August 2021
Back in 2015, we took in a five year old Sammy girl from a woman who didn’t want her any more. Abby was almost 100 pounds. We found what we thought was a good home for her, but in January this year we heard she was in the Bremerton shelter. I called the adopter and got a caretaker, who said he couldn’t take care of himself, let alone a dog, so Abby had been given away. We don’t know when, or how long she had been running loose, or anything except that she was in the shelter. Kathy drove to pick her up, and she was in bad shape. Her weight was half what it was in 2015, and she was desperate for food. Anytime she thought food might come her way she started barking, and it was continuous until she got fed. At first we thought the discoloration on her back was rain rot from being outside, but as time passed it didn’t get better and we began to think it was an endocrine problem. There was something wrong with her rear, and her back legs slid out to the sides as she walked. That’s often caused by spondylosis, but our vet said it wasn’t in her case. She panted a lot, so we think something hurt.
On the afternoon of August 8th Abby suddenly went down and lost all use of her rear legs. She was in obvious pain, crying out, and there wasn’t much we could do but give pain meds. On August 9th Abby took her final trip to the vet. She left quietly and is no longer in pain.
This is the first time we can remember in many years that we have been down to four dogs. Two are ours and two are fosters who will probably never leave because of their fear of people. Those are Sophie and Tessa, of course, with us for the last three and a half years. They are seemingly content to be here, usually hiding behind the kitchen table or outside sleeping on the lawn. Kathy is able to get close to them and has even done some grooming, but they run from me. Sometime in the past they must have been mistreated by a man, and it is made worse because I use a cane and it frightens them.
John and Theresa, previous adopters and fosters of Nikkee (Nanuk), drove to Deer Park a month ago to look at a female Samoyed who had been listed on Craigslist (thanks to Holley for finding her). They found she was being kept in a large pen during the day and in a garage at night. Her weeping eyes were said to be because of allergies, and she hadn’t been spayed. She was a very friendly girl, so John and Theresa decided to bring her back home to Kalama. Their vet determined the eye problem was entropion, so they set up an appointment to have that corrected, and also to get her spayed and have her teeth cleaned. Her name is Kenna, and just like other dogs who lived with them in the past, Kenna found herself in an experienced home where she is loved and cared for.
We heard of a dog in the Queen Anne area of Seattle, and the owner said she would work with us. It’s an eleven year old female they had for seven years, but there was a new baby and no more room for the dog. After a couple positive emails, things went quiet and we don’t know what happened. That’s a frustrating part of rescue work.
In the past month we received several more good applications, but until we have dogs to place, the apps will continue to pile up. We have a stack of about 40 families’ applications sitting here waiting for something to happen.
A huge thanks to Joy Ritter, who this month retired as the Treasurer of Northwest Samoyed Rescue. In her time on the board she kept us on track financially, and is always available and willing to give us good advice. For now I will add the Treasurer’s duties to my plate, and will continue in that role after others take over the day-to-day operations of rescue. We don’t have a time frame yet for a transition, but it’s definitely coming.