Grateful Dogs Rescue Blog

Grateful Dogs Rescue was proud to be part of the 2012 Maddie's® Pet Adoption Days. At the Third Annual Maddie's Matchmaker Adoptathon (http://www.maddiesadoptathon.org), held the weekend of June 9-10, 2012 in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties, 2,601 dogs and cats found loving homes. 965 pets were older and/or dogs and cats who had been treated for a medical condition.

 

Maddie's^® Community Shelter Data Grant supports the collection and publication of shelter statistics from community coalitions comprised of animal control agencies, traditional shelters and adoption guarantee organizations. Collecting shelter data in Maddie's^® Asilomar Accords format enables coalitions to gather meaningful, standardized data to analyze and share results. It helps organizations track their lifesaving and develop plans to achieve and sustain an adoption guarantee for the healthy and treatable animals in their community. Here are the statistics from GDR that support these efforts.

Maddies' Fund 2012 Reporting (128 KB)

About Maddie's® Pet Adoption Days

The goal of Maddie's® Pet Adoption Days is to give all healthy, senior and treatable shelter dogs and cats a second chance. Adoption of dogs and cats will be free to qualified adopters and in return, Maddie's Fund has set aside $4 million so it can give each shelter or rescue group $500 - $2,000 per adoption.*

Maddie's® Pet Adoption Days is held to increase awareness of shelter animals and their need for loving homes and to shed light on the tireless efforts of the shelters and rescue organizations across the country that work so hard to save the lives of countless dogs and cats every day. This adoption event honors the memory of the foundation's namesake, a Miniature Schnauzer named Maddie.

Lisa, a volunteer with Grateful Dogs Rescue, who we wrote about a few days ago, posted this message on her fundraising page for Josh. "I recently volunteered to take care of an older dog named Josh after his family lost their home and were forced into a shelter. Rather than let him be euthanized in the animal shelter, I took him in until the family got back on their feet"

"Less than a week after I got him, he became extremely and mysteriously ill. After a very expensive exam at the vet, they are thinking that it is either pancreatitis or a blockage. I am collecting to help me with this first cost, because I know there will be more to follow."

Donate to Josh's care here. http://getwelljosh.chipin.com/joshs-vet-bill 

Recently Grateful Dogs Rescue was asking if anyone could temporarily foster a seventeen year old blind chihuahua mix named Josh, whose family was recently evicted and is trying to get back on their feet.  Lisa, one of our previous adopters and a current Grateful Dogs Rescue volunteer, very kindly and generously offered to take this poor old guy in temporarily.

A few days ago he stopped eating and, after all efforts to tempt him with tasty treats, she took him to the vet where they ran some diagnostic tests:

A Grateful Dogs Rescue board member spoke to the vet and it is all bad news. He has like six different things going on. Liver, pancreas, inflammation, possible cancerous mass – any one of those things could be making him feel bad. The next step in treatment is of course very expensive, and really of questionable value (ultrasounds, hospitalizations, etc).

Sadly, it looks like euthanasia is the only reasonable and humane alternative.  Josh is not a Grateful Dogs Rescue  dog so we cannot pay for his vet care, and his family is homeless and they can't afford to pay, so now Lisa is stuck with all the bills.  In addition to $600.00 for the diagnostic tests they ran, there will be the cost of euthanasia unless he is taken to the shelter and left there until they can get around to it -- a very sad end for this poor sweet dog.

Lisa has set up a Chipin account at http://getwelljosh.chipin.com/joshs-vet-bill  Please consider making a donation to help Lisa with these unexpected vet bills she incurred in the process of so generously helping a stranger's dog.

Thank you all for your generosity!

Grateful Dogs Rescue has benefitted from the Pet Food Express "My Mutt" program and many GDR adopters have been proud to have their dogs and donations highlighted in the Pet Food Express stores via this program. Via the Pet Food Express website, we're pleased to share details of the program with you here.

 

The “My Mutt” program helps pet rescues and pet shelters throughout the Bay Area. It’s actually a simple process and makes a great gift for a family member or friend.

All you have to do is make a donation of at least $250.00 to a non-profit rescue or shelter of your choice (donations must be within the same calendar year as the My Mutt application)  . This would be in addition to adoption fees. Your donation should be sent directly to the organization that you are supporting, not Pet Food Express. We just need proof of your donation via a receipt .

Pet Food Express will hire a professional pet photographer to arrange a photo shoot of your adorable critter.
When you choose an image, we will blow up the photo to poster size and will put it on display in the store of your choosing. You get to see your “celebrity” pet every time you shop for food and supplies. Next time you are in one of our stores, you can check out all the wonderful pictures of people’s pets on the walls and in the windows.

“Number one, people love seeing their pets larger than life on the walls and in the windows of the stores. Not to mention, people love sending their friends and family to the stores to see their baby’s photo!”, Shani Russell, Web master for Pet Food Express, said. “Number two, it also brings donation money directly to the shelters that are always in need of funding.”

Partnering with Northern California Pet Adoption, these photos are our way of celebrating these wonderful animals and also a means of helping the rescue organizations and shelters who do the tireless front line work of finding homes for animals in need.

Those who donate $250.00 or more will see their poster displayed in the store for six months, and for a donation of $500.00 or more, the image will be up for a year.

Contact mymutt@petfoodexpress.com for more information or visit the Pet Food Express website at http://www.petfoodexpress.com/giving-back/make-your-pet-a-star/

To donate to Grateful Dogs Rescue via PayPal, go to http://www.gratefuldogsrescue.org/DonationsToGratefulDogsRescue

There is a benefit happening this Saturday from 4:00 – 8:00pm for the Give A Dog A Bone program.

Give a Dog a Bone is a quality of life program for these long-term shelter dogs held at San Francisco's Animal Care & Control - the city's municipal shelter. GADAB is changing the bleak existence of these dogs every day, one chew toy, one play session, one belly rub at a time. Find out more details about this unique program and the people who make it possible at http://www.gadab.org/

This Saturday's fundraising event is at Doc's Clock at 2575 Mission St near 22nd. 50% of the bar takings will go to GADAB and 100% of the profits from the silent auction held on the night will go to GADAB too!  Click here for map.

The Grateful Dogs Rescue volunteers always have lots of fun there when Doc's Clock holds a benefit is for us.  It would be great to get a lot of support our for GADAB.  The GADAB volunteers do so much to make sure the dogs that are not available for adoption, or not yet available, get special treats, and walks and play sessions for the dogs they are allowed to take out.  So many of dogs came to Grateful Dogs Rescue pre-socialized because of the GADAB volunteers, so we and our dogs owe them a lot.

"Poor Rigby! This sweet little ten pound boy has been through quite a rough patch recently. He landed in the city shelter with “cherry eye” (a prolapsed gland on the third eyelid) at the tender age of about one year old.  saved him in November and paid for the surgery to fix this common eye condition. Then, just before Christmas, his foster dad came home to find him with a broken leg! There’s no webcam to see how it happened and Rigby’s not talking. So, that leaves lots of room for conjecture. Was he trying to climb the Christmas tree? Did he trip over the stuffed dreidel on the floor? Was he celebrating the Winter Solstice? Reaching for the TV remote to do some online shopping? Or, just trying to get down from the couch? We’ll never know the cause but the effect was a second surgery and now, weeks of confinement and TLC while his fractured femur heals completely. Rigby is a very friendly guy who will make a great family pet!

Rigby’s $2,800.00 vet bills were unexpected and a significant year-end expense. Please donate to Grateful Dogs Rescue to help us pay Rigby's vet bills or expenses for our other rescue dogs. You can earmark your donation.  We also want to say a heartfelt “Thank You! “ to everyone who has already contributed to our astronomical vet bills in 2011. Your donations make our volunteer efforts possible!"

Click here to donate to Grateful Dogs Rescue.

Grateful Dogs Rescue will be at the Fifth Annual Pawtrero Halloween Pet Party. Come out and meet the dogs that are available for adoption. These dogs have been rescued from San Francisco Animal Care and Control shelter and are currently being fostered with Grateful Dogs Rescue volunteers.

To find out all of the details including time, location, dogs attending and fundraising details, go to http://gratefuldogsrescue.org/announcements/halloween-pet-party-and-adoption-event-at-south-beach-park

Bella ended up at San Francisco Animal Control after she was hit by a car and her left leg was fractured, and her owners could not afford her treatment.  Initially Grateful Dogs Rescue's orthopedic surgeon suggested keeping her on limited exercise to give the bone time to heal.  Though Bella was able to use her injured leg a good bit of the time, she had to be on daily pain medication.

Since a lifetime of daily pain meds is not the life we want for such a young dog, Grateful Dogs Rescue decided the best thing for her long-term quality of life was to remove the source of the pain.  So Bella is now officially a TRIPOD!  She has adjusted well to tripod life, and we expect her to have a nice, long, happy, and most importantly, PAIN-FREE life.

Bella’s surgery and aftercare cost $2,500.  Grateful Dogs Rescue, and Bella, appreciate any donations to help cover these vet bills.  Thank you for your generosity! Click here to donate.