Next weeks Pet of the Week on Channel 16
her name is Miss Molly. I do love a good Bob Wills song.
anyway, Miss Molly was in the Hattiesburg Mississippi shelter, which is a kill shelter.
Miss Molly is a 7 year old black lab. she looks like any other older black lab. little gray on her chin. big wagging tail. about 60 pounds.
Miss Molly had not been claimed in the 7 days of holding and no one had applied to adopt her so they were preparing to put her down. she was on the table. her leg had been shaved. the rubber band thing wrapped on her let to get a vein. the needle for the injection had been primed and was in the hand of the vet to stick in her leg.
Miss Molly lifted her big black lab head, wagged her tail and licked the vet. She couldn't do it. took Miss Molly off the table and called a contact in Jackson to come get her.
Miss Molly is house trained. sits on command. is heartworm negative and is good with cats, children and other dogs.
she just needs someone who will adopt an older black dog.
I am plagerizing. I don't know who wrote this, but it is a day in the life of rescue organizations everywhere
I have added the very last "press this button" for our own needs:
Hello: You have reached 123-4567, Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to the
high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to
the following options and choose the one that best describes you or
your situation:
Press 1 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has
suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home
right away.
Press 2 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your
150 pound, 8-year-old dog.
Press 3 if you have three dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of
your dogs because you are the! only person in the world to have a
baby and dogs at the same time.
Press 4 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having
problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.
Press 5 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and
cute and you want to trade it in for a new model.
Press 6 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home TODAY
and pick up the dog you no longer want.
Press 7 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the
last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your
dog.
Press 8 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money
for your vacation.
Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not
active and is going to outlive you.
Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for
their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.
Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up
before I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way
to work.
Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know
you have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is
in fact, better than just leaving the dog with no message.
Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to
take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is
not our responsibility.
Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog
to be euthanized because I won't take it.
Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the
audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted
volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.
Press 19 if you want one of our PERFECTLY trained, housebroken, kid
and cat friendly purebred dogs that we have an abundance of.
Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight
aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your
neighbor's cats.
Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take
personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this
time with a different answer.
Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to
board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge,
of course.
Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to
deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before
your kids wake up.
Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby
bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.
Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had
ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and
it is against your religion.
Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel
bad and take your personal pet off your hands.
Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because
it is declawed, but are not willing to accept the responsibility
that the cat's behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.
Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house
but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.
Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling
because she is suddenly pregnant.
Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and
have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it
is cruel.
Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening
phone number and you left your work number when all volunteers are
also working and you are angry because no one called you back.
Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because
today is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.
Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you
need a different color or breed.
Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too
stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next
month anyway) instead of the dog.
Press 35 if you went through all these 'options' and didn't hear
enough. This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being
shed by one of our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog
while the vet mercifully frees him from the grief of missing his
family.
PRESS PAYPAL IF YOU NOW UNDERSTAND OUR DAILY ISSUES AND WANT TO HELP IN OUR CONSTANT STRUGGLE. all donations are desperately needed
Sprockett leaves the nest
we are in this to get homeless companion animals with perfect families. that is the goal.
this thursday sprockett leaves on a long long journey to the north. the drive will be long and boring, but the family waiting his arrival is wonderful and giddy with excitement. they have been emailing me for several weeks now about this and that and I know that he will be so happy with them.
but i will miss him terribly. he has been living in our home since we rescued him and that has made him a part of us as well. we know his quirks and personality.
for instance. I know he LOVES to be whispered to. doesn't matter what you are saying, whisper in his ear and he becomes rigid and listens to every word. then he gets all wiggly and gives tons of kisses. I know that he is a jokster. he will, while on a walk, try to hide in the monkey grass,and then when you walk up to where he is (on his leash - it isn't like he is yards ahead and don't see him) he LEAPS our with his paws up in the air as if he is saying "GOTTCHA!". He loves the kittens and so badly wants them to love him, but alas they don't think that he is all that. he LOVES LOVES ziggy the puppy that is also with us waiting for a family, they will romp and play for the longest time and then fall into a heap together and sleep all curled up with each other - waking to give one another a kiss and then going back to sleep.
there are so many things he does as a part of us that I will miss, but I know that there are so many things that his new family will discover about him as well. and he will have a fine life with them. they love him already - just wait til they meet him face to face
adoption process
quite often in the business of animal rescue, we hit roadblocks in the adoption process. people don't understand that we are particular about where this creature we have rescued, tended, loved, medicated and protected from unspeakable harms ends up for the rest of it's life. we don't want this animal to end up back in a bad situation. and just because someone
WANTS
a pet, doesn't meant they are a good pet companion.
we require a reference from a vet. we want to know that you are going to provide the animal medical care when needed. you will provide flea and tick prevention. you will provide heartworm prevention. you will get the animal altered when it is of age. your other pets
must
be altered. we don't want any animals out there reproducing unless you are in the business of show dogs. we want to know how your other pets have left you. did they die? how? if they got hit by a car? that is not a good thing. if they ran off, how did that happen. we understand accidents happen, but it is up to us to protect the animal and these are red flags. if it has happened on multiple occasions, you will not get approved.
how do you handle unacceptable behavior? if it is not an educated manner of behavior modification, you won't be approved. house training? you don't stick the dogs nose in the accident. when an accident happens it is your fault, not the dogs. if the cat is peeing or pooping outside the litter box, either the cat is sick or your aren't cleaning the litter box often enough. you don't punish an animal for unacceptable behavior, you work on a method of changing the behavior calmly and consistently. google is your friend. research.
speaking of cats; we don't approve having the cat declawed. declawing a cat consists of removing the cats "finger if you will" up to the knuckle. this is a very painful process and will lead to problems down the road. it is so painful that even cat litter hurts their paws. if your furniture is too precious for a cat and an occasional claw, then you need a fish.
we do a home inspection. believe it or not, people WILL LIE about what their home is like. one time a person applied to adopt a puppy from us. the application said the puppy would be outside during the day. the application said that the fence was secure and the yard was safe. not only was there a broken down gate that a 300 pound man could walk through, the yard had multiple gallon jugs of antifreeze lying around, some full, some empty, some half full. then, they also had large containers with some strange bubbly, oozy black substance lying all over the yard. yeah. they were not approved. and were offended when I told them the yard was not safe for dog or child.
people have complained that our adoption process is too tough and that they could get a dog from a breeder easier. this it true, most breeders are only interested in the financial aspect of the process. we are concerned with the long term life of the animal.
Dog days of summer
I have reviewed my postings of late and goodness they are depressing!
all is not gloom and doom, I just seem to post when I am down I suppose.
we have had a wonderful spring of adoptions. some of our dogs who have been with us since the hurricane have been adopted into WONDERFUL families. Lil Joe who has been one of my favorites and I couldn't understand why no one selected him is now at home IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD and being the perfect fit for his new family. I ran by and saw him last Saturday at the Belhaven Market and he was being the mayor of the market making sure everyone was happy and had what they needed. he was greeting little children and old people and a puppy or two. quite the politician and quite happy with his new found place in life.
Petey, a very kind, quiet dog who also holds a special place in my heart (hell, I suppose they all do), was adopted by this young couple who fell in love with him before they even met him. he is now playing very friendly with the cat and enjoying air conditioning.
speaking of air conditioning, IT IS HOT in the shelter, if anyone has some large fans sitting around not doing anything and wants a tax deduction, donations will be greatly appreciated. our old fans move very slowly and don't move much air. the poor dogs are not moving much because of the heat in that large building.
it is now puppy and kitten season, if you are looking for a baby companion animal for your family, please let us know. we are over run with babies. which brings to mind my reminder for everyone: SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS, WE HAVE ENOUGH, WE WON'T RUN OUT
