Oh, wow, what a week - for all the reasons that Ive posted here and for about a dozen more that I havent had the strength, energy or emotional wherewithal to post about (including but not limited to having a dog returned twice in one week, having another very sick puppy (not Junipers) in rescue, losing my wedding ring, nursing my daughter through her first broken heart ((what a doozy!)) and two big, major deadlines at my real job that just about sent me to the loony bin). Today is the first day since Junipers puppies have been born that I have been able to sit down at my desk and get a few administrative things done. Ive tried very hard to stay on top of all the emails and text messages and Facebook messages, but if for some reason youve sent me a message that has slipped through the cracks, I sincerely apologize. I didnt want much more time to pass before I wrote this very important status. In fact, this is probably one of the most important statuses Ive ever written. As most of you know, I do the lions share of Sanctuary Rescue work myself. It is very rewarding, but oftentimes overwhelming and comes at great personal sacrifice. People often tell me what a good job Im doing or thank me for the work Im doing for the animals, and although I really, really appreciate it, I have to admit, I often wonder where those people are when it is time to get your hands dirty. It can get very discouraging when I am trying to scramble around and try to find a foster to save a dogs life or help with transportation or to do an out-of-town home visit, etc. and there just doesnt seem to be anybody available but me. I once read a quote that I think about often that said something like, If it is important to you, you will find a way; if it is not important to you, you will find an excuse. Saving these dogs is important to me, so I find a way. And while I am being completely candid with you, I am extremely disappointed by how often others find excuses. I dont expect the world to devote their lives to rescue, but if we could all just try to replace one excuse with one way every once in a while, what a huge impact that would make. But I digress. Believe it or not, this post is actually about gratitude - for the immense amount of gratitude for everyone, many of you strangers, that found a way and not an excuse to help me and Juniper and her puppies this past week. I truly could not have done it without you. I am so grateful to Nancy, Paula and Carrie for stepping up to foster Ellies remaining puppies so I could take Juniper in in the first place. My dear, dear friend Carrie gets Foster Mom MVP for taking two puppies, for taking another puppy later when she got returned, for driving puppies back and forth between fosters, for helping show the puppies and finalize adoptions all day last Saturday when I was busy at the vet and for dipping into her own pocket to pay for a very expensive vet visit for one of her fosters and then refusing to let me reimburse her. Carrie is totally my go-to gal. Thank you, thank you, thank you. A huge thanks to Laura, Susan and Karen for texting me randomly throughout the week and saying, Hey, Im headed to the pet store, what do you need? Thank you for collecting and delivering much-needed puppy supplies. I am so grateful. Ive got to give out another MVP award to my dear friend Tessa who always, ALWAYS goes above and beyond. She always shares my statuses and networks for the rescue. It is not unusual for me to come home and find an unexpected package on my doorstep from Tessa ranging anywhere from a HUGE box of dog food and supplies to a crazy hat she saw on the Internet and knew I was the only person in the world that could appreciate it. Tessa is always the first one to text and say, Whatever you need, just tell me. This is why there will always be a Tiggy (Tessas nickname) in every litter. I absolutely cant forget to thank all the great ladies at my favorite vets office, Genito Animal Hospital. I know there has been a lot of mention of vets on here the past week, so I actually plan on writing another status clarifying which vets have been so great to me and which vet really dropped the ball. But Susie, Nicole, Katie, Ashley and Stacey, oh, and how can we forget Dr. Kit, always take my frantic phone calls, order me discounted puppy formula and even let me drop off my puppies for the day when I know I will be stuck at work all day. Thank God I have them. A great big huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to Laura, Katie and Michelle who stopped what they were doing last Saturday and ran over to my house while I was in the middle of a puppy panic attack. They all three took puppies home to bottle feed, and it was such a relief to know that they were in good hands. Katie and Laura both lost two of their foster babies, and I am so indebted to them for the broken hearts that they have had to endure this past week. I also cant forget to say a huge thank you to Wendy and Caroline, first time bottle feeders who probably had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but now are just as madly in love with Kit and Beyonce as anyone could ever be. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Michelle, Laura, Katie, Wendy and Caroline, my trusted fosters/feeders. Also, a HUGE thanks to everyone who emailed offering their help, it is always touching when complete strangers send a message saying, Hey, I want to help. I have so much gratitude and love for my two friends, Tracey and Elizabeth, who as soon as they heard Juniper was coming, before the babies were even born, wrote to me and said, What do you need? And then both subsequently sent unsolicited donations. Over the last few litters Elizabeth has reached Super Donor Status and therefore has achieved honorary naming rights to each litter. Thank you, ladies! This is a really important one - a great big thank you to YOU, to everyone that reads our Facebook page and shares our statuses and cute pictures, who always have such positive supportive comments to make. It has been so completely heartwarming to hear how many hundreds of people were laughing, crying and loving right along with us and our puppies all week. What a strong force you are. It is so refreshing to know that I can always log on to this page and be flooded with positivity. I really appreciate it and so do our dogs. Thank you. Thank you to my family. Oh my goodness, my poor, poor family. I just cant even begin to explain the sacrifice that every single person in my family makes to help support me in my crazy rescue crusade, all the paychecks my husband basically hands straight over to the rescue, all the tears my children have shed when we lose a dog, all the hours of sleep that weve all lost doing midnight feedings, and thats just the tip of the iceberg. Thank you to my wonderful, loving, supportive family. And last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone that donated last weekend to help cover the huge costs that the rescue has incurred recently. Junipers puppies are only 11 days old, and weve already spent close to $2,000 in visits to the vet, prescriptions, puppy formula and a ton of other miscellaneous supplies. By the time our dogs get adopted, I almost always come out at a loss once all of the vetting is done (all dogs leave rescue with vaccinations, spay/neuter, microchip, deworming and any other vetting that may arise due to accident or illness) and we feed and care for the dogs/puppies for the couple of months that they are in our care. The adoption fee covers most of that, but oftentimes not all of it. So when something happens like Junipers puppies getting sick and needing several trips to the vet and bottle fed from two days old on, that comes directly out of my pocket. But as you can imagine, 11 days into it and the bills are already overwhelming. So I am incredibly appreciative to everyone that clicked the link and donated, even the $1 donations touched my heart. So another huge thank you to Patti, Bobbi, Michelle, Patricia, Alena, Lisa, Stacey, Jessica, Allison, Susan U., Amy, Susan J., Rebecca, Nicole, Tessa, Tracy C., Tracy F., Lynn, Carrie and Elizabeth. You ladies (interesting how it is all ladies, huh?) really helped put a dent in last weekends vet bills. Thank you a million times. So to sum it all up, sometimes it really does take a village, and I am very grateful and humbled for the village that rallied to help us save Tiggy and Jasper and Venus and Manny and Kit and Beyonce and Flash and Poppy. Thank you to everyone that found a way and not an excuse this past week and a half. Now, if you have made it all the way to the very end of this, you win a MVP award too!
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:18:34 +0000
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