May 2013
It was a quiet month in rescue, quite different from past years. We usually heard about dogs in the first week of May, frequently several per year. But not this year, at least not yet. We have a large number of applicants waiting but no dogs to place. As we always say, good for the dogs but bad for the people waiting.
This month we lost two of our favorites. We mentioned last month that Eddie was being treated for cancer with help from SamUrgency. He was responding very well, but on the night of April 28 he passed on, exactly five years to the day after he went to live with Jennifer and Rick. Eddie originally came from a kill shelter in northern Idaho, and we were able to get him pulled on his last day. We celebrate the five years he spent in his perfect home.
Before we took over rescue we were volunteers. A backyard breeder in Forks, responsible for dozens and dozens of our dogs, called to say she had a dog with hemophilia. We volunteered to go pick up the dog, a young girl named Honey. The vet told the breeder it would be dangerous to spay her because he couldn’t stop the bleeding. Her teeth were pink and he said that was the cause. After we got her home our own vet looked at her and told us the problem was enamel hypoplasia, not hemophilia and easily treated by brushing her teeth daily. There was no danger in spaying her so we did that and Cheryl looked for a new home. Along came Terry and Dennis who had previously adopted Sonoma, and the match was great. Honey became Jade and lived with them happily until last month. She began to decline and they had to make the decision to let her go.
Northwest Samoyed Rescue has two continuing fundraisers that provide much of the money we need to keep us operating in the black. We sell White Pine collars and leashes through our website, and they are extremely popular with the show community. The webbing is soft nylon which doesn’t damage the coats of Sammies, and the dye is so good it never bleeds. Limited slip collars allow the collar to be loose, but tighten when the leash goes taut. We also carry a full line of snap collars, plus mini-snap collars (think puppies!) and leashes.
If you buy anything from Amazon, you can help rescue by going to our website first and clicking on Amazon on the front page. When you enter Amazon’s site through ours they give us a small percentage; we make anywhere from $30 to $100 each month. It costs you nothing at all, it looks exactly the same, but it helps rescue. Both links are prominent on our page at www.nwsams.com/. This income lets us keep our adoption fee the lowest of any Samoyed Rescue group in the country, and if a dog needs major medical help we can handle it.
Don’t forget our rescue picnic! This year it’s July 20 at Ron and Kathy’s home. Invitations will go out in June, but please mark the date now.