New Year…New Hope for the future

It’s a new year, and with the new year comes new hope for the future of ARF and the animals of our community. Our spay/neuter program has been very successful- so far, we have been able to assist owners spay or neuter over 170 pets that otherwise would not have been altered. Our goal for 2009 is to help spay and neuter 200 animals. In addition to spaying and neutering assistance, we provide dog and cat food for owners who are in a tight spot and need a little help with the cost of feeding their pet. We have also given out straw and dog houses to owners with outdoor pets that do not have proper shelter. We encourage owners to bring their pets indoors, but for those pets who do have to spend the winter outside, ARF tries to help make their life as comfortable as possible. In addition to the help we provide the animals of the community that have owners, ARF has a highly successful adoption program for dogs and cats. ARF takes in unwanted pets, stray animals, and dogs and cats from euthanizing shelters and gives them a second chance at life.  Currently, we have a house full of truly wonderful animals. Take for instance Leonard, who at 4 months found himself facing euthanasia at a shelter. Keep in mind this puppy committed no crime- in his short life he had not bit anyone or  attacked another animal, yet he was facing a fate of death simply for being born. The day that was to be his last day, turned out to be his lucky day. An ARF staff member was at the shelter pulling animals to take back to ARF to be put up for adoption when he saw Leonard and the rest as they say is history. Leonard is now almost 6 months, and after 3 weeks in foster care where he was treated for kennel cough, Leonard was healthy enough to be put up for adoption where he now waits for his forever family to find him and take him home. Then there is Connie, who came into ARF with her older sister Penny. Penny and Connie are full blooded yellow labrador retrievers who foudn themselves homeless when their owner lost his job and couldn’t afford to feed them. Skinny and hungry, Penny and Connie quickly put on a much needed 10 pounds, were spayed,checked for heartworms, microchipped, and vaccinated and put up for adoption. Penny found her forever home with a nice family who had recently lost their dog they adopted from ARF over 10 years ago and were ready to open their hearts and homes to another rescue dog. Connie still awaits her forever home, and her profile can be viewed on www.petfinder.com . I am excited to see what this new year brings for ARF and to see how we can make a difference for the animals of our community. I am also anxious to see which animals will be added to the list of animals adopted from ARF in 2009, a list that already includes Penny, the aforementioned yellow lab; Sparrow, a fun little jack russell terrier; and Lesley, the first cat to be adopted in 2009.

Oct. 11th

Today was an incredibly busy day at ARF. ARF’s annual Mutt Strutt was held this morning, and drew a crowd of about 65 people and their canine companions. The mutt strutt is a two mile fundraising walk to support ARF. We really lucked out with beautiful weather in the 70’s. Thank you to everyone who came out, walked, and supported ARF!

The rest of the day was just as busy as the morning. After the Mutt Strutt, many walkers went over to ARF, and one family adopted their newest family member- a collie mix named Brock! What a lucky dog! Along with Brock, the following ARF animals went home to their new families: Chloe, a 9 month old pit bull puppy; Carmen, a 10 month old yellow lab mix; Millhouse, Wiggums, and Maggie, three labrador retriever puppies; Summer, an australian cattledog mix puppy; Minnie Driver, a 6 month old shepherd mix puppy; Frick & Frack, 4 month old littermate kittens; and Benji, a yorkie-maltese dog. This is a record setting day- we have never sent home 11 animals in one day before! And, each of these homes go through a screening process to ensure that each adopted pet is going to an indoor home with a responsible, loving family. And each family also has the promise that, in the event an adoption turns out not to be a good fit, ARF will happily take the ARF baby back at any point in time- even 10 years if need be.

With all the adoptions today, there are bound to be some new faces in the next week- strays that have nowhere else to go; owned pets whose owners can’t, or won’t, keep them any longer; and even possibly some dogs from our local or regional shelters who have no more time left. Check our website for the new kids, and who knows- you may just find your next best friend!

October 4th, 2008- Rigby’s Big Adventure

This is Rigby’s story. Rigby, and her mother Eleanor, (yes, we named them after the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby) were rescued from the Marion Grant County Humane Society back in January of 2008. Eleanor and her puppy were found in a trash can in Marion. They were taken to the humane society, who was overcrowded anyways. ARF representatives Nikki Stephenson and Dana Salkoski were up pulling some dogs to help lighten the load, and heard about these two and what they had already been through, and went ahead and pulled the two of them. They went back to Nikki’s house to be fostered until Rigby was big enough for adoption. Rigby was with Nikki for a month before she was big enough for her shots, spay, and other vetting. At the time of her spay, she was also microchipped. Quickly after her spay, she was put up for adoption on petfinder.com . She was adopted by a family in Noblesville, IN with big, fenced backyard. Rigby was with them for just a few days when a tragedy occured. Rigby either slipped out of the fenced yard, or was intentionally taken from the yard. In any matter, when Rigby didn’t come in after a few minutes outside, her family went out to get her and found she was missing. They immediately went out and looked around their neighborhood, thinking she just got out and they would quickly find her. After several hours passed, her family called ARF to report her missing. ARF began calling the local shelters and vets offices. The family ran ads and hung signs all over. Because Rigby had just been spayed, and did have a microchip, after days went by and she didn’t turn up, we had two thoughts: either something happened to her and was dead somewhere, or she was intentionally being held by someone who didn’t want to return her. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. ARF director Nikki Stephenson kept her microchip paperwork handy in the office of ARF in the event Rigby ever turned up, but things didn’t look good. After two months, Rigby’s family came up and adopted another dog. The family missed Rigby, but the children were desperate for a dog, and we were never sure if we would see Rigby again. 8 months later, on October 2nd, we got the call from HomeAgain that Rigby had been picked up by Indianapolis Animal Care and Control and they had scanned her for a microchip, and had were able to trace her back to ARF! We immediately went down and picked her up and brought her back to ARF. We have no idea what happened to her, where she went, or how she was treated while she was gone. But now she is back at ARF, and we can finally rest easy knowing that she is safe and alive, loved and cared for.

September 27th 2008

Today brought more animals…but no adoptions. Yesterday, we did have one of our dachsund mix puppies go home to Indianapolis, but the yorkie did not work out, so he is still with us. He is soooo cute, so I know he will get adopted quickly. We also have a family coming back on tuesday, they liked two of our adult shepherd mixes, and are going to take some to think about them. That is always a good sign- it shows that the family is not rushing into getting a dog, and wants to make sure whoever they adopt is a good fit. Just as I was getting ready to leave this afternoon, I got a phone call from someone wanting to bring us a dog because they could not afford dog food. I explained to them that we could help with some food until we could make room, and asked if she could hold it over the weekend. She said she could, but that if we didn’t take him, she didn’t know what else to do then “take him out in the country and shoot him.” She said he was depressed from not eating, and he was very skinny. She didn’t know if something was wrong with him, but didn;t have the money to buy dog food for him, let alone take him to the vet. I asked her just to bring him in immediately, which she did. While waiting for her to bring him in, I wasn’t sure what to expect. She arrived quickly and had a very, very skinny chihuahua. He is about 3 years old, and about 5 pounds under weight (when you only weigh 8 pounds, those five pounds are a lot.) He should easily weigh 13-14 pounds, and weighs 8. His ribs are clearly visible, and his spine and hip bones are beginning to show. Another two weeks and he would be emaciated and near death. His name is Mikey, though I have started calling him “Miquel.” He is very sweet, and has quite the appetite! Although we will still have him checked by a vet, I doubt there is anything medically wrong from him; it appears he just hasn’t eaten for a while. He ate a whole can of dog food, plus a plate of boiled chicked breast, and was working on a bowl of dry food when I put him away in his room. While I am glad this owner sought help, I just can’t imagine how she could let it go this far, or how rather than somehow get him food, she would take him out and shoot him. Times are tough right now for people, and I am glad she called us for help, but when you adopt or buy a pet, you are responsible for providing food and care for them.

In other news, ARF’s 2008 Mutt Strutt is October 11th and I hope to see everyone there! This will be a good chance for recent adoptions, past adoptions, and supporters and their 4 legged (and a few 3 legged) friends to come out and have a good time and raise some money for ARF.

September 25th, 2008

Every day, we are asked, begged, and pleaded with to take in animals. Some are strays that people have found. Some are from shelters that are out of space. Others are animals that owners either purcahsed, adopted, or took in one way or another, and now no longer want for themselves, but of course, they do not want them to go to a shelter where euthanasia is used for surplus animals. But the simple fact is we do not have the space or staff to take in every animal we are asked to take. It is hard to explain that to people- sometimes they get mad at us, and let us know it will be our fault if their pet gets put down. As full as ARF is currently, today brought us two new dogs- one was a stray cocker spaniel mix, and the other is an owner surrender black lab mix adolescent dog named Lauren. Lauren especially breaks my heart because she is scared, and not quite sure what she did wrong to end up at ARF. I tried to comfort her, but she is still scared. I know she will come around- she is such a sweet puppy. But I only had a few minutes to spend with her before I had to put her in with her new roomates- Brody, a lab mix about her same age, and two adult shep/collie mixes, Brock and Emperess. They are all three good dogs, and as soon as we have room in the adoption center, Brody, Brock, and Lauren will move over for adoption. (Emperess is one of the dogs that lives at ARF, and she wouldn’t have it any other way! She was adopted once, but would not eat, drink, or even leave their kitchen, and after 3 days, she came back to ARF, which she couldn’t have been happier about!) Back to the stray cocker- we scanned it for a microchip, but of course we couldn’t have been that lucky- and tomorrow we will contact the local shelters to see if owners are searching for it.

On the other hand, it was a good day for adoptions. An australian shepherd mix named Suzette was adopted to a nice family. Her new name is Sadie, and it seems like it will be a good fit. Another dog we had named Heidi, who is a poodle-dachsund mix- went home as well. Her mom was looking at a litter of dachsund mix puppies we have up for adoption, but ended up falling in love with Heidi. Though we are closed tomorrow, we have two families coming up from Indy to meet some dogs, and hopefully our yorkie mix Benji will be going home in the morning, and one of dachsund puppies will be going home in the evening. On Saturday we have a beagle puppy that is scheduled to be picked up, again from a family in Indianapolis.

I suppose that wraps up today’s adventures- this is something I am going to try, to keep our supporters in the loop as to the daily going-on’s at ARF. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or just tell me what you would like to know about ARF!