Sent this to everyone on my email list, thought I'd share it with you all as well
I wanted to pass along a quick story to all of you, and ask you all for a small favor as well.
As you may know, I have a real soft spot for animals, especially stray dogs. We adopted Vinny from a wonderful local place her called "Pets and People." They are a no-kill shelter and they do truly amazing work. Remarkable. Since then, I've kept up with them, donated when possible, and even "sponsored" a few dogs
here and there.
Today, I had to swing by Jennie's office to give her something. In the parking lot, I came across the most adorable little lost dog. He was rummaging through the parking lot looking for anything to eat. He seemed somewhat well groomed, and he was wearing a collar, but he had no tags. He was also not neutered and
his hair coat was a bit ruffled. I decided to scoop him up. He was a bit nervous of me, but he was very sweet and had no aggression when I put him in my truck.
I took him to a local vet and the "scanned" him to see if he had one of those microchips-- he didn't. And they had no room for him.
So, I called Pets and People. They too, had no room. But they offered to give him full vaccanations for free so that I would be able to board him somewhere if I found an opening. When I got to Pets and People, the ladies there fell in love with him, but they are under a mandate from the city to get their "numbers" down
or else. They vaccanaited him for free, and they gauged that he was about one year old. He seemed to be in decent shape, but the fact that he was not neutered and did not have tags certainly raised eyebrows about how responsible his owners
were.
They got on the phone and called all over town trying to find a vet that had boarding room. I was 100% prepared to pay a day to day fee at any boarding place until we could place him permanently. But all of the vets were booked due to the holidays. Our little guy was out of luck.
The lady who runs Pets and People then disappeared into her office and came back and told me that she just learned that they had one slot open and could take him after all. He is now there, in a safe place, where he will almost certainly get adopted soon (just look at his pictures!).
I know they didn't really have room, but these people have such big hearts. I can't express how much affection they give these lost, abandoned, and often abused animals. They do it 24-7, 365 days a year, for no money. We're talking hundreds of cats and dogs.
Of course, people still take advantage of them. I felt guilty enough handing over one more dog to them (although I would have taken him myself if I had to). But people dump dogs on their property all the time-- even tieing them up in the dog park occasionally. A few Christmas's ago, someone even broke in and stole the money from their safe if you can believe that.
Anyway, that's the story, and now I wanted to ask two favors of all of you:
1. If you were having any trouble finding a worthy holiday chairty, or if you had a few bucks to spare this season, I can assure you that every penny they receive goes to the care of their animals and the animals that will eventually come their way. There are thousands of worthy charities out there-- and this one
is no more "deserving" than the next, but this one happens to have affected me personally, so I thought I'd try to "spread the word" as much as possible.
2. Please forward this to people on your email lists. It's not spam, and I certainly don't want anything from anyone. Just decided that I would try and do my part and get the word out to as many people as possible.
Vinny is 100% a part of everything we do. He is at every family gathering, etc... he is a wonderful part of our lives. And Pets and People saved him off the streets. They took him back when the first people who adopted him "returned" him. They took him back, no questions asked, and continued to "stick with him"
until he found us. That takes tremendous love and patience. I'm grateful for everything they do.
If this isn't "your thing," then no big deal. Just thought I'd let you all know about them.
Here is a link to their website with a list of all of their dogs (pay special attention to "Itchy" who has become a pet project of mine )
I am also including some of their info, and of course, pictures of our little lost friend.
Thank you for your time, I hope this finds everyone healthy and happy,
Ed(ward)
http://www.petsandpeople.com/browse/petdirdogs.htm
Pets and People
701 Inla Avenue
Yukon, Oklahoma 73099
405.350.7387
info@petsandpeople.com