RURAL ANIMAL SHELTERS NEED YOUR HELP

Last weekend my husband Mike and I drove about an hour east of Cincinnati to take supplies to the Highland county dog pound in Hillsboro, Ohio. All the profits from the sales of my book go to buy supplies for very needy shelters such as this one. They are blessed with wonderful, caring volunteers and foster homes and that is slowly helping to reduce their euthanasia rate. It is still too high. They are trying so hard, but they need help from the general public. So many dogs are just getting dumped there because of this horrible economy when people lose their jobs or homes and can no longer afford to care for their pets.





When we arrived the lot had many cars and it was adoption day. There were also some foster families there to pick up a new dog to care for until it gets adopted. A sad sight in the first outdoor cage was a very pregnant momma dog who was about to give birth at any moment. Volunteers were working quickly to get her into a foster home so she would not have to give birth on the cold hard concrete floor of the shelter.


There are no windows, no heating or air conditioning in the old pole barn building. That morning another rescuer showed up with a window a/c unit to donate and they are going to try to install it in a wall to help cool the dogs on hot summer days. Thankfully, this past summer we only had a few unbearable days. The dogs in the outdoor pens have little protection from the elements. Inside we met the dogs and they were so happy to have visitors. Their cages were clean but sparse. Toys and snacks are much appreciated as donations.



There was a beautiful sable German shepherd, a pit bull being held for a court case who was not allowed out to walk, and a pitiful dog with a deformed leg who had probably been hit be a car and left untreated. They all were so eager to please and I wanted to take them all.






















The volunteer coordinator that I spoke to is Lori Roush and you can email her at lroush@timesgazette.com and she will tell you just what they need, besides lots of cash and a new building.


The address to mail donations is :

Highland County Dog Pound
9357 State Route 124
Hillsboro, Ohio 45133

Lori's phone number is 937-393-3456

If you send a donation, you know it will be so appreciated and it will go to help so many dogs in this rural area.

This sweet guy says "THANKS!"

Nice Review for my book!

I really would like to thank Amanda L. Snow for the wonderful review she gave my book "Every Rescued Dog Has a Tale" on her website "A Patchwork of Books".

http://apatchworkofbooks.blogspot.com/

I appreciate the time she took to read and review it. She is also a big fan of the pit bull and she singled out the story of Oreo as one of her favorites. This weekend I have a chance to drive another pit bull from a shelter in New Jersey to a rescue near Cincinnati. If we have the car in working order, we will be signing up.

And last week our community newspaper printed an interview I did with Forrest Sellers about dog transporting and my book.

http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20090127/VAV02/901270313/

So lately I have been very busy trying to get the word out about how easy it is to help save homeless dogs by just driving a little bit. It is so rewarding, and one of the best parts is meeting so many new friends who share your love of animals.

Also this week I learned to TWITTER!!! It is fun. I do think some people update just a little too often. I don't really need to know if you have just left for work, then ARRIVED at work, now taking your coffee break, etc. Just an update here and there is just fine...leave some mystery.

Now I am off to walk (stumble through the snow) with my dogs for their afternoon sniff and smell. The wiener dog's belly is getting really cold with the snow piling up. She HATES the red sweater but she is just going to HAVE to wear it.

It really IS too big for her - it belonged to my old English setter who passed away. But her belly is SO big that I have to put a large one on her just to cover it.

Don't make fun of her. She is sensitive.

LOVE A PIT BULL

Today is so gray and dreary in Cincinnati that even my dog Wookie did not want to go out for his walk this afternoon. Laying around on the couch and watching TV was just fine for all of us. We really need to see some sunshine soon.

The only good news I heard all day came from the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. They have custody of most of the pitbulls seized from Michael Vick's property and have taken on the huge task to socialize and rehabilitate them.

Here is a wonderful story about how two of the dogs have come so far that they can now live together in the same pen without fighting. That is such a milestone for these frightened dogs who were so scared when they first came to Best Friends that they crawled on their belly close to the ground so that no one would notice them. Maybe soon they will be ready for adoption by a real family so they can live like regular pets. They deserve it.

http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&fps=1&mode=entry&entry=A715AD9C-19B9-B9D5-9D833AF0096E6AC1&utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Please+don%92t+label+me%21

I personally love pitbulls and my sister in Maine is loved by one. She has a beautiful, sweet 12 year old named Jasmine.

Many people do not share my view of them I know. I was converted when I met Oreo on a transport in 2002, and I was charmed by his sweetness. He had been bait for a fighting ring in New Jersey. Luckily was saved by a rescue and adopted by a lovely family in Lexington, Kentucky. The whole trip from Dayton, Ohio to Florence, Kentucky was spent with Oreo on his back and me rubbing his belly.

I think he is smiling at me....

I think if more people got to know one of these sweet dogs on a personal basis like I did, maybe they would see there is no need for bans on their breed. Any dog can bite. I have been bitten by German Shepherds TWICE but I don't think we should ban them. What we need are stronger laws to promote responsible ownership, and PUNISH the owners, not the dogs, if they teach their dogs to attack or kill.

Thanks to Best Friends for giving the "Vicktory Dogs" a chance at a normal life.