August 1st 2008 10:30 am
[ Leave A Comment | 1 person already has ]
I know a lot of you that think my Mom is crazy for having so many animals. Well, she isn't. I wanted to write here and let you all know why my Mom does what she does, how it all started.
The beginning -
When Mom was a little girl her 1st dog was a rescue. She had been found after being hit by a car. Mom was 8 years old. This dog "believed to be a shepherd chow mix" came to be known as Makia (ma -kya). Makia survived and taught Mom many things. The first and most important was that of love and devotion.
When Mom was 17 Makia passed away - and that is when Mom decided that she should be more involved in rescuing and fostering.
Texas Charm -
Charm was technically moms 1st rescue. A young chow mix pregnant, starved, and beaten.
Charm was found roaming around in Moms pasture searching for food. She was so skinny that her ribs were showing - so pregnant that she was leaking milk, her coat had been burned and she had a gash in her neck.
Mom took Charm home and cleaned her up. Gave her a nice meal and a soft bed.
Mom continued nursing Charm for a week. Then the puppies were born. Charm had 9 beautiful babies - but only 4 survived.
A few days after Charm gave birth - a man knocked on Moms door asking if she had seen his dog and showed her a picture of Charm chained up with a tow chain and wearing a muzzle.
Mom said no and shut the door. A few days later Mom saw the man beating a dog with a baseball bat. She called the police - but all they did was send the pound to get the dog.
One day while Mom was taking Charm on a walk the man happened to see them.
He told Mom that he wanted the dog and reched for the leash - out of fear Charm snapped at him.
That night while Mom was giving the puppies a bath and Charm was out in the backyard playing - Mom heard a gun shot.
She ran outside - only to find Charm laying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood.
That man only served 5 months in city jail. He took away so many innocent lives, abused and neglected way too many of our kind, and all he had to do was a tiny 5 months in jail.
Texas Charm was buried in what will soon be Moms animal sanctuary - located in Valley View Texas.
So - to carry on Charms legacy and her memory - Mom has devoted her life to rescue. To helping those in need.
Telling the stories of the ones who can't speaking up for those who have no voice.
You may think she is crazy or as some have said "weird" but to the animals she has saved, the children she has given so much to, the rescues she has donated to, the lives she has given hope to, she is a hero, a wonderful person.
I will have a picture of Charm posted in a day or two (as soon as we can figure the scanner out).
I want to thank all of you for reading this, for understanding my Mom, and for being such wonderful friends to us. We love you all.
*hugs, kisses, and best wishes*
Sadie Jo
July 31st 2008 1:00 pm
[ Leave A Comment | 1 person already has ]
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
When Shandy Iden and her boyfriend, Jay, came across Gabby in Ohio’s Stark County Dog Pound, the shy, not-so-cuddly Lab/shar-pei mix was barely a month old and had a bad case of ticks. “When I saw this scared little girl in the back of her cage,” says Shandy, “I didn’t care if she had two heads and one leg. I couldn’t get her out of there fast enough!”
Curled up on her new parents’ laps on her first day home, it appeared as though Gabby would be a very calm lap dog. But it only took an hour of being alone with her new baby for Shandy to realize this would not be the case. “Once Jay left the house for work, everything changed,” Shandy recalls. Her cute little puppy was suddenly ripping and racing through the house, chasing the cat, hiding under chairs and shredding tissues.
“Jay came home to a house in shambles,” recalls Shandy. “The couches and chairs were all turned over, there were tissues, cat hair and brand new chew toys torn to shreds all over the floor―and there was Gabby, sound asleep. We both looked at each other and laughed. How could such an adorable creature cause so much havoc?”
It's been over a year now, and Gabby has calmed down―a little. “She cuddles up on the couch with me after work and watches TV,” says Shandy, “but she still always has something in her mouth―a ball, a toy, and yes―tissues. I guess you can’t win them all. I look back on that first night and think of our life with Gabby as a Marx Brothers movie. She started off making me laugh and I haven’t stopped yet. She’s the love of my life.”
July 27th 2008 11:02 am
[ Leave A Comment ]
SOUTHERN BELLE
By Kate Crnich
Right after Kate Crnich got married last August, she convinced her husband that they were ready for a new addition to the family—a dog to complete the home they shared with their cat, Dexter. “We visited a local shelter, and there were so many dogs that I was nearly in tears,” says Kate. “How do you choose just one?”
But sometimes, it’s the dog who does the choosing. “Walking past one cage, I saw this little thing bouncing up and down,” says Kate. “When we got right in front of the door, she just stopped, sat down, cocked her head and looked up at us, big pointy ears sticking straight up.” And after learning about the history of this Boston terrier/American Staffordshire terrier mix, the little dog’s friendly nature was especially remarkable.
Explains Kate, “When she was dropped off, her legs had a multitude of cigarette burns on them, and it was suspected that she’d been kept on a chain for the first 1 ? years of her life.” Shelter staffers surmise that she was being used for bait in a dog fighting ring. Needless to say, Kate and her husband were on their way home with their little livewire half an hour later.
It’s been nearly a year, and Raleigh—named after the Crnichs’ native North Carolina—couldn’t be any more loving. “She is truly our baby,” says Kate. “She makes us feel so loved every day, and it is so very clear in the way that she looks at us that she is grateful for her happy home. Now she just needs a puppy friend…if I can convince my husband!”
|
My Account
