Do Something

Maybe you can't foster a dog because of work or family dynamics, but there's always something you can do. 

Big or small, every effort helps.

• Organize a Fundraiser. Set up a box where you work and collect food, blankets, towels, or Toys for dogs. Call up a local rescue and see what they need. A sign and a box and you're ready to go. 
• Find your local rescue and start a Facebook Share-a-thon! Go to their Adopt-a-Pet or Pet-Finder site and share the dogs that need a home. Encourage your Facebook and Twitter friends to do the same. Share those pups right into a new home!
• Volunteer to help out at adoption days. Join your local rescue and let them know how much time you have to spare and take part in events and fundraisers.
• Show up at an animal shelter and offer to take a dog for a walk. An exercised pup is a happy pup and you just might find yourself a new best friend.
• Got a few extra $bucks$? Donate a grooming for a dog in need. Some dogs come into rescue in deplorable condition. They need baths, nail clips and sometimes to be completely shaved down. 
• Set up a recurring donation. Tag a small amount from your weekly paycheck to go to a rescue or animals shelter. Even small amounts add up if enough people do it. 

Step up! Your small effort can make a big difference in the life of  a homeless pup. 

I rescue with Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue

Hard times, Good times...

Sometimes fostering a dog can bring great joy. You take a scared pup into your home, work through the issues, and help them learn what its like to live with love. Then they find a good home and you miss them but you know in your heart they're off to a happy life. That's the reward, the heartbreak and the reason you do it again.

Then there's Trouble. This little brown and white Chihuahua came from a southern shelter. They said he had one deformed leg. Okay, we can deal. Send him up on the next transport. We get dogs with issues all the time. Heartworm is rampant in the south and treating it can be expensive, but we have great volunteers and good vets who help us muddle through the treatment. Parvo? It happens. Sometimes seemingly healthy pups come up and WHAM! Parvo! It sucks, but it's treatable. The volunteer is on 24/7 alert in helping the dog survive but it can be done. We've had to do it a million times and the dogs go on to live healthy lives.
But when Trouble arrived and we placed the little guy on the ground we discovered he had more than a deformed front leg. Both back legs wobbled like he couldn't balance on them at all. Off we go to the vet to discover this little guy was in a lot of pain. Both back knee caps were dislocated and that deformed front leg were all the results of severe abuse. Surgery to fix this little guy will cost over $6000. Yes, Trouble has real trouble.
So we deal. Fundraising goes viral and movies are made and flyers go out. Six grand is a lot of money and bottom line is---we have to raise it because Trouble will be fixed. Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue doesn't give up on any dog.
So we move on and then comes a little Shih Tzu up from the south. She's cute and happy but, after we shave her down so we can see this little girl under all the matting, her face looks funny, lopsided. Something we couldn't see under all the matting. A trip to the vet and we find out her jaw is dislocated. The vet said she must have been kicked in the face at some point.
That's two injured, abused pups in one month. SHEESH! What kind of people abuse animals and then just dump them in shelters? My first reaction is hate. Pure ugly hate. I hate these people and think they should be locked away where they can't ever hurt another living thing. They are not fit to be called humans.
I hate this hate. It's useless. It wastes energy and brings me down.
Instead of focusing on the hate I push it aside and focus on what we can change. We can get Trouble fixed. We can get that little Shih Tzu's jaw fixed. We can move on and keep going and not let the ugly people in this world stop us.
To donate to help either of these pups go to Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue