Paintball and Walkathon

Despite the rain, we did the walkathon. Tasha was thrilled, Shelby was okay but not happy about being wet, and Hope tolerated it all in confusion. We found a baby wagon on Friday to put Hope in so we could just pull him on the walk. We originally thought Tasha & Shelby could pull him, but they were too fast & nonlinear.

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Right after the walkathon, we had paintball with some of the staff (& friends) of the Humane Society. It was SO much fun....but SO painful. We all have huge welts on our legs, backs, head, etc. At one point, these little kids challenged us to a game against them. Considering they had all their own gear (outfit, gun, paintballs, etc.), we were a bit wary. Misty, of course, accepted the challenge on all our behalves. Four of us ended up hiding behind the same structure and got picked off one-by-one. Once two were gone, I started muttering "I want out; I want out", meaning I wanted to get out with the least pain possible. I got nailed in the wrist, which is now swollen. But I was out - hooray! We obviously lost - the hustling little twerps. It was suggested the next staff-bonding event be something like an inner tube float down a nice, calm river.

Freddy the Goat

Why, yes, that is a goat at the Humane Society. His name is Freddy and he was a house-goat if you can believe it. He LOVES people, but was getting terrorized by dogs so he came here. He is very friendly and gets taken out for walks each day (especially since he's out with the ponies who hate him for some reason). He's a pretty fat goat too, so he could do with some more walking. Anybody that needs a goat should contact the shelter.

Oops, we did it again...

Well, we are back to fostering. Only in small quantities, though (yeah, right, we'll see). We took back Peach (remember kitten that goes feral over wet food) and his new buddy, Bingo, who looks just like him. We have them in a nice crate in the cat room. They're doing well so far.

We also have the little cutie above. He is a 4-week-old pug who was surrendered and will need an eye removed. Yet again, I come away from the shelter just hating the human race. Misty and the staff have named him Popeye - they are just sick! I'm still not big on keeping puppies, so hopefully he'll get a real foster home soon. He doesn't like our wet food or our KMR milk replacer or anything - I think he wants his mama. Poor guy.

Shameless Plug for Walkathon

The Humane Society of Harford County is having a Bark in the Park 2006 Walkathon. They are especially in need of monetary donations after the Whiteford Hoarding incident that I've talked about on this blog, but which also made national news. Misty and I are taking part in it and would really appreciate some sponsors. Our Hope is a rescue from that incident - we are looking for a wagon so he can join the walk too (if we find one, there will certainly be photos here).

If you can help out, it is easy and secure - you can donate online by credit card and receive a record of your donation (donations are sent directly to Humane Society of Harford County, NOT to me). Here’s our page:

***** http://www.firstgiving.com/hope_peanut *****

Please support this fabulous cause! And if you would prefer to walk yourself, please visit the Harford Humane Society website for details: http://www.harfordshelter.org/

Hope's Swim Therapy

Part of why Hope has been doing so well lately is probably a result of his swim therapy sessions. He has to do his swimming in this horse trough right now because his heart wouldn't be able to handle the full-on swim therapy at an actual center. The first time he went in, he didn't really understand and just floated. But now, he gets his little legs going and will swim from one side to the oter quite willingly. The shelter is also doing swim therapy for several other "Whiteford Dogs": Monroe, Flo, and Nugget (I'm pretty sure on those anyway). They also have heart problems and/or muscle atrophy bad enough that regular walks are difficult.

Why, Hello There!

Hope is coming out of his shell more and more each day. There is hope for Hope! He's a much bigger fan of the dogs than they are of him, but Shelby and Tasha tolerate him. He likes to sniff a lot, but hasn't mastered "playing" yet. He's not even sure what treats are for and was very cautious about eating a small piece of cheese quesadilla the other day (special treat & I was full). But he is a cutie!

Doggie Daycare Again

Tasha had another day of Doggie Daycare yesterday. There were at least two other huskies there with her (numbers show 3 of them, including her). She is a bit of a snob and usually doesn't like to hang with her own breed, but she seems to have found a friend in these two. Maybe because they were also slow and wanted to stay in the shade just like her.

Lucky's Loss

Poor Lucky has lost two of her seven puppies. They were smaller than the rest and a bit listless. The techs put them on heating pads while letting Lucky continue feeding them (mama's milk is always better than formula). Unfortunately, they just weren't meant for this world. RIP, little ones.

NOTE: the puppy featured above is one of the ones that didn't make it, but it is merely sleeping in the photo. I have not and would not ever put a picture up of an animal that is dead.

Hope doing well

I'll try to get a better, more active picture of Hope soon. He is still pretty slow (what Misty and I call a "dum-dee-dum-dum dog", NOT dumb though!), but he's been showing some spurts of energy. Last night, he wandered around in circles outside for nearly 1/2 hour while I was chatting with neighbors.

And he is starting to get more involved with things happening around him. A problem with a lot of dogs in his situation is "hoarder syndrome" where he stares off into space or at a wall. It is a result of so many days/months/years with no stimulation, sitting in a crate; basically, they retreat into their own minds and it can be hard (sometimes impossible) to bring them back out of it. But Hope is doing better on that end and he even jumped up for his bowl at dinner time. We couldn't believe it! He recognized the bowl and what it meant and got excited! That seems like nothing for most dogs, but for Hope this is something we weren't sure he'd ever do.

Peanut is probably Hope's biggest fan. It may be because Hope is even more decrepit than he is and, thusly, the one animal Peanut could actually beat up. He was playing with Hope's tail the other day and he rubbed up against Hope last night. Hope responded by licking Peanut's ear. I think they may end up good buddies.

Lucky and Her Lucky Seven

Lucky is another of the Whiteford animals. She looked quite emaciated when she first arrived and it was obvious to the technicians that she had been overbred (in case you didn't know, puppy mills = very bad!). What they didn't realize what that she was pregnant again. I saw her and trust me, you don't think puppies when you see a dog's belly that sunken in. But she was pregnant and gave birth to 7 puppies last week.

Amused by the connotations of Lucky Number 7, the staff wants to name the puppies after card hands. Somehow I don't think Flush or Straight has that special ring to it though. Maybe after games of chance? Poker, Blackjack, Craps....hmmm, maybe not.

Ferdinand's Recovery

BEFORE

Ferdinand is only one of the 69 dogs that were recovered alive from Donna Lee Bell's hoarding houses on May 12th. As you can see above (the arrow shows his eye, barely visible, under the matted fur), these animals came to the Harford Humane Society in quite a state. Through the help of lots of volunteers, these animals are beginning new, happier lives. Donna Lee Bell faces 118 counts of animal cruelty which could mean up to 29 years in jail and $118,000 in fines. Believe it or not, she originally filed an appeal to have the animals returned to her. She has dropped that claim and the animals can begin to be adopted next week.

Aussie Pet Mobile, a mobile pet grooming group that has worked with the Humane Society many times before, was there when the animals first started arriving. As you can see from Ferdinand's photo above, grooming was more than just a nicety, it was necessary for them to be able to even eat. Ferdinand was the first on the line and I wanted to share how well he turned out (see below).

AFTER

Meet "Hope"

This is Hope, as seen on his television debut. He's even smiling for the camera! Hope is one of the many "Whiteford dogs" that Donna Lee Bell was hoarding in Harford County, Maryland, that were rescued and began a new existence at the Humane Society of Harford County a couple of weeks ago. They've been staying in what we refer to as "the Bunkhouse" which is not ideal, but all we could give them at the time. The animals (just a reminder, there were 69 dogs and 4 cats) had to remain on the premises until something happened in the way of Donna Lee Bell's case. You see, as far as I understand it, legally they belong to her...until she either surrenders them or is found guilty of the animal cruelty. Unfortunately, court cases can go on for months and we really wanted to get these animals into foster care. Our hands were tied and it sucked. Thankfully, we have had an incredible network of volunteers coming to walk these dogs day after day. Really, the people/companies donating and the volunteers helping out have made this enormous task actually manageable.

Well, luck finally went in the shelter's (and the dogs') way: Donna Lee Bell agreed to surrender the animals. The "official" word from the news channels is that she did it "for the animals", so that they could get adopted into homes faster. Supposedly, that is also her excuse for the appeal that the animals were unlawfully taken and should be returned to her. The animals won't be available for adoption until next Wednesday (well, they will start taking applications on Wednesday; I think actual adoptions won't start until that following Saturday or something), but they can begin going into foster care. For the blind chihuahuas and other needy little guys, this is fantastic news. And it brings us to Hope...

Hope is our newest foster, but he will probably end up an official member of our clan when adoptions start happening. The reason is he has been deemed "unadoptable". He is roughly 8 years old with cataracts and partial deafness. He was one of the worst cases of muscle atrophy (meaning his legs had forgotten how to work because he'd been in a tiny crate for too long) and has been re-learning how to walk. But the worst is his heart. He has a leaky valve with backflow, also probably a result of being immobile for so long. The vets give him between a few months to a couple years left to live. We've agreed that he should spend that time, short as it may be, in a loving home. So Misty brought him home last night.

Hope is very slow and mostly just hangs out and watches everyone go by. Which is great b/c our relatively old dogs don't like jumpy puppies much. He seems to really like Shelby and follows her around. Everyone has been sniffing each other (even the cats!) and there has been no hissing or snarling or anything. Very chill. We won't leave them unsupervised, of course, but it is great to see how they are all getting along.