with Homeward Bound's monthly transport, but the dreaded kennel cough blew in with the storms of last week. High and plunging low temperatures seem to throw nature into confusion and lend to viral strikes.

We were also supposed to do a big transport to our friends at Every Creature Counts in Colorado last weekend, but because of the kennel cough, it was postponed. Thankfully we've been able to reschedule for this coming weekend.

Fosters

Sonya, former staffer and still valued team member, is fostering a family of pups for us and caring for 18 pups and adults she’s rescued. Some of them will be altered this coming Wednesday.

Dr. Abernathy ("Doc") is fostering Dumpling, aka Coco, a dog abandoned at his clinic. A nice couple in town is trying to rescue 3 pups abandoned near their home will take them to Doc when they catch them.

Elizabeth and Lauren have helped with fostering a few of our pups and more sanctuary friends, Peggy and Linda, are also helping.

In all we have 39 dogs in foster care.

Vet Care

A precious little Boston Terrier mix we rescued from the Winona pound is hanging in there. She’s pulled through her bout with parvo and is now recovering from surgery on both eyes. She suffered “cherry-eye”.

Barney, Mary Jane and Kendall are being treated for ear troubles.

Shots, external parasite prevention, worming, and a.m.-p.m. cough meds are being administered. We’re rotating groups for 3-4 day worming with Panacur.

Doc has been out to see Sabra, our beloved goat. She has an unexplained injury to her leg, and is missing a patch of hair on her back. She’s better now, but pain had slowed her down a few days.

Doll’s Take

Yikes!!! What a week. I know I often speak of what an intense week it was, but this past one was exceptional. I’m so pleased to work with such compassionate people. The animals here are all here because they needed help. Some were in more dire straights than others. We’re repulsed by the reasons for their suffering and moved, compelled to do what’s needed to enter their world and intervene on their behalf and working with precious people makes it all that much more possible.

I’m inspired by every act of selflessness my collegues and friends perform.

Saturday, Chele, with her bum knee, came from Starkville (two hours away) to help Amy and me. She knew Amy didn’t feel well and I badly needed assistance. Love you Chele! Chele is truly someone we can all count on when the going gets rough.

Amy "supervises" as Chele grooms Buttercup.

Read more...

A Few Recent Adoptions

Sweetie (now Maggie) was adopted by Johnna and family. Maggie now lives the good life in Florida with her adopted siblings, Sophie and Max.



Frankie was adopted by Alan, his wife Sue and family in New Hampshire. Seen here in his graduation cap from obedience school. We're told he was valedictorian.



Honeycomb was adopted the same day she arrived in Nashua, NH. Seen here with her new family.



Petey was rescued by Doll from a man who kept him tethered 24/7. As a result, Petey had some serious issues. After months of working with him to improve his temperament, he found a home. Here he is with his new guardian, Bobbie.

Read more...

The Daily Star Article on Project Hope

There's a nice article on-line at the The Daily Star, Grenada's newspaper, about Project Hope and Doll. There's a place after the article to leave a comment, so if you know Doll or admire her work please feel free to do so.

http://www.eclassifiedsnetwork.com/content.aspx?module=ContentItem&ID=131049&MemberID=1218

Read more...

A Home for Elsie

It was a chilly day in December of last year when Doll received a phone call from someone who had just come across a dog in Elliott, MS who appeared to have been hit by a car. Doll instructed the good Samaritan to take the dog immediately to Veterinary Associates in Grenada. Doll called Dr. Abernathy to let him know what to expect, but when the dog (Elsie) arrived at the vet, her injuries were more complicated and subsequently worse than expected. It did appear poor Elsie had been run over by a car, but an examination turned up no broken bones. Only her front legs had been injured, but she had been nearly degloved in the accident - including having the tendons in both legs severed. It would make for a difficult surgery and a long recovery.

Elsie, with front legs bandaged, on the slow
road to recovery at Veterinary Associates.

Elsie is the sweetest dog. When I was at Project Hope in December, we stopped by to visit her at the vet's on several occasions. Because of the severity of her injuries, she had to be kept very still while she healed. Unfortunately, this required her to be kept in very small quarters and wearing an Elizabethan collar for nearly two months. She didn't seem to mind. Always cheerful and happy to see people, she must have known these people were trying to make her better.

Elsie was finally released from the vet about a week before Doll and Chele were to do a transport to Every Creature Counts in Denver. Now fully healed, she would be one of the lucky animals on this trip.

A goodbye pet from Dr. Abernathy as
Elsie prepares to leave the vet.

She wasn't at Every Creature Counts for long before she got adopted and we received a note from her new guardian, Susan, which we've included below. Thank you to Dr. Abernathy and Veterinary Associates for their work on Elsie (and for greatly reducing what could have been a recording breaking vet bill!), thanks to Lisa and the gang at Every Creature Counts for their continued support and thanks to Susan and family for adopting Elsie (now named Ellie.)

From Susan on March 24, 2009:

Good morning, I adopted Elsie, yellow lab mix, from you at PetSmart on Kipling on Saturday afternoon. She is starting to relax and learn our routine and other lab really likes her. We have a cat and they do not seem to really notice each other. Elsie is a sweetheart and we love her. We realized that she had never seen stairs so that took a little training. She goes up and down the deck stairs outside but I am carrying her up and down the stairs when we all go to bed at night. She will get used to it! I would really like to learn as much as I can about her Mississippi life so would it be possible for me to talk or email the lady who brought her to you? I just feel like the more I know about her even if it might be bits and pieces, the better. By the way, we changed her name to Ellie because we thought it fit her better. Thanks again for rescuing her and giving us the opportunity to adopt her. She will have a wonderful forever home!

From Susan in response to Doll on March 25, 2009:

Thank you so much for the information even though it is limited. It just helps us to know as much as possible. Ellie actually went up and down the stairs last night to our bedroom. My back is really happy about that as she is a bit heavy to carry up and down. I finally found a mixture of food and she has started eating. She was turning her nose up at everything I tried those first few days. She spends the day outside in our yard with a huge deck that overlooks our neighborhood. The dogs have a doggie door into the garage and eventually they will be permitted through the doggie door into the laundry room if the weather is cold. I have to make sure she is trustworthy to leave in the house alone, but that will come. Our 12 year old chocolate lab died last July and we have been thinking and looking for the right companion for our other lab who seemed lonely. When I saw Ellie on Saturday, I just knew she was the one. I so appreciate people like you and the others at the rescue who care so much. Now that I have your email, I will include you in the updates I send. I really appreciate the pictures you sent. The puzzle is filling in! Take care and I will keep in touch.

Read more...