April 2010
Monthly Archive
STAMPS TO THE RESCUE…
admin 15 Apr 2010 | : News & Views
I’ve always loved Ellen DeGeneres. And now I love her even more…
Ellen is working with the United States Post office on their “Stamps to the Rescue” campaign. The stamps, which will go on sale April 30, feature photos of five dogs and five cats taken by veteran stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce. These animals come from a shelter in New Milford, CT., and for them, the story ends well; they’ve all been adopted out to good homes.
Sadly, however, not all shelter stories have such a happy ending. About eight million dogs and cats end up in shelters every year. Only about half of them will make it out alive. Yet many of these animals would make wonderful, loving companions – if they were only given the chance.
Stamps to the Rescue aims to raise awareness about this. “These stamps continue a Postal Service tradition of bringing attention to serious social issues of the day … one letter at a time,” says Postmaster General John E. Potter. “This campaign will increase public awareness about sheltered pets, and our hope is that it will encourage pet adoption and promote humane and responsible pet care.”
As for Ellen, she introduced the stamps on her show in March. And Halo, Purely for Pets, a holistic pet care company she co-owns, is donating a million meals to shelter animals across the country to promote the campaign and to bring greater attention to the cause.
“This is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. By working together, we can find good homes for millions of adoptable, homeless and abandoned pets,” said DeGeneres. “And until they get adopted, I’m happy to say that Halo and I are giving one million meals to shelter pets that are waiting for you.”
You can find out more about the campaign, by visiting www.stampstotherescue.com. And even though the stamps won’t be available for another few weeks, you can pre-order them from the website.
Angel’s Story
admin 13 Apr 2010 | : Previous Inspiring Stories
Eight-year-old Olivia Miller asked for a Chihuahua for Christmas, but what she received was far more precious than just any pet. That’s because Olivia and her new little dog both have diabetes and today they comfort and encourage each other through the rigors of dealing with the disease. Olivia’s family adopted the special-needs pet at TAILS Humane Society in DeKalb, Illinois, and every day the 10-pound dog, now named Noel, supports the little girl through the hard times.
“I don’t really know anyone else who has diabetes, so we talk about it together,” said Olivia of her beloved Chihuahua.Olivia cradles Noel like a baby. “I tell Noel that it’s okay to have diabetes. She likes to give me little kisses.”
We use the same size shots,” Olivia continued. “She’s not scared when she gets shots. I show her the shot first so she knows what it is and then I lift up some skin around her collar and give her the shot. If she squeaks, I just hug her, but most of the time she doesn’t even know it’s happening.”
Buddha’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Buddha's Story, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories
Here’s Buddha’s Story
Bama’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Bama's Story, Contest, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories
The day we got Bama, our foster dog from the animal shelter it was freezing cold with snow and ice on the way. I had gone to the shelter after e-mailing with the director to pick out a dog to bring home and to hopefully make a difference for an animal in need. I had my eye on some dogs I had seen on Petfinder, however, Karen, the shelter director wanted me to consider Bama, a 4 month old Sheppard/pyrenees mix that had been brought in as stray and was very frightened and scared.
When I saw him I knew I had to bring him home. When we got him to our house he would not leave his bed in the den. We had to bring his food to him and pick him up to go outside. He would not walk on the leash and certainly did not want to go on any neighborhood walks. This went on for the next few days. Fortunately he loved our other rescue dog, Sadie. Slowly he began to get up and walk to us for a snack and then one day he actually got up and walked out the door on his own. Then we began to work on walking with the leash and little by little he began to realize he was loved and in a good place. People began to be interested in adopting him and somehow homes that we wanted for him just weren’t working out. We kept reminding ourselves that we weren’t going to keep him, but we knew we were falling in love with him and wouldn’t be able to let him go. We adopted him from the shelter and he is the most loving and sweet dog. He does something to make us laugh everyday and we are so glad that he has realized how much he is loved.
Claire’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Claire's Story, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories, Shelter Contest
In July, this nameless little waif was turned into a County Animal Control Facility. The woman who brought her in claimed she was a stray. Sporting a fairly new collar, she would be held for 9 days, giving her owner a chance to reclaim her.
In spite of the fact that Claire was horribly ill, no vetting was given during this grueling period. The day she was released to New Rattitude Rat Terrier Rescue www.newrattitude.org, she weighed 7.2 lbs, was highly infested with fleas, and showing early signs of Kennel Cough.
Forrest’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Forrest's Story, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories, Shelter Contest
The community of volunteers who called themselves “Friends of the Animals” banded together, bought property and built a new shelter. Under new guidance, the adoption rate improved, as did the condition of the kennels and care, but they were still overcome by the numbers of abandoned and abused animals. Dr. Carol Hood, a local Vet, gave up her practice and took over the helm of the struggling shelter. She aided Cynthia Woods in establishing the Rolling Rescue and soon had contacts in the states that had successfully controlled the pet population. They started taking transports to New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Florida and soon the adoption rate was really looking good, coming close to qualifying for a No-kill shelter.
Harley’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Contest, Harley's Story, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories, Rescued Animals
I’m Harley, a 3-1/2 year old Weimaraner. I was surrendered to Heartland Animal Shelter in Northbrook Illinois along with 4 of my siblings by a breeder that couldn’t find us a home. My shelter name was “Wild Thing”, which should give you a clue about me. I was a bouncy, playful guy that was given lots of love and attention in my days at the shelter.
Kiri’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Contest, Kiri's Story, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories
One day about 15 years ago, I walked into the central office of the humanities department of San Juan College, where I am the program director of KSJE FM, public radio. The head of humanities wife> Laura, sat with a beautiful little dog on her lap. Falling instantly in love with its huge eyes, I asked if I could hold it. She said yes and I gathered the little ball of golden fur into my arms.
Rex’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories, Rex's Story, Shelter Contest
Hi my name is Rex I am a healthy, young 4 year old male DOGO/Pit Bull mix. I have been rescued and I am safe now but let me tell you how I got to where I am with the help of Barks of Love animal rescue.I have seen a lot of stuff in my life. But don’t be sad for me. I’m tough and I always look on the bright side. Things weren’t always so good for me. I was born in a really ugly place. I was there with a bunch of other dogs. They were really mean to me, both dogs and the humans. Those humans took those shiny silver things and cut off my ears. They said it would make me look fierce. But I didn’t cry when they did that to me. No sir, not me. They were teaching me to take the pain. And I did too. Even when it hurt really bad. One day, those mean humans left the gate open. I ran, I ran like I had never run before.
I enjoyed my freedom but not for long. I had to look for my own food and a warm place to sleep. I tried to stay out of everyone’s way. I didn’t want any mean humans to find me. I was found by the side of the road in Sylmar, CA. My feet were blistered and swollen from walking so long. A really nice man picked me up and talked to me sweetly. He had a kind face so I trusted him. He gave me food boy was I hungry. He took me to his house, I enjoyed being there. He was sad he couldn’t keep me so he took me to the shelter. They fed me there but it wasn’t that much better than the streets. All that changed when the man came back and brought a nice lady from Barks of love rescue.
Rocky’s Story
admin 12 Apr 2010 | : Contest, New Lives Book, Previous Inspiring Stories, Rocky's Story
On September 8, 2009, our beautiful black lab mix, Katie, died at the age of 14. She was the last of a quartet of beautiful labs that graced our home and kept us hopping. Brokenhearted, we gathered the worldly possessions of our babies and took them to the Newport Animal Shelter to comfort the animals there. I approached the shelter with a great sense of dread, fearing the sad scenes I would fine there.
