CHAIN OFF 2010

Dogs Deserve Better is an organization based in PA that helps bring awareness of the cruelty of chaining dogs. Each year they host the Chain Off, which is for two weeks during the summer (usually around July 4...FREEDOM!!). People chain themselves, to trees, to doghouses, to poles...anywhere from 8 hours up to 24 hours or more. Donations come in through friends & family who sponsor them and from the kind strangers that happen to stop by and ask whats going on.




Last year we participated in the Chain Off and chained oursleves to an old doghouse for 8 hours in a parking lot. We raised $300 and got a spot on the local news station.





This year, we did it again, only this time we chained oursleves to trees in the park AND we had two more people join us in the chaining (as well as dogs!) After 11 hours (and online donations as well) we collected over $600!!!






We DOUBLED our fundraising!!!! How great is THAT!!?!?!?!!?!? Hopefully next year will be even bigger!!!!!


For more information about the Chain Off, visit http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/, and if you would like to donate to the cause, you can visit either one of our fundraising pages at www.firstgiving.com/aprildevoe or www.firstgiving.com/taralamberti

Below are some pictures from the Chain Off.....

Cascade Beagle Rescue

Cascade Beagle Rescue-East has accepted over 50 retired laboratory beagles and is expecting an influx (20+) of many more over the next few months. If you have a passion for helping beagles used for biomedical research, and are willing to open your home and give the greatest gift you can give a beagle, please consider becoming a foster home for us!



To learn more about our Laboratory Beagle Adoption Division, please visit http://www.cascaderescue.org/labdivision.html.

If you would like to help a rescue beagle in general by becoming a foster home, please visit http://www.cascaderescue.org/foster_east.html to learn more and apply!

Please Help ALEXA at the North Shore Animal League

Boy oh boy. When your mother says look both ways before crossing the street, you should listen.
My name is Alexa.

I'm a young, adult terrier mix and because of a really unfortunate accident, I only have three legs. I don't really remember much of what happened; it all went by so fast. One minute I was running loose in the street and the next minute there was a really loud screech of a car.

The next thing I remember was my leg hurting really badly. It wasn't working right either. I must have managed to make my way into someone's backyard 'cause that's where I woke up.


When I was finally found, I was rushed to the medical center at North Shore Animal League America. My leg was very damaged, and I kept going in and out of consciousness. I needed emergency surgery and sadly, my leg needed to be amputated. The doctors said that by the time I arrived, my right hind leg had already died. There was no saving it. But the good news was that I could be saved. Thanks to the Animal League's Help Me Heal Program, not only am I alive, I'm going to be nurtured back to good health.

I can't really remember anything before the accident, but the Animal League thinks that I may have come from a loving home already. They are going to do everything they can to see if they can find my family, and if they can't, or if I don't have one, they will make sure to find me one. But first I need to heal. This was a major operation and I'm going to be in the hospital for several months and will need intensive nurturing and care.

You know what? Having three legs isn't too bad. In fact, I think three's the charm! I can get around pretty well already and everyone gives me tons of attention. When my wound is all healed, I will be back to running and playing and even jumping, too. When I'm not sick, I'm pretty active and lively. The doctors say that I have a real fighting spirit!

I'm happy that there are good people out there who care about animals. If it weren't for people like you who help put injured animals like me back together again, we wouldn't make it. If it weren't for you and the Animal League, pets like me wouldn't get rescued, wouldn't get nurtured and we wouldn't find loving, permanent homes.

Please watch my video at http://www.nsalamerica.org/help-me-heal/hmh_animals/alexas-video.html

If you are interested in adopting Alexa, please contact JeniR@AnimalLeague.org.

How the ASPCA can help animals....

The ASPCA is fighting cruelty to animals.

In 2008, they handled over 4600 cruelty investigations, rescued hundreds of animals, answered over 50,000 phone inquiries, responded to 8200 emails and conducted numerous training seminars across the country (where over 3000 agents have been trained in animal cruelty laws)

Help is needed to care for all the animals that come through the doors of the ASPCA. I myself am a supporter of the ASPCA and I hope that you can help out as well. (I know times are tough, but even a few $$ can help)

Here is how donations can help animals:

$20 will feed an abandoned dog or cat for THREE WEEKS

$35 will vaccinate TEN homeless cats & dogs

$50 Will provide a medical exam to BOTH a puppy & a kitten

$100 will spay or neuter a dog or cat

Thank you for reading this, and if you are unable to help, please pass this along in hopes of someone down the line being able to make even a small donation.

FOUND Golden Retriever in Mastic, NY area.

Hi everyone,

I found such a handsome male retriever today (2-2-09) in Mastic, near the intersection of Montauk Highway and Mastic road.

He has a collar and a leash.He is just a pleasure to have...very obedient and affectionate. I'm sure his owners must be beside themselves with grief.

I have posted ads on craigslist, petfinder, called local shelters and vets, sent e-mails and am now printing up posters.

If anyone by any slim chance has some info or knows someone in the area who lost a dog, please message me.

UPDATE!!!!!

This wonderful boy was returned to his owners the next day (his name was Rusty BTW). A short time later, the owners showed up at Tara's doorstep and asked if she would like to keep Rusty. Being the animal lover she is, of course Tara couldn't say no! So Rusty is now named Chewbacca (AKA Chewie) and he is happily living at Tara's house!

Capri needs help and eventually a home

I subscribe to the Bide a wee newsletter and I hear all the wonderful stories of them caring for animals that have been abandoned and abused. If you can, check out their webpage, and I know tines are tough, but if it's possible send them a donation. http://www.bideawee.org/ Thanks!








I'm called Capri, and
people who meet me call me cute as well! I have quite a sunny name, and I only wish I could say the same about my life. Things have been tough for me ever since I was born. I was born blind, and I'd been abandoned as a puppy at a shelter where "special" dogs like me had no chance to go anywhere else. Most people just didn't or couldn't care for a dog like me. Still, the shelter staff tried to find someone that would, someone who'd give me a chance. Just when it seemed like there was no hope for me, the shelter got in touch with Bideawee to tell them my story and how much I needed help. Bideawee's staff said, "yes," then they came and took me to my new home.









I was so happy! How lucky could I be? Well, maybe not so lucky. There was a reason why I'd lost my sight. My retinas had never developed, and I had pretty bad glaucoma. Even though I couldn't use my eyes, they caused me such pain that I just couldn't be my normal puppy self.


Still, being at Bideawee brought me a change in luck. I got adopted, even though I still lost my right eye because it bothered me so much; and I felt like I'd won a lottery. Just when things seemed to be going well, though, my family's circumstances changed two years later, and they couldn't keep me any longer. Bideawee took me in once again, desperate to make sure I wouldn't wind up in a shelter that would rather euthanize me than let me live.




I lost my right eye to illness, and I'd lost my home because of things I could not control. Now it turns out that I'm losing my left eye because the glaucoma causes me too much pain. The surgery will mean I won't live in pain anymore; but it also means I'll live the rest of my life without my eyes. I'm recuperating now, and it will be a long, slow process. Once I'm healed, I'll have to hope that I will again find a home, one that won't mind a dog missing her eyes. Until then, I'll stay with Bideawee, as they do what they can to help me get better.







As much as Bideawee's helped me already, they need help, too, so they can give other cats and dogs like me shelter from the troubles we face. I wish I could do more than give the staff here licks and big, wet kisses, though I try to live up to my lovely name by being sweet to everyone I meet - the staff, other dogs, and even cats.




Bideawee is important to special pets like me; and pet lovers like you are important to Bideawee. Without your support, I'd never have been rescued and given another chance. I never would have gotten the surgery to relieve my pain, to help me have a better life. Your generosity means a girl like me gets the attention and care that makes a big, positive difference. Although I'm blind, I see that I'm in a place where special cats and dogs like me are welcome. Please help Bideawee today, so it can continue to save pets like me - pets special both inside and out.



ADOPTION CENTERS

Manhattan
410 East 38th Street New York, NY 10016212.532.4455ManhattanAdoptions@bideawee.org

Wantagh
3300 Beltagh Avenue Wantagh, NY 11793516.785.4079WantaghAdoptions@bideawee.org

Westhampton
118 Old Country Road Westhampton, NY 11977631.325.0200WesthamptonAdoptions@bideawee.org

a post on Dogster.com

At this point, you're certainly not surprised to hear the words "recession" or "economic crisis." You would have had to be living under a rock to not have seen, heard, read about or experienced the current state of the (now) global economic downturn. You or someone dear to you may be recently unemployed, you may be tightening your purse strings or you may be even switching to a less expensive dog food. The latter, of course, only applies if you are indeed lucky enough to still be able to properly care for a pet, and have not been forced to hand your four-legged friend over to a shelter.

It sounds unfathomable and drastic, but it's true--shelters all across the country have reached and surpassed their occupancy levels and are facing numbers the likes of which they've never seen before. It's happening all over.

From West Texas...
"We do our best to get them a home, but if we don't for some reason, it takes a while, they don't go anywhere. We'll keep them here forever if we have to," Lone Star SPCA Director, Kirk French, said. --NewsWest9.com, January 5, 2009

to Georgia...
The heartbreaking truth is that some Georgia residents are having to choose between feeding their pets and feeding themselves, and when the choice becomes that stark hard decisions need to be made. One pair of Miniature Schnauzers was dropped off anonymously at a midwestern shelter. They were up to date on shots, spayed and neutered, nicely groomed and had clean, healthy teeth. The owners apparently hoped that they could be adopted by someone who could continue to care for them. Cases like that break the hearts of shelter workers, who often end up taking dogs and cats home with them until suitable homes can be found. --Atlanta Dogs Examiner, January 5, 2009

to Missouri...
"Some of them, when they're first abandoned, are pretty healthy, not thin, and may be wary of people, but don't live completely in hiding. But faster than you'd think, they get very thin, they might get mange, or injured somehow, they live in the shadows, and soon they have an air of dejection," [said] Randy Grim, head of Stray Rescue of St. Louis. -- USA Today, January 6, 2009

to Michigan...
Nearly 6,000 dogs and cats have been taken to the shelter this year. Of that, 401 were turned in by owners who cited financial pressures - an increase of 75 percent compared to the previous year, officials said. -- MLive.com, December 26, 2008

... the story is the same: too many pets, not enough shelter space or resources.
As unemployment rates go up, so do the turn-in rates at shelters, which means that the organizations that are responsible for the care, maintenance and funding of the shelters are forced to deal with a larger number of four-legged clients, but with the same (or fewer) resources. You don't have to be a mathematician to figure that one out. It quite simply does not work.

At Dogster and Catster, we take great pride in not only being able to provide our members with a fun experience, but with an informative and meaningful one as well. As times get tough for our furry little friends out there, we'd like try to do what we can to make the situation more manageable. Here is a list of Dogster resources that will help you to find out more or lend a hand during these rough times:

The Dogster Railroad - This is a special place for Dogsters to help Dogsters arrange for community transport of rescues or dogs being re-homed.

The Dogster Adoption Center - Find out about adoptable dogs here. You can find shelter dogs or dogs that are at risk of being sent to a shelter.

Dogster Local - This is where you can search for animal shelters and rescue organizations in your area.

Dogster Adoption and Rescue Groups - Browse through all kinds of organizations that work to provide furrever homes for dogs.

Dogster Rescue and Adoption Answers - Browse through, ask or answer questions that have to do with rescue and adoption.

As long as this crisis exists, we here at Dogster HQ will do our best to provide our members and readers with news, information and tips relating to the situation. Please feel free to pass links to our dog and cat articles and pet-centric services to any of your pet-loving friends who may find themselves in dire economic straights over the next few months.

Finally, leave a note in the comments section for this post if you have any thoughts or tips that you would like to share with other readers. Together, we can make a difference. And we will.