Mitch's Golden Years

This is Mitch, an 11 year old golden retriever/collie mix. His owners dumped him at the Greenville County Animal Control because they've had a change in lifestyle. We won't be critical of them, because Mitch is all good to go now. He'll be retiring in Florida with a former classmate of mine. He'll be living with a couple of nice older dogs with a big back yard and the back door open so they can come and go as they please, basking in the Florida sun to warm his old bones. Thanks Kathy for taking him in when his family let him down! Happy Life old boy!

Bishop needs help!

Bishop needs some help! He was hit by a car and left for dead. After he was nursed back to health, he was adopted by a man with a knee replacement who realized Bishop was too strong for him to walk. He was returned and is waiting for his real happy ever after. Could it be you?
This handsome boy is one of those fabled dogs who was saved and he knows it! He is anxious to please. He is a 3 year old, 70lb bundle of lapdog love! He does pull on the leash because he is strong, but his personality is sweet and he is great with people and other dogs. Not sure he'd be good with cats. He does love to go for a walk, and he loves to ride in the car. He is housebroken and is neutered now and up to date on his shots.

Bishop is still living in North Carolina now, but if several people are interested in meeting him, I would love to bring him up to the great state of New Jersey for adoption interviews. At that time I will need a local, very short-term foster home.

For adoptions and fostering this soon-to-be-lucky boy, please visit my website for an application: http://www.homefreeanimalrescue.com/adopt-foster/

Sprung from Puppy Alcatraz

I have been watching the posts from URGENT 2, a volunteer group on Facebook. They highlight the daily kill list for New York Animal Care & Control. ACC will kill beautiful, healthy, adoptable, lovable dogs like this pretty girl every day, starting at 6am, thousands of them every year. They make almost no effort to reunite lost dogs with their owners other than posting the pictures online. They make even less effort to find homes for the ones that are owner surrender and give them even less time to do it, and the woman who runs the show earns a six-figure salary.

As futile as it seems, efforts are being made daily by this volunteer group to save some of these dogs. There are more volunteers who go to the shelter and walk these beauties, then follow up with a short description of their behavior while walking and their personality. It was the write-up for this blue-eyed girl that got me. She walks beautifully on leash, was polite to other dogs they met on the walk, sits on command and takes treats gently. AND she give kisses. THIS is a good dog. THIS is not a dog that should be put to sleep.

I had heard that it was nearly impossible to break a dog out of Manhattan Alcatraz. One rescue friend who lives in NY tried to adopt a cat, and they Google mapped her house and said it was too small for another pet, then they killed the cat. But I figured, what the heck, who needs sleep. So I started reaching out to some of the local rescues in NY who are permitted to pull there. (Not anyone can pull - they have to approve your rescue.) Finally, after providing multiple references and applications, one of the rescues agreed to have her temperament tested, and then they pulled her. After that it was relatively simple, and I drove to Manhattan with my daughter and we picked her up and took her to her new foster home.
She has been officially adopted by my very first adopter from twelve years ago in Massachusetts. She will be going to live with a lovely family and their first rescue dog, another beautiful blue pittie girl (named Blue) who is now 13 years old. She has to wait until she is not in heat so she can be spayed, but all her other vetting is done and she is ready to start her new life.

MamaDog Needs Help to Treat Heart Worms

MamaDog is her name. She has probably lived outside her whole life. Her nose is crackled from years of sunburn and wind and cold. Her toe pads and toe nails are rough. The edges of her ears are fringed from fly bites. She's had at least one littler of puppies. And worst of all, she has a heavy infestation of heart worms. In spite of all of this, MamaDog is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met. Her little tail wags every waking moment of the day. As you can see from the little picture below, she is much prettier than her shelter mugshot shows. She looks like a fox! She has a beautiful, thick, red-brown coat and a darling little face that is graying in the muzzle. Her health records say she is six, but we think she may be closer to eight or maybe older.

She does not have alot of energy due to her reduced lung capacity, so most of her day is spent lounging on the love seat in my parents' living room. She does not bark, and she does not play with the other dogs although she does not seem to mind them either. But she is housebroken, and sometimes she slides off her perch and wanders out into the house to find someone to ask to go outside. Since we started her on some medication she is feeling a little better and is venturing a little further into the yard every day. That may be because it's getting warmer out, too!
MamaDog starts her heart worm treatment in March. She will have two sets of Immiticide injections to kill the heart worms. Then, if she survives, she will be ready to go to her forever home.
Donations for MamaDog's heart worm treatment are gratefully accepted. Please forward via Paypal address glowingcat@gmail.com and indicate that it is for MamaDog. Thank you!

Three Little Puppies,Sitting in a Row.

One Got a Home - Help the Other Pups Go!

Surfing Facebook one day, I saw a post from Friends of Gordon County. It was a sorry looking little aussie shep pup. I thought she was a pretty little girl, so I shared it. Then a very close friend of mine (who is a cancer survivor) posted that she'd like to know more about her - and ultimately let me know that she wanted to adopt her.) Then I realized that the little pup had a sister, but she was cute, too, so I called the shelter to pull them. It's Georgia, so I had to work through a rescuer there who is licensed with the Dept of Agriculture. She called to inform me that there was a third. What was I to do? Had to pull him, too. They had a brush with parvovirus but pulled through thanks to my awesome local rescuer/foster. Then they got their shots which weakened their little immune systems again and threw them back into gastro-intestinal problems. But they pulled through again. Next week they will go to be spayed/neutered. Their transport is all lined up as soon as they are healthy enough to make the long 15-hour trip to NJ.

UPDATE: One of the little girls did not pull through. She was just not strong enough. The little girl pictured above is doing pretty well, and the little blonde boy is hanging in there. Both have been fixed and had shots, but they are still fighting off various illnesses and parasites. The latest is spirochetes. Poor things.