March 2008
It appears our normal Spring rush will be early this year. We often joke that the first week in May will bring several new dogs, and in the past it was true. Although nothing will ever compare with the puppies that arrived unexpectedly last March, this month is already busy.
Katie just passed her one-year anniversary with us. She has been here since February 28, 2007, but still has no good prospect for a home. That’s too bad because she is a nice dog to have around, always friendly and energetic. Last month we were hopeful the source of her allergies had been identified, and this month we’re even more sure it has. We believe she had such an astounding flea allergy that just one would cause terrible itching. While she is still on a grain-free diet, the new drug “Comfortis” for fleas looks like it is just what she needed. Her coat has grown back and her activity level is great. Now if one of the 200+ people who look at her each week on Petfinder would call, she could have her own home.
There are many areas around the country not covered well by Samoyed Rescue. We all try to help where we can, but the east side of Montana is difficult to find help for a Samoyed in need. Last week we learned third-hand about a Sammy in the Great Falls Montana shelter when Malamute rescue wrote about him and a friend passed the message along to us. That’s fully 350 miles beyond Coeur d’Alene, the usual limit of our coverage. This time we got lucky when Judie Lucas suggested I call Sandy Nelson; she in turn referred us to a woman who arranges dog transports all over the state, and within a few hours we were talking to the shelter asking about Cracker, the Samoyed they had. He is an owner surrender about three years old, but aside from a picture that’s all we really know about him.
As of this writing it is four days since we first heard about Cracker, and he is in Missoula on his way to us. A rescuer there will board him two nights and then pass him along to a Cardigan Welsh Corgi breeder who will take him along to the show in Albany the weekend of the 15th. Melissa will get him there, or perhaps in Portland if she can meet up with the driver en route, and will foster him while we look for a home. Altogether he will have been helped along his way by eight or nine different people, most of whom we didn’t know until this week. Judie Lucas gave us the first introduction, and Darlene Rautio offered her family in Great Falls as helpers. We feel incredibly fortunate that so many people gave their time to get Cracker to rescue. Best of all we have found an organization of rescue volunteers who can help us get dogs in need into rescue from areas we haven’t been able to help before.
Another surprise came with a call on the 10th from Oldtown, a small town in northern Idaho. They have no shelter, so dogs picked up by animal control are boarded at a vet clinic for a short time and then euthanized. Dogs from town get three days; dogs from the county get five days. Today they called to say they have a Samoyed who was brought in four days ago. We were able to work out an arrangement to keep him safe for two days, and our daughter Kristina will make an early morning trip on the 12th to pick him up. Once again we were contacted because of someone we have worked with before who recommended us.
The people who brought him to the shelter kept him for several days while searching for his owner, but weren’t able to keep him. They reported he was asleep on the floor when their baby crawled over to him and he turned over so she could lie up against him. That’s a very mellow boy. Our son is going to go pick him up and bring him back to us, and when we know the date we will schedule his neuter appointment so he won’t have to be here long. This sounds like a great family dog. As yet we don’t have a name for him, so his new family will get to give him one.
A vet in Belfair called to ask if we could help a Samoyed one of their clients has. The story we heard is that she got the dog from someone who was losing her house and she isn’t able to keep him. We asked the clinic to pass along our contact information but we haven’t heard back. We had another report from someone that they heard of a dog in Belfair that someone was adopting, so perhaps that is what happened.
We are delaying our change to Northwest Samoyed Rescue as we continue the search for insurance coverage. SCWS Rescue has been covered by the club policy, but when we officially make the change we should do it with insurance. Meanwhile we continue to do everything the same, just as we will after the name change. Having the non-profit ruling from the IRS has already made it easier because most shelters treat it as a magic pass that lets us pull dogs without hassle.