Silent Auction - UPDATE

UPDATE!!!  Chili's in Simi Valley and Newbury Park have launched a fundraiser to cover the cost for the surgery needed by Peppermint Patty - she is scheduled for Tuesday (2/23/16) at 8:00AM.  THANK YOU, CHILI'S!!!  Please support Chili's tomorrow and help to save this dog's life - here is their flyer!

We are trying to raise $567 for a life-saving surgery needed for one of the dogs we saved out of Camarillo - Peppermint Patty.  

She's got a double inguinal hernia (basically her intestines are trying to slide through a break in the belly muscles)... We've had the surgery done once, but it did not 'take' and we need it done again at our vet's office to save her life... 

We recently had three A-DOOR-A-BLE puppies come into our rescue that we thought were Pekingese mixes... Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei... Two boys and a girl... They were born on approximately December 7th and are absolutely some of the most beautiful puppies we have seen in a long, long time... 

 

We are holding a silent auction for these three puppies to be adopted... They can be seen every day at the rescue center through the glass... Now spayed and neutered, they are up to date on their shots and microchipped...  Adoption packet comes with a complimentary well puppy exam at our vet's office, first complimentary groom at Indiana Bones Temple of Groom and a coupon valid for 10% off all supplies purchased at Theresa's (excluding food) for the first 5 days after adoption.

Silent auction starts today and runs until the evening of February 20th.  To participate in the silent auction, the rules are as follows:

1. To bid, you must have an approved adoption application.  If you have not already submitted your application, you can do so online at our website - the link is HERE. https://tinylovingcanines.wufoo.com/forms/z7x3k7/
2. Once your adoption application has been submitted, we will notify you of its approval or being denied within 24 hours of submission.  At that time, your bid can be submitted.
3. Starting bid for any of these three puppies is our normal tax deductible puppy adoption donation ($500).
4. Three highest bidders will be notified via email on Sunday, February 21st at which time they can come in and bring home their puppy.  Highest bidder wins choice of the three, second highest bidder wins choice of the two, etc.
5. All monies in addition to our normal adoption donation will go directly to the vet bill and save Peppermint Patty's life (and still tax deductible).

Not wanting to simply guess at the parentage of these three puppies, we have submitted their DNA to DNA My Dog, and although not Pekingese, they are Chorkies... just as desirable and a much sought after 'designer breed' mix. 

Please find the results of the test results below:

For more photos and details, please see their complete profile online at Petfinder:

• Beijing - https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34302487
• Shanghai - https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34302519
• Taipei - https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/34302551

Thank you for not only adopting these delicious puppies, but helping us to save another dog's life with a much needed surgery!

2 more reasons...

No, make that three more reasons to spay or neuter your pet... Their mom (Lady Love) almost lost her life bearing these two little munchkins on Saturday (2/13/16)... 

A teeny tiny little black doll baby of a Chihuahua, Lady Love should have NEVER gotten pregnant in the first place... And whatever male she bred with was much larger than she was... In turn, she carried and then tried to give birth to puppies that were much too large for her... 

Dumped in a shelter because she was pregnant, Lady Love MUST have been someone's loved and treasured pet at one time in her life... She's 'maybe' 4 pounds when not carrying pups, and just as friendly and cute as can be... 

Not one person comes into my nursery and does not comment on her beautiful appearance and personality... She has such a winning smile and is always SO glad to see you... Friendly as can be, Lady Love is a jewel and her owner should have spayed her so she would not have had to go through this... 

She began the birthing process EARLY in the morning on Saturday and struggled, struggled... FINALLY the first pup was born, and with due diligence, she immediately broke the sack, breathed life into her and cleaned her up... When the second pup began its way down the birth canal, Lady Love struggled once again... I could clearly see that this pup was far too big for her to birthing... 

I did everything I could in my 'experience rescuer tool box' and was seconds away from rushing her to the ER for an emergency C-section (a $1200 - $1800 procedure even for a rescue)... Lodged in between, I was not sure the pup and Lady Love would have survived the 12-minute race to the facility, so I did my very best... Once born between the two of us, Lady Love did her part with the placenta and I did mouth-to-mouth without success... A little boy, he crossed the Rainbow Bridge with supreme effort by all of us to no avail... 

The third and final pup was no different... A female myself who has given birth, I was cringing inwardly as I watched Lady Love strain to give birth to this pup... 

And I pushed aside the anger I felt towards the owner for not taking better care of this lovely female Chihuahua...  Not the time nor place - the puppies' lives were at stake along with their mom's life...   The anger could come later, so here it is...  Black dogs are the last to be adopted and the first to be killed in our shelters - it is our mindset about what colors are good and which are 'evil'... If you want to know more about this phenomenon, Google "Black Dog Syndrome"... We deal with it every day in rescue and at TLC offer a discount every Friday on the adoption donation in the hopes the black dogs find furever homes faster... 

And then... 

We kill an estimated 8 million pets in this country each year because we have an epidemic of unwanted homeless pets... Simply going and spay/neutering your pet will stop countless unwanted litters that have high mortality rates and moms that suffer unwanted pregnancies and deliveries... In my 36+ years of rescue work, I have bottle-fed countless litters whose mom has died, trying to give birth... Orphans without a mom, sometimes we save a majority of them - sometimes we lose the entire litter through nights and nights of 3-hour, round the clock feedings... 

I have taken on moms with prolapsed uterus issues, giving birth in fields where the pups and mom's uterus is loaded with grass clippings and fleas... We have taken in moms and dads plus the litter when the two pets were not spayed & neutered and the inevitable occurred... An unwanted pregnancy and an unwillingness to raise the puppies... 

If you cannot do the 'right thing' in regards to your pets, you really should not have them at all... And the 'right thing' is to spay or neuter your pets unless they are show dogs and have legitimate waivers to remain intact... I doubt few reading this blog post have a $6,000+ show dog but many do have pets that are still intact... 

There are SO many low cost spay and neuter options available to all of us... And if you allow your pet to remain intact, you GREATLY increase their chance of testicular or ovarian cancer, cutting short their life... Because you could not afford the $60 to do the 'right thing'?

Are you aware that conservative estimates now state that for every 10 puppies born in this country, only 1 will live out its normal, healthy life into old age?... The other nine will die early because of illness, neglect, car accidents, lack of yearly veterinary care, etc... What gives us the right to kill like this - intentionally or accidentally?

Before you believe you are not part of the problem because you do not have a pet, please allow me to share this fact with you... If you are a taxpayer in California, 8% of what you pay in taxes goes to the care, feeding, housing and eventually killing or adoption of unwanted homeless pets... Whether or not you own a pet... And until we as voters and taxpayers say, "Enough is enough" (whether you are talking to your legislators or to your neighbor who just HAD to buy that puppymill puppy that is still intact and will produce more unwanted offspring), we are ALL a part of the problem... 

Unwanted homeless pets and their offspring is everyone's problem and until we are ALL a part of solution, it is not going to go away, folks... Whether you have an intact male who is not neutered, or a female who is not spayed... Whether you do not own a pet but are not speaking out to those pet owners who leave their pets intact... 

We cannot sustain No-Kill here in Ventura County and across the State of California unless we all get behind the efforts to stop unwanted homeless pets from entering our shelter and rescue systems...  Please think of Lady Love and the struggle she had to bring these puppies into the world... 

Pitbull - UT OH - HUH?

Pitties get SUCH a bad rap and then end up dying in our shelters - not because of the breed, but because of bad humans and bad ideas... 

One of my TLC volunteer fosters is currently fostering a Pitty named "Ruby Lee", a street dog that was left to survive on her own after becoming pregnant... Ruby Lee went on to deliver 7 healthy puppies at Kathy's house on January 19th (a first for Kathy who was nervous about 'birthin puppies')... 

Kathy consistently fosters moms with puppies for us... And Kathy has a German Pinscher named "Molly" who was one of her fosters (a foster fail - we've all had them)... Initially Ruby Lee would hide underneath the coffee table whenever Molly was around - and Ruby Lee is TWICE the size of Molly as you can see from the video... 

This just goes to show you that with the right humans, even Pitties can be just like any other dog - what the video here:  https://www.facebook.com/100008431834043/videos/1575621256062254/

The video starts out slow, but Molly is actually teaching Ruby Lee how to play like a dog... And those jumps are not easy to do when you are carrying 8 milk jugs for your puppies on your tummy!

I am posting this video to show folks that Pittys are just like every other dog - you provide the proper situation for them and they will bloom... Until we stop spreading only the bad, isolated incidents about this particular mix of dogs, we will keep killing them in our shelters for lack of space... 

Here are the photos that prompted us to take in Ruby Lee as she lived on the streets and continued to grow pregnant... 

We REALLY need to start spaying and neutering our dogs UNLESS we are showing them as purebreds... There is absolutely NO other reason to keep a dog intact unless you want them to get various forms of cancer early and shorten their life... Intact dogs are hormonal-driven to mate and they will find a way to do so no matter what you do... Unwanted pregnancies are the #1 reason these females end up in the shelters... And also the #1 reason intact males go stray and are picked up by animal control... We proved it that intact dogs bark more and spayed/neutered dogs bark less... What more does anyone need to believe the facts and start changing the mindsets of all of us?

Ruby Lee is a goodwill ambassador of this breed mix and continues to prove that just because of what you look like or labeled, that is not a reason to be killed or die... 

I ask everyone to share this blog and that video of her with Molly in the hopes that one by one, we CAN change the minds of people who belive these dogs need to die... And at taxpayers' expense... Even if you don't have a dog, if you are a taxpayer, your tax monies are going to take care of the irresponsible dog owners that live in our communities... EVERYONE should be doing due diligence to educate those around us as to the plight of these unwanted, homeless animals which flood our shelters and rescues... 

I myself have a Pitty named "Momma" who comes to the rescue center every day and at night, sleeps with a 3-pounder named "Fiesty"... Momma has changed many minds and hearts about this breed (and saved a puppy who needed a blood transfusion)... People who care need to join together and stop not only the needless use of taxpayer funds to house and care for unwanted pets of others, but to spread the word that we ALL are responsible for what is going on in our communities as well as the incorrect reputation of the bully mixes... 

Spread the word, people!  Change some opinions and mindsets of those you know and love!

Linda
Director, TLC

P.S.  RubyLee's puppies at 2 weeks old are below:

Not for everyone....

Not everyone can do rescue volunteering... It takes a special kind of person with a LOT of heart and willingness to put in hard work, commitment to make a change in this ole world of ours and the ability to be dedicated to a cause when it might not be in the forefront of everyone's minds... 

We are not saving the world and fighting hunger - we are saving a dog's life, one dog at a time... 

But when you do get involved in volunteering with a good rescue, the rewards you get back far exceed what you put into it... I cannot tell you how many volunteers in the past years have told me they haven't saved dog lives... That TLC saved them instead... There is a lot behind that saying of "Who saved who?"...

It is not always easy to find your 'niche' in a rescue, but thankfully TLC is big enough now that we have lots to do and many different kinds of tasks... When I see folks like Jeri come in right after having eye surgery to help out at the front desk, you have to admire the kind of dedication and commitment these volunteers have to the cause of No-Kill in our county... 

And there is a LOT to learn, most of it is not pretty (poop can come in a wide variety of smells, sizes, shapes and consistency not pleasant for most folks) and it is not just 'holding puppies' or 'walking dogs'... It is not an easy passion to explain sometimes to your friends and family... There is a lot of day-to-day stuff that we may not like to do in our homes (washing dishes, doing laundry, mopping floors, etc.) that somehow feel SO much more rewarding when doing it to help save the life of a dog or puppy... 


And you will find yourself doing a lot of thinking as to why this dog ended up in the shelter (and uncovering any issues, then retraining them) or wondering why that dog has not yet been adopted...  

Here and there you will fall in love with one particular dog and may even choose to start fostering... Here is a picture of SallySue, who Lydia is fostering for TLC... This picture tickles me every time I see it... Probably the first time SallySue has ever seen herself full sized in a mirror before...  Lydia took on fostering SallySue because the intensity of the rescue center was too much for her older personality to handle... Lydia's schedule prohibits her from coming in and physically putting in the time at the rescue center, so she 'gives back' by fostering TLC dogs in her home, one dog at a time... 

This gives us valuable insight into the dog we've saved that we won't get easily - how they do in a home environment, if they are potty trained, how they get along with strangers and other dogs, etc.... ALL important pieces to finding the dog their own furever home... 

Although there is a lot of women in rescue, it is not a woman-only kind of thing... I have had male volunteers meet and fall in love with the woman of their dreams in TLC... There are some men who have the 'touch' to feel empathy and compassion for these creatures who deserve a 'do-over'... And guys?  It is EXTREMELY sexy for us women to see you guys have the heart to care and help a rescued dog!!!

Take Juan for example... He wandered into the rescue center one day and was so impressed with what we do, he asked if we needed volunteers... He know comes frequently to the center and always finds time to give back to those who need that little bit of extra TLC... Carlee is one of his special friends... She requires feeding by hand as she has cerebral hydroplasia... She's been adopted by one of our veteran volunteers, but we are Carlee's doggie day care... 

Carlee can make a mess of your smock without even trying when she eats (smile), but she is all heart... She has a wheelie at the center that she tools about in and a permanent crib... At 18 months, she is TLC's miracle baby and had been taken to the shelter at 4 weeks to be euthanized... They called us and we said we'd give it a go... Carlee had to be taught how to drink, eat, walk and just be a dog... She's a great example of what anyone can do if they just say no to killing healthy, adoptable dogs... 

Juan makes sure he's around to do feeding time with Carlee and every volunteer that sees these two together has their heart strings plucked each and every time... You have to have a ton of respect for a man that is willing to reach down and help a small creature that needs a hand, ya know?

These are the 'real men' in my opinion... And my husband has stood aside of me, behind me and in front of me in the past 18 years of our marriage - committed to what my passion is and how much I and we as a family give to stop the needless killing of these homeless, unwanted dogs that end up in shelters... 

Yep, it is not for everyone - that is for sure... Volunteering with a rescue is really for extra special folks that care and love what we do... We don't get paid for giving up our time, energy and heart, but boy, oh boy!  Are we ever repaid for all of it multi-fold when we see a saved rescue dog find their furever home and go wagging out the front door of the rescue center!  You can't BUY that kind of reward no matter how wealthy you are... 

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped in the cause of No-Kill in Ventura County and an extra special thank-you from my heart to the TLC volunteers... We are indeed the 'rescue with heart' as we are referred to frequently... Awesome guardian angels on this side of Heaven!

Linda

P.S.  In case you feel you have heart to give and are interested in volunteering, please do so at our website - http://www.tinylovingcanines.org  or via the volunteer application at https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?ap=1834666740