April 2011
Last month it was all about Kyoshi, Tasha, Nakita, and Shivers. This month it’s about Fanci, Tolkeetna, Sierra, Puma, Tundra, Kenai, Sitka, and eight dogs in Canada. Whew!
In the middle of February we heard of a puppy mill raid described in the newspaper this way: “Last night the Oregon Humane Society’s Humane Investigators served a search warrant and removed 33 animals from a breeding facility in Canby … 19 golden retrievers, 12 Coton de Tulears, one Samoyed, and a duck …” We have known about this breeder for many years, and have taken many of their dogs into rescue. Finally the Oregon Humane Society stepped in to help. When seized, the dogs were as much as 50% underweight and living in terrible conditions.
Not long ago the breeder, Foxburrow Kennels in Canby, switched from Samoyeds to Coton de Tulears, which sell for double the price. They still had one Samoyed, and her health is still suffering. Her name is Fanci, and Melissa is keeping in close contact with OHS. Fanci is out of the shelter and in a foster home now, and if she becomes available we will take her and find a good home.
On April 8, 2011, Diane and Rick Cheadle pleaded guilty to animal neglect charges. They were sentenced to a day in jail, community service, probation, and for five years they are barred from owning any domestic animals.
Back in early 2010 we were asked to take two dogs in Montana. Their owner was missing and the person keeping them wanted to find them a new home. Sandy investigated and found out she actually knew the dogs. They were still co-owned by their breeder, so we were able to get a release. Ultimately Sandy kept them with her. This year we were contacted by a man who was out of work, lost his home, and his wife left him. That was his story, anyway. His two dogs were being kept by a friend who was about to move. Once again we called Sandy, and she knew him. He was the same owner that had the dogs in 2010. She asked him to sign a release, and the dogs went to her house.
Ultimately Sandy decided to keep last year’s female and send the female from this year (Sierra) along with this year’s male (Tolkeetna) and last year’s male (Puma). She drove them to Coeur d’Alene where she met Kathy, who brought the dogs to us. For the first time, because of the number of dogs, we were forced to use kennels we built in our barn. We would rather have dogs in the house, but that’s why we built them. Fortunately Sierra was quickly adopted and went to Kathi in Seattle, a previous adopter who will give her an excellent home.
Next was Tolkeetna, who was adopted by Sue in Des Moines. Sue adopted Biscotti years ago, and he recently passed away. Sue also adopted Sadie, one of Katie’s puppies four years ago, so we knew what perfect home Tolkeetna would have. Sue brought Sadie and her old girl Gracie to meet Tolkeetna, then came back a few days later to take him home. In the meantime the two boys were neutered.
Puma was with us several weeks until he was met by a great guy named John who lives on Vancouver Island. It was a two-day trip for John, who met Puma one afternoon, stayed in a motel overnight, and came back for him the next morning. Reports on all three of the Montana dogs have been excellent. All have settled in and are happily integrated into their packs.
Then along came Tundra, who appeared as a stray in the Everett shelter. As soon as we saw her listing we called and made arrangements to get her the moment she was available. Erin drove north and got her for us, meeting Kathy in Lakewood to drive Tundra back to our home. As we always do we checked for a microchip, and we found she had one. The shelter had completely missed it! That allowed us to trace back and find she is about five years old, but the home phone listed was disconnected and the work number was a dead end.
At this point we want to remind you to always be sure to update the chip manufacturer if you move or change phones. If a shelter gets your dog and can’t find you, the dog goes to an adopter or is euthanized. Fortunately in the case of dogs we have placed, we get the call and look up the adopter ourselves. But even that does no good if we can’t find you.
We learned over the first few days with us that Tundra is about 95% deaf. That’s unusual in a Samoyed. We need to find a very special home for her where people have the understanding needed to train a very active young deaf dog.
Five years back we adopted a dog to people in Everett, and that dog passed on. They loved the breed so much they bought two puppies, Kenai and Sitka. Now their lives have changed and they are in the position of finding homes for their dogs. Both are from breeders; one immediately wanted the dog back to resell, while the other said she would allow us to place him if we had a good home, and if not she would take him back. This is a breeder we consider a good friend, and we’re pleased we are trusted to do that. At the deadline of this report, the owner contacted us to say she is trying to work out a way to keep at least one dog. To be continued…
By way of Canadian rescue we heard of six dogs north of Calgary, Alberta. A Sammy breeder has been diagnosed with cancer and her husband is only willing to keep three dogs; the remainder are going to rescue. Three of those will be shipped back to a breeder in Colorado. One other is a female ready for adoption and the other two are males that rescue will keep for a short time to assess. In the meantime there are two males in Saskatoon, father and son, who need homes. The new Western Canada Samoyed Club is getting a baptism by fire. We offered to help if they need it, and we’re in frequent contact with them.
OK, it can slow down anytime now.