THE SILVER LINING...

          In the midst of all this sadness, Woof Connections DOES have something wonderful to report.  Our very good friend, Emily A (Co-Founder of Wish Upon a Paw in Wisconsin), used some of her AMAZING talents to help us once again.  Emily's "real job" (lol) involves helping small and medium- sized businesses as well as nonprofit organizations with marketing techniques.  Check out the company she works for, e-Impact Marketing Solutions, at  http://www.eimpactmarketingsolutions.com/.  
            Emily has designed the Woof Connections Website for us PRO BONO!  Yes I said it..she took time out of her busy life to help Kevin and I start an official website at NO CHARGE to us. We are truly humbled by her generosity. In fact, she went so far as to pay our hosting fees too!!!  Thank you just doesn't really cut it.  If you met Emily in person, you would know that she is not only gorgeous, but she is one of the most geniunely caring people in the world.   

So let us formally introduce our new website....drumroll please.... www.woofconnections.org
We still need to add "Happy Tails" as well as some more updates, a logo, etc. but we just couldn't wait any longer! 

Take a look at some of the Websites that Emily has designed- they are AWESOME!
wishuponapaw.org
aahneenah.com
precisionlandscaping.org
getconnectedcounseling.com
yellowwoodchiro.com
communitylivingsolutions.com
byo-app.com

If you are interested in hiring Emily for your business or nonprofit group, contact Emily at emily@eimpactmarketingsolutions.com.   She offers HUGE discounts to nonprofit animal welfare groups so drop her an email!

We also would like to thank Emily as well as Natalie (co-founder of WISH) once again for their generous donation of Revolution to help treat the dogs in Arkansas for mange, fleas, ticks, etc..  Woof Connections received the shipment yesterday and we are so grateful to you for helping us out! 

Natalie and her husband, Alex, are phenomenal photographers as well.  Please check out their website: http://alexandnatalie.com/  They too are HUGE animal lovers who spend lots of time helping homeless animals so please support their work!

Lastly, we want to thank our other very good friends Jaime (Canine Adoption Coordinator for WISH) and her significant other, Glen, for working behind the scenes to help us place our doggies in the Wisconsin area whenever possible (including going on home visits whenever we ask!).  We love all of you so very much!

DEVASTATING NEWS TO SAY THE LEAST

Many of you who have joined the Open Group on Facebook, Proctor (Arkansas) Dogs in Need Group already know this, but for those of you who do not, please read the post I copied from the Group Page below...

4/24/12: We have some very very sad news to report. Nick called me to let me know that the local Animal Control was called out to Mr. B's property yesterday (4/23) per the request of the County Sheriff's Department. Apparently an officer was out on the property on another matter and noticed all the dogs. He called the Sheriff's Dept who in turn called the local Shelter to go out an pick them up. None of us were there, but they apparently picked up 16 dogs yesterday. Nick said when he went there today, Animal Control was there again and picked up another 4 today.
       I immediately called the Shelter manager to let her know that our Group was trying to help Mr B with those dogs and not to let anything happen to them. I then received the devastating news that it was too late...due to an already overcrowded shelter, they were given the orders to euthanize all of the dogs. I for one and completely heartbroken to say the least. The Shelter Manager told me there are 4 at the shelter right now that they picked up today and to contact the County Sheriff's Dept to let them know what was going on. Nick and I met with the Chief Investigator this afternoon.
         Long story short...this was a very sad and unfortunate event. Mr. B signed all the dogs over (hence no hold time) because he was told he would face felony cruelty charges if he didn't. The County did not know we were helping Mr B, nor did the shelter. Yes, the shelter was contacted about a month ago (both in this area were) and at that time neither would help. However, because it was now considered a cruelty case, the shelter had no choice but to go out to the property and take the dogs.          
        We are completely sickened by the whole thing. Apparently Mr B was told that he could keep 3 dogs. There are approx 12 dogs still out there they think (including Blue Eyes who has not yet given birth). The plan was for them (the Shelter) to pick up the rest of them on Thur. The Chief Investigator has promised us that nothing will happen to the 4 at the shelter and that they would not attempt to pick up any more so that we could have some time to work on rescue for the remaining dogs. He is supposed to call the Shelter and straighten everything out. Nick and I reviewed the goals with the Chief Inv. and he is willing to work with us provided we keep a check on the whole situation. We only have approximately 1 month to get a majority of the dogs out and into rescue.
          What we plan to do is go back out there and take pics of the dogs that remain on the property. We want to move forward with the plan to bring pens out there so that we can spay and neuter all the remaining dogs. We believe the that 4 from the shelter MAY be released back to MR B so that we can work on their rescue as well (we won't know for sure until tomorrow). The Revolution arrived today (sadly)...we can start to treat them for mange when we go out to set up the pens. We will then be BEGGING for some rescues to take some of the remaining dogs before something happens again so please keep spreading the word. The remaining dogs still need decent shelter so we definitely can still use the pallets, etc. We can better assess the water situation when we go out there again too. We will still need food on an ongoing basis because we promised to make sure the dogs would be well fed.
             This has been a very difficult day to say that least. I am sure that Mr B is beyond devastated as well. We want to thank everyone for their continued support in this endeavor. Many innocent lives were lost today, but let's please not let them die in vain. We can still make a difference. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Update 4/25/12: We have heard more devastating news. Apparently the 4 dogs that were picked up yesterday were euthanized as well. Not sure exactly what changed between when Nick and I left the Sheriff's office, but we WILL get to the bottom of it. We know that several of the remaining dogs will need rescue IMMEDIATELY so PLEASE ask around. As we said before, we have Revolution to treat their mange and will provide food if someone could take one or more in to keep them safe in the meantime.   We WILL contact the media if needed, but we are hoping that all parties are willing to work together to help Mr. B and his ramaining dogs.  We will know more tomorrow.  Prayers needed on this one folks...     
    
        R.I.P. to the precious fur- souls who lost their lives.  We are so sorry that humans failed you. 

UPDATE ON THE ARKANSAS DOG SITUATION...

Many of you may already know the situation Woof Connections is currently trying to help with in Arkansas, but for those of you who do not, here is the summary.  We were contacted by Kevin's niece, Wendy, about a large pack of dogs (some apparently starving) on some property not far from us.  Wendy's friends, Robin and Nick,  took a picture of some of the dogs that Wendy later "tagged" Allie in on Facebook. 

Well of course we knew we had to help in some way.  Over the past few weeks, a team of us (Kevin, Allie, Wendy C., Robin C., Nick, C., Lauren Y.,  Brian Y., and Kelly S.) have befriended the owner of the dogs, Mr. B.  The team of course goes beyond these people, but these are the ones on the "front lines" at this point (will pay respect to the others in a bit).  Mr. B has a good heart, but he just didn't have enough funds to spay and neuter the dogs so it quickly became out of control.  There are currently at least 35 adult dogs and several puppies (that we could see anyway) on the property. 

Some people do not realize this, but people often dump dogs in the country when they are no longer wanted.  In this area, there is no animal control facility that will claim responsibility for the strays in the country because they are considered "county dogs".  Therefore, the numbers multiply quickly or sadly, the dogs just do not make it.  Mr. B tries to care for many of the unwanted strays.  We must be clear here...we are NOT going to belittle Mr. B.  Yes, we realize that the conditions on this property are far from ideal.  We are there to help at this point.  However, we hope that Mr. B will learn to trust us in time and will allow us to re-home some of the dogs he is understandably attached to.  He has already allowed us to take several puppies and a pregnant dog so far. 

Kevin and Wendy feeding the troops

Jo (Wendy's daughter) and Kelly meeting the crew

Jo, Wendy, and Kelly

Our immediate goals include building proper shelters for the dogs as well as some smaller pens.  We plan to spay the females as soon as we can get smaller pens built for recovery areas and secure the appointments. Most of these dogs have not been socialized with other people very much, so they will be flight risks.  We are needing 10 x 10 pens, fencing material, large dogs houses, and other materials necessary to make this come together. 

After the "pack" can be separated into smaller groups to make it more manageable, we plan to start treating them for mange with Revolution.  It appears they all have sarcoptic mange and are absolutely miserable right now (it is caused by mites that burrow under the skin...they itch tremendously).  We want to thank our good friends at Wish Upon a Paw in Wisconsin, Emily A. and Natalie N., for their VERY GENEROUS donation!  They are in the process of sending us an entire case of Revolution (saving us nearly $600)!  Check out Wish Upon a Paw's wonderful rescue work at WISH (click here)!

We are waiting on some information regarding low-cost spay/neuters in Memphis and surrounding areas.   We could really use some experienced dog rescuers to help transport the females to their appointments in Memphis.  Allie is generally available to pick them up, but since most of us work full-time, we have a very difficult time getting them to their appointments in the morning.  If you can help, please call Allie at 901-240-9848 or email allieot98@yahoo.com  We could use some large crates for transport as well (we will certainly return them when we finish). 

Some very happy (and full) doggies today!  You can imagine the amount of dog food required daily to feed these poor babies!



Woof Connections would like to thank Shelley S. of DOGS ONLY (click here) in AR, who INCREDIBLY has offered to help pay to spay most of the females!!!!  We are also grateful to Ruth E. of  PROJECT SNAP (click here) in MO for helping to coordinate some of this "rescue" stuff and for starting a Chip In to help pay for the vetting of these pups.  Special thanks to Elizabeth W. with  KEG ANIMAL RESCUE (click here)  for taking in some of the puppies as well as Mama dog, Spotty!  We appreciate fosters Carolyn and Nancy so very much as well!  Without foster homes, dogs like Spotty would be still wondering when her next meal would be and where she could have her babies safely.  It definitely takes a village and we are so proud to be part of such a great team!  Lastly, we are humbled by the generosity of all of you who have donated to this cause- THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

If you are able to help financially with vetting, please contribute to the CHIP IN for Medical Care AR Pups (click here).  If you live in the Memphis/West Memphis (or nearby) areas and would like to help in other ways, please contact Allie!  To reiterate....in addition to monetary donations, we desperately need donations of good quality DOG FOOD, LARGE DOG HOUSES, PLYWOOD (and other building materials), PALLETS, T-STAKES, CHAIN LINK (or Chain Link Dog Pens), STRAW, and anything else you think would help these pups.  You can email info@woofconnections.org or call Allie at 901-240-9848 if you'd like to help!  Here are some of the fur-babies we can help with your support:

PLEASE join us on Facebook on our Open Group, PROCTOR (ARKANSAS) DOGS IN NEED (click here) for the latest updates!

HAPPY TAILS FOR SISSY'S PUPPIES THANKS TO HER FOSTER PARENTS AND WISH!!!!

Wow what a month! Sissy and her puppies have had so much fun in their foster home with Stephanie and Franck and their adorable boys. Less than 2 weeks ago, the family said goodbye to their 7 babies. Bittersweet for sure....this wonderful family fostered Sissy and her puppies for the past several weeks. Believe it or not, this was their first foster experience and it was quite a learning experience! Poor Sissy has had some medical issues (skin infection, mastitis, etc.) and her puppies have been a handful! Stephanie and Franck have been absolutely wonderful throughout and we could not have asked for a more compassionate foster family.

Our friends at Wish Upon a Paw in Wisconsin (http://wishuponapaw.org/), have been complete angels as well! Our friends, Emily and Natalie, started WISH last May, although neither of them are strangers to rescue! WISH offered to take in 2 of the puppies right off the bat and find them homes (they ended up with 3 though..oops). Then...without hesitation, they agreed to "courtesy post" the rest of the litter (just to see what happens)! WOW...what craziness followed! Jaime, the Canine Adoption Coordinator, was inundated with applications for these babies! Some of you may remember...Jaime and Glen adopted 2 of our babies (now named Riley and Miles) who originally came from the Osceola Animal Shelter in Arkansas and we have been great friends ever since! Thankfully, Stephanie was an integral part in the adoption process. As a foster mom, no one knows these babies better than she does so her input and expertise was invaluable!

We cannot thank WISH and Stephanie and Franck enough for all their help with these cuties! ALL OF THESE BABIES ARE NOW OFFICIALLY ADOPTED!!! Stephanie and Franck have gratiously offered to foster Sissy as long as necessary (cross fingers it will be forever- lol- come on, we love foster failures!). We are slowly getting updates from the puppies' new families so we hope to post their happy tails soon!

MAMA SISSY NOW NEEDS WELL WISHES/PRAYERS!

Precious Sissy has really had a rough time in the last week. Her foster mommy, Stephanie, messaged me a couple days ago that she was very worried about Sissy. She had a fairly high temperature and was obviously not herself (i.e., shaking, not eating, etc.). We were so worried that she was going to dehydrate, so we made the decision to take her to the emergency vet. It turns out that poor Sissy has mastitis in 2 teats (blocked milk ducts, causing infection, inflammation, etc.). Read info on mastitis here: http://www.vetinfo.com/symptoms-mastitis-dogs.html

It became official...no more nursing for Sissy. No worries...the puppies were already beginning to wean anyway. Sissy was obviously uncomfortable. She was placed on medication and given take home instructions. One of the 2 teats with mastitis abscessed tonight. She has an open abscess, which is considered the better alternative.... Stephanie sent me an update this evening:

The abscess opened more tonight. The abscessed area is roughly a circle with a 2-inch diameter. At first, there was a small hole that the pus was draining from (maybe 1/4 inch diameter), but the skin within the rest of the circle was very saggy and necrotic in areas. Tonight that area has sloughed off, so now the opening is about the size of a quarter, maybe slightly bigger. The vet is going to keep an eye on Sissy during the day tomorrow and possibly Saturday (minimal day fee, it's just for precaution). This way they can monitor the surrounding tissue for sign of spreading infection (which would indicate surgical removal) and thoroughly flush the abscess (Sissy was really not happy with us doing this tonight). She's on a decent amount of pain meds, and sleeps most of the time.

PLEASE say prayers for Sissy. We are incredibly grateful for her foster family. We shutter to think what would happen to Sissy if she were still in the trailer park. FOSTERING SAVES LIVES EVERYONE!!!

Sissy's bills are now over $600 and she hasn't even been spayed/vaccinated yet. We URGE you to please consider making a small donation for her medical care. There is a Chip-In available, but if you prefer to send your donation to the vet directly, please contact Allie at 901-240-9848 or email allieot98@yahoo.com for the information. The good news is we have several great applications on Sissy's puppies so stay tuned!

MEET NOELLE...A FORMER LAKESHORE TRAILER PARK PUP!

Noelle is still waiting for someone to choose HER to be part of their family. For those of you who may not know, Noelle was found at Lakeshore Trailer Park in Arkansas (not far from Memphis). She was the victim of another apparent doggy dumping... Noelle is under a year old and is the sweetest girl you will ever meet! She is being fostered by Rose and her family in Missouri (we love you Rose for helping us out!). Noelle gets to play with lots of other doggies at her foster home and gets along with everyone (including cats!). She is a good size too at only about 37 pounds! She is spayed; up-to-date on her vaccinations; heartworm negative; and on heartworm preventative! All she needs is a great home!

We also wanted to thank Noelle's first foster mom, Laura, in Memphis, for taking Noelle right from the "streets" along with her buddy, Champ. Laura is fostering Champ through his heartworm treatment, so we needed to find another foster home for her so that Champ could rest. Fostering truly is a matter of life or death in most cases, so we thank you ladies from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness.

Rose was asked what type of home would best suit Noelle and this is her response (condensed in some parts):

"I feel she is the kind of dog that would be happy as a only dog or with a friend. When she is the only dog in the house she loves to sit by me and get lots of love..then when they are all outside or in the house she loves to play. So I think either way she would be fine..She just loves to be loved on..She is definitely house trained as she as had no accidents in here no matter how long she is in.

It doesn't matter the size of the other dog she plays with. Right now I have a Chihuahua I pulled from the Pound and she loves to play with her and she knows how to be easy with her. She is a active dog cause I have a good sized back yard and she likes to play. However, she isn't much on running so if she was in a yard where she had to be walked (i.e., not fenced in) or a smaller yard she would be ok too. She doesn't mind if she is alone for a few hours either (no matter if she is in her kennel or not).

Noelle loves to be outside when it is nice out. But when she comes in she will crash for hours..lol. I love the shine to her coat,she really is a very pretty dog....Oh ya and she is ok with cats.. She will chase themn occasionally but I think she does the chasing because of a dog I have her right now that does it, otherwise she doesn't pay them any attention at all."

Check out some pictures of Noelle below. We will post new pictures as we receive them. PLEASE forward this posting to anyone who may be interested in a great new family member. They may contact Allie at 901-240-9848 or email allieot98@yahoo.com if interested!

This is Noelle with her buddy, Champ, before Champ started his heartworm treatment.

Looking for her kitty friend at Laura's house!

Such a gorgeous girl!
Noelle with one of her buddies at her new foster home!

More buddies to play with at Rose's house!
Can't you picture this sweet girl at YOUR home???

UPDATE ON JESSIE!!! GREAT NEWS!

Oh FINALLY...some great news! Jessie's bloodwork was MUCH better today! Her white blood cell count is down to 39,000 (was 120,000...normal is around 20,000). Liver enzymes are now readable (off the chart last week) and are almost normal at 132 (normal 10-100). Platelets were a little high today, but Doc is not concerned about that (would be more concerned if they were low she said) and her red blood cell count is normal!!!

Jessie has gained weight from last week too. She is now 45.9 pounds and was 42.4 pounds last week. The plan is to wean her off the Prednisone in the next several weeks and to continue the liver supporting meds and famotidine (Pepcid) for now. GREAT NEWS ALL AROUND!!! She is eating great and is a very happy girl.

Jessie tried so hard to play with some puppies that came in (they are off to the left in this picture)- she couldn't keep her eyes off them! Cute little chub huh!

Here Jessie is waiting for some more attention from a customer- lol. She took it upon herself to greet everyone that came in the door!

Jessie looking outside while we waited for test results. At one point, she literally climbed on Paul's lap while he sat on the couch (Paul is Donna's son who works at the vet clinic). She thinks she's a lap dog!

We want to thank the following people for their GENEROUS contributions to Jessie's medical bills: Theresa H. of IN; Susan S. of WI; Stephanie F. of IL; Paula J. of WI; and Missy S. of AR and Ruth M. of MO. Jessie's still has an outstanding vet bill of $1500.00. Please consider donating to the Lakeshore Trailer Park Doggies, so that we can continue to help these forgotten fur-souls. You may contribute via the Chip In below (Paypal) or you can email Allie at allieot98@yahoo.com for the Vet's contact information or an address if you prefer to send a check. We appreciate all of you so very much!

JESSIE IS HOME!!! JESSIE IS HOME!!!!

I have been on pins and needles waiting to hear from Doc. Jessie got the OK to come home TODAY!!! I picked her up after work (see above picture) and she is now resting comfortably on some soft blankets! We will take more pictures soon (camera is dead).

Jessie is the luckiest girl in the world to be alive. She was extremely sick. This girl is a fighter and she has had wonderful people praying for her and wishing her well! Here she is on the ride home:

Nope...these are not your Grandma's pills. Poor Jessie has to take 7 medications for the next 10 days or so. We are just so thrilled she is alive. Good thing Jessie LOVES liver cheese- lol!

Stay tuned for more updates on Jessie. You can follow her on Facebook as well (we update photos on there as well). https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/media/set/?set=a.10150565285037200.404779.764752199&type=3

JESSIE NEEDS PRAYERS AGAIN...

***UPDATE 2/05/12**** At 10:51 pm, I received the GREATEST PHONE CALL! Doc called just to tell me that JESSIE ATE 1/2 CAN OF FOOD...ON HER OWN!!! OMG...this is AMAZING NEWS! She has not eaten anything on her own since she was hospitalized on January 25th!!! I know this may be premature, but I truly believe this girl is going to thrive. She has so many people concerned about her and praying for her! Doc was laughing when she told me that Jessie threw up on her husband who was nice enough to go with her to the clinic...this was BEFORE she ate. Apparently she injected the antibiotic too quickly in the IV bag and it didn't agree with Jessie (so sorry Steve). Anyway, we don't want to sound like a broken record, but please keep Jessie in your prayers. She is not out-of-the-woods yet, but this is a wonderful step in the right direction!

UPDATE 2/05/12: You may have read the title yesterday "Prayers Seem To Be Working for Jessie". Well..Doc called with the latest blood test results. Jessie is just not responding to the antibiotics. Doc is going to put her on a 4th antibiotic and is going to the Emergency Center to get the injectable version as well. She is not positive, but feels she may be getting septic. Jessie's red blood cell count is close to normal now and her platelet count has improved as well, however, Doc said that is likely due to the blood transfusion (rather than her body doing it on its own basically). The biggest concern is her white blood cell count continues to rise. It is near 60,000 and should be close to 20,000. So the news is not good. It does not help that she isn't eating still. Doc says Jessie is a very complicated case since her previous antibiotics should have taken care of any possible sepsis. Please please pray for this girl. Her spirits are better (wags her tail, more alert, etc.), but her bloodwork says otherwise.

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It has been so difficult to keep up with the Blog lately (especially when Facebook is much faster and easier to access!) so please forgive us. Kevin and I have been very busy the last few weekends. We went to Kentucky the week before last to take a bunch of lucky doggies and then to Wisconsin last weekend to take even more!

Prior to leaving for Wisconsin, we received a call from a lady who lives in Lakeshore Trailer Park about a sweet girl (now named Jessie) who had been dumped. She kept looking at every car going by hoping it was her owner coming back... Anyway, I called our friend Becky, who helps feed the strays and lets us know what is going on regarding the strays near her, to see if she would mind if we kept Jessie in her pen in the backyard until we can find rescue for her. Of course, Becky was so wonderful and said yes! Kevin and I stopped by on January 19th to take a few pictures of this cutie (see below).

Jessie pictured with Princess, another Lakeshore Trailer Park doggy in need.

Sweet girls

The hubs, Kevin (aka KC) with Jessie! She is quite a chunk here!

Well...after about 6 days, Becky called to tell me that Jessie was not feeling well. She began to vomit and have diarrhea...the dreaded signs of possible parvo. We were worried that she would get worse while we were out of town so we dropped her off at the vet before we left. On January 25th, we dropped that sweet girl off at the vet. Test results confirmed parvo...URGH! We gave the ok to begin IV fluids. Long story short..Jessie has been in the hospital ever since then.

I was able to visit her when we got back. The pictures below are from January 30th. Jessie definitely was starting to feel a lot worse, but had been on continuous IV fluids for 5 days at that point.

Sweet girl...all she wanted was a soft place to snooze on and some love. Thanks to her "owner" for dumping her (likely unvaccinated) in a trailer park with exposure to who knows what illnesses, Jessie is fighting for her life.

Such a sad and depressing time for Jessie

What started out as parvo, turned into even more problems for Jessie. Jessie became pretty lethargic and jaundice starting this past Monday. She had still not eaten and was getting sicker...On February 3rd, Doc told us that Jessie would need a blood transfusion or she would likely not make it. Her blood work came back pretty bad (platelet count extremely low; white blood cell count extremely high; liver enzymes so high they were unreadable; etc.). Jessie was having an "immune response overload" to something...

Doc took her off the antibiotics she was on and started a new one along with a steroid just in case she was having a rare reaction to them. I picked up liver supporting meds from a vet near me; drove to another vet to pick up more dextrose (actually 2 more vet clinics...I mistakenly got the wrong type of dextrose from the first vet and had to go to another vet for the correct one); and then off to the Emergency Clinic to pick up the blood (she needed a universal blood to lessen the chance of a reaction). On Friday night, Jessie began receiving the blood transfusion.

In this picture, Jessie is mad at me because she was so thirsty, but I would let her drink the dirty mop water (lol). At least she is drinking and keeping it down!

Kevin and I were able to visit her again today and she looked much better.

We took her outside since it was in the 60's today so that she could get some fresh air and a change of scenery. She really seemed to enjoy it. She had to have a new IV put in her rear leg because her IV fell out on a potty break and she no longer had a viable vein in her front legs(poor baby). Anyway, we really enjoy spending time with this sweet girl. We are so grateful to Doc and the staff as well as all the doggy angels out there who have been praying for her and offering support (emotionally and financially) We sincerely appreciate everyone so very much. Doc will re-run her bloodwork tomorrow to see how she is doing. She is hopeful that Jessie will be able to come home on Monday!

She looks like such a puppy in this one (Sue you were right about that)!

Pretty girl enjoying the fresh air!

Jessie is definitely weak, but at least she can go out on potty breaks now.

Jessie was pretty happy to see Kevin too- he was finally able to come visit her! Kevin is in love with her too!

Waiting to be poked on again :( Jessie's IV came out when she went for a potty break so they had to put one in her back leg this time.

Taken before we left- no one likes E-collars. Don't worry sweetie, we will visit you again soon and can't wait to take you home!!

Jessie's bill will be extremely high (last estimate was $1600, but we have received donations for some of it thankfully). We realize that this is only 1 dog, but we truly feel that all doggies in our care are special. How could we give up on her when she has been fighting so hard??? The blood transfusion itself was only a few hundred more, so why stop now. We appreciate any help that we can get and if you cannot help financially, please share her story. You never know who may be feeling generous and who may be fortunate enough to be able to help. We could really use some more prayers too!

AND THE WINNER OF THE KITTY BASKET GOES TO CAMILLE!!!

We apologize for the delay in posting this as well. We wanted to make sure we could get some pictures of the lovely recipient first! Camille stopped by our booth and bought a ticket for our raffle and we really appreciate her support- what a great young lady she is! We were sooooo happy when we picked her name! Camille has 2 very spoiled kitties (see their pics below) which we LOVE to hear! We are sure they enjoyed their Christmas presents! Read the descriptions of these two beauties from Camille's mom, Cheryl. Thanks so much for sending us these pictures!

"This is our Moses... MoMo for short... is about 15 years old and was my cat before I got married. He's part Hymialaian and has long gray hair and the most beautiful blue eyes - when they're open ! Which is not often! He's a very big cat - weighs almost 20 lbs! He's old and cantankerous and sleeps and eats a lot! "


"This is Baby Cat he wandered up to a house we were renting temporarily in October of 2010 when he was really a "baby cat" maybe 4 weeks old and so tiny! we were in the process of moving and we brought him with us to our permanant home in December where's he's stayed ever since! he's an outisde cat but always comes home to eat and spends the night inside! sooo sweet"

What a life! That's what they all deserve!