BONES        

Thoughts to Chew On..................

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I was driving home from a busy day of doggy shuttle duty when I got the call from our vet. As I drove along I realized I had tears running down my cheeks. Why was I crying?  She wasn't even my dog. I held her in my arms for a mere 30 minutes. She nibbled on my fingers, I made funny noises to get her to look at my camera.  She gave me puppy kisses and I gave her belly rubs. She was 8.6 lbs and the runt in a litter of 10. She was only 5 weeks old when her mother and 5 siblings were sent to Safe Haven. She and Wilma were left behind. Last week the owner decided she didn't want to keep the females because they would just get pregnant and she would have more puppies to get rid of.

 It’s estimated that more than 3.7 million animals are killed in the United States every year.  Animals are killed because no one wants them, and shelters can no longer house them. Today alone, 10,137 nameless animals died.  10,137 will die tomorrow and the day after that.  Week after week it continues. Euthanasia takes no vacation days, no holidays, no weekends off.  This is happening every day, right in front of our closed eyes. 

 In county facilities across the country, animals who have suffered from ignorance or neglect like Betty, have little chance of survival.  Animals that were once cute little puppies, and grew into aggressive dogs as a result of abuse will not be adopted.  Who will adopt dogs like our sweet Barney who has cigarette burns all over his back and can only run and hide in terror at the sight or sound of a human being approaching?  These are the animals that smaller rescues, like Safe Haven, try to help.

 The name of the rescue group doesn’t matter - animal rescue people are a tough bunch. We’re stubborn, tenacious and outspoken when it comes to the welfare of animals. We have trouble accepting that any cat or dog is too neglected, too abused or too sick to be saved.  And then along comes a Betty.

 Every rescue has a Betty.  It's the dog that couldn't be saved, no matter how much money we spent on medical care, no matter how much we loved them and no matter how much we willed them to survive, it just wasn’t enough.  So perhaps my tears were not just for Betty. 

The tears were for all the Betty’s who just don't have the strength to pull through.

The tears were for all the Barney's who live in constant fear and may never be able to trust anyone.   The tears were for 10,137 nameless animals that died today.

The tears flow because we know as long as they remain nameless it’s too easy to keep our eyes

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 “HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?”

 That is my husband’s favorite saying.  He always says it when referring to the number of shoes I own and the amount of chocolate I eat.  I don’t count the number of videos he owns and we get along just fine.  In the last few months Manatee County has been dealing with this issue.  It has been sometimes heated and mucky towards others. 

Everyone in our county not just those of us in rescue need to address pet overpopulation.  How much is enough whether Chihuahuas or bully breed dogs?  I go to several shelters each week and look at the faces waiting for a reprieve.  I am also on lists from throughout Florida.  My belief is that if I can place a small dog in our area of Florida and network to get a big dog rescued and placed somewhere else in Florida I am going to try to make it happen.   There are so many and not enough rescues, foster homes, and forever homes to take dogs and cats.

The county is working very hard along with Animal Network and county rescue groups to end our “How Much is Enough?” problem.   Manatee county needs a grass roots campaign to stop pet over population.  Spread the word about spay and neutering all family pets.  The sale of $150.00 pit puppies that grow and end up at animal services needs to be addressed.  These dogs are a source of quick money, by selling litters of puppies.  The backyard breeders of larger bully dogs and mutt dogs should be regulated.  The momma dog should be registered to breed and only under set conditions. 

Become part of the solution.  Join the “How Much is Enough?” campaign and talk to the parents of every unspayed and unneutered dog   you meet.  We need to go out of our way as rescuers to educate and persuade people to spay and neuter their pets.  Hand out the attached information to everyone you meet. 

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April, 11, 2011-  new website

Safe Haven has just launched their new web site and as you look though all of the pages you are going to find helpful information.  The Bones section is current events, stories, and hot community topics.  Our events page will link you to where you can see our dogs.  Waggin tails is 2 sections.  I to tell you about our dogs that need help (Lend A Paw) and (Forever Tails) about our dogs that found forever homes.  Look for new pictures and videos. On our Adoptable dogs page you can click on a picture and the link will take you to Petfinder to find out more information about a specific dog.  We now have lots of room for pictures from events and adopters.  You can find this under our Photo Gallery.  The pictures on the movie screen on the home page will change also as dogs come and go.  So you can just scroll through the movie to see who is new.  If you haven't found enough great stuff on our site click on our sponsors logos and go out to their sites. We are going to be adding the "Cat's Meow" section to view our adoptable cats that are living at our cat sanctuary or to find out how you can help the cats living there. If you are ready to foster, adopt, or volunteer for Safe Haven just go to the applications page and click on what you would like to do to help Safe Haven.  Just click 'Go Fetch" and the application will rn to the right person's mailbox, so that they can easily contact you.  We hope that you will enjoy our updated site.

And the Bark goes on......Safe Haven

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SOTC Announcements

Fundraiser for Army Working Dogs!

 From Nancy Murphy
My niece, Captain Diane Collette, is deployed in Afghanastan as an army veterinarian and has 250 army working dogs in her care. She has asked for SOTC's support in providing things for the dogs that are difficult for her to purchase through army channels. The list includes stainless steel food/water bowls, large kongs, leashes, a furminator/brush, low-fat treats and old towels or blankets for bedding/surgery table. (Laundry in her clinic can take 2 days to return.) None of these things has to be new.

The board has voted to support this cause on a continuing basis while Captain Collette is in Afghanastan. I have already arranged with Val Clows of Holistic for Pets to purchase the treats at cost. We expect shipping to Afghanastan by priority mail to be $12.99 per box.

If you would like to personally contribute to this effort, please bring any of the requested items you have to donate or any money you would like to contribute to the May meeting so that we can get the first of these packages off to Diane as soon as possible.

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