Celebrate with us the adoption of Alfee, another success story at TLC... We believe in No-Kill, and that every healthy, adoptable dog deserves a second chance at a furever life... We make a point of saving one 'hard case' for every four dogs we save... And Alfee was a save when the medical ward at Ventura County Animal Services had gotten a bit too full to keep taking in more dogs needing extra medical care... This is how we found Alfee in the shelter as an owner surrender...
Besides needing a lot of grooming and bathing, Alfee had an enormous mass inside of his mouth that was pushing his lower jaw out of alignment with his upper jaw... That is NOT his tongue you see, but the mass inside of his mouth!... Can you imagine trying to eat with that inside?...
Surgery and expensive vet bills later, our vet declared the surgery a success, and for sure, Alfee felt MUCH better after it was all done! One of our TLC volunteers is a professional dog groomer and she comes in once a week and gives at least 8 hours of her talent to our dogs that need the full-on 'glam' treatment of grooming... Every TLC volunteer has different talents they bring to the table, and we appreciate each and every one of them... Once Desiree worked her creative magic, this is the new and beautiful Alfee!...
We discovered that Alfee could be a playful sort of chap despite his senior status...
And it is also our belief that we 'stop the clock and freeze time' for these dogs that take longer to find that extra special BFF of their own... We felt the right person would come along who would absolutely fall in love with Alfee like we did...
Alfee came a LONG way with just a bit of TLC, the desire to say, "No, we're not going to allow this dog to be killed on our watch"...
This week, six months after we saved his life, Alfee found his new BFF... Yes, we were all SO happy for him - another success story that is certainly deserved for this munchkin! Congratulations, Alfee!
Humans are not solitary creatures... While we do require a bit of our own personal space, we thrive best in community settings... Two thirds of Americans own a pet and do so because of the additional creature comforts they render to our lives... And so, by and large, our community here in Simi Valley has at least 60,000 pets if statistics ring true...
But it STILL takes a community to save a dog's life... Such is the case of Alfee, a sweet boy that recently ended up in Ventura County Animal Services' facility (VCAS) at Camarillo... Adopted as a pup, he was surrendered by the owner to them recently, not having a seen a vet in at least two to three years....
While I cannot speak for VCAS, I would imagine their budget would not allow for expensive surgeries like the one Alfee needed. He had a massive growth of tissue and bone that had grown up from his lower jaw and was displacing his teeth. I can only begin to imagine how uncomfortable this must have been to simply eat or drink:
Not adoptable, we choose to save Alfee's life, get him out of the shelter and somehow raise the funds to get his mouth squared away... However, it was just not TLC that accomplished giving Alfee a new lease on life - it was a community of humans that did this:
- VCAS for making the decision to not euthanize upon surrender by the owner
- Simi Valley Town Center for granting a location to TLC to run Ventura County's only full time rescue shop
- Dr. Amsel and the Simi Valley Spay & Neuter Clinic for consultation and Xrays
- Dr. Betty and Dr. Koss of Caring Hands, who offered a discounted cost to TLC for the surgery
- TLC volunteer Kathryn, who did all the necessary pre-op visits and blood work
- TLC volunteer Jerri, who offered her home as a temporary foster while Alfee recovered from his massive surgery
- A few Simi Valley residents who heard of Alfee's plight and the need to raise the needed $600 to have the surgery (a special thank-you to the three residents who donated towards his surgery! ♥).
- While we did not raise the majority of Alfee's surgery costs, TLC did not stop in our commitment to give Alfee a quality of life he deserved.
So, no... It is not just one person or organization that takes a dog with little chances of having a quality life, but a multitude of folks in our community that make this happen. Yes, it is just one dog and his life, but it is a great example of what CAN be done if we all just pull together and make it happen!
Alfee is a sweetheart and GREAT dog - he deserved better than he got from his previous owner. Alfee gets along with everyone, and has been such a patient fellow - from 4 hours to initially demat and clean him up by the TLC volunteers upon his arrival - to undergoing painful surgery without any fussing - to the 2 hours to be professionally groomed after he recovered and ready for his 'glamor shots'.... And onto finding his furever home now...
I am reminded of the quote "Mr. DeMille, I am ready for my photos now!" (or something like that)... Allow me to present the new Alfee!
Thank you to one and all who made this happen for Alfee!
Sincerely,
Linda
Director, TLC
A few weeks ago I was driving through a fast food joint and the gal at the window taking my money gave me a second look and said, "I know you... you work at the rescue shop in the mall"... To which I replied, "Well, I don't work there. I am a volunteer, but yes, you've probably seen me there... I'm the Director."...
Expecting the next 'usual' question or comment ("I have a dog I am trying to get rid of" ~or~ "What kind of dogs do you have? I'm looking for a...."), I was absolutely 'gobsmacked' as my British friend would say!.... The response to my statement?
"What do you do with all that money you make?"
HUH??? Double HUH, as a matter of fact...
First of all, I don't make a salary - in fact, none of the five members of the TLC Board of Directors make a salary... And what donations we do get (and NEVER enough) go directly towards saving dogs' lives, providing for their care, keeping the electricity on at the rescue shop ($1200 to $1800 a month), cleaning supplies, etc... This doesn't even include the enormous vet bills we incur because TLC does NOT walk away from the hard cases...
But perceptions are reality for the general public... And I have begun to think we should create an album of the hard cases we have taken in and gotten healthy, then found furever homes for... We don't kill or ignore the older, sickly or behaviorially undersocialized dogs that end up on kill lists because the general public won't adopt them or other rescues pass them by...
Four days ago, we took on Alfee, a very sweet and nice Lhasa who is about 10 years old... Lhasas have an average lifespan of about 15 years but many have lived on to be 20 years or older... So to put this in perspective to a human, at 25 pounds, Alfee is about 35 years old in human terms...
Originally adopted as a pup from Ventura County Animal Services in 2005, he was surrendered back to them in March of 2014...
We do not know the circumstances surrounding his surrender, but I can only believe the owner must have loved them deeply because Alfee is VERY well socialized - likes everyone and is good with everyone - humans, kids, other dogs, etc...
The only thing I can fault the previous owner for is that Alfee was matted, matted, matted... sigh...
Maybe the owner fell on hard times because Alfee has not seen a vet in 2-3 years... And I want to believe that the owner just could not afford to have the tumor on his lower jaw removed...
======= NOTICE : GRAPHIC PHOTOS FOLLOWING ========
But when I learned of Alfee being back at Camarillo with this medical issue, I could not just ignore him and pass him over... This is just NOT what we do at TLC... We will never get out of the 'red' at TLC and into the 'black', but what do you do? Leave a great, friendly dog with a lot of living left to do just die because of a human's circumstances and/or decisions?... That's just not 'doing the next best right thing'...
So, Alfee came to TLC and then onto our vet for an evaluation... His blood work came back PERFECT and he is in great health according to our vet...
Now to raise the money to get this tumor removed and sent off for evaluation... We have a foster willing to take care of Alfee as he recovers for two weeks after surgery... And we are sure he will cause someone to fall deeply in love with him - he is already as sweet as honey butter, so can you imagine what he will be like once he can eat properly and is not longer in pain?
If you'd like to donate to Alfee's surgery, you can do so at our donations page online... If you'd like to say some prayers for him, the surgery will be done on Tuesday (March 26th) if everything goes as planned...
So, I say to the lady slinging burgers, "THIS is where the big bucks go!"
