June 2012
Early in May a Craigslist ad appeared selling a young female Samoyed for $500. We couldn’t do much, since Rescue can’t pay for dogs, but after a few days another ad appeared lowering the price to $375. Then it went away. A while later another ad appeared from the Bremerton area that seemed to be the same dog, named Chloe, with an unspecified “rehoming fee.” We forwarded the link to several people on our list of applicants letting them know about her, and one of them jumped to find out more info. Eventually we learned that a woman had responded to the original ad and had negotiated the price down to $200 in order to save the dog, and she was asking to be paid back. She said she was afraid what might happen to Chloe because the first owner was leaving town and couldn’t take her. Our applicant asked our opinion and we told him we believed that was a reasonable amount for a young female Samoyed. He adopted her and was so excited he sent a picture from the ferry on the way home. It looks like Chloe has the best possible home now, and is happy to be there.
Northwest Samoyed Rescue often refers people directly to dogs, especially in cases where someone is asking for money. It bypasses our requirement that dogs come to us at no charge; the dog gets a new home and our applicant gets a great dog. It means we don’t get an adoption fee, but the welfare of dogs has to come first.
There are several states adjoining our coverage area that aren’t served by any of the established Samoyed Rescue groups. We often get asked to help in Montana, occasionally in Wyoming, and sometimes in western Canada. With the advent of a strong rescue presence in the form of Western Canada Samoyed Rescue, that area is now in good hands. We do what we can with western Montana, but in eastern Montana we just take apps and write to those people about dogs in need. Southern Idaho is covered by Utah Samoyed Rescue. Denver Samoyed Rescue tries to handle the needs of Wyoming, as they recently did with Thor, a senior dog in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We are glad to say we have good relationships with the other groups around the country who do the same work.
The longer a rescuer works, the more we hear of dogs we placed who have since passed away. It’s always sad, as it was this month when we heard that Samson, placed in 2006, had reached the end. We celebrate the years Samson had with a wonderful family.
Over the years NWSR has tried to ignore that most rescues have an age limit. Senior dogs take a lot more of our resources; more time, more money, and longer times being fostered. Sometimes they are never placed. The proof of that is three dogs we have right now. Cody is either ten or eleven and came to us after his owner died. Her niece called and we agreed to take him. Cody is a nice dog who acts much younger, and we have a tentative home. Unfortunately it’s with someone whose old dog is declining and she isn’t able to make the trip here from Ellensburg. We will keep Cody here for now and keep our fingers crossed. We also have Chip and Ozzy, ten and thirteen, whose stories have been told in past reports. We took them because their owner couldn’t provide a good home. A couple weeks ago the former owner’s son wrote to tell us she was in hospice care and not expected to live more than a day or two. It came as a shock and surprise, but now we know we made the right decision to keep them here.
What it means is that we have three old fosters and no more foster space. We know from experience that there are few things as rewarding as caring for a senior Sammy and knowing what a difference you make in an old life. They don’t demand much and give a lot back. But because we have no space, we turned down an old Sammy girl for the first time ever. The Everett shelter called us for help, and we had to suggest they call Old Dog Haven instead.
They did, and while that was proceeding we kept looking and kept asking for help. Fortunately for the dog, whose name is Char, Doug and Michelle Manis stepped up to the plate and offered to foster as long as needed, knowing it might be for her lifetime. Char has obviously had a very hard life, and her coat showed it. Her nails also did, with one of them so long it curled into a corkscrew. Now she has been cleaned as much as possible and is recovering, and gradually will begin to feel at home. Sometimes it’s a long process, but Doug and Michelle have handled her with much love and compassion. We are indebted to them for their help.