Help Pet Rescue North,Inc in Jacksonville, FL win $10,000

Help Pet Rescue North,Inc in Jacksonville, FL win $10,000

Sascha my Love

On June 20,2008 we celebrated Sascha's 10th anniversary with us.

He was a gift from my husband, rescued by my Mom's no-kill animal shelter.

We had been running errands that day. Mark was watching the clock all day and said we had to be at the shelter by a certain time. When I asked why, he fed me an elaborate story about a friend of my Mom's who was starting a Beanie Babies collector's business. He was going to help her design some brochures and stationery to help her out and as a favor to my Mom.

We pulled up in front of the shelter and there were no other cars in the parking lot. He said the friend of my Mom's should be there any minute and made a quick call on his cel phone.

When he hung up he said it would be anytime now so we continued to wait.

After a very short time my Mom came out of the gate carrying a little fawn pug and held him out toward me. He was paddling in the air like he was trying to swim. I looked at him and told her he was very beautiful to which she responded "he's yours."

I looked at Mark who just nodded with a little smile on his face. We already had five dogs at home and he was the firm proponent of the philosophy that we were full. I could not quite take it in.

My Mom set the pug in my lap and we have been together ever since.

Someone had found him running down the middle of the street without any ID. He was advertised and never claimed by whomever let him get away.

After we had had him for some time we surmised that perhaps someone decided he was not the pug for them as he had a tendency to wet the bed when he was displeased with anything.

Perhaps in retrospect it was an early indication of his tendency toward bladder issues.

When Sascha was 5 he developed a blockage from bladder stones. He was rushed to the Animal ER. The next day he had surgery to remove the crystals and create an additional urinary opening so the remaining residue of the crystals would not block him again.

He recovered and has one more bout with stones since.

A prescription diet keeps it under control but I do have to monitor his trips outside to make sure he is not having trouble.

When I'm home, if he is awake, he is constantly under my feet. If I am holding any of the other dogs he grieves until he has reclaimed the position closest to me on the couch, the floor, or wherever I may be at the time. He will even lay his head on my foot while I stand at the counter fixing dinner.

I adore him and have explained to him he has to be around for a very long time. I am so grateful he found us.

Meeting MuShu

In August of 2007, my Mom, director of Pet Rescue North, received call from a local animal shelter asking if she could take a pug that had been dropped off at the shelter the night before. Having no room at the shelter for another dog, my Mom called me to see if there was any chance at all we could foster the pug.
Miracle of miracles my husband agreed to this and the next day i set off on a one hundred mile round trip trek to pick her up from the shelter.
The shelter was concerned no one would adopt her because she seemed to be vision impaired as well as hearing impaired and had a not-insignificant skin condition that was causing her to be randomly hairless.
When I got to the shelter I had hoped that they would just bring my charge out to me and I would be on my way. It was not to be. Rather they had me walk all the way to the back of the shelter with them to where they had her kenneled. It was greatly distressing to walk past row upon row of homeless dogs and cats that I could not take away with me.
When we got to where the sad little pug was being held I was instantly smitten having a strong propensity to love the unlovable. Despite the fact that she was not very clean looking, had green discharge coming from her eyes and scaly white skin on the end of her nose she still needed a hug and a nuzzle and who was I to refuse?
The shelter worker advised that they had no history on the girl because someone had left her in the night drop.
I took her to the vet where they determined she had an ear infection, flea dermatitis, and her eyes were infected as well as afflicted with the common pug condition of pigmentary keratosis but she did have vision.
It took a little more than 36 hours from pickup for my husband to allow us to be the poor girl's forever home instead of just a foster family. For this I am eternally grateful because I am smitten.
As it is, she is my only girl in a house full of boys.
She still struggles with skin allergies and in spite of growing in most of her coat within a few months of bringing her home, she went through another period of hairloss recently but has since recovered. Once her ear infection cleared up it turns out she really only suffers from the selective hearing so common to the breed.
We are so glad she has come into our lives. She is very dear to me.

MuShu the Monkey Pug

Homeless Pets

My latest obsession has become Craigslist. Every day I go through the pets listed under community for our local version. Craigslist has provided an invaluable resource for Animal Rescue groups and local animal shelters to advertise what dogs and cats desperately need homes, some of whom are running out of time. It also provides a forum for people who want to take the responsibility of re-homing their pets themselves for whatever reason be it the economy, military deployment, or just to busy to give the love and attention the animal needs.
Someone takes it upon themselves to monitor these postings and flags them on a regular basis. In addition to all of the ads there are numerous rants directed toward the flagger or flaggers.
The next thing which never ceases to amaze me is the sheer abundance of cats and kittens looking for homes. This year there seem to be more than ever. Everyone wants to find someone to take them, but there just are not enough takers. Local animal shelters are filled to capacity and it seems that kittens are turning up everywhere.
Our local news recently reported a lottery in St. John's county for the adoption of eleven purebred dogs seized from a puppy mill. Apparently they were so inundated with calls when the story broke about the seizure of these animals that this was their only solution to assure a fair chance to adopt them.
Now where were/are all of these people so desperate to adopt one of these newsworthy creatures when so many languish anonymously in shelters throughout the country? Shelter's do get pure breed dogs regularly. Not to mention that if you are set on a particular breed there are a lot of dedicated breed rescue groups that need people to adopt.
Please consider all of your options if you are interested in a new pet. For example, try www.petfinder.com for example. This excellent website provides a venue for shelters across the country to advertise their animals.
Please help spread the word to anyone you know looking for a new love in their life.

Happiness