Miss you Jerry!!

On August 25,2012 my dog Jerry died of kidney failure from Lyme Nephritis. I was devastated, I loved him more than anything! I started looking on Petfinder to rescue another dog after a week, thinking that would make me happy again. I knew I wasn't ready yet, so I was thinking about fostering again instead of adopting.

On September 25 I ended up on Facebook page of a high kill shelter in GA. I knew what I had to do. One month from the day I lost my baby I started a rescue in his memory. I named it "Jerry's Angels". I saved two dogs that day and another three a week later. Five dogs got a second chance because of my love for my dog.

Two have been adopted, one is in a foster home, and I have two in my house. I received some donations to help me but basically I funded everything out of my pocket. Each dog costs between $800-$900 before they are ready to be adopted. My bank account might be empty, but my heart is full again. :)

Now I recently adopted my own dog from Tennessee. She arrives in New Jersey on Sunday 11/11/12. She is a 15 week old puppy beautiful Great Dane, St. Bernard, Great Pyrenees mix. I can't wait for her to get here! I think Jerry would be proud that I rescued six dogs in the last month and a half in his memory, because he was a rescue himself.

I love you more than anything Jerry, and I will continue to rescue dogs in his memory and find them great homes. Maybe not six in a month, I can't keep that up financially, but I will save as many as I can. :)


Laurie Davis
Newfoundland, NJ

Two more wonderful stories with wonderful endings

I was trash!

I've been told, although I hardly remember, that I was thrown in a trash can at a local park. Someone saw the people who thought I wasn't worth keeping and made sure I found a home. That was nine years, or 3285 dinners ago. I now consider myself a princess and am happy to tell anyone who asks how special I am. I go boating, have many siblings, ride in cars, see my doctor on a regular basis and most often sleep with the people who took me home. My life isn't so bad!

Meredith
Bath, OH

 

My Special Boy!

 

About 5 years ago we found Manuso walking along the street as if he owned the world! When we got him home he was scared at first and hid. But after a little coaxing he came around and within 1 day he knew his new name and I found him to be very, very smart! Since then he's never once gone to the bathroom in the house. This little boy has become the most loyal, loving protector I've ever had. Manuso is now 5. I can walk him off lead (in the park) he'll never run away (except after squirrels) I whistle and he comes running. It's total love for me and him.

Kimberley Baerman
Dayton, OH

Regulate Online Puppy Mills

The Internet is proving to be a dangerous place for puppies. With the help of modern technology, it's easier than ever for puppy mill operators and uncertified breeders to abuse animals and participate in illegal commerce.

Due to the current lack of federal regulation for online breeders, puppies sold through the Internet are often bred for rapid sale and raised in atrocious conditions that are well below basic welfare standards. As of December 12th, 2012, IFAW reports that heinous businesses are still using online methods to shirk the Animal Welfare Act and avoid retribution for abuse.

No puppy deserves to be raised and sold in such horrendous conditions! Write to the Secretary of Agriculture and tell the USDA to crack down on online puppy mills immediately.

Sign the Petition and if you can, Donate Now!

Sugar - teacher of courage, love, hope and forgiveness

Sugar was brought to The Animal Orphanage of Voorhees NJ as a stray. When our shelter director saw her, she instantly fell in love with this emaciated Pit-bull with big brown eyes, who was full of love. True to her personality she was named Sugar.

It was a day before Christmas in 2011 when Sugar had a prolapsed rectum. When I saw Sugar for the first time, she was just out of surgery but she still managed to give me a tail wag and she looked straight into my eyes. Over the next few months Sugar recovered under the loving care of the shelter staff. At the shelter she spent time in the Directors office, on weekends she came home with me.

She put on weight, was selected to attend a training class and learned all her basic commands. In the class, she was always the teachers’ favorite and why not, she was the most obedient student! Sugar was very reactive to other dogs in the beginning but eventually she was introduced to play groups at the shelter.

Sheldon and Kane were her shelter buddies. When I saw Kane and Sugar together, I always thought they supported each other in ways we humans could never understand. Finally the day came when Sugar found her forever family and everyone at the shelter said their goodbye’s in the midst of tears of joy!

Her new parents love her to pieces! She has 2 big brothers who watch over her like hawks. From an emaciated stray, a shelter favorite and finally a loving family member Sugar came a long way. Sugar's passion is to please her human companion and she continues to spread her love! Sugar taught me about courage, love, hope and forgiveness. Sugar is an example that second chances save lives!

Bharati Manjeshwar
Voorhees, NJ

Miss Rhonda

After losing my 14 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever I waited almost 4 years to get another dog...all I knew was that I wanted a female and would name her Rhonda.

There she was on a lab rescue site and her name was already Rhonda. When I found her at the Humane Society, her belly hung to the ground...she had been a "puppy machine." She is the sweetest thing EVER! That was 8 years ago and each day she gratefully realizes she was rescued and more importantly that she rescued a human!

Suzi Campbell
Albuquerque, NM

I can't get enough of these rescue stories

Goofy friends

Fletcher was 6.5 years old, a big black dog at the shelter. He had been there for 5 weeks. I arrived to donate the remaining dog food as my dog had recently died. It was fate. Two years later we added Ruby, found on Petfinder and a full of energy 2 year old. What joy they bring.

Marcia Morgan




Molly Marie and Me!

After losing our 15 year old springer spaniel, Maggie, in early June this year to a ruptured abdominal tumor, my husband and I, along with our 10 year old beagle, Daisy, were devastated. Daisy didn't know life without Maggie. Just after Maggie's death, Daisy had to have ACL surgery, which made her even more dependent on us. Daisy got more depressed each day, so we decided she needed a buddy - another Maggie dog. We decided to adopt a rescue springer through MAESSR, which is an excellent organization.

We knew we had to wait until Daisy's rehab was finished, so started the adoption process the end of August. We were approved and found 6 year old Molly Marie on the list. She sounded very similar to Maggie and really touched our hearts because of her story. She had such a rough life, being abandoned by her owners because of mammary tumors. She was turned into a shelter with a HUGE tumor plus smaller ones, and bad ear infections. We don't know how long she was on her own.

The first shelter wanted to euthanize her because they assumed the tumors were cancerous. Someone there got Molly into a second shelter and someone there contacted MAESSR and they took her. She had two surgeries for tumors, had bad ear infections taken care of and was in a wonderful foster home. I can never thank Renee enough for the care and love she gave Molly before we became her forever family. It was love at first sight when we met Molly on adoption day, Oct. 14. She’s helped heal our hearts and given us more than we could ever give back to her. And Daisy – she’s back to her old self again due to her new best friend, Molly Marie.

Linda Shope
        Alexandria, PA

Lucky - The Miracle Mutt

Lucky truly lives up to his name. He was once a scared abandoned puppy who was shown no mercy, beaten and starved only to be thrown out in the middle of the woods right before a big Iowa winter, snow storm. However this little guy is a strong survivor, not only did he survive below freezing temperatures, but he ran for hours away from a family of coyotes, thinking he was going to meet his end when he was snagged in a snare (live trap). I was thirteen years old (now 22 going on 23) when my dad saved him. Each of the coyotes had also somehow been caught in snare as they tried to corner him in.

This little guy was scared of anything and everything; he most definitely wouldn’t have gone near a guy of any kind and would shake when you touched him. He spent much of his first few months hiding under my bed, except at night where he would come cuddle up on the pillow when he thought you were asleep. With the help of our lab/dalmatian mix he was able to look at a new leaf on life. He now is 10 years old and has new friends of his own living with me (the lab mix passed away when I was in high school and he was devastated going through a deep depression). He loves everybody, and everything including treats, playing with other dogs and lots of attention. I look back and see that scared little guy who only weighed a few pounds, who was so tiny and I’m so grateful my dad brought him home to me. He has become one of my greatest joys in life.

Shaylynn
Cedar Falls, IA

Ozzy's Tail

Today his name is Ozzy, but when he was first rescued his name was Colgan. His story begins in New York City in early 2012. Abandoned, locked in a crate, without food and water, laying in his own waste, Colgan was first rescued by Animal Control. Emaciated, covered with sores, this Cane Corso/Pit Mix was missing hair all over his body, but especially his tail which was completely bald.

Sadly, Colgan was scheduled to be euthanized. He was then saved for a second time by Cane Corso Rescue. He was transported to Southern New Jersey to recuperate in foster care, but Colgan was not about to go back to staying in a crate. On his first night Colgan tore up his face, but he made it through the metal bars of his crate.

Knowing that he could not stay in foster care, Cane Corso Rescue reached out to the Voorhees Animal Orphanage (AO). The call came to the shelter’s director late one February night...could the shelter accept this dog? The answer was yes, and Colgan was saved for a third time. But how would this dog that could not be crated handle a kennel? Sleeping in shifts, volunteers from Cane Corso Rescue and the AO waited to see if Colgan would finally relax. Fortunately, he did.

Colgan’s emotional wounds began to heal, but his tail remained raw.

Colgan was adopted by the shelter’s president and his wife and joined their pack of four other dogs. Renamed Ozzy, he started training to be a therapy dog. He was a natural.

Today, Ozzy does pet assisted therapy with disabled adults and he represents the AO at schools as part of its humane education program. And his tail is completely healed and never stops wagging, but his tale is far from over.

Bruce Compton
Voorhees, NJ