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www.Straydog.org UPDATE posted SUNDAY 11/30/03 at ~7:00 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30 2003

Three new arrivals force us to board one dog and move Henry, who's now cured of mange and whose abscessed jaw is now completely healed, back into one of our hospital kennels till we can find him outside kennel space again

     We couldn't say no this time, though we're way over our self-imposed limit of 65 dogs (we are currently caring for 78 dogs) and we did have to say "no" to 10 rescued dogs people called about this past week. The people who rescued those 10 dogs are going to have to take care of them. The water is up to the gunwales of our Straydog Lifeboat. We can take no more until several are adopted out. We cannot afford to build more kennels, and we cannot afford to hire more help to care for more dogs. We cannot afford more dog food to feed more dogs. We cannot afford the vet bills that always accompany new arrivals. We've only got enough money to get through the next week and a half, so we're once again working frantically on another desperation newsletter.

Why we couldn't say no this time

     Many of our long-time supporters are elderly people who themselves are caring for rescued stray dogs. Many times Pat showed me letters from these people whose biggest dread was that when they themselves could no longer care for their rescued pets, they would be euthanized.

     Pat made room for dogs in these kinds of situations in the past, and when the son of an elderly woman called last week saying that his mother was having to be moved into a nursing home immediately, I, recognizing the name as being a long-time supporter of Straydog Inc., said I would do everything I could to find a place for his mother's dogs.

     We were hoping some of our adult dogs would be adopted at Adoption Day Saturday, but only the two puppies, Madison and Robbie, were adopted, and this opened up only the small, puppy kennel.

     So now, as I said in the headline above, Henry, who's regained his health, is having to reside in a small kennel back inside our "hospital," and Kerry, the new rescue Tina found along the highway last Wednesday is staying at the vet clinic (which is costing Straydog more than $20 per day) till a spot opens up here.

LEFT: Macky (a Chihuahua mix), Ojay, a Cocker Spaniel, and Jeannie, a Chow mix investigate their kennel.
RIGHT: Little Macky enjoys an outing in the park

 

LEFT: Ojay walks across the park investigating his new play area.
RIGHT: Jeannie, who was still too afraid to even go to the park today, is a beautiful, small Chow mix.

Click here to see more photos of the new arrivals

     Please continue to send your financial support to Straydog. There will be no end to this situation we find ourselves in at Straydog (which is the same situation all no-kill shelters find themselves in) until we get all dogs (and cats) spayed and neutered (except those belonging to legally authorized breeders).