May 2010
About a year ago we found a purebred Sammy girl in the Jackson County shelter in southern Oregon. It is a small shelter and the management refuses to work with rescue groups, so we asked friends to go adopt her and help get her to us. We were able to find her breeder, who promptly paid back all our costs and drove to get her. In April this year another dog came into the Jackson County shelter. His name was Kota and we called our friends to pick him up. When they went in, the shelter not only refused to let them take the dog, they blackballed them from ever adopting again because they had turned a dog over to us.
Last year we chose not to fight their policies because we didn’t want to jeopardize our chances of getting a dog in the future. This year it was a decision potentially harmful to dogs of all breeds. We decided to involve the county commissioners in a complaint against the shelter, and had some productive correspondence and even a phone call from a commissioner. He admitted the shelter is small and parochial and needs to reexamine policies about working with rescues. As we pointed out, letting a breed rescue group pull a dog from their shelter gives it a much better chance of going to an appropriate home. Kota was adopted to someone locally, and we have to hope it was a good home. Next time they have a Samoyed we will probably have to fight this battle again.
Melissa has been working with a woman in Portland who needs to place a dog, helping her make sure she goes to a good home. Her name is Nala and the woman has now had her spayed (at Melissa’s vet) and is doing everything right. We are always relieved when someone is willing to keep a dog while the right home is found. Also on the radar is a girl named Mya with a rescue group in Great Falls, Montana. She is a beautiful purebred and we’ll offer to list her on our website.
Hope has reached a plateau where she is reasonably comfortable being around people, but still nervous and afraid of sudden movement or noises. She enjoys being petted but is slow to ask for it. She needs a home where she can be with people, and definitely needs other dogs for company. She takes her cues from the dogs and is much faster to warm up to someone already petting another dog. Because she is a special case who arrived completely unsocialized, we’ve been taking our time with her. We’re also limited on how much we can do for her because of the number of dogs in the house. Rather than list her on Petfinder we’re going to ask people we know, both club members and previous adopters, to consider her. We know she will blossom in the right environment.
Tara is also ready for her new home. Her leg healed well after ACL surgery and she needs a home where she is the only dog, or one of two. She is better with girls than boys, though either are OK as long as they aren’t dominant personalities. Anyone who sits with her instantly recognizes that she is centered on people and wants human attention more than anything in the world. As a companion dog she would be perfect. We prefer to place dogs with applicants on file, but we may put Tara on Petfinder to give her a better chance.
Remember, the Rescue Picnic is July 10 this year!