MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24 2001 Straydog bank account balance is rapidly approaching zero!
Raising the money to pay the never-ending, continuously rising expenses of our no-kill shelter for rescued dogs and puppies has been a never-ending struggle, and this month the Straydog bank account balance is rapidly approaching zero.
Where does the money go?
(1) No-kill. We are a no-kill shelter. We do not "put down" any dog or puppy who comes to our Happy Home for Strays. Thus we must take care of them until they are adopted. (And why are adoptions slow? A mailer just received from the Richardson (Texas) Humane Society says that 235 dogs and cats are euthanized every day in the Dallas/Fort Worth area alone. There are not 235 new families available each and every day of the year (in the Dallas/Fort Worth area) to adopt the 235 dogs and cats that are killed each and every day of the year.)
(2) Vet expenses and meds. Many of the dogs and pups we rescue are very sick and require a lot of medical attention. All new arrivals see our vet for vaccinations, spay or neuter surgeries and heartworm tests, and they are all treated for whatever malady they may have.
(3) Payroll. We have six (very modestly paid) full-time employees, who are needed to give our 66 dogs good care from 3:30 in the morning till 6:00 in the evening--every day of the year. (And again please remember that Bill and I receive absolutely no remuneration from Straydog Inc.)
(4) Dog food. The dogs are fed nourishing meals twice a day and receive tiny dog treats (pieces of dog biscuits) as they are given special care by members of our kennel team at various times throughout the day.
(5) Dog kennels and shelters. In order to ensure there is no overcrowding at our shelter, we keep two dogs in each large, 30'x30' square kennel (enclosed by a six-foot-high, sturdy chain link fence). Each kennel contains a sturdy wooden shelter with two dog houses inside.
Donations from individuals--our only source of income
We rely solely on donations to pay all our shelter expenses. Many wonderful people have donated on a regular basis for several years now. Without their help we could not survive.
Jacquielynn Floyd, columnist for The Dallas Morning News, calls to see how she can help
Bill and I were in a panic trying to figure out how to raise the money to pay the coming month's expenses, so this past Saturday I emailed a message to Jacquielynn Floyd, a columnist for The Dallas Morning News, explaining our situation. She had come out to our shelter last February to visit our Happy Home for Strays, and she wrote a column about us then, which reached a lot of people sympathetic to our cause and brought in a lot of donations which helped us get through that rough financial period.
This morning Jacquielynn called to see how she could help us. I explained that we were holding off on the printing and mailing of our quarterly newsletter (our main fund-raising tool) due to the concerns of our entire nation (rightfully) being focused on the tragedies in New York and Washington and that we just had no idea how to raise the money to keep going. Jacquielynn said she would be happy to write and publish an "update" to her previous column on us to let her readers know we were in dire need of financial help. Jacquielynn said that her column on Straydog Inc. would be in tomorrow's paper. Thank you, Jacquielynn!
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 2001 Jacquielynn Floyd's column about our shelter is in this morning's Dallas Morning News
This was an exciting day for our Happy Home for Strays. The column written about us by Jacquielynn Floyd is in today's Dallas Morning News. We are hoping (and praying) that other dog-loving people who read the column will want to help the many rescued dogs and puppies at our shelter. Thank you again, Jacquielynn!
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26 2001 People are writing to us wanting to help!
The response from people who want to help our shelter is wonderful! We received many nice letters with donations from people who read Jacquielynn's column yesterday.
We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your support to our shelter, helping us care for the many rescued dogs and puppies at our Happy Home for Strays. You will probably never know how much we appreciate your help.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 2001 More donations arrive in today's mail
As more donations come in, our panic subsides, at least for now. Again we thank you all for your help.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 28 2001 Beauty and Teddy Bear are rushed to the clinic
I had to rush Beauty to the doctors again this afternoon at 1:00, because her eye suddenly looked much worse than it had looked earlier this morning! The doctor prescribed heavier medication and said that if the eye doesn't look better by Monday to bring her in again. Otherwise continue meds for quite a while. Beauty's got a bunch of different prescriptions.
If her eye continues to get worse, we'll have to see another doctor (a veterinary eye specialist), because she will quite possibly loose sight in that eye, and the specialist will have to do something to the eye if this should happen.
Beauty doesn't feel very good, sweet dog.
Teddy Bear's limping!
Old Teddy Bear was suddenly limping badly this afternoon, holding up his front right leg (and he would not eat--a first for him), so I took him to the vet along with Beauty. Both of them made the trip in their traveling crates. The three of us had quite a time once inside the clinic!
In order to keep these two dogs away from each other in the examination room (since they are not kennel mates and Beauty doesn't often take to just any "new" dog), I walked big, 80-pound Ted into the room first and left him there and then went back out to the van and carried in little, light-weight, 44-pound Beauty. I held Beauty on the table and turned her so she was facing away from Teddy, who remained sitting on the floor, and all was okay.
Beauty was examined first (on the table). Her eye is really bad, but Dr. Stephen wants to try one more time to treat it, hoping this treatment may work.
Then when Dr. Stephen took Ted to the lift table in other room, I put Beauty on the examination room floor and went with Teddy while the doctor checked his foot. After Ted's exam I put Ted in car first and turned on the AC. Then I went back into the clinic and got Beauty. All went smoothly.
Ted has infection in between his toes on his right paw. He's got medicine too and should be okay soon.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29 2001 Saturday Adoption Day at Canine Commissary
Little rolly-polly, happy-go-lucky, five-month-old pups, Timmy and Coco are available for adoption now. They are cute as can be (and are also "fixed" and vaccinated and in perfect health). This would be their second adoption day trip.
Pretty Shepherd mix, Melissa, is also going with her playful companion, Lab mix, Hope.
Volunteer driver,Billy Lawson, arrived at 8:30 this morning to drive me and the dogs to Dallas, as it was Bill's turn for weekend duty at his regular job in Dallas. By 9:00 we had the pups in their big traveling crates in the van and were on our way.
Hannah, who had been given foster care for two weeks, is now officially adopted
Mary Anne, one of our volunteers, had taken Hannah home two weeks ago, for a trial period, to see how her dog (Gretchen) and Hannah would get along, and if all worked out well, she wanted to adopt Hannah.
Today Mary Anne came to see us at Canine Commissary with the "official" adoption papers in hand. The dogs have become good companions, and Mary Anne has fallen in love with Hannah and wanted to make the adoption official. We are thrilled that Hannah has found her wonderful forever home.
Mary Anne wanted to know if I'd like to go and visit Hannah at Mary Anne's house to see how happy Hannah is with her new friend, Gretchen, and because we had enough volunteer dog sitters to stay with the dogs today, Mary Anne and I drove the short distance to her house.
Hannah was happy to see me. I could tell by the way she pounced on me as soon as we walked into nice, shady fenced yard. Gretchen, a beautiful Chocolate Lab, is the shyer of the two dogs, and she sat quietly by Mary Anne while I was greeted with slurpy doggie kisses by Hannah. It is wonderful to see how happy Hannah is and what a wonderful mom she has.
Several of our loyal contributors came to visit us to show their continuing support
Several of our long-time contributors stopped by to see us today to show us their continuing support, as well as new friends (who had read about us in Jacquielynn Floyd's column), who want to help. It is such a wonderful feeling to know how many people there are who care about the welfare of homeless, abandoned animals.
Thank you again, Dub, for your donation of two nice big dog houses!
Thank you Linda, from Aussie Rescue, for your donation of another two nice dog houses.
Thank you Carol for always trying to help us place dogs.
And a special thank you to Canine Commissary for making us feel so welcome.
No additional dogs were adopted, and we all came home, arriving about five p.m.
Maybe next week some of our pups and dogs will find their forever families. We won't give up trying.
Thank you to our new dog-sitting volunteers, Debbie and Sharie, who had read Jacquielynn's column and offered to come to help us today at Canine Commissary, and many thanks to Billy Lawson, for without his help we would not have been able to make the trip today.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30 2001 Tony the Pony is adopted by a reader of Jacquielynn Floyd's column!
If you would like to adopt any of the wonderful dogs or puppies at our Happy Home for Strays, please look at our "Dogs for Adoption" page and call us for more information.
If you would like to give Foster Care to any of our new arrivals to free up kennel space here, please call.
ONCE AGAIN: THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THIS STRAY DOG AND STRAY CAT PROBLEM IS FOR EVERYONE TO SPAY AND NEUTER THEIR PETS!
Thank all of you who continue to give your moral and financial support to our Happy Home for Strays. Your contributions enable us to continue to care for many abandoned, homeless dogs and puppies. Without your help this just wouldn't be possible. The dogs and pups thank you too!
Main Menu:
*Photos from the week preceding 9/30/01 - TO COME MONDAY
*Next Adoption Day: Saturday, October 6, 2001
*Headlines Linking to the Last 108 Consecutive Weekly Updates of this Web site
*Dallas Morning News column by Jacquielynn Floyd published September 25, 2001.