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Tasty niblets.
The Week of April 12 –
April 17
Go ahead, try to poach this rhino.
Showing posts with label animal rescue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal rescue. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Who's News?
Who’s News?
Little bites of it. The
Week of March 15 - 20.
Woman
saves dog thrown from truck on I-435 Police Search
Follow Up!Two
arrested in investigation of dog ties to railroad tracks because she wouldn’t
fight “I’m not going to say I have the perfect boys...” Says their mother, who will support them
100%. And there you have it.
Mom
dog saves pups from forest fire by digging hole
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Amy McCracken and Cheesburger, Another Double Rescue
We were
given permission to reprint this story by Amy McCracken, Executive Director
at Richmond Animal League (www.ral.org):
(Alyssa
was a 14 year old girl who had Cystic Fibrosis and was a beloved friend of Amy
McCracken, the Executive Director of Richmond Animal League)
Watching
Alyssa die was the hardest thing I have ever done. Despite her incredible
bravery and the crazy goodness of her family, it was, in a word, hellish.
Floppy (stuffed animal) was under her shoulder the entire time. Her doll,
Sallerina, close by. So many of my friends had become totally invested in her
life, and losing her after all she had been through was devastating.
 |
| All other staff were at training that day at Richmond Animal League. |
August 2, 2013
I went back to work. For the first time since coming to work for
Richmond Animal League, I was alone at the shelter. We had an off-site
training that everyone was attending and there was not one of our 300
volunteers lurking about. I was very, very grateful to be there
alone. As amazing and loving as everyone had been to me, I did not want
to see or talk to anyone. I was just sitting at my desk staring at my
computer when I realized that the dogs were going nuts. I have no idea how long
they were carrying on. I just knew that something wasn’t right. I went to
the door closest to my office and looked in the long skinny glass window to the
kennel. There was a huge white dog standing at the door. Just
standing there. And the kenneled dogs were so mad. Huge White Dog
wasn’t barking at all. He was just standing there at the door. I could
not see that he was wearing a collar because he is so fluffy. I was
scared of him. I went over to the clinic and asked a coworker to
help me put a loose dog back. She came over and saw him and said, “Oh,
that’s Cheeseburger! He came in yesterday morning while you were at
Alyssa’s funeral. He’s harmless.” She put him back and locked his kennel.
I sent an email to the staff to please double check that all animals are
secure before leaving the kennel.
Five minutes later the dogs were going crazy again.
Again, Cheeseburger was out and standing at the door. Again, I put him
back.
Five minutes later the dogs were going crazy. I have no idea how he
unlocked his steel kennel door time and time again. But he did.
I finally asked him if he had to go outside for a minute. I put a
leash on him and he pulled me right into my office and sat down. Under my
chair. And then stared at me as if to say, “Don’t mind me. Get back
to work.”
And he stayed there the rest of the day.
 |
| Burg was left alone in the house when the homeowners were evicted. |
When my co-worker and our kennel director, Pam, came back I asked where
Burg came from. He had been pulled from Richmond Animal Care and Control
(RACC)—that was all she knew. I called RACC. They said that Burg
and another dog had been left behind in a home after his owners were
evicted. It was a long time before anyone knew that the dogs were there,
and they were in rough shape by the time a neighbor complained and animal
control discovered them. Burg had come to RAL while I was at Little A's
funeral.
I told Cheeseburger that he could stay in my office for the day, but that
he was not my kind of dog.
I told Alyssa’s mom and dad about him. At first they thought maybe
Burg was from Alyssa. It didn't take long to know it.
That night, I brought him home just for the night. We
talked. I explained to him that even though he seemed to come in at just
the right time, and that maybe Little A did bring him to get me through the
weekend, he was not my kind of dog. He understood.
August 3, 2013
I took him to the neighborhood farmer’s market to find a good home for
him. That’s when I realized that little kids love Burg. So
much. I wished I had a video camera on my head so that I could have
recorded excited little faces charging toward Burg shouting, “So fluffy!
So fluffy! So flufffffffffffffffffffffffy!”
 |
| Fluffy! |
I told everyone. Look at this dog! He is the perfect dog!
He’s quiet! He’s gentle! He’s a thinker! He loves
children. He doesn’t bark. He walks great on the leash, and will
sleep anywhere. The shelter opens at noon today! He’s available!
Come by! He could be all yours today!
After the farmer’s market we went to visit Alyssa (Alyssa’s grave – photos
unavailable), and to thank her for not letting either of us be alone for the
weekend.
I called the shelter and asked them to call me if anyone had come looking
for Burg—and that I would bring him right over if they had. But no one
had, and we ended up back home again. (He really is smart—even if he
doesn’t know what side of the door the knob is on).
Burg was as sad as I was. I tried to make him feel
better. I even found and printed out this picture from the Internet
Machine and tried to rewrite his life story for him. Tried to pretend
that no one ever left him behind.
“Look at you!” I told him. “Look how cute you were when you were a
puppy," I lied to him. I loved you then and I love you now!
Even though you are not my kind of dog.”
I’m not sure he bought it, but I think he loved me for the effort.
The next week he spent his days in my office and his nights at my
house. We talked a lot about Alyssa.
August 10, 2013
It was Saturday again, and I took Burg back to the farmer’s market.
Everyone was very happy to see him, but sad that he had not been adopted.
I talked him up again. “He is completely housetrained! He sleeps
until 10:00 a.m. on the weekends and Wednesdays! He loves to go for a
ride in the car! He eats, but he is not concerned with what you are
having. He is not a licker. He is a very good listener. He’s
a little sad, but coming around. He is very independent, but just when
you think he might not love you at all, he walks over and sits on your
foot. We open at noon today! We are located right behind the
Martin’s near Chesterfield Towne Center! Come over!”
 |
| Amy and Burg, making it official. |
And Burg came over and sat right on my foot.
And I drove to the Richmond Animal League and adopted him.
And good Lord in heaven above was Little A about on the edge of her seat
waiting for me to realize that she'd sent Burg, and that we were destined to
carry on without her, no matter how impossible it seemed.
So much has happened with Burgie since then. He has amazing friends who
have helped him heal in all ways. I'm still convinced Burg misses someone. In
fact, I think he misses a whole family. He listens to traffic and I wonder if
he is waiting for someone to finally come home. He will sit and watch an entire
Little League game, and he pays attention to doors opening wherever we are. I
can't think about all of that. I just know how incredibly lucky I am that Burg
spends time in my living room, and at the shelter with me, and I will never,
ever, take him back to the farmer's market and try to find him a home that I
think might be better than ours. Thanks for saving me, Burg.
Author: Amy McCracken, Executive Director, Richmond Animal League
Who's News
Who’s News?
March
8-14
Ice
Rescue of Cooper the Labradoodle
We
hear golfers taste great! Pics of huge gator on course
Pit
Shot and Tied to Railroad Tracks for being too sweet
 |
| Doggy squeeze. He's OK! |
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Higher Beings
 |
| A little coffee with your healthy dose of dog hugs? |
By now most of us are aware that petting a dog or cat is
scientifically proven to reduce stress and depression in humans. Along with the
more obvious benefits such as companionship, unconditional love, increased
opportunity for exercise and socialization, interacting with an animal causes
the body to release a stress-reducing hormone called oxytocin into the
bloodstream and reduce the production of cortisol, which is a stress-causing
hormone. Non-human animals are good for
us.
Then there’s the story of the rescued dog, Mac, whose
disability left him unable to climb stairs. When a fire broke out in his family’s home he somehow dragged himself up a flight to wake them, saving them all (by Caroline Golon, halopets.com).
The headlines are full of similar stories. In the Huffington Post the headline reads, “Rescue Puppy Saves Owner’s Life by Alerting Her to Gas Leak” (Melissa McGlensey). In a violent incident of road rage in
In a small town in Delaware
there is a young boy who was adopted from an orphanage in Bosnia . He has Spina Bifida and uses a
wheelchair. He visits the hospital
frequently. These things set him apart
from his peers and he feels lonely. In
the same town a black dog that lost the use of his hind legs languished in
foster care for nearly a year. Loved and
cared for by his foster/rescuers at LNF Dog Rescue, they were stunned that the
gentle dog was passed over again and again by potential adopters. When the boy’s family heard about the dog
who uses a wheelchair they immediately adopted him. Now the boy and the dog are like brothers, no
longer lonely, no longer the outsider, leaving their wheelchairs to swim
together in the family’s therapeutic pool like happy fish. They rescue one another every day.
 |
| Family Photo. |
An integral part of the human condition is the fact that
many of us feel rescued by our rescues.
Our loneliness is mitigated by their presence, our grief is truncated by
their affection and our lives are changed indelibly because they are a part of
it. Indeed this is the case with all
companion animals if the human among them is on par with this phase of the
evolutionary process. That is, sharing the
viewpoint that the other beings with whom we share this planet are not our
property, but our responsibility at the very least, and our family for the great majority of Homo
sapiens.
What of those who declare they are “just dogs” or “just
animals”? As if to say “just human” would be an outrage because we have somehow
outclassed the “just” prefix. This gives
us permission to classify some as slightly below or perhaps deeply below “our
kind”. It has a stench much like the
Bible interpreters who justify the dismissal of women and gay people as lesser,
with the imagined backing of certain passages they opportunistically read
literally, when the evidence is piled high against such a simplistic approach.
Here is an anonymous post reacting to the question, “Are
humans animals?” Just for fun. (I have
corrected some of his more glaring errors, the silly monkey):
“READ YOUR BIBLE. If you have the nerve to count yourself as
a position as low as an animal then just go around and call yourself that.
‘Cause I will not call myself a living beast
eating my feces, sniffing things, licking my
stuff (I
think you might do this if you could – the author), living in the wild, be a pet, and pick up my turd and throw it at someone.” (I know where
I’d throw my turd - the author)
My apologies to other Bible readers who are deeply mortified
by this individual.
This seems like an excellent place to talk about the SAE
fraternity for just a moment, because I don’t think I can get through the day
without weighing in on this (my apologies to the decent frats and sororities who are truly community minded and not raving sexists and racists. Seriously though, the bar is pretty low for you guys). The little
ditty the SAE men drunkenly bleated as they rode along on their bus made reference to
black people “hanging from trees.” When
we measure the intelligence of humans to prove we are inordinately more clever
than dogs, let’s not use a frat boy as the standard for measurement. Like fraternities, dogs historically ran in
packs. Sometimes they ate each other’s
poo to clean up after their young and to protect their sick or dying whose
leavings might attract predators, and just to keep the den tidy. Yet this group has enormous appeal when held
up against these “Greek” petri dishes of over-privileged white people,
festering in their own stupidity and spreading their shallow diseases to one
another under the translucent guise of their organization’s philanthropic
activity. It’s quite a different kind of
poo-eating from these highly evolved humans.
Dogs don’t seem to get hung up on the sorts of biases and grudges we do,
and often if a dog behaves poorly there is a human behind it. Just a human.
Maybe it’s time to take a good long look at ourselves before we paint
ourselves as worthy of “dominion” over the other beings in our midst. The hubris is galling.
“Genesis was
originally written in Hebrew, and since every translation involves
interpretation, we do well to ask about that English word, ‘dominion.’ (Some
translations read ‘rule over,’ instead.) In biblical Hebrew, the word indeed
supposes a hierarchy -- someone in a position of power exercises this quality
over inferiors. So ‘rule over’ or ‘have dominion’ is actually quite accurate.
However, its interpretation as the right to exploit and despoil is not.” - Kristin M. Swenson, Ph.D.
And what shall be done with Rebecca Miller and Janice
Freeman who would abuse and/or murder well over 100 dogs, tossing their bodies
into garbage cans like so much forgotten rubbish? (http://www.nbc12.com/story/28263279/more-than-130-dogs-found-in-choctaw-co-puppy-mill)
In the case of these Alabama
puppy mill demons, these psychopaths, I say without caveats that they are
murderers and should be dealt with as such.
And then there's Natwan Callaway and Bobby Hollinger, who tied a dog intended for
 |
| Tampa Police Sgt Rich Mills Rescued this helpless dog who had been shot and was tied to the railroad tracks.(Tampa Police Department's photo) |
The naysayers will cry, “But where do you draw the line? If you step on a bug do you go to jail?” I say those details can work themselves out,
but let’s start with the dog killers.
Meanwhile, how about we step on fewer bugs? How about at the very least we don’t elevate animal
abusers and murderers as they continue with their lives, as we do with Michael
Vick, who left so much horror and damage and so many dead bodies in his wake as
he trotted onto the football field, glorified and wealthy beyond most of our
wildest dreams. Excuse me one moment, I
just threw up a little in my mouth.
"Take only memories. Leave only footprints." - Chief Seattle
The above quote asks that we be stewards of the earth; noble custodians over all that we see. It is an impossible order to fill. Our presence alone is apocalyptic for many species and aspects of the environment. We can at least mitigate the damage by using compassion in our approach. We can do our best to do no harm. Why not start with a two pronged approach, treating our own species with dignity and respect. Concurrently, as we work to master just behaving decently toward one another, we can begin to view man's very best friend as a viable being with sentience, capable of great emotion, profound loyalty and experiencing pain and pleasure much like we do.
-Kiki Nusbaumer
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Seeking the Perfect Diet for Your Dog
Here at the offices of Who Rescued Who?®
we are beginning the confusing, hazardous, fraught-with-danger journey of trying
to develop a dog food. Our focus is on
rescue dogs and their special nutritional needs. All dogs are different, some with allergies
and sensitivities, but our experience with dogs rescued from homelessness
presents us with something more than just a big windmill at which to shake our
lance. Malnutrition from abuse, neglect
or homelessness is our white whale. All
the while we search desperately for a 12 step group to help us with these
overburdened and mixed literary allusions.
 |
| Lady Stetson was a mess when Diamonds In the Ruff rescued her (photo by Stephanie Capps). |
My personal experience adopting two pit mixes with skin
conditions inspires me. The stress of homelessness
and even the shelter, as loving and warm as it may be, is often an
insurmountable barrier to alleviating irritating skin problems. These maladies magically disappeared once my
dogs were in their forever home, finally secure and relaxed. But what of the pup who languishes in the
shelter for months or years? Can a dog
food help?
I remember sitting at a table in Tucson ,
AZ
 |
| Tires taste bad and are not nutritious. |
Her words resonated with me and I immediately switched their
food to a more expensive brand that made a lot of claims that were hard to
resist. I noticed an improvement in the
sheen of their fur fairly quickly and stuck with that brand for many years.
My dogs lived until they were 14 years old, which seems to
be the average; much too short but full of joy.
On the other hand, my family had a standard poodle in the seventies that
ate the cheapest brand dog food available and supplemented it on her own with
garbage, poo and yard trimmings she’d find when she escaped from our yard. She’d feign deafness and run several yards
ahead of us screaming kids in frantic pursuit as she ran along plucking little
goodies from the neighbors’ yards and garbage cans and rolling in the leavings
of other animals until her poodle curls glistened with an olfactory buffet of
unspeakable horror, until we finally caught up with her. She lived until the ripe (I use that term
intentionally) old age of 18.
Today as I peruse the internet I am more confused than
ever. The websites contradict one
another. Two articles were particularly
striking and seemed reasonable: The Dog
Food Project (www.betterdogcare.com),
written by Sabine Contreras, a canine care and nutrition consultant, and the
Wysong website (www.wysong.net), written
by R. Wysong, DVM. Dr. Wysong is selling
pet products and thus is motivated to steer you toward his own philosophies,
but as I read through the article The Pet Food Ingredient Game, the information
seems sensible. The two authors disagree
in their philosophies regarding non-human grade ingredients such as roadkill
and 4D ingredients (just learned this nugget: 4D meaning dead, dying, downed or
diseased). It may seem like a trivial
concern, and selfish, but my mind went straight to the fact that I have a super
kissy pit bull and I just don’t want those things in her mouth.
 |
| Puerto Rican strays on the beach. Some were so malnourished it was hard to determine their breed. |
Dr. Wysong reminds us of our dogs’ roots; running wild,
hunting and scavenging, ingesting “prey, carrion and incidental fresh plant
materials and even some fur and feathers.”
Meat that is not human grade, according to Wysong, is not necessarily
lacking in nutrition. It may be gross,
but it’s healthy. He reasonably states
that a variety of fresh, whole natural foods for a carnivore is ideal, as well
as fresh air, clean water, exercise and a whole lotta love. Sound advice.
Contreras points out that dogs don’t live that way anymore
and that in the wild they had the option of eating a whole chunk of carrion;
nutritious bits and not-so-good bits like feet (or cheese powder) and that the
key is investigating whether the ingredient called chicken has nutritional
value or is just a ground-up beak. She
states that dogs live longer and suffer from fewer health problems in their
domesticated environments in which we do the hunting and gathering at the pet
store.
 |
| Turbo thinks a whole lotta love is the best ingredient. |
Ultimately their points of view aligned. Rationality and reason must steer us as we
choose a dog food for our companions. Variety
seems to be key, supplementing kibble with fresh, natural, truly human grade
ingredients (not to be confused with Soylent Green) can make up for any
nutrients your base food may lack. Be
wary of trendy, hyped ingredients and fads.
Research. When in doubt, call the
manufacturer.
Kiki Nusbaumer
Who Rescued Who?®
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Adopting and Living With a Deaf Dog
 |
| Eye contact: The deaf dog reads your body language like a book. |
The
tragedy of a dog who is deaf is that if they wander off, they are unable to
hear shouts from their people and may become lost. A deaf dog wandering the
streets cannot hear oncoming traffic or other dangers. Even more tragic is the
rate of rejection these dogs face when their people discover they are deaf and
do not feel capable of raising the dog, or worse, do not want the
"inconvenience" of a deaf dog. Breeders may euthanize them. At
shelters they are passed over by potential adopters who think they need some
special skill to raise a deaf dog.
According
to Christina Lee, founder and President of Deaf Dogs Rock, a nonprofit that
finds homes for deaf dogs by way of an expansive and highly educational
website, this concern is unfounded. "Many of the shelters I worked with in
the past put 'experienced deaf dog
ownership only' to be considered for a good adoption match. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Both hearing and deaf dogs are trained exactly the
same way, with the exception that a deaf dog should be trained on a leash and
the handler needs to have visual cues and markers instead of verbal."
Mazzy
was rescued as a stray and the task of getting her adopted out was undertaken
by Deaf Dogs Rock. The goal of Deaf Dogs Rock is not only to find homes for
these pups, but through articles, videos and links to resources they are taking
the mystery out of raising them. Deaf dogs are just as trainable as hearing
dogs.
 |
| Nitro. Photo by Christina Lee (in her original post of this photo she points out Nitro's "Big Dog shadow") |
"Nitro's
inspiration came from my fear of failing him. My worst fear was that I was not
qualified to own or train a deaf puppy," recalls Christina.
Her husband
assured her that once the dog was signed up for training classes, everything
would be fine. It was more than fine, and Nitro excelled at a rapid pace and
matured into an ambassador for deaf dogs, passing his AKC Canine Good
Citizen test at ten months old and the Delta Therapy Pet Partners training at
one year. He is living proof of the potential possessed by all dogs if they are
just given a chance.
Congenital
deafness is linked to a defective gene that determines fur color. Any white fur
on
a dog could be accompanied by deafness in one or both ears. It is a permanent
condition that has been reported in at least 85 breeds of dog. The bull terrier
is one of several breeds that is considered most likely to carry this gene.
Sometimes people are unaware a dog, or even their own dog, cannot hear. By
using their other senses, dogs do quite well. In addition, sometimes the deaf
dog feels vibrations and reacts. Even a strong sneeze or cough can cause a dog
that is 100% deaf to snap its head in the direction from which it feels the
sound emanates.
 |
| Ruby is a deaf bull terrier mix. Her deafness does not hinder her from purloining good vegetarian BBQ. |
Bobbie
Wiggins, Dog Trainer/Evaluator at Angels of Assisi, a rescue organization in Roanoke , Virginia
Little
Dog, Big Support
Angels of
Assisi Rescue, where Mazzy was being housed, was participating in the Rachael
Ray Challenge over the summer. The challenge: adopt out double the homeless
dogs they had the prior summer, or reach a specific goal. Angels of Assisi won
$30,000. The story would be covered by CBS affiliate WDBJ 7 in Roanoke , VA.
"It
was literally love at first sight. I know that sounds silly, but we made a
special connection to her when we saw her and when Bobbi told us her story the
feelings got stronger," Nadine said. "Bobbie told us she was in need
of a foster home. She had been at Angels of Assisi rescue for a few weeks after
being found on the street in a neighboring county."
The
couple applied to be her foster family and a week later took her home.
"I
believe the best word to describe her is appreciative. We were not going to
allow her on the couch, but she got up once and simply sat down and was well
behaved. She also would occasionally sit on a green dog bed we have. Her face,
when she sat on that, was priceless. She looked almost amazed at how soft and
comfy it was. It was like she had never experienced that before. She also
always loved to have something on her back. I think it made her feel safe.
Whether it be a pillow or a blanket, she had something next to her. She really
was a doll."
It
was difficult for Nadine and John to hand over the leash of their little charge
to her forever family.
"Mazzy
opened our eyes to so many things and shed light on a serious problem that
needs serious help. I like to think I am now an advocate for deaf dogs."
You can
follow Nadine on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NadineMaeserWdbj7. The
couple are currently fostering another dog in need of a forever home and get
regular updates on Mazzy's progress.
 |
| A master frolicker, Mazzy takes visual cues from her hearing pals and never misses the UPS guy. |
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