Why rescue's don't do puppies....

At Ohio Pet Placement we deal with alot of puppies.  In rescue, there a plenty of rescues that simply "don't do puppies".  Some groups take the position that "puppies have a chance to get out", which may be true some of the times, they are cute, they probably stand a better chance than many adults.  But there are groups that say "they are just to hard", what does that mean?  Well, i'm going to share my theory with you today.  I think that puppies, so vulnerable to disease, just cost rescues too much money or too much heartache after adoption.  The thing is, I can't disagree with either of those things.  We take in and place alot of puppies, but it doesn't come without pains and heartache.  First the puppies have to survive, depending on the age when you get them, it may not be all that easy.  We vaccinate, we quarantine for 14 today to help reduce the risk of parvo outbreaks and we vaccinate again and make them available for adoption.  So already you have the medical costs of prevention and maintain for two weeks, not to mention the cost of care, food, etc.  Then, you send the puppies to new homes.  While most work out no problem, it never fails that every now and then you send some home after all of the precautions and they blow with parvo.  The stress this type of situation can cause a rescue is off the charts.  We have taken initial precations, we provide new adoptors with information regarding the risk of these types of diseases possibly incubating and not yet diagnosed, and we have the adoptor sign a release for all future vet care, even if resulting from the previously mentioned.  Why is it that when adopting, none of this is an issue, they "love" thier dog, they would pay anything to care for them.  Yet, god forbit it happens, it is instant I'm going to sue you?  While many are just upset because thier new baby is ill and possibly need hospitalized and when they settle down they are fine and realize that we didn't go out of thier way to make thier baby sick, there are those few that insist we are purposely trying to kill thier puppy.  I constantly remind myself that these very few unfortunate cases we have to deal with, there are a few thousand of perfectly successful adoptions.  Any thoughts fellow rescuers? 

Animal ambulance anyone?

So today started off pretty uneventful, nothing out of the ordinary expected.  I had gone to pick up a mom and pups and a pomeranian as they all need spayed/neutered.  I walked through the doors of the clinic to be handed a patient chart reflecting the owner of a recently spayed dog was calling stating that the incision was bleeding.  Of course, my first instinct is "here we go again", as we are dealing with a pet that died after a routine spay that after complaints of a bleeding incision.  While my initial instinct was to say "what the hell", the circumstances in this case were very different.  The spay had occurred five days before and there certainly shouldn't be any incision bleeding.  Well I guess the owner of the dog refused do go down and look at the dog to see how she looked and if any "guts" or anything were hanging out, she insisted on waiting for her husband to come home.  Not even five minutes later she called to see if there was a service that could pick up her dog because she feared for her life.  Now, this is certainly not something we had in our business plan but without hesitation, we grabbed a stretcher and headed out the door.  We got to the house and as we were led inside you could see blood all over the walls, down the stairs, on the landing, pools of blood everywhere, they were attempting to mop it up.  Mind you, if it were my dog, I cetainly wouldn't be making it my priority to mop up blood.  We were led down to a basement where we could not find the dog.  So I'm expecting this tiny dog or something to come out of hole when all of a sudden a boxer head peaks out from under a sink.  This poor dog, she came out and it was the worst case of exposed guts I have ever seen.  The spleen was hanging out, the small intest was not only hanging out but severed, and other parts I'm not even sure what they were.  I guess this is where most people would vomit or pass out, but like it was instinct I said to Michael, "she can't go on the stretcher", I bent down and scooped her up, carried her out of the basement, outside and into the back of the Ohio Pet Placement Suburban.  I climbed in and held her until we got to the clinic.  When we arrive I scooped her up once again and carried her into the clinic and onto the surgery table where I held her paw while she was prepped for surgery and until relief came.  We are refusing to release her until here incision is healed and sutures can be removed.  Fortunately, her people love her, they gave us the go ahead to get her all fixed up.  It is times like these that we realize just how much we can handle and what we are willing to do for "just a dog".  It is also these extra little things that we are willing to do that sets us apart not only from other rescue groups, but other veterinary clinics.  When all was said and done, I guess we just found another piece to add to our plan!

One of my first rescues ever, Lady...

So a long time ago, actually during the very birth of Ohio Pet Placement, there was this black and white Pit Bull that used to run the streets.  Her name was Lady.

Lady was just a puppy and I would always try and catch her, but she would just bark at me and run.  Well, at the time I was working at a rescue in Cleveland and I had a bunch of food to donate around the neighborhood.  So I followed this puppy and one day when I saw her tied to her porch, I decided to go for it and knock on the door.  She acted like she wanted to eat me and I knew this poor thing rarely had food or water so I just had to risk it.  Well, she didn't bite me and I befriended her and her owner.  Well the weather became bad and snow was on the way.  This poor dog had no shelter.  So I put an igloo on the porch with a plastic flap for her.  I would often stop to make sure she had food and water, after all there was no excuse, I was supplying them with food.  I beggan to get very worried about the Lady because not only was she no longer outside in her dog house, she was also not running the streets.  I was frantic and I could never get anyone to answer the door and when I did they were telling me that the people were moving and Lady was being kept in the basement.  I finally convinced them to let me in to see that she was actually ok.  They let me in and started to tell me how they were moving and they couldn't get anyone to take her they were thinking of giving her to me, but I had to play it cool so that they did not change thier mind and sell her to the highest bidder.  Again no sign of the Lady for weeks.  Well, I don't give up, I finally got someone to the door and insisted they give me Lady and eventually they did.  This poor dog was about a year old now, and had to live in my basement.  I guess it could have been worse, she could have been with them, starving or living out on the porch.  I had three dogs of my own and an adult Pit Bull, unsocialized, wasn't a quick move in.  Well, when the weather became warm, she moved out to the garage.  I vaccinated her, got her spayed and started exercising her with other dogs.  Over a year she lived like this.  Well, at the time I was training dogs at PetSmart and one of my students had a daughter looking for a dog.  I had her come over and of course, she wasn't looking for a Pit Bull.  Lucky for her she underestimated the power of an amazing dog.  She ended up loving this young Lady and brought her Boxer to meet her.  Well, it probably took about a month, but she took Lady home. Now, a few years later, I get this random text message that read:

"Isn't this awesome?!  Thanks for Lady she has been awesome just to let you know!"

And that my friends and haters alike, is why people like me wake up every day and suffer through the bullshit so step aside and make way for heroes bitches.

I am a disgusting animal abuser.....

Please know that in this post I will be stating "I", meaning anyone and everyone affiliated with Ohio Pet Placement and Animal House.

Did you know that I don't take care of the cats at our adoption center? Did you know that I neglect and abuse animals in our care? Did you know that I am disgusting because I choose to use a spray bottle to correct some dogs' negative behavior?

At least a dozen people today had that opinion, no joke. As much as that sucks, let me clue you in on what keeps me going.

What I do is save cats and keep them safe with an unlimited amount of time to find a family. What I do is save thousands of puppies and dogs from the horrible fate they could be suffering in the pounds or by the hands of other bastards in the world. What I do is find non-abusive ways to correct behaviors in dogs that ultimately puts them in a shelter situation such as this. What I do is pick up your "trash" and turn your "failures" into SUCCESS.

Think you are better than everyone else? Volunteer, share your support. Claim to care about animals such as those in our care? Don't be a dick, have a discussion with caretakers don't abuse them.

In conclusion, stop being a part of the problem and either step up to be a part of the solution or step aside and clear the path for those of us willing to give all of ourselves to help the helpless.

The litter of cow babies!

A few weeks ago I received a call from another rescue to see if we could take in a litter of Pit puppies. Of course, but the sooner the better as they older they get the longer they end up in the shelter. Apparently this isn't the first unplanned litter from this household. So we go round and round trying to get this surrender arranged. We even offer to pick up the tab of getting the male neutered to stop the breeding. Next thing you know there are three adults, two of them males and one being kept caged in a damp basement, wanting to be surrendered. Fortunately we keep things exteremely flexible at the clinic because arranging these alters and surrender of puppies was an experience. Anyway, these three adult Pits have amazing personalities! Of course I want them all and we haven't even laid eyes on the puppies! Well, the owners come to pick up and they do willingly surrender the one male being kept in the basement and they have the puppies to surrender. Now, I was under the impression that these puppies were like 9-10 weeks old, no biggie right? WRONG! These puppies are 12 weeks old, pushing the age we wouldn't have room for the size. HOLY HELL! They weighed in from like 28-31 pounds - baby cows! They are like Mastiff pups and they are seriously marked like cows! I cannot wait to share these pups, people will love them! Easily over 100 pounds! Gotta love them!

It's raining Shar-Pei!

Now you all know I will rescue ANY breed, I don't care if it's pure or mixed, pit or not, I love dogs. You also know that I LOVE SHAR-PEI! Apparently, god also knows this and is sending them to me! First it was the wonderful Shar-Pei at the pound. Then it was the missing Shar-Pei that ended up not being my missing Shar-Pei, that ultimately ended up at the pound when we were there for another dog. How the hell is it that we get another call to pick up a puppy and there is ANOTHER FRICKIN SHAR-PEI?! You have got to be kidding me! Oh well, we pulled her too! Love them, love them, love them! If you want to experience the most perfect dogs ever, hit me up for a Shar-Pei adoption!

Question: "Why do you want to work here?" Answer: "I love animals!"

Frankly, I'm getting to the point where I do NOT want to hire the person that claims to love dogs. Clearly it's everyone's stock answer because they are applying to work for Ohio Pet Placement at The Animal House, but really? I think you may want to revisit the definition of love. I am very, very strict about the animal care schedules. 7am, feed, walk and clean. Noon, walk and clean. 4pm, feed, walk and clean. 8pm, walk and clean. This is alot for shelter animals, and it's also all they get and THE most important parts of the day. If you love these animals, or even if you are just a decent human being that cares about thier welfare, you make sure that schedule is adhered to. Even if half assed because you don't like cleaning up shit, you make sure they eat, get water and get out. You can't tell me you give a damn about animal welfare if you blantantly walk past dogs that are sitting on wet, poopy paper, crying for their turn, and you ignore them. Not only that, you lie and say you exercised and clean them as they sit there in a soiled cage crying to get out. In my eyes, that makes you a horrible person. Why are you not only surprised when you get fired, you threaten to sue me? Get a clue.

What are the odds?

Soooo, everyone remember my earlier post about the missing Shar-Pei that we found a few days later? Well, would you believe that it was the WRONG Shar-Pei? Same color, same area, DIFFERENT DOG!! What are the chances? Well, today when I received a call from another rescue about picking up a specific dog from the pound, I sent Michael on his way back from Cleveland. So he calls me telling me that our missing Shar-Pei was sitting right there. WTF?! Are you kidding me?! We had even reported her to the pound, and they never called. Sure enough, she looks just like her brother! So, as guilty as I was feeling because we weren't out looking for this poor baby in this weather, my own words were used against me, everything happens for a reason. Had this puppy not ran off on us, we would not have been out looking every day, and we never would have found this second missing puppy that no one was looking for. So one puppy lost results in two puppies found, it doesn't get much better than that!

Pit Bull Prayer

Finally an owner fights for thier dog!

Over a year ago we had a litter of puppies.  As you know, we rarely get a history on any animal that comes into rescue.  Well, we decided to do a DNA test on this litter of puppies we had, the primary mix was Bulldog/Boston Terrier.  A nice couple adopted  a little female puppy and moved her into thier Lakewood home.  Last week we found out that they were being harrassed for having a dog that seems to be a "pit bull".  They did a new DNA test, which did show traces of Staffordshire Terrier.  Still being harrassed, they did a THIRD DNA test, which showed even a different mix, one still including Staffordshire Terrier.  So this poor family, being forced to give up a family member, now has THREE DNA tests, all showing different results.  What the hell?  Who is the City of Lakewood to say which one is the most accurate?  Not to mention Bulldogs and Boston Terriers are part of the Staffforshire Terrier make up.  Well, this family says "HELL NO LAKEWOOD!"  They are fighting for thier family member and they have retained an attorney to ensure the survival of their family as a whole.  This week we will have more information as to where this case stands.  Does Lakewood accept that their "ban" is insane and there "guidelines" are simply not enforceable and the family stays together?  Or do we all see them in court?  Whichever way it goes, we will be at thier side, supporting not only them, but Pit Bulls everywhere.

Adults are going home!!!

We have a ton of dogs right now, babies, young dogs and adults.  This has been a week of adults finding furever homes!  Usually, people come in, see the cute puppies, and that's what they are drawn to.  Well this week is all about the adults!  Zeus, a two year old owner surrender finally finds a home!  April, a 7 year old boxer that was an outside, chained, breeding money maker for her owner, find a home to lover her for the rest of here days!  Storm, she came with a litter of puppies, oh so timid but she LOVED this family that she visited with.  She goes home next week!  Lucky, we have had him for about 4 months, he is finally finding his furever home!  It's so rewarding to see these long timers or so called "less adoptable" dogs find wonderful homes!  Congratulations to them all!

Then why did you give her up in the first place?

So today we royally pissed some people off.  Back in February a lady surrenders a cat, says she just can't take care of her.  So we take the cat in, vaccinate, fortunately already spayed.  The cat is a dilute calico, been exposed to both cats and dogs, which is a benefit, should make her more adoptable.  Well, several months go by and the cat isn't adopted, it happens.  The lady that "couldn't take care of her", comes in on occassion to see if she is adopted, no big deal, or so it seems at the time.  Well things start to change with the cat (Bella), as the previous owner begins to come in on a regular basis to visit.  First Bella experiences hair loss, I explain it could be stress or it is possible that there was a fight within the cat room.  Apparently, the previous owener continues to come in and harrass the shelter employees because Bella isn't adopted and she seems stressed out.  It's a shelter, you didn't want your cat, what do you expect?  We have a vet come in every two weeks to examine the shelter animals, if there was an issue, it would be addressed.  This harrassment apparently goes on mulitple times over several months with various employees.  Well today, Iwas there.  We allow the previous owner to visit with Bella, apparently a mistake.  "She's depressed, she's losing weight, she's been here nine months", I explained that some cats will be with us for between a year and two years before they are adopted.  If the previous owner really gave a flying shit, she would have kept and cared for Bella.  Today they tried to "demand" that someone would bring in a can of food a day because she has lost 10 pounds.  Really?  I'm sure I didn't see you carry a scale into the visiting room and our vet surely would have alerted us to a weight loss issue.  Anyway, the last straw was when I was standing at the front of the center and overheard them ranting to a potential adopter on how we "didn't take care of the animal", "she has lost 10 pounds", "you can feel every bone in her body", "don't adopt from here".  Really?  Are you an idiot?  You are discouraging the very person that may want to take care of the animal YOU ABANDONED 9 MONTHS AGO YOU RAVING BITCH!  Ultimately, we called security and had the people removed, indicating they were no longer welcome at the shelter.  Of course, THAT is the time they wanted Bella, and THAT was the time they were DENIED.  I am sorry but if you loved Bella, you would have cared for Bella for her life, NOT turned her over to a shelter where she may spend the rest of her days because YOU ABANDONED HER.  Not only that, she wanted her donated food back.  Which was funny, because one of our customers took the food, followed her and security to her car and threw it at her.  She of course is calling the news and everyone else on us, which we welcome.  Any publicity is welcomed publicity in my mind.  I hate people.....

Obsession is not necessarily a bad thing.....

So we received a call on Monday from someone "losing thier home tomorrow" and they had three dogs they had to place that day.  You mean to tell me you just now found that out?  Well, we don't even have room as it is, but I have a super soft spot for Shar-Pei so hell or high water I'm getting them!  Well, apparently this wonderful person had mom, dad, and two pups about 5 months old, so I can't just take the pups, I agree to take the parents as well.  I get a phone call from the staff saying these dogs are out of control, bucking the leash and trying to attack.  Of course I don't believe it, Shar-Pei are perfect.  Well the next call I get is that one is missing.  What?!  Are you kidding me?!  Someone better get thier ass out their and find the dog!  Well, easier said than done.  The dog burrowed under a weak spot in the fence, it's pitch black and the dog had never been on a leash or socialized with people.  What the hell people?!  Of course we drive around that night, leave word at a few business so they don't shoot the dog are sick the dog catcher on him.  Filed a report with the police and the dog catcher because anything is better than this baby out there alone in the cold, scared to death.  I left a bowl of food outside in the rare chance the poor thing would come back.  Hotlines placed all over the internet begging for help.  24 hours go by and nothing.  This morning the kennel help calls saying they spotted the dog eating the food I left out, but he darted when he saw the car pull in.  So I spent my morning wandering aimlessly around the woods.  Nothing.  Then I made my husband wander the woods later, although I could tell he kind of thought it was a waste.  I just could not believe this baby was not coming back, I knew I would find him.  FINALLY!  A call from the police, the dog had been hanging out at this house for the past hour.  I was so stressed out, we were 20 minutes away and he was not contained.  First we had the wrong address and I started to lose it.  Eventually the police gave some accurate information and we found the address but no dog.  My heart sank.  I sent my husband to the door and I was headed around back.  Just as I started to head to the back I saw a dog trot towards me.  I dropped to my knees and reached out to him.  He slowly approached me, sniffed my hand and came right into my arms as if to say "what the hell took you so long woman"?!  I scruffed him so that my husband could approach and slip a leash over his head.  There was a bit of panic and bearing of teeth, but he went along with us and I believe was greatful, relieved.  So now he is safe at the clinic, a warm bed and a full belly.  I get the satisfaction of a good night's sleep because I didn't let him succumb to nightmare of the streets.  All in a day's work.

Cracker

Sooooo, I was checking out the new Petfinder Admin upgrades and for the record they are a huge improvement!  Anyway, I decided to check out the main site also just to see if there were changes.  So of course I search for a Shar-Pei and sure enough I see one listed at the Lorain Pound.  First I let my husband know we had to get her, then I quickly verified that she was still there.  How lucky am I to find a 5 month old, pure Shar-Pei sitting at the pound?!  Although we save ANY breed (alot of Pit Bulls), I have a week spot for the perfect, wrinkly dogs!  She is so awesome and I am already crying about her getting adopted and it hasn't even happened!  I'm such a freak......i'm calling her Cracker!

Really people? When your kid trashes the house are you taking him back?

So we had this wonderful female boxer for adoption.  A seemingly great family comes along and adopts her.  Now this family has several children and it was a really nice fit.  So why today do we get a call for "advice" because she tore up the house.  So we provide that advice.  Hello people, she is a boxer!  So of course we suggest she be crated when left alone.  Hubby claims he is willing to be patient but the wife is pissed so they want to bring the dog back.  Assholes, really?  So Annie is back with us.