Posts tagged "animal rescue"

No one with a shred of decency likes to see an animal harmed or abused, but everyone likes to see an abused animal rescued and rehabilitated. That's why this video generated a lot of buzz yesterday on Reddit. It tells the story of Judith, a beautiful dog who was horrifically abused and neglected for most her life. It's from the Animal Advocates Society in Vancouver, and it tells the story of Judith, an unfortunate dog who spent the first 10 years of her life chained in a muddy backyard. Be warned, the first minute and a half of this video is very difficult to watch, as it depicts the deplorable conditions under which Judith was kept. But it goes on to show how the Animal Advocates Society rescued her and finally gave her a happy life after so long. This one's a tearjerker, folks.

If a local-news reporter rescues a brood of ducklings stuck in a storm drain, is it news? Well, to us it certainly is, but we're Paw Nation. We're not as convinced that "Good Morning America" had to broadcast it to the whole country on network TV. Maybe it was a slow news day, but we have a sneaking suspicion that Josh Elliot's need to make a series of duck-related puns was a motivating factor in getting the piece aired in the first place. Not that we're looking down on Elliot; baby animals and puns are our bread and butter. Forget grumpy old George Stephanopoulos, Josh. Come hang out with us instead!

When someone found a baby squirrel left alone in the garden of a bank in Hollywood, Mary Cummins of nearby non-profit rescue group Animal Advocates came to the little guy's aid, bringing him back and giving him the proper care necessary before releasing him into the wild. And by "the wild," we definitely mean Hollywood.

Not everyone thinks rodents -- from rats to squirrels -- are cute, but just try and not coo as this little fella grasps the syringe with his big ol' paws. Go ahead, we dare ya!

Animal Shelter: The Dutchess County SPCA

Location: Hyde Park, N.Y.

Formed in 1871 by a few concerned and exceptional citizens -- Matthew Vassar (of Vassar College), John Adriance (Adriance Memorial Library was named for him) and Samuel Morse (as in Morse code) -- the DSPCA protects the abused and abandoned animals of Dutchess County. Starting out in a small holding facility in Poughkeepsie, the DCSPCA eventually outgrew its humble digs and found a home in Hyde Park in 1960.

Over the years, the DCSPCA has come to specialize in large-scale animal seizures. That is, the shelter works with local officials to combat the problem of animal hoarding. According to Executive Director Joyce Garrity, when an animal hoarding situation is discovered, it often involves many animals that are in very bad health. Fortunately, the DCSPCA has highly skilled human law officers (animal cops) to handle the job!

This year, the DCSPCA is celebrating its 140th birthday -- 980 dog years! (Sort of.) In honor of this milestone in both human and canine years, the DCSPCA has broken ground on a new adoption and education center. The current facility will be renovated and serve as intake and rehabilitation for incoming animals, as well as housing its spay/neuter clinic. They talk with Paw Nation about how they help pets.

During a hurricane, fire or flood, the first priority of rescue personnel is to get people to safety. But what about the pets and other animals left behind? Who takes care of them?

Enter Noah's Wish, an organization founded in 2002 with a single mission: to provide rescue and recovery for animals during disasters.

When the call goes out, volunteers from all over the country arrive within 10 hours to begin caring for affected animals. They commonly go into areas with no power, no water, flooded streets, toxic debris all around and animals in desperate need of help. The animals may suffer from burns, smoke inhalation, wounds, infection, injury, exposure, dehydration, hunger, parasites and toxins. Pets may be lost, scared, and running and swimming through dangerous polluted streets. But Noah's Wish volunteers have been trained to help.

There are 1,500 unpaid trained volunteers and two paid employees at Noah's Wish who are ready to help when emergencies arise. Veterinary care, vaccinations and emergency services are provided free.

When something bad happens, California-based Noah's Wish contacts animal service providers in the affected area to get the invite to help, then rescuers find a location to set up "MASH"-style hospitals and shelters, throw up fences and gather supplies to handle the dogs, cats, horses and other pets that soon are brought into the triage stations. In just 11 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, 1,974 animals were cared for by Noah's Wish volunteers.

Many of us in the Paw Nation are interested in helping our local shelters and rescues place animals in forever homes, but did you know that there are more ways to volunteer than walking the animals and cleaning cages?

I've been volunteering with Puppy Hill Farm Animal Rescue, the rescue where I adopted my dogs, for several years, but my focus is on event planning, fundraising and public appearances, which works better with my schedule and suits my strengths.

Whether you've got only a few spare moments here and there or you're looking to get some serious volunteer hours in, a local shelter or rescue is a great place to lend a hand. Here are six ways you can get involved and help save lives!

Have a few minutes?
Even if your time is limited, chances are good you spend at least a few minutes online -- after all, you are here at Paw Nation, aren't you? Take a couple of those moments to spread the word about adoptable animals using Facebook or Twitter. Share links to adoptable animals and stories about animals who found happy forever homes. If you're a real social media expert, you might offer to help your local shelter with its daily postings.

Authorities and volunteers near Billings, Mont., are coordinating an unprecedented livestock rescue effort involving both trucks and air support, reports the Billings Gazette. Since Thursday morning, a helicopter donated by Billings Flying Service has been airlifting bales of hay to 500-700 malnourished horses on a foreclosed Montana ranch and the surrounding area.

Operation Home Place
Much of the airlift's efforts have been focused on a group of 350 horses, fenced inside a 2,000-acre pasture with dwindling food and water sources, that appear to be in the worst overall condition. Reuters reports that hunger forced the remainder of the herd to break through the fences, where they're now scattered across the 40,000 acres of what was once the Home Place Ranch.

Heading up the operation is Justin Mills, of Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE), who is coordinating the effort under the Nile Foundation. Offers have reportedly come pouring in from all over the nation to buy hay or otherwise support the effort.

According to Mills, the animals receiving the benefit of air-dropped hay are those inside the enclosure. Government officials are reportedly working on a plan to round up the hundreds of remaining horses.

Criminal Charges
In these tough economic times, it's not only homes and businesses that people are walking away from, but livestock as well. According to local authorities, that's exactly what appears to have happened when owner James Leachman's prestigious breeding operation went out of business and he lost the Home Place Ranch to foreclosure in 2010.

It was a chilly fall, and winter could hit even harder in many parts of the country. Animal shelters and rescues across the United States are preparing for the sneaking cold. And they need your help.

1) Holiday Issues and Opportunities
This time of year, animal shelters encounter two major problems: low funds and a need for fosters.

"Shelters face many issues throughout the year, but one that is amplified during the holiday season is a lack of funds," says Kim Saunders, vice president of Shelter Outreach for Petfinder.com. "While many people are looking for gift-giving opportunities during the end of the year, shelters have historically received the lowest amount of charitable gifts."

In addition, shelter workers who often devote long hours to the cause deserve a break this time of year, Saunders says. To bring attention to the issue, Petfinder.com started the Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays program among 1,600 of its shelters and rescue groups this year.

"The goal is to 'empty out the shelters' for the holiday season, ideally from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day, while spreading the joy to adoptable animals and giving shelter workers and volunteers a much-deserved break," Saunders says. Call your local shelters to see how you can help.

Name: Jan Folk

Title: Founder, Orange Dog and Freedom Flights

Jan Folk not only owns the Orange Dog, a Canadian online boutique specializing in high-end products for dogs and humans, but she uses those profits to run Freedom Flights, a charity that takes dogs at risk of being euthanized in California and delivers them to a no-kill shelter in Canada to find new homes.

The charity, which works through an agreement with private airline Global Exec Aviation, has made headlines recently thanks to an endorsement from Kevin Costner, who recently flew with Folk on one of the flights.

Why did you start Orange Dog?
When my business partner and I sold our company, I thought it was a little early in my life to retire, so I began wondering what I was going to do next. In 2009, a friend came to see me and said that you're obviously a fanatic about dogs, and you live in Orange County part-time, (my other home is in Edmonton Alberta), why don't you start a store and call it Orange Dog? Later on we found out that it is the universal color for animal rescue, but that was a lucky coincidence; we had no idea at the time. We decided to start a web-based company. I'm very proud of the fact that 100 percent of the store's profits go to help the dogs.

How did Freedom Flights begin?
I sit on the board of the local Humane Society in Edmonton, and one day when I was speaking with the executive director, she said what would really help is if I could find a plane they could have access to and bring in dogs so they could get them adopted. I thought that was a good idea, not even really thinking it through, of course.

I had a marketing company put together a media plan, and we called them the Freedom Flights. The first flight we did was in June 2009, and we brought up 60 dogs. We bring them to Canada is because in California, the shelters always have an overabundance of dogs. Always. The shelters there unfortunately have to euthanize animals. That's why we take them to our Humane Society. As long as the animal is healthy, they aren't euthanized.

Tell me about your first Freedom Flight and how that motivated you to keep working.
It was absolutely amazing. The dogs were on this Gulfstream III, riding in the lap of luxury. I swear they acted like they knew they were going somewhere safe. When we got to Canada, the Humane Society was there to meet us, the media went crazy and everyone was happy. They took the dogs to the Humane Society, and within two to three weeks maximum, every one was adopted! This continues to happen time and again.

Even better, every time the California dogs come in, the adoptions of other dogs and cats also increase dramatically. It's a real bonus, and helps get a home for dogs that might not have been adopted.

We know you love animals and want to improve their lives. But we also know how busy you are. That's why Paw Nation is making it easy for you to get involved in the paws cause by sharing ways people are helping animals across the country and around the world. Use these ideas as inspiration for projects in your own community, or get involved directly with animal causes!

Let's Talk Turkey
Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without a turkey, right? Ellen DeGeneres is hoping you'll consider adopting a turkey this year with Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project. For just $30 you can sponsor a rescued turkey residing at Farm Sanctuary.

Name That Dog
What's My Puppy is a fun website that lets you upload a picture of your dog and offer users the chance to vote and comment on what breed your puppy is. Each quarter (soon to be each month), a winning shelter receives 15 percent of the site's advertising profits as a donation.

Get Inspiration Here
Check out Planet Dog's Fifth Annual Woofminster -- an amateur dog-show fundraiser -- raised $5,000 for Guiding Eyes for the Blind's Maine puppy-raising team. The event featured loads of fun contests like Best Mystery Mutt, Best Beggar, and Happiest Dog. You can check out pictures from the successful event on Flickr. To donate to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, go here.

Unusual Shelter: The Flash and Thelma Memorial Hedgehog Rescue

Location: Divide, Colo.

Named after the first two hedgehogs ever taken in as pets by founder and 70-year-old retired criminal investigator and criminology professor Z.G. Standing Bear, Ph.D., the Flash and Thelma Memorial Hedgehog Rescue, Inc., has served since 1999 as what is believed to be North America's only 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation fully dedicated to hedgehog rescue, rehabilitation and sheltering.



Hedgehogs are less popular housepets compared to dogs and cats. What are the most misunderstood aspects of hedgehog ownership that often lead to an unwanted hedgehog arriving at your shelter?
Our hedgehog rescue began due to the terrible hedgehog-care information that's published both in print and on the Internet. Children often talk their parents into getting them a pet hedgehog and then lose interest, especially as they approach teenage years. Also, with a lot of the literature out there incorrect, people often don't realize the basic care needs and the personalities of hedgehogs.

Virtually all of the pet hedgehogs in North America are the descendants of some 80,000 Central African and Algerian hedgehogs that were imported from Lagos, Nigeria between 1991 and 1994. Of the 14 species of hedgehogs, the Central African and Algerian species are the only two that cannot hibernate, since they came from such a warm climate. Therefore, they must be kept warm, at 72 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

There are many other reasons why a hedgehog may be placed at our rescue, such as the owner moving to one of the seven states where hedgehogs are illegal to possess, abandoning a hedgehog that needs medical care, economic difficulties, etc.

Unusual Shelter: Monster Fish Rescue, a non-profit organization that calls itself "a dog pound for fish"

Location: Orwell, Ohio - but much of the work is done online

Jonathan "The Fish Guy" Strazinsky can't say for sure when he founded Monster Fish Rescue. When he was a teenager, Strazinsky worked at a small-town, mom-and-pop pet store. He bought a 185-gallon aquarium himself and set it up as a display in the pet store. Eventually people started bringing in fish they didn't want and over many years, his propensity for taking in other people's unwanted fish went from being a hobby to a calling, complete with LLC status.

A few years ago, Strazinsky built an 800-gallon aquarium in his home and blogged about it. "I jokingly said, 'You got a fish you don't know what to do with, I got room.' The next day, I got 40 e-mails. I said to my wife, 'Hey, it seems there's somewhat of a calling for this.' It pretty much started as a wisecrack and now I rescue fish from all over the world."

How many fish do you take in a year?
Here in my house I take in anywhere between 20 and 60 a year. Most of the rescues and most of the re-homing is done online. I belong to 36 different aquarium and fish forums online. Through those forums, people say, "Hey, do you know anyone in the area looking for this or that fish?" I'll go through a whole other pile of e-mails looking for a match. About 98 percent of my rescues are done in that fashion. One percent actually come here. One percent are done through the Monster Fish Rescue website; I have an "Adopt a Fish" page there.

Lea Michele is best-known for her hilarious portrayal of high-school student/diva Rachel Berry on "Glee," and now, perhaps, for her fabulous look at the Emmy Awards. But the breakout star is also a devoted animal lover with some serious rescue credibility.

Michele told People Magazine that she saved six stray kittens in the Paramount Studios lot. While she was able to keep two of them, she found homes for the rest with one of them going to "Glee" co-star Heather Morris, who plays Brittany on the show. Additionally, upon seeing a dog chained to a fence during a shoot at a nearby school, she worked with the folks at "Glee" to get the pooch veterinary care and, eventually, a home with another co-star.

Michele gets her inspiration from her family. "My mother always said, 'Stand for something, or [you'll] fall for everything.' I feel like [animals] don't have a voice." Well, anyone who has watched "Glee" or seen Michele on Broadway knows that voice is one thing this woman has in spades. We hope she continues to use it to advocate for animals.

Little Kim Gordon, a 6-week-old piglet named after the bass player for legendary band Sonic Youth, didn't start life as a rock star. In fact, she had a pretty rocky start, falling out of a transport truck in South Dakota and wandering aimlessly for hours, suffering road rash from her fall and sunburn from the exposure to the elements. But this little pig's luck turned around when a couple made a wrong turn and discovered the injured animal.

Lanore Hahn -- who was traveling with her boyfriend on his rock band tour -- saw the scared piglet and captured her, intending to return her to her rightful owners. However, after asking around and examining her injuries, Hahn learned that the little porker had mostly likely fallen off a transport truck and, if she were turned into the authorities, they'd probably shoot her. While the pig fell into a 10-hour slumber, Hahn decided to take her home to Wisconsin, where she tended to the piglet's injuries and began to nurse the sweet swine back to health.

Late Thursday night, Kim Gordon was delivered to Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y. According to Farm Sanctuary, the piglet has already lived up to her rock star name, sleeping in late on her first full day at her new home.

To support Kim Gordon or any other of the animals living at Farm Sanctuary, check out how you can get involved.

Recently, when East Edmond, Oklahoma was swamped with rain, rescue teams mobilized to save animals that were caught in the flooding. Animal Welfare Officer Lacie Smith told KFOR Oklahoma City that the fire department, strapped into life jackets, went swimming to save three horses, neck deep in water. Fashioning harnesses out of dog leashes, they managed to rescue two of the animals. Sadly, amidst the chaos, one of the horses, Reg, was swept down the Coffee Creek that had risen 25 ft. due to the storms.

According to Officer Mike Sullivan, the incident was "heartbreaking." He told KFOR Oklahoma City that "all we could do was hope in God and pray the horse could catch its grip and swim to higher ground and get out of the water."

Sullivan's prayers were answered. About a mile down the creek, Reg -- a retired race horse -- was found alive by Rick Scarberry, an animal lover who pulled the animal to shore, saving its life. Not only did Scarberry have the satisfaction of getting the animal to safety after several hours of tugging and pulling, he also ended up with another special gift. Watch the video to discover what that was.