Friday, April 1, 2011

PUPPY EMERGENCY!!


**UPDATE 4/8/11 - Diesel was adopted today!**

Folks, we have a puppy emergency on our hands! This sweet little guy was one of the first adopted from the dogs rescued from the One More Chance Adoption Center, and he's been RETURNED to the Miami County Animal Shelter because unfortunately the family's other dog didn't like sharing his humans. As I type this, several of my fellow volunteers are trying to find a home for him, but I wanted to post his pictures here as well so he'd get the best possible chance to find a great new home!

Here are his details: He's around 7 months old, weighs approximately 30 pounds, and is a German Shepherd mix. He was the second dog I walked when volunteering at the Clark Ave. facility and I still remember him fondly because he was so friendly and excited to see me! He was returned to the Miami County Animal Shelter today, and I do not know how long he'll be able to stay there, as (like most county shelters) they are limited on space and cannot always keep dogs until the find their forever homes. We'd love for this sweetheart to avoid that fate, so if you know anyone who might like to add this little guy to their family, please pass on this link and have them call the Miami County Shelter as soon as possible!

28 comments:

  1. Please when you post information regarding the Miami County Animal Shelter you post accurate information and have all of your facts correct. Because your information that you have posted is not correct.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd been following the MCAS site daily to see how many of the Clark Ave. dogs were still there--like all the volunteers, I was trying everything to promote the dogs & get them homes. I noticed on March 23rd that the MCAS site had more dogs than ever (approximately 20)posted and that the special listing for the rescued dogs had been amended to include a notice that the dogs were in desperate need of homes & just wanted yards to chase squirrels in, etc. On March 24th, the special listing for the dogs was removed, there were only 4 dogs on the site (none of them "ours") and there was a paragraph on the front page of the site that said:

    "We would like to thank the community for all of the donations, volunteers, and support that was shown after we became involved in the rescue of the 108 dogs from the facility in Piqua. The outpouring of support from our community was really overwhelming. We are happy to share that the last few dogs were placed into various rescues who will continue to work on them with socialization to prepare them for adoption."

    I started asking my fellow volunteers if they knew if there was a way to find out which rescue organizations had taken the dogs, as I hoped to continue to promote them through those organizations. I had genuinely hoped that rescue organizations had come out of the woodwork & saved our six dogs, as well as the other 9 dogs whose profiles were missing from the site. A fellow volunteer called and inquired about Greta (Dog #40 - Beagle/Hound mix) and was told that she'd been put down. She asked about another dog and was told that the person "couldn't find the card for that dog."

    So more people started asking around. Another volunteer called the shelter to inquire about one of the dogs and was told that some sort of disease had moved quickly through the shelter, and that all the dogs there had to be put down. Another person learned that a puppy who'd been adopted from MCAS had died of parvo the week before and that the shelter was waiting to see if there was an outbreak of parvo--so we all figured parvo was the disease that quickly moved through the shelter. Naturally, a lot of folks were upset since our dogs had been vaccinated against parvo and should've been fine. And at that point we noticed that the part about the dogs being placed with other rescues had been removed from the MCAS site.

    Since two people called the shelter directly & were informed that Greta (#40) and other dogs were put down due to an outbreak of illness at the shelter, I don't feel that I wrote anything untrue. I'm not trying to start an argument or anything--it's an unfortunate fact of life that, due to overpopulation, there are more dogs in need of homes than there are spaces in shelters. MCAS is a "kill" shelter, and logistically speaking, the longer a dog is there, the more risk there is that it will eventually be euthanized. I know I can't save them all, but at the same time, I want to save as many as I can.

    However, if you have the facts, a lot of my fellow volunteers & I would like to know what really happened to the following dogs:

    Higgins - #24 - 4 yr. old black lab mix

    Greta - #40 - 3 or 4 year old Hound Mix

    Samson - #85 - 7 or 8 month old black lab mix

    Caramel - #18 - 3 yr. old yellow lab/retriever mix (adopted & returned because she didn't get along with it's new family's other dog)

    Pandy - #64 (I believe) - 5 yr. old Shepherd mix (adopted & returned because she didn't get along with the family's other dog)

    If we are mistaken and they were placed with other rescue organizations, we'd love to get the word out about them still being in need of homes! If not, we'd all just really like to know what happened to them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Forgot to add one dog to that list.. Chompers - #80 - 2 yr. old Shepherd/Hound Mix.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gina,
    So do tell us what happened to the dogs and give us all the facts. I have the facts already so here is your chance to share before I do!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I will be happy to respond and give you some additional facts. The difficult decision was in fact made to euthanize a large number of the dogs in our facility, after an outbreak of several different illnesses. Not only did we end up euthanizing several of the Piqua dogs, we also euthanized many of our own beloved dogs. In the weeks prior, we had MANY dogs coming down with kennel cough. Although we were medicating and treating, we could not shake it, and it was just continuing to expose the incoming dogs. We also had two puppies come in to the shelter and during their 3 day holding period, we discovered they were displaying very obvious symptoms of parvo. At that point, every dog in our shelter had been exposed. I will tell you that 1 of the Piqua dogs was euthanized due some aggression issues that were becoming very apparent the longer he was here. He was charging at the gate when people walked by and barking aggressively. And when someone walked by with another dog he went absolutely crazy. Could this have been worked on? I'm sure it could have, if we had time on our side. And 2 of the Piqua dogs were showing clear signs of illness. They had very bloody, runny stool and they were not responding to the medication the vet had given us for them. And it was progressively getting worse. And maybe it wasn't parvo, but there was a definite issue that may, or may not have been contagious and we couldn't risk it. I can tell you that although the Piqua dogs were vaccinated when they left the Piqua facility, that didn't mean they were completely guarded against disease immediately. I believe there is a period of time as well as boosters before the dog is totally protected against disease. And unfortunately time just wasn't on our side. I know it's tough to see any dogs be euthanized, especially after you've developed a bond with them. And contrary to popular belief, it's tough for us as well. Euthanasia is one aspect of our job we certainly don't look forward to, and definitely don't take pleasure in. I can say that during all of this time of illness, a couple employees here took home several dogs to try to get them out of the kennel situation that was going on here. We hoped to give them the time they needed away from the illnesses here, as well as medicate the ones that needed medication to clear up their issues to ready them for adoption. And thankfully those dogs are now healthy and happy in their forever homes. I personally took home one of those dogs myself and I already have 4 dogs at home as well as 5 children. Having an extra dog wasn't easy, but I was personally doing what I could to help, even if it was just one dog!
    Bottom line is we are limited on resources. We would LOVE to have a vet on staff to treat all of these issues when they arise, but we are on a very limited budget and right now it's not an option. We are also very limited on space. We can only hold so many dogs before decisions have to be made. Obviously you could see by looking at the website that we were really filling up on dogs. And you also read that I was pleaing for help with these dogs on the site as well. At that point I thought it was obvious that we were desperate! And no one was coming in and volunteering to adopt these last tough dogs! In fact, the dog that you are now begging for someone to come in and save from us was adopted by a volunteer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just to clarify that puppy that I just mentioned is still here. I meant that the dog was originally adopted by a volunteer and then returned. If someone wants to come in and save it, by all means, please do. Adopting any dog from us is saving a life!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, it sure seems to me that maybe Dream for Pets had a good thing going in the beginning, but it seems to me like maybe you guys have lost your focus. Remember that these 108 dogs are here now because of a really shitty dog hoarder. Shelters are here to help control the pet population, because people clearly can't do that on thier own. Any dog lover, any day of the week, would love to see all dogs in loving, caring, forever homes. But because of the disgusting pet overpopulation, caused by dog owners, some rescues, backyard breeders, etc., shelters are inevitably the ones who have to deal with the end result. Really, is it fair to a dog to be collected and kept in a lifelong rescue situation, with no real human contact, filthy conditions and a terrible quality of life? I surely don't think so, and I am animal lover myself. I have 4 shelter dogs, a pot belly pig (from the shelter), 3 shelter cats, a 20 something year old horse that nobody wanted and numerous other animals, who are unconditionally loved and will be as long as they are are here. I would love to take on more animals, but everyone has their limits. It is sad that some of those dogs had to be put down, but at least they were all given a fair shot, considering where they came from.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would like to add to Christine's comments as well...

    I know you are upset about the beloved Piqua dogs being euthanized. I will be the first to say that it absolutely sucked to have to do it! But we also had a lot of spectacular dogs here as well that were euthanized also. And we hated doing any of them. It was a tough call that unfortunately had to be made.

    It certainly wouldn't be fair for us to be adopting out sick dogs to people knowingly. And it also isn't fair for their pets already at home to be exposed by these new adopted dogs and to come down with these illnesses either. And that is what was happening over and over, although certainly not intentionally. That is why we had to make the decision we did. And the longer we put off making the call, the worse it got. As hard as it was, euthanizing 15 dogs was better than 100 if we'd let it continue on.

    Please know that we certainly aren't in this career for the money, in fact we really make very little, to be very honest. We are just trying to make a difference wherever we can. Unfortunately we can't save everything. But while we are trying to pull homes out of thin air constantly for all the dogs, whether they were from Piqua or they were just our regular shelter dogs, it is getting old how many people in your group are bashing us because we can't be miracle workers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ Bobbi, I completely agree with your views on animal hoarding/pet care and wish that things like this wouldn't happen in the first place. After helping with this situation and becoming so close to the problem I have started actively engaging in animal rights movements and contacting lawmakers for stricter limits so that it may change in the future, even just a little bit. Also, from this situation, I have attended my first DREAM meeting. This blog-writer, Jenn, also just attended her first meeting. We have not been affiliated with DREAM throughout our volunteer stint at the Piqua Facility.
    @ Christine, thank you for explaining the situation. I believe why a lot of us were upset is, I personally, was working on getting the dogs out of the Piqua Facility and then planned on working on the ones at the shelter next. We only had a week (sorry if it was 2) to continue finding homes. I had hoped that from the visual of all of us working on this- we might have gotten a phonecall/something to let us know this may be happening and we could have rallied troops to help you. I don't want 100 dogs to get euthanized either, but maybe financial support of some of the dogs or we could have helped by taking one to get it out of the situation would have helped you.... hindsight. This is not to say that other dogs at your facility are not important. I would love to find them homes too- these we have called since the beginning "our" dogs- we have many special connections/memories of these dogs.
    @Christine/Gina, I, for one, would love to become more of a team. From what I understand, this county's animal shelter is not getting a lot of support and I hope you have seen from the outpouring of support at the Piqua Facility, there are people out there that want to help. I am planning on at least writing, but trying to get a group of people to rally at a county commissioner's meeting to get things going in the same direction. You need help- not that you can't keep a shelter running by itself, but with a shelter having volunteers to help, it would make your jobs easier (hopefully). This meaning, people can socialize with the dogs/ exercise them/ have adopt-a-thons/ keeping up the facility as far as maybe donating paint or actually painting the inside. All of these things will bring more people to view the animals at the shelter and, in turn, hopefully get more animals out to forever homes. After going to the DREAM meeting, I feel that they have a foundation that needs to get a little more planned out, but it's a start. If we can get everyone working in the same direction- understanding that we can save them all, but trying to save as many as possible, hopefully a lot of the animals win in the end.

    ReplyDelete
  10. In response to Wieniedogsmom, like I said previously I totally understand the emotional attachment you all formed with all of these dogs. And I totally get the volunteer's disappointment with the fact that all of the dog's didn't find homes. I completely get it. I personally had made Higgins my mission. I had him out constantly trying to socialize him and get him to trust us. And he had really come a long way in the few weeks that I'd spent with him. When I saw where things were going with all the illness, I honestly contemplated bringing him into my home along with the other dog I had taken, to give him more time. At the same time, I had to realize my limits and hope that someone else would come forward to help him. Unfortunately it didn't happen. And while we did have to ultimately euthanize some of the dogs, I know that we are not the only shelter that ended up doing so. I was advised that Montgomery County had a few that they pulled that never even made it up for adoption, due to not passing some behavioral testing and they also euthanized one that was adopted and returned with some behavior issues. And I am not trying to point fingers and deflect any blame. I am realistic and completely supportive of their decisions as well. I am just saying for weeks I have been seeing various comments from different volunteers saying how unhappy they were that dog's were coming to our shelter. At the same time, I didn't hear of any other facilities taking as many dogs as we did and I believe we were the only shelter that continued to come back for more as they were being adopted out. I personally set up the adopt-a-thon in Superpets and I worked one of the two adoption days in Piqua. I personally listed every dog on our websites and listed only different Piqua dogs each week in the papers as pet of the week the entire time, trying to generate homes for the. And it was really like a slap in the face to continue to read the "oh no MCAS has one of our dogs and we know we don't want it there,someone please save it" comments.
    I will very publicly say that in some ways, I disagree with how the euthanasia was gone about. I have shared my feelings with my supervisor, but going out on a limb here I will share them with a you as well. I did not agree with the fact that no one was called prior to the decision to euthanize "your" dogs. I completely agree that, at the very least, the vet involved should have been notified and given an opportunity to try to find an alternative. The euthanasias were done on a day that I happened to be off and I can't say why no calls were made. I have asked and wasn't really given an answer. And I am not at all saying that they didn't need to be done. We obviously had to do something drastic, because of what was going on, but I do agree that some notification should have happened, if just as a courtesy. All that I can say is if you would like to try to receive an explanation, you should contact the director.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I apologize, apparently my post was too lengthy and I needed to split it up...

    Going from here, we definitely welcome volunteers, contrary to what some from the dream4pets group say. We will use you as often as you are willing to help. Our greatest need is usually just with socialization and hands on time with our dogs! We do get a decent number of community service workers that we use for the day to day cleaning and that sort of thing. But as far as volunteers go, so far, our experience has been that they come in for a few weeks and then just quit showing up. But we will use all the help we can get and appreciate it.

    I guess I mistakenly assumed that you all were already part of the dream4pets group, since I came across this blog on their facebook page. I understand now that you are new to the group, so I feel like I should give a little explanation of our apprehensiveness there as well. One of their "leaders" has been very quick to very publicly bash my shelter for all sort of things from inadequate air flow for the dogs, to cats in cages. Her attitude towards us from the start has been very accusatory and hostile. Obviously, when we are being portrayed a certain way on her site, in newspapers, and in her meetings, we are very leary of becoming partnered in any way with her. And the absolute craziest thing is that the leaders of this group somehow took over Burgess' original barn of dogs that they are currently caring for. She has had the nerve to come in and accuse our shelter of not providing outside exercise, big enough kennels, and not enough socialization for our dogs, while they are completely content to hold 20 dogs in a barn that is only cleaned a few times a week. We are talking about some dogs who have been there for years and years! We have received several complaints on her own facility! I would have to guess that those dogs aren't being given near the time and attention ours are, yet she continues to act like we are heartless and just love to euthanize as much as possible. And if you attempt to question her on those dogs, she is quick to say that Dog Gone Dogs is separate from dream4pets and try to dismiss any questions and close down the meeting. Early on, I tried not to take part in her mudslinging, and take the high road. I have very recently begun to respond and bring some light to what she is running, because I am sure that not all her members are aware. But to be very honest, I am tired of being portrayed as the bad guys, when we are putting our hearts into our work although at times that means making tough decisions.

    ReplyDelete
  12. While Wieniedogsmom said pretty much everything I was thinking, I still want to respond personally!

    @ Christine - Thank you for explaining what happened to "our" dogs & the others. I had wondered if our dogs had shown symptoms during the outbreak--I figured that might have been the case, and I understand why you had to do what you did...even though it still makes me sad! (I have revised my blog entry accordingly, even though my original comment was not meant as an attack, I just wanted people to understand that Diesel's in urgent need of a home because he could be euthanized if he's in the shelter too long.) I don't think anyone believes you enjoy euthanizing dogs--no one could enjoy that. One of the main reasons I revised my childhood ambition to be a veterinarian is that I realized there's no way in hell I could euthanize dogs as part of my job. (I'm waaaaay too weepy!) So you guys all have to be tougher than I am emotionally because you're able to do that.

    I think everyone took it harder in this situation because we had worked with the dogs for so long and formed bonds with them, and were working our butts off to try to find good homes for them. As Wieniedogsmom said, we were working on finding homes for those still stuck at Clark Ave., then planned on turning our attention to those still in county shelters. Which isn't to say I was totally ignoring the ones in your care - if you could see my Facebook feed for the past two and a half months (before I got the idea to start this blog), you'd see it's made up mostly of Petfinder links to the dogs in your shelter, pictures of the ones I was trying to promote from Clark Ave., etc. When I ran out of dogs I "knew" to post, I moved on to the others who were in your shelter. While I was partial to "our" dogs, working with them really opened my eyes to how many perfectly good dogs are stuck without homes and so I tried to promote all the dogs.

    I also realize that funding is limited, which sucks but is a fact of life. I've always said that, if I win the lottery, right after I paid off my mortgage & debts and stopped rolling around on the floor in a fit of glee, I'd establish a no-kill shelter in Miami County. Sadly, no lotto luck for me yet, so in the meantime I'm trying to do whatever I can to draw attention to the fact that folks should adopt from shelters instead of buying from breeders or pet stores. I started this blog as a way to do that, and I intend to promote it at any dog-related functions I attend. By all means, if there are any dogs at your shelter you want promoted on the site, let me know and I'll feature them - otherwise I'll just randomly chose them and rotate between the dogs at area shelters to try & keep things fair. I feel the more folks that see a dog's picture/profile, the better the chances that the dog will find a home!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @ Bobbi - The only contact I've had with Dream For Pets is attending their meeting last week, so it's not fair to say they've lost their focus because of something I wrote on my personal blog. I only mentioned the organization on here because I figured anyone interested enough in the plight of shelter animals in our area might also be interested in learning more about Dream For Pets. When I speak of "my fellow volunteers," I'm referring to the folks who volunteered alongside me at Clark Ave. and whom I still keep in touch with. Near as I can tell from that one meeting, Dream For Pets' main focus is raising funds to continue sponsoring the spaying/neutering of pets in this area--which is a step in the right direction to help control overpopulation.

    I, too, hate the fact that a lot of pet owners can't be bothered to have their pets spayed or neutered. And I hate that Ohio is one of the worst states for puppy mills. And I really hate that one man can have close to 500 dogs, and 79 dead dogs, and the only thing they can do to him is charge him with misdemeanors. I had no idea the laws in our state sucked so much, but (like Wienerdogsmom) this has opened my eyes and I've been researching who to contact about improving the animal cruelty laws & puppy mill regulations in our state.

    @ Gina - Like I said to Christine above, I understand what happened, and while it still makes me sad, I know adopting sick dogs out would've put an even greater amount of pets at risk of illness.

    I know you guys can't save them all--even if I wish you could! Like Wienerdogsmom, I think it would be awesome if there were some way to create a partnership between your shelter and the folks in this area who were passionate enough about animals to give their time at Clark Ave. I wish there were a way to set up more adopt-a-thons--though I'd imagine there are funding limitations from the county--because you'd have no shortage of volunteers willing to work with the dogs & promote them at events!

    As for "my group" bashing you--like I said earlier in this comment, I'm just me, this is just my blog, and I'm not speaking for any organization. So I'm not sure who all's been bashing you. And I didn't mean to "bash"--there wasn't malicious thought behind my comment about our six having being euthanized, it was more out of frustration that those dogs were still there in the first place...that despite all the promotion & Facebook posts & news stories, that we still hadn't managed to find good homes for them. (Especially the two who were adopted & returned...it amazes me & saddens me that people are so willing to treat dogs as "disposable.")

    In conclusion (since this is already longer than the original entry, lol), I'd love it if everyone could work together to get as many dogs adopted as possible from here on out. Like I told Christine, if there are ever any dogs in particular you want promoted, comment on a post here & let me know which dog to check out on your site and I'll get the word out about them!

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ Christine - I didn't know there was a character limit on comments, either - I had to split my response, too. I do tend to be rather wordy, especially if dogs are involved, lol!

    Yes, I am new to Dream 4 Pets - I'd only heard of the group because someone volunteering at the Clark Ave. facility asked me if I'd heard of it, so I Googled it. They have similar goals to me (i.e. get people to adopt dogs) so I decided I'd go to a meeting and see how I could help. I posted my blog link on their page because I know they have contacts to potential foster homes, that they're dog lovers, and that they'd likely pass the link on, thereby increasing Diesel's chance at a happy ending.

    I'll definitely spread the word that you're welcoming volunteers!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you Jenn for the changes on your posting

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thought you all might like a little background info on Bordetella/"Kennel Cough"...

    http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2102&aid=452

    ReplyDelete
  17. And here is a link about the Parvo virus...

    http://www.workingdogs.com/parvofaq.htm#parvo_prevention

    Now tell me how MCAS already has dogs filling back up the shelter? Shouldn't we be worried about these new dogs who aren't vaccinated upon arrival?

    ReplyDelete
  18. (Another Anonymous person)

    I'm not trying to stir things up, I just feel that the community deserves the entire truth about the recent situation.

    Some things to think about:

    First, it was implied it was Parvo now its, "several different illnesses"?

    If these dogs were reccently under a vet's care (which doctor?), wouldn't you want to know for sure if the "virus" was contagious or not BEFORE mass euthanasia? I know that you have limited funding, but was it fair to take each individual life by flipping a coin?

    The above link helped refresh my mind with the logistics of Parvo. It is to my observation that the appropriate time was NOT allowed before placing more dogs in the kennel. I realize that there are dogs surrendered every day and very few places in our area to go, but isn't this just giving these new dogs a death sentence due the the exposure from the environment? Bleach/Water mixture kills parvo, but it's not 100% effective....

    Don't let them fool you! From the information I have gathered, they only euthanized the Clark Ave dogs for the desired space! Yes, I have the facts right...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ok, seriously. I think this argument has run it's course. There is nothing that any of us can do at this point for the dogs that were put down. I understand that it's very upsetting that it happened for whatever reason, whether they were sick or the shelter was over-populated. None of us that put our hearts into the Clark ave. Facility want to think about anything bad happening to any of the dogs that we put so much time and effort and love into, but realistically, we had to know it was a possibility. Isn't that why we worked so hard the last couple of days to get the last ones into foster homes instead of the shelter? Not that I'm saying that it's right, but it's not really the fault of mcas, they have policies, just like every business out there. It's not like the individuals there enjoy euthanizing animals just for the fun of it. I'm sure they are just as upset when it happens as the rest of us. I think we need to just let it go and focus on other dogs that we CAN help instead of ones that we can no longer do anything about (may they rest in peace).

    Jen, keep up your hard work and hopefully everyone will get the message that it's very important to adopt a forever friend from a shelter or a rescue than to purchase them from pet stores or puppy mills.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I do agree with the above posting that this seems to really have run it's course. At the same time, I am trying to be honest and informative and answer the questions that have been asked, rather than try to mislead anyone. I am happy to provide you and the community with the truth.

    First of all, I don't know who told or insinuated that parvo was the only problem. While it was one of the problems, it was not the only problem.

    You flat out and very mistakenly state that my shelter euthanized a kennel full of dogs, both Piqua dogs and our own shelter dogs, for space. That is 100% untrue. While we were filling up, I don't believe we were totally full yet. Even if we had been completely full, we would have chosen a few dogs to euthanize that were less adoptable, not an entire kennel! What your saying makes no sense. Why would we want an empty facility? I can say that it most certainly wasn't for space.

    I appreciate your links to dog diseases and I did read over them. But I am all too familiar with both bordetella and parvo having seen it far too often over my years here. I can tell you that when I mentioned some of the dogs being under vet care, I was speaking of the doctor that was caring for them in the Piqua facility. She continued to check on the dogs from Piqua during their time here. She also was aware of our continued problem with kennel cough and she graciously provided us with medication and antibiotics for any dogs that were coughing. I will tell you that I have had several of the Piqua dogs start to show the signs of kennel cough also after being adopted out. I have extended several surgery due dates so that those dogs are able to clear up their health issues before they can be fixed. And those dogs were vaccinated with the bordetella vaccine before coming here. So that is a definite indication that the initial vaccine does not immediately providing the dog with protection.

    And again, like I have said previously on here, I would absolutely love to have the luxury of a vet on staff to diagnose and treat all of these illnesses, but again as I said before, at this time we don't have the budget for that. And I also would absolutely have loved to have more time to continue daily disinfecting before filling up on dogs again, but being a county shelter, we don't have that luxury either. I certainly can't refuse to pick up stray dogs. At this point, as far as the health the dogs, they appear to be fine, which we are thankful for.

    And I would also like to thank you Jen for the changes to your blog. I appreciate them also. And I appreciate you listing any of my dogs as often as you like. I will take all the help I can get! I am making some changes to the county site, so that it gives the public more information on each dog. Those changes should appear tonight or early tomorrow. Please use whatever info you can, to advertise our dogs!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I know I won't ever forget the dogs that weren't able to find homes in time--I was especially fond of Caramel, the lab/retriever mix, and walked her every day I volunteered. While I'm still upset that she didn't find her forever home, what happened to her & the others just makes me more motivated to work hard to promote shelter dogs. All the dogs in shelters are great dogs & deserve to get homes and while I can't go back and change what's already happened, I can do my best to let people know that shelter dogs would make wonderful family members!

    @ Christine - You're welcome for the blog changes. I noticed you guys had added notes about your pups on the Petfinder site - that definitely helps promote them! I added the new info to Jake's profile in the Big Black Dog entry. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. One of Christine's comments on the 4th got flagged as spam by Blogspot--don't know why, and it didn't alert me to the fact. Just happened to notice it now and published it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. For some reason Blogspot labeled one of the shelter people's comments as spam back on the 4th. I've since published it. This is what she had to say:

    "I will very publicly say that in some ways, I disagree with how the euthanasia was gone about. I have shared my feelings with my supervisor, but going out on a limb here I will share them with a you as well. I did not agree with the fact that no one was called prior to the decision to euthanize "your" dogs. I completely agree that, at the very least, the vet involved should have been notified and given an opportunity to try to find an alternative. The euthanasias were done on a day that I happened to be off and I can't say why no calls were made. I have asked and wasn't really given an answer. And I am not at all saying that they didn't need to be done. We obviously had to do something drastic, because of what was going on, but I do agree that some notification should have happened, if just as a courtesy. All that I can say is if you would like to try to receive an explanation, you should contact the director."

    Interesting... (This was by Christine, for the record.)

    I did not agree with the fact that no one was called prior to the decision to euthanize "your" dogs.

    MMM if they were so bad or sick why would she even think or say this! I just want MCAS to know they didn't get away with it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ok this will be my last response to you "Anonymous" as you are clearly not satisfied with any reasoning or explanation I provide. It is obvious that you are looking for an argument or a debate, regardless. As I have said several times, my reasoning for responding to this blog and then further posts, was to try to be honest and forthcoming about the dogs that were euthanized and the reasons behind the decision to euthanize.

    The statement that you choose to pull out was that I did not agree with the fact that no one was called prior to the decision to euthanize "your" dogs. I also said that I agreed that it was necessary at that point to make that decision, but that I felt that a phone call to notify the vet/volunteers would have been considerate. And I still stand by that statement. My feelings on that are simply due to the fact that I knew people had gotten very attached while caring for these dogs, and maybe other options could have been explored. I am not insinuating in any way that the dogs weren't sick/exposed. But I myself took home a sick dog (granted it was only kennel cough and since my own dogs at home were vaccinated, I was comfortable with the risk), and perhaps others would have wanted to step up for some of these dogs as well. I certainly wouldn't have encouraged anyone to take a dog that was showing symptoms of parvo or anything, unless they were taking it directly to a vet. But since kennel cough is treatable that could have been an option for some of the other dogs. As I said with new dogs coming into our faciity daily, we were constantly exposing them, and couldn't get ahead of it. But pulled out separately, maybe some of the dogs that the volunteers had formed bonds with could have been given a little longer. So no, I don't feel like we had anything to "get away with" other than perhaps a lack of communication with the volunteers and for that I am sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Jenn,
    Just wanted to let you know that Diesel was adopted today. Hopefully this will be his forever forever home! We have actually done very well on adoptions the last couple days. Our big black dog, Jake, you listed on another day's blog was adopted today also, along with Bruno and Wally. Yay!
    Thanks for the exposure for our guys!
    Christine

    * I came across an awesome dog video today- it made me cry. Not sure if you can share a video on here. But even if you just watch it yourself, you'll be touched.
    http://www.godvine.com/Dog-Changes-Lives-in-a-Way-No-One-Expected-274.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. Christine,

    I'm so happy Diesel got adopted today--hopefully it works out for him this time! And I'm glad Jake got adopted too! I was looking at the site earlier today & ironically Bruno was the one I was going to feature today--I was going to do a Boxer theme. But since he got adopted (yay!) I went with a puppy theme instead. Those Rottweiler/Lab mixes sure are cute!

    I did figure out how to share that video on here--I'm learning new things about Blogspot every day!--and you're right, it's a tearjerker (in a good way)! What an awesome dog--thanks for sharing!

    Jenn

    ReplyDelete
  27. Most borrowers can find some common ground between the security of a traditional 20 percent and an investment-focused, small down payment. Your trusted real estate professional can provide some answers as you explore your financing options. carmel valley homes for sale

    ReplyDelete