April 2014
Last month we talked about Stormy, who came to us from a woman in Oregon City who left her outdoors in the yard although she was house-trained. She first posted Stormy on Craigslist but became spooked at the people who were calling; none of them would let her come and see their home. She called us and Melissa picked up Stormy, who has lived the last month with her and Terry and their other dogs. She had an eye problem when she arrived, but the vet couldn’t find anything wrong. Stormy began her stay a bit fearful, and it looks like she might have treated roughly when she was caught after being out. Melissa has slowly convinced her that coming to a human is a good thing. Like a typical Samoyed, she rewards her humans by stealing food off the counter whenever she gets the chance. Stormy recently was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection so she will stay where she is for another couple weeks. We are talking to a couple different potential adopters about her.
Rocky is the dog dropped off at the PAWS shelter in Lynnwood. His owner moved to an apartment and Rocky complained about the lack of exercise by barking. She got tired of it, and rather than give him what he needed she turned him over to the shelter. Ryann was able to pick him up two days later, as soon as he was neutered, and brought him here. A woman in Portland visited him, and after a week’s delay while she was out of town, she and her family returned to take him home. Rocky now has a young boy all his own.
We mentioned we were going to get a dog from Korea, who was rescued there and flown to Seattle. Erin and Tom met her at SeaTac and took her immediately to their home for a bath. Seems the crate was a couple pounds over the limit so they removed the blanket. It was a very long flight and she arrived soaked in urine. Jinju got another bath here the following day and was spayed the following day. Jen and Rick drove up from Troutdale and Jinju immediately decided they were perfect for her. Jinju is a work in progress, almost completely untrained, but they can handle the challenge.
We often say we never know what’s going to appear in our mailbox. Someone wrote to ask if we could help with her brother-in-law’s brother and wife’s dogs. She said he was terminal, and when he died his wife would be moved to assisted living. The dogs were hers and she was upset they didn’t know what to do with them. The dogs were eight and a half and ten and a half, and that’s not an easy age to re-home. As luck would have it we had previous adopters in Bozeman looking for another dog, and they opened their hearts to take these seniors. We had a wonderful thank-you note from the woman who originally wrote, saying their owner was so relieved her dogs would be loved and not put into a shelter.
Another Craigslist ad popped up around the first of the month for two young Samoyeds in Snohomish County. They have been killing chickens at the neighbor’s house so they were being placed. Rescue immediately wrote to offer help, but there was no phone contact listed and they didn’t answer the email. The listing was recently removed so we can only hope the dogs found good homes.
As this is being written there is a female Sammy in the Walla Walla shelter. We just committed to taking her and we’re trying to work out transportation. She has a very sad story. They found her with a litter of mixed-breed puppies living by the river and scrounging for food. The shelter took her in and kept her until the puppies were old enough to place. They said she was not only filthy but loaded with ticks. They removed over 200. Now she is clean, looks good, and has a bright future. They named her Fanny Lou, and we’re planning to change that, but since we will foster her here we’ll wait till we get to know her. We’re fortunate to have so many shelters willing to give us intact dogs, knowing we will do the right thing.
Last July we took in an aging Malamute mix because we were promised he was a Samoyed. By the time he got here he had been in the WSU vet hospital for a week and we couldn’t back out. Trent’s kidneys were in bad shape but we were able to get his health improved enough to give him a chance. He gradually improved and bonded to Kathy, but never completely trusted men. It shows what his life must have been, since he lived with a single guy. He had a neurological problem in his back and his rear feet didn’t follow his front feet. He looked like front and back were two different gaits, and sometimes he had trouble getting up. Meloxicam kept him walking but eventually it stopped working. He laid down on March 26 and didn’t get up again. The following day we let him go. We’re glad to have had the chance to know Trent and discover what a sweet old Malamute is all about.
Our Rescue Picnic this year will be July 19. Save the date!