If you adopted a puppy from us at TLC, these photos might be hard to look at... But on Giving Tuesday, we thought you might like to see where it begins and why we work so hard throughout the year in TLC... 

Dedicated to No-Kill in Ventura County, we pull from Ventura County Animal Services (VCAS) and fill every available foster slot we have... A dog gets adopted?... We go right back in and save another dog's life... If they have a pregnant mom or mom with pups, we always take them despite the difficulty and much greater expense to save this kind of rescue...

But we also have a commitment with another shelter that if we have room,  and they have a pregnant female or a nursing mom with pups, we will do our best to save both the mom and pups... We do not pull dogs older than 6 months from this shelter, always giving priority first to VCAS in an effort to support No-Kill in our county... From this shelter, my dear Momma came almost 4 years ago and I could not have asked for a better dog... She too came VERY pregnant to us and delivered 9 pups in my home office shortly after arriving into our hands... 

If you adopted a puppy from us in the past four years, it is very likely it came from Delano, the same shelter we got Momma from... 

Footnote: The mindset in the humane community is to spay and neuter, and if the mom is pregnant to spay/abort the puppies... TLC has never believed in this practice... We have also felt that if we had spayed/neutered puppies available for adoption, the general public is more likely to adopt instead of going to the Internet or to a backyard breeder to buy an intact puppy...  As all of our puppies are spayed or neutered prior to adoption, we know our puppies are not contributing to the epidemic of homeless, unwanted pets flooding into shelter by unwanted pregnancies... 

I am not saying our way of thinking is common and/or the norm... Most rescues do not want to take in pregnant moms or moms with nursing litters... They usually take the puppies and leave the mom behind... 

The mortality rate of the puppies is high because the mom might have gotten pregnant in poor health, and may not have good nutritional standards while being pregnant... Litters of puppies are fragile and it takes a great deal of care to insure all of them will make it... 

But when you see (as we have for the past 3-4 years), where these moms are coming from and the dire circumstances they are in, it is very hard for us in TLC to say "No" when asked by this shelter to save a mom and her pups... 

If a mom comes into this shelter and she's pregnant, she's going to be in an open kennel run with other dogs... 

This is the high desert and it gets COLD at night... With limited funds and virtually no walk-in traffic, these dogs have a hard time getting adopted, but a pregnant mom?... It is highly likely she is going to have to deliver her pups in an open kennel run -- then attempt to keep them warm and fed under some almost impossible situations... 

So this is where your donations go when you donate to TLC... We save these moms with their pups, give them warm, dry, loving homes to grow up in and with good nutritional needs being met.... When they are old enough, we start their puppy shots and at 8 weeks, we spay or neuter both mom and the pups... 

These moms are not delivering in a puddle of water or having to protect their pups from other dogs walking about, thanks to your support of our efforts in TLC... We, as a small rescue without taxpayer dollars cannot afford to do this kind of rescue without the community's support and donations... Last year's vet bills were over $100,000 and we are always behind the eight ball, trying to do a lot with very little...

So on this Giving Tuesday, we ask you to dig deep and donate to TLC so we can continue the kind of rescue work we do... 

Donations can be done online at our website - http://www.tinylovingcanines.org/donate.html

or you can donate through our Wall of Love on our Facebook page.

With your help, you insure puppies survive, thrive and find their own furever homes!  Thank you!

Linda, Director, TLC

This week...

From November 6th until November 12th, it is National Shelter and Rescue Appreciation Week... I know with election day tomorrow, this has probably fallen off everyone's radar but I wanted to bring this back to everyone's attention... Maybe later this week once the election is over with, you will read this blog and think about it...

I can speak for no one by myself, and not even for the TLC volunteers personally, but I know rescue for me is year round, every day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks of the year... I don't do it for an 'atta girl' or even public recognition... The TLC volunteers will tell you that I shy away from publicity, in fact... 

But should anyone ask me (or not~!!), I will always say that TLC has the BEST volunteers in Ventura County... 

They come together, work HARD and do it without any thought of a thank-you beyond a wet puppy kiss or knowing that today they saved the life of an abandoned or homeless shelter dog... 

"Big Joe" - R.I.P. 10/20/12

Some are gone now, but not forgotten and were instrumental in keeping the TLC rescue train rolling right along through thick and thin... As a rescue that has been knocked to its knees several times in seven years because of obstacles and hurdles, we brush ourselves off and get back into the race of saving canine lives...

TLC has taken on many hard cases or moms with pups or pregnant while other rescues have passed on the hard work involved in doing rescue of this nature... We see our pups all grown up at the dog park or we run into one at a local pet shop... And the 'thank-you' is seeing them healthy and happy, with a home and very much loved... 

One of the most heart-felt and emotional times I have had in the past seven plus years is someone in the general public came into the first rescue shop with an envelope of Starbucks gift certificates... They told me, "I know the dogs and puppies always need help, but I just wanted to say a personal thank-you to you and your volunteers for doing what you do...."  Almost brought me to my knees emotionally inside and I was really at a loss for words...

For as a rescue (and I am sure the shelter folks get the same thing), you can successfully place 500 dogs but the thing you will hear the most about is the one dog that did not place well or was not 'perfect'... 

For most of us in rescue (the majority is always female), we spend our days elbow-up in poop, laundry, in sinks bathing or washing something! and drag our spouses into our 'passion' whether they are wanting to be involved or not... It seems (at least to me), that the laundry never ever stops... 

Rough laundry day at TLC - real photo!

And you are forever trying to figure out how you are going to pay this vet bill or save that dog, somehow, some way... 

And for those that are not fostering, they can be just as busy behind the scenes - seldom recognized for their contribution to the saving of shelter animal lives... Be it the photographers taking 300 photos to get just one great one... The folks behind the scenes picking up supplies or keeping the paperwork parade running smooth and trouble free... Or the transporter who just put 200 miles on their vehicle this week, driving to save lives... 

These are all folks who go about their lives making a difference in their community... And at this time of the year, I wanted to personally say a BIG thank-you to the TLC volunteers, the staff of Ventura County Animal Services and to the other community residents who get behind and support those of us who do rescue as a passion and commitment!

Sincerely,
Linda Nelson
Director, TLC


P.S. Most of these TLC volunteers are still with us... Some as long as almost 7 years ago... That says a lot about their commitment to the cause of No-Kill!