RESCUE
A Happy Ending to a Sad Story By: Karen Nelsen His name is Bo. He's nine years old and was in the Idaho Humane Society Shelter. He was scheduled to be euthanized, but something about him, his personality perhaps, attracted the attention of one ofthe Shelter's employees, Deb. She personally saved him from the needle that would have ended his days. She saw something and knew he would be a wonderful family pet. But who was going to adopt a nine year old dog with an eye infection? The great thing is that she recognized him as a German Wirehaired Pointer, and not a mixed breed, as so often happens. Along with a shelter volunteer, Sheila Ames, they contacted the National Club. Bo's story was put on the Rescue site of our website. Sheila acted as contact person, checking out potential families, making
phone calls ...a match was made! He was adopted by a family in South Carolina. Here's what they e-mailed to Sheila after he arrived at his new home . "Bo is really a great dog. He enjoyed a little snack of dog food at the airport, which he ate right out of my hand. He stayed quietly in his box all the way from the airport (2 1/2 hour drive). At first he wanted to sit in the back seat but there was so much路 traffic I was afraid he might get upset if we had to stop short. He stays on our inside back porch during the night and doesn't whine or bark. In fact, he very quiet and we've only heard him bark twice when he was outside. He stays in the back yard in the afternoon. He has a dozen tennis balls to choose from and walks through the house with one in his mouth at all times. We're keeping up with his eye medicine. Right now he's stretched out on a couch in the living room watching me write this. I told him I was writing to you (I think he said to send his love). He's been eating well. We give him dry food in the morning and dry and canned mix at night. We'll watch that he doesn't get too much and adjust the amount down one we get a feel for how much he really needs. We have quite a few dogs in the
neighborhhod and he has had a good time reading the "messages" on our property. I think he's pretty happy. He wags his tail all the time. Thanks so much. He seems like the perfect dog for us! Ed and Peggy This from Sheila and Deb: " We had to ship Bo out over a weekend, as we just didn't have another place for him. If your club would help us with the shipping, we'd really apprecIate it. It was definitely worth the price we paid, however."
Deb and Sheila were repaid for the shipping charges out of our Rescue Fund. It was the least we could do to thank two non-Wirehair people who took a liking to one of ours. And what would we do without the generosity of Peggy and Ed, who took this loving animal into their hearts and home? A special debt of gratitude goes to Mal Decker and Christi Chism, who have been making use of the Rescue Link on the website. They have successfully placed several 'Wires. Please aremember to contact your Regional Director if you know of a Wire that needs rescuezng.
Keeping dogs at home By Norma Bennett Woolf [Dog Owner's Guide; Electronic Edition: ]
Owner ignorance populates shelters with abandoned dogs and cats Introduction Three years ago, the Humane Society of the US initiated a "voluntary breeding moratorium" to urge dog breeders to stop producing puppies until all dogs in shelters were adopted to new homes."Until there are none, adopt one," the slogan said. Thoughtful and caring dog breeders were put on the defensive, pet stores were vilified, and all commercial kennels were lumped together as "puppy mills" no matter how they provided for their animals. A new study that examined the reasons dogs - about two million each year - are surrendered to animal shelters has shed new light on the problem. The main reasons dogs are surrendered is that owners fail to obedience train or have unrealistic expectations of their pet; the dogs at highest risk of surrender are those acquired at low or no cost, especially those that do not visit a veterinarian regularly. Gary Patronek VMD, PhD, one of the principle investigators on the study, presented the results at the NAIA ~rebred Rescue Symposium last March. The work was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association on August I, and is corroborated in another study reported in the August 15 issue of the Journal.
Patronek and his Purdue University colleagues concluded that dog owners who pay more than $100 for a dog, take him to a veterinarian more than once a year, and participate in obedience classes are more likely to provide a long-term home for the animal. Veterinary care and obedience classes may reinforce the bonding of pet and owner, the researchers wrote " ... by allowing the owner to experience and appreciate the positive aspects of pet ownership such as companionship, affection, entertainment, and security without overreacting to or being distracted by disruptive or unwanted behavior." Their conclusions challenge the assertions of activists that breeders directly and indirectly produce an "overpopulation" of pets and provide testimony for early intervention through education, a solution that breeders, breed clubs, kennel clubs, and the American Kennel Club have promoted for years.
The numbers The research was done at the Humane Society of St. Joseph, Mishawaka, Indiana. The team compiled separate information for dogs and cats; they interviewed 380 people who surrendered their dogs for adoption and 905 owners who kept their animals. The control group was chosen