If you've read my book Always a Next One, you know that I'm a huge supporter of our LOCAL Humane Societies because they help homeless animals find new homes. Typically I do NOT provide any sort of financial support national organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States because they are nothing more than professional fund-raisers, and they are raising money to pay six-figure executive salaries, not for helping animals in need in your local community. I also refuse to donate any money to PETA because the people in that organization can't even tell the difference between a dog, a rat, and a pig. I do make an exception for and donate to the ASPCA, because even though they are a national organization, the ASPCA operate the animal shelters in New York City and rescue abused and homeless animals. The reason I adamantly support our local Humane Societies over national organizations because THEY SAVE LIVES. Wonderful dogs like Ralphie the beagle would not be alive today if an organization like Angels Among Us didn't exist, with a small army of volunteers to provide temporary refuge when shelters are overcrowded. What could get any better than saving the life of a dog about to be euthanized, and finding him or her a perfect forever home? How about saving two lives for the price of one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up6Vg70RJnQ That's exactly what the program K9s for Warriors does--they rescue dogs from animal shelters, train them to become service animals, and then place them with military veterans suffering from battlefield injuries and post … [Read more...]
Ralphie’s escape from Death Row
One of our favorite dogs we'd fostered over the years was a tiny beagle named Freckles. She was cute as a button and had an adorable personality. When Freckles got excited she would dance on our tile floor, nails clicking like tiny castanets. Freckles radiated heat better than an electric blanket when she slept on our bed every night. The two biggest challenges of acting as her foster parents were keeping Freckles calm while she recovered from treatment for heart worms, and letting her go when the time came for Freckles to be adopted into her perfect forever home. Years passed in a blur. Our own little island of misfits eventually grew into a permanent six-pack of large dogs that all lived inside our relatively small house, and we were forced to take an extended hiatus from fostering. Eventually a couple of our oldest pack members crossed the rainbow bridge. Without warning, our sweet Husky Sasha suffered a fatal heart attack, and beloved Wyatt the Wonderdog succumbed to lymphoma, and eventually, sadly, we found ourselves with only two remaining pack members. We didn't immediately return to fostering because we'd moved since our days volunteering with the Humane Society of Forsyth County, and we were no longer actively associated with any rescue organizations, Then one day I noticed an email in my inbox with a desperate message in the subject line: "Urgent! Beagle stuck..." That was all I could read without clicking on the link. Stuck where? Beagles are scent hounds, which means they will often detect and track a specific smell for miles. For this reason, … [Read more...]
