Poodle Rescue Wrap Up 2007

An open letter to all who care:

 This was originally going to be a Christmas letter, but we got buried in dogs from October on, and it didn’t get written. Then it was coming out for New Year’s, but we all got the five week crud and are just getting over it, so we missed January. So now, it’s just an update.

 The year started with an ominous note-our co-founder Ann Kimball had to move to Oklahoma to care for her father. Although she left with twenty senior dogs in crates in a horse trailer to care for until death do they part, her daily presence here has been sorely missed. Although we now have a northern outpost, and we thank the technical wizards who brought us cell phones with lots of minutes, we sure miss her. Fortunately, all remaining volunteers and fosters have stepped up their commitment, but they are stretched very thin. We received a positive five year review from the IRS in the spring and a new approval letter stating that we currently qualify as a publicly supported charity, so maybe we will attract more volunteers.

 The high note for 2007 was early in the year and a continuation of 2006. In the previous fall, we had taken a small white toy from Ft. Worth Animal Control that had been used as bait to train fighting dogs, had not been to see a veterinarian in a timely fashion and had very badly infected enormous wounds. It was likely that if he survived at all, he would have three legs. Due to the incredible skill, tenacity and dedication of Drs. Marcum and Schaffer and the entire staff of the Animal Medical and Surgical Hospital of Frisco, the leg was eventually saved, a brace made for the nerve damaged leg and foot and was adopted by a staff member this winter. He can run and play, is completely spoiled and no longer needs the brace. Our story couldn’t have ended in any better way. Our photos were too graphic to use on our website, and Michael Vick became the news and did what we needed to have done regarding informing the public about fighting dogs, so I guess the law of unintended consequences was at play there.

 Then we had the rest of the year. If we were Chinese, it would have been the year of the Standard Poodle, or maybe the senior poodle no one wanted. We accepted 87 dogs into the program (more than some years, less than others) and 34 of them were standards. That is an incredible number of standards and difficult do to space constraints, if nothing else. Seniors were more than 20% of the animals accepted, with most of them coming from (1) families of owners who had either passed on or moved to nursing facilities and (2) strays dumped. We have no expectation of adopting these senior dogs, but will act as a sanctuary for the remainder of their lives. Many of them have died, but at least not in a park or drainage ditch with a broken leg. The dogs received this year were a reflection of the malaise that’s visited this country. We had our normal heartworm positive dogs, but some of these dogs were so sick they died before we could even treat them. Then we had three dogs with distemper, all of whom died. Several came with fractures. Our biggest orthopedic defeat was a tiny toy that fractured his forearm. The fracture needed to be pinned, but he rejected the pin, and then the subsequent bone graft as well. After an orthopedic surgeon told us it was hopeless, we amputated his leg. He is doing very well and is a spunky three pound perfect dog (with three legs). Finally, we took a standard puppy that had been crated way too long and couldn’t walk. He was malnourished, had rickets, and was covered in sores and urine burns and mange. He is going for what we hope is his final mange dip on Monday. He can run and play, has no deformities, no sores, is in weight and has a sweet temperament. A great intervention!

 During August we participated in our first puppy mill closure in East Texas. We went in initially with a coalition of rescues and the help of the local sheriff. The Humane Society of the United States followed up and provided all the housing, logistical support, vet care and transportation for every dog we could not get a rescue group to take, over 100 in total. Poodle Rescue of Houston accepted 19 puppies; we took the adult standards and a feral labradoodle. They were all about 20-30 pounds underweight, dehydrated, anemic, full of fleas and hookworms. The labradoodle was comatose and received a transfusion. He is still a work in progress, but everyone else has been adopted and is well and almost in proper weight. They were so eager to get out of there (at midnight) that they all happily collapsed in my car and went to sleep for the drive home. When they got there, they were absolutely thrilled with the water. Food came in second.

 The really good news is that we have adopted out almost all of the dogs we expected to, or soon will. With your help, we have saved some wonderful dogs that are now providing companionship and love in their new homes. They will all have been saved from where they were and have the potential to live good, happy, quality lives.  And even though there is plenty of heartache along the way, I guess saving what you can is what it’s all about.

 So, THANK YOU for your financial support, without which any of this could not have happened.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ruth Douglass Hollis, President