Saving Life and Limb

Greetings to all!  It has truly been a week for the record books here at the Good Shepherd Humane Society.  Let me introduce you to one of our rescued dogs, Apollo.

As you might be able to tell, this is a picture of Apollo taken in one of Good Shepherd's outdoor kennels.  His right front leg is broken, and he looks kind of a mess.  If you've read the newspaper stories, you might know his background already.  About three weeks ago, I got a call from an elderly man who lives out in the country.  Someone had dumped or abandoned a bunch of dogs near him, and one of these dogs had been hit by a car.  The elderly gentlemen needed help because he was physically unable to pick up the dog or transport him.  Unfortunately, we don't have staff for that purpose either.  So, I called the local animal cruelty investigator, who is sometimes able to pick up dogs for us, but she was unavailable.  I then called another local rescue that we often work with, Unconditional Love.  Diane (Ferguson) was unable to go either, but she called the staff at Go East Young Dog in Berryville.  Karen and two volunteers were able to go and find the dog we named Apollo.  

  They brought Apollo in to the shelter using a plastic folding table as a stretcher.  Apollo had been down for a couple of days, and was quite dehydrated at that time.  Once we got him in a kennel and got some food and water in him, he responded to all of us.  While cleaning Apollo's matted hair and checking him for injuries, we discovered a bullet hole in his chest. 

  Even though we knew his leg had to hurt, and it was clearly broken, never once did he growl at any of the staff or whimper or complain.  What a trooper!  

  Ordinarily, the "routine" treatment in a case like Apollo's would be amputation of his leg.  However, after much discussion back and forth, and, frankly, hesitation on my part to proceed with that surgery, Dr. Muller, our vet, contacted Azzore Veterinary Specialists in Russellville.  Once we had a rough idea of the cost, one of our great shelter volunteers, Debbie C., suggested that we do a public appeal.  So with the help of my assistant manager, Amanda Van Sickle, and Debbie, we drafted the Facebook post and contacted the newspapers.  Debbie took some photos for us, and then, we waited.

  It didn't take long.  Within twelve hours we had half the money we needed donated!!!  We were pleased, amazed and stunned!!!  At that point, I called and scheduled his surgery.

   Again, our volunteer Debbie rode to the rescue for Apollo!  She agreed to pick up Apollo at the shelter on Monday, June 23, and then get up early Tuesday morning to transport him to Russellville for his appointment at 8:15 am.  Here's a picture of Apollo at her place the night before surgery.  

Poor baby!  But he was well-cared for.  I talked to the vet clinic several times on Tuesday, and they assured me Dr. Dew would call me after Apollo's surgery was done.  Sure enough, at 5 minutes before 6pm, I got a call from Dr. Dew.  Apollo had come through surgery like a champ, and the vet expected him to make a good recovery.  Because we had had some delay in getting his surgery done, the procedure took a little more time than a more recent break would have taken.  Apollo will need some ongoing care, and he will have an external fixator in place for probably three months.  The staff here at the shelter will also begin doing passive range of motion exercises to strengthen his injured leg after his follow-up appointment in two weeks.
  Debbie picked Apollo up to bring him "home" on Wednesday, the 24th.  The staff at Dr. Dew's laughed when Debbie arrived.  Apparently, Apollo had been making the staff pick him up and carry him outside, but when Debbie arrived, Apollo got up and followed her out the door!!  I guess he was ready to head back to us!!
 

He looks like one happy dog ready to hit the road again!

  So far, Apollo's recovery is proceeding smoothly.  He has some bruising and swelling in that right leg, which is normal and to be expected.  He is walking and doing what he needs to do, and the staff are doing a great job working with his special needs at the moment.
  I know I speak not only for myself, but for all of the staff at the shelter, the board, and our members when I say thank you to all the incredibly kind and generous people who have donated to help Apollo.  Every donation, no matter how large or small, is being put to good use to care for Apollo.  Those of us who work animal rescue are so often overwhelmed by the suffering, neglect and abuse that we start to think no one cares.  However, I can say without exaggeration that the outpouring of kindness and compassion for Apollo has reminded me--and all of us--how truly generous people are.  Taking care of Apollo's needs is not a one-person task--he truly has a "village" of angels watching out for him.  My personal thanks to all those who made this miracle happen!  Stay tuned for more updates, and check out our Facebook site.  You can also read more about Azzore Veterinary Specialists on Facebook, youtube or on twitter. 

  

Fur Fun Fest wraps, Back in Black promotion continues.

Good Sunday!  Yesterday was the first Fur FunFest held by Good Shepherd Humane Society at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.  I don't have any numbers on turnout yet, but the bands were great, kids won lots of toys, and I saw lots of kids with magic wands and toys they had made.
  More important, at least for us at the shelter booth, was that TWO of our dogs got great homes!  We had a great selection of kittens, adult cats, dogs and puppies at the show, and our pets also got great exposure and lots of attention from the crowd.  I'm hoping that several of them will find forever homes in the near future.  The picture below is one of our dogs, Jake, with a member of his new family.  I don't know about you, but I think Jake has found a forever home, don't you agree?

  It's kitten (and puppy) season here at the shelter.  We have about 30 kittens under 12 weeks of age right now, and in almost any color you might like.  We also have some wonderful adult cats, too.  If you've been thinking about adding a pet to your family, the month of May is a great time!  We continue our "Back in Black" promotion, as part of the Best Friends Animal Society's No More Homeless Pets Network promotions.  Black or mostly black dogs and cats are half-price through May.
  It was pretty windy and overcast when we arrived at the parade grounds, so our cats' cages were all swaddled with blankets.  We still had lots of people in to visit them, regardless of the wind.

  The shelter staff, and our thrift store staff and volunteers, are tired from the past weeks' activities, but successful fundraising means that we can continue to provide care and shelter to the animals of Carroll County.  The shelter staff also had a couple of happy stories this week, to add to our list of accomplishments.  First, some nice people had picked up an old dog this week.  They found the dog standing in the middle of the road, looking lost.  They didn't recognize him, and we hadn't had any calls about lost dogs matching his description.  We estimated that he was about 12-14 years old, and a big, lovable fellow he was.  He was at the shelter for two days, when we received a call from some people looking for their lost dog.  Thanks to the efforts of his owners, the nice people who rescued him, and Good Shepherd staff, Snausage (that was his name) was reunited with his family!  He is 14 years old, and I know he was delighted when his family came to get him.
  The other really happy story came yesterday.  One of our staff members had lost his dogs two weeks ago.  He'd posted signs, put them Tradio, posted them on websites, etc, without any luck.  When I got to work early yesterday morning, I found a message on the phone.  We all played a hunch (no description of the dog's on the message, but the location was near where the dogs had gone missing) and, voila'!!!  He found his dogs, too.
  Good Shepherd will be hosting other adoption events and fundraisers in the near future.  We are also always looking for volunteers to work with our animals, to socialize and just have fun.  If you have a younger family member (under 12 years old)  we are going to sponsor a reading program this summer (the months of June and July) called "Reading Rangers."  This program aims to helps kids work on their reading skills by reading to the cats and dogs in their kennels.  Stay tuned for more information.
  As always, contact us at the shelter if you have any questions, need information, have an idea (!) or want to help.  We'd love to talk to you!

The joy of pet adoptions!

   Good Shepherd Humane Society has become a new Petco Partner.  One of the benefits this gives us is the chance to do adoptions at a local Petco.  Saturday, April 26, a group of intrepid volunteers and I loaded up eight cats and all the assorted "stuff"--kennels, litter pans, food, water, toys and treats--and headed to the Fayetteville Petco.  We arrived around 11 am and got all our kitties set up, in the shade, and had our tables, banners, and posters up.  Nan, our shelter volunteer coordinator, and Dave, her partner, had made some great cat posters.  Darlene, another of our volunteers, had made some special tablecloths and bed liners for the cats.  We were all a little bit nervous, never having been there before, but the Petco manager, Vicky, and her staff could not have been nicer to us.  They made us welcome, and they made us feel as though our cats were the most important babies there that day.
  By 3:00 pm we had adopted three of the 8 cats--not a bad average, and we had collected donations, too.  But for me, the most important and successful outcome of the day was the sense of fun and camaraderie we all shared.  It was good for my soul, and I know it was good for the cats.  We also met some truly kind people who stopped to visit with us and meet our pets.  While I know it is a lot of work, and takes time away from other things, I'm also firmly convinced that any opportunity to boost our pet adoptions is beneficial.
  The shelter is always looking for volunteers.  If you'd like to come out and walk dogs or play with kittens, or if you'd like to join us at Petco or even at the Fur FunFest on May 17th, give me a call at the shelter.  You know you'll be glad you did.

Honoring a Life

      Good Sunday to all!  Yes, I regret that I haven't made a post in almost two months.  The shelter has been busy, full to the brim, and the weather has been, well, wintery.  Time just got away from me.  That doesn't mean I haven't thought about the news I need to share about Good Shepherd and our wonderful animals and projects.  In fact, I think perhaps part of my delay has been simply needing time to ponder events and happenings. Some of us, perhaps, also needed time to grieve and celebrate a life now gone from us.
    Ken Bates, a long time supporter of Good Shepherd Humane Society and a staunch advocate for responsible pet ownership, left us on February 22, 2014. He and his wife, Bobby, became involved with Good Shepherd shortly after moving to the area when Ken retired in 1983.  Many in the community knew Ken much, much better than I did, but in my almost two years at Good Shepherd, Ken had become as much a fixture of my daily life as my dogs and cats and family.  He was always present--even if not physically at the shelter.  He suggested tactics, approaches, ideas for different problems, and he watched and monitored events unfold.  He also helped in whatever way he could--sometimes reminding me of something forgotten, or, like a great editor, catching the "oops" moments of typos and errors so that we could correct them and make our presentation for Good Shepherd better. 
     Some folks may have thought Ken simply a curmudgeon--but he wasn't, at least not in the real definition of the world.  He didn't complain or grump just to grouse--he always had a purpose, even when we--I--didn't appreciate it at the time.  And like many of us do, I didn't always realize what a treasure it was to get that email or hear that voice every day. 
      Ken did so much and had done for so long, that only in the week before his passing did those of us at the shelter realize how things would change.  For example, Ken had taken all the animal photos for the shelter for years.  Reading this, you might not think that would be much of a chore, but in fact, my staff and I have discovered that it takes about 4 -6 hours a week just to shoot photos and try to edit them.  Then, there's the cost of printing the photos for posters and getting them uploaded.  Ken and Bobby also maintained photo boards throughout Carroll County, and this was a task they gladly did every week.  Ken would take pictures, print them, and he and Bobby would take one day a week to update all the boards.
     Ken also served on our shelter committee.  He was a repository of institutional history, and he often gave new insight to a policy or procedural matter that made no sense to me.  Ken also gave freely--not just of his time, but in providing items the shelter needed.  I went into our food shed a couple of days ago, and the note hanging on the wall said "Call [Ken] when you're down to four cat boxes."  Ken took the time to collect cardboard boxes from stores, and then he used a hole saw and cut air holes in the boxes so we had sturdy carriers to adopted cats.  Ken also bought our slip leashes, 200 at a time, so we had leashes and collars for adopted dogs.  Little things taken for granted, and now, we must find elsewhere. 
 
      It's all about time--the time we have, the time we share, the time that is never enough, the time unappreciated.  Time is constant yet always moving. It brings to mind a line from a poem, "time is the fire in which we burn."  No matter how hard we may wish, the river of time continues it's great march, and the currents bring us in and out of others lives.  I am certain that many of the members of the Good Shepherd Humane Society, as well as the dogs and cats,  will agree with me when I say that I am unquestionably thankful and blessed that the river of time brought Ken Bates to our shore.

Thank you, Ken.


To those of you unfamiliar with the poetry of Delmore Schwartz, I am including the entire poem below. 

Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day

By Delmore Schwartz

Calmly we walk through this April’s day,   

Metropolitan poetry here and there,   

In the park sit pauper and rentier,   

The screaming children, the motor-car   

Fugitive about us, running away,   

Between the worker and the millionaire   

Number provides all distances,   

It is Nineteen Thirty-Seven now,   

Many great dears are taken away,   

What will become of you and me

(This is the school in which we learn ...)   

Besides the photo and the memory?

(... that time is the fire in which we burn.)

(This is the school in which we learn ...)   

What is the self amid this blaze?

What am I now that I was then

Which I shall suffer and act again,

The theodicy I wrote in my high school days   

Restored all life from infancy,

The children shouting are bright as they run   

(This is the school in which they learn ...)   

Ravished entirely in their passing play!

(... that time is the fire in which they burn.)

Avid its rush, that reeling blaze!

Where is my father and Eleanor?

Not where are they now, dead seven years,   

But what they were then?

                                     No more? No more?

From Nineteen-Fourteen to the present day,   

Bert Spira and Rhoda consume, consume

Not where they are now (where are they now?)   

But what they were then, both beautiful;

Each minute bursts in the burning room,   

The great globe reels in the solar fire,   

Spinning the trivial and unique away.

(How all things flash! How all things flare!)   

What am I now that I was then?   

May memory restore again and again   

The smallest color of the smallest day:   

Time is the school in which we learn,   

Time is the fire in which we burn.

 

Delmore Schwartz, “Calmly We Walk Through This April’s Day” from Selected Poems (1938-1958): Summer Knowledge. Copyright © 1967 by Delmore Schwartz.

How to combat the winter doldrums

Happy almost-end-of-January, everyone!  Like many places in the US this month, we've had our share of really, really cold, snowy icy weather, mixed with some really warm days.  However, the dogs and cats at Good Shepherd are doing well.  Adoptions have been a little slower than last year, but the bad weather has also kept us closed for some days.
  Many people seem to suffer from "the doldrums" during January.  Maybe it's because of the letdown following the holiday season, or the cold, snowy days that always seem to be dark.  January can be a tough month for everyone.  But I have a cure for the blues--come visit the animals at Good Shepherd!!!  We have a wonderful group of cats and dogs that would love to spend some special "cuddle time" with you.  All it takes is a willing heart, and a few minutes out of your busy day.  We all read about the health benefits from petting a dog or cat.  Spending time with a pet can lower your blood pressure, improve mood, and just in general make you feel great.  More importantly, spending time with an animal at the shelter means that the dogs and cats benefit from your wonderful companionship, too.  Bring along a book, or bring a CD of classical music or light music to play.  Try reading to the cats in the lighthouse or the new "teen cat colony."  I know, I know, it sounds silly--but don't knock it until you try it!!!!
   I've been thinking this week about the whole idea of "shelter".  Far too often I hear volunteers and our wonderful donors say things like "It just breaks my heart to see the animals like that."  "I can't bear to go to the shelter because it's so sad," and so on.  Yes, it can be sad, but it does not need to be depressing.  Focus on the word "shelter".  A shelter is something that covers and protects: not a sad and lonely place, but a place of hope and happiness.  Is a shelter as good as a family and a warm home?  No, I don't think any of us would argue that.  However, as a place of safety and protection, there isn't anywhere better for our stray and unwanted animals of Carroll County to be but here.  I like to think that our shelter staff, volunteers and members provide warmth, safety, protection, love and HOPE to all the dogs and cats in our care.  Perhaps we don't always do it perfectly, and perhaps we sometimes get overwhelmed by the seemingly unending need, but the one thing none of us do is give up!!! 
  We don't just warehouse our animals.  We strive every day to give them all some extra attention, some affection, some kindness.  Our volunteers do a fabulous job filling in the gaps when staff are too stretched to provide all the little touches.  Remember--"shelter" is what we do--we love and protect those in our care.  So the next time you hear someone say it's "too sad" to come to Good Shepherd's shelter, I hope you'll think of these words and pass them along. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

  It's been a wild start to 2014 here at Good Shepherd.  Even though we are typically closed on New Year's Day, we had several families stop by, and we ended up adopting animals.  What a great way to start the year!   Remember Trouble (as in "anything but") who we showcased after the style show in November?
One of the families at the shelter yesterday adopted our girl, and the word today is that she is happy and content in her new digs.  What a star!!!
  Good Shepherd has many new things planned for 2014, and it's going to be bigger and better than ever!  First up will be a pancake breakfast fundraiser on January 25.  We've been given a great opportunity to acquire some additional land that will be quite useful.  The pancake breakfast will be at the First United Methodist Church in Eureka Springs from 7:30 until 11:30 on that Saturday.  I hope you all can come and join us for a great cause!!
  Winter weather has slowed our opening of our new feline house, but tomorrow should be the "big day" for letting the cats in to play!!  Stayed tuned for photos. 
  It's the start of another year, and what better time to renew your membership in the Good Shepherd Humane Society.  Individual memberships are only $20/year, and family memberships are $40.00.  There are also categories for Youth ($5.00), Business ($100.00) and Lifetime ($500.00)  Whys not join today, and share a gift that gives all year long.

Santa needs a little help this year . . . .

Sunday, December 15, 2013

HAPPY "HOWLIDAYS" from the Shelter!!!  Actually, all the dogs and cats are quite happy that it has warmed up a bit today.  The dogs, especially, are hoping that it will be warm and dry enough tomorrow so they can get outside for a few hours!  Poor babies have been cooped up inside the shelter for more than a week now because of the ice and snow.

   If you're trying to find the perfect gift for the animal lover on your list, Good Shepherd has several suggestions at prices to fit almost any budget.
  
  1.   Have family or friends looking to adopt a new pet, but can't quite decide?  How about getting them a "Gift-a-Pet" certificate for Christmas?  Purchase a gift certificate for a pet between now and Christmas Eve, and you get 25% off the purchase price.  The certificates are good for one year, and your pet-loving family or friends will be able to browse and choose the perfect new addition to their own family! 

  2.   Interested in making a gift donation in honor of a friend or family member who's a bona fide pet lover?  We have lovely certificates that will acknowledge your generous gift that you can place in a card under the tree or in a stocking.  It's a winning idea for you, for the recipient animal fan, and for the dogs and cats of the Good Shepherd Humane Society.

  3.  Purchase a gift certificate for the Doggie Thrift stores.  Again, you get the certificate for your friend or family member, they get the fun of shopping and finding great bargains, and your gift benefits the dogs and cats at the shelter .  What better way to say "Merry Christmas?" 

  4.  Visit either of our Doggie Thrift Stores.  Tracellen, our wonderful store manager, has new items coming in every day.  You can find lots of neat gift items, vintage and kitsch and everything in between.  Your purchases at either store help support the animals at the shelter--and you'll be known as the savvy, environmentally aware gifter!!!

  Don't forget--you can also give a gift of a spay/neuter to a friend who has a pet that needs altering.  We can assist you with prices, so if you'd like more information, give the shelter a call. 

  Even with the crazy bad weather, we have had a couple of adoptions this month, but things are usually slow around the holidays.  If you know of someone who plans to "buy" a puppy or kitten for someone for Christmas, please--respectfully--ask them to consider visiting their local shelter and saving a homeless dog or cat rather than supporting a puppy mill.  We have lots of loving pets here at the shelter who are hoping that  Santa brings them a forever family this Christmas.  Maybe you can help?