Christmas Eve musings....

While much of the world is still rushing around trying to do their last bit of Christmas shopping, at the rescue shop we have been busy with last minute adoptions today...  And there is always that air of anticipation on the small children's faces 'cause they KNOW who comes tonight... The day was always the LONGEST day for me as a kid... And worrying if I'd really been as good this year as I had told Santa!

I am sure that TLC made it onto Santa's 'nice' list... As of December 24th, we adopted 29 dogs and puppies this month alone, but we went back into the shelters and saved another 24... This year, the TLC volunteers have exceeded last year's numbers by 24 lives... So it seems fitting to blog about this on the 24th day of the month... 

With that mom and her two pups saved on Sunday, TLC has now saved a total of 2,059 canine lives, plus one kitten... And we do this one day at a time, one dog at a time... 

We have had some saddest this year when we did all that we could but we could not save a shelter animal's life... Some still weigh heavily on our hearts like Marvin, LoveBug, Pixie and little Atom2... But none died unloved or cared for... 

As the end of the year winds down and we look forward to 2015, we are reminded that next year's fate of TLC hangs in limbo... 

With Simi Valley Town Center in the midst of redevelopment and remodeling, the rescue shop will be forced to relocate --- which is expensive and not something we have in our bank account to do... 

Should we be able to acquire enough funding to relocate, we have a dream of a much larger footprint - not to expand the size of TLC but to create a rescue center versus shop... Where ALL rescues saving Ventura County animals can come and showcase their saved animals... Be it a cat, a dog, a bird - just a homeless Ventura County animal... 

We envision a rescue center that allows space for owners rehoming their animals to come and meet prospective adopters in the hopes their pets don't become homeless and end up in the shelter system as well... 

We need the space to hold free workshops on pet retention, training, resocialization classes and senior citizen/canine citizen therapy sessions... Space to hold low cost shots clinics and microchipping... Space to stage multiple-rescue transports... 

And all of this will cost money... Money to buy an industrial washer and dryer second-hand, get it plumbed out and hooked up... Money to install an air purification system on the roof so we can limit the smell we battle so greatly against... Building out a new location is going to be expensive as well - just moving all of the current fixtures alone is going to be back breaking as well as costly... We anticipate the costs to be between $20K and $25K to do all of this... 

So at the end of 2014, we come to the community with proof of what we have done the past five years and ask for financial support to continue the cause of No-Kill in Ventura County - not just for TLC but for all rescues that can unite to create an even greater change... Your donations are tax deductible and will be used to create a legacy of the No-Kill movement here in Simi Valley for this generation and the next one forth!

Everyone deserves a furever home....

At this time of the year, us rescue folks get a bit sad... Right before the holidays, the general folks start dumping their senior pets into the shelter systems... And right after Christmas, the puppies that were given as gifts start flowing in... sigh... So I want to share a beautiful story with you that made all of us at TLC a bit emotional... Especially at this time of the year... 

In the summer of 2010, I pulled a 10-year old black Tricolor Chihuahua male out of one of the local shelters... 

Many of the other rescues look at me like I've slid off my cracker because I just don't believe old timers should have to die... If they are healthy, they deserve a second chance just as much as any other dog that has been abandoned... 

We named him "CookieBear" and he became my husband's best bud quickly - watching sports on TV with their eyes closed... Hanging out in the family room on the couch... Sunbathing in the back yard... CookieBear got along with the other fosters and unless you woke him up from a sound sleep, he was not a problem to foster... 

Right after we pulled him out of the shelter, my husband noticed a lump at the back of his neck... Off to the vets we went and there was a mass exploding underneath the rabies injection site...

Not common but according to Dr. Novy, life threatening... We had no choice - he had to have surgery and that mass removed ASAP... 

And through no fault of his own, he was an older dog, homeless and now an expensive $620 surgery later, the rescue is deeply 'in the red' to get him healthy again...  Plus he's a blackish dog and is going to be one of the last to get adopted because of the Black Dog Syndrome... 

I bring this topic up because many of the general public believe rescues get huge discounts and make money doing what we do... 

Facts are, we are NEVER 'in the black' (and especially if you are doing rescue the right way)...

TLC's mission statement is that 'We will do whatever it takes within our means to save the life of a dog unless it is illegal or immoral' and we consistently take one hard case for every four dogs we save... 

Once we got CookieBear healthy, we brought him to every mobile adoption, but there never was a lot of interest in him... He got along fine with the other dogs and didn't mark in the house, learned the doggie door immediately and really?... He was an easy dog to foster... Sometimes the very most you need is a warm bed and decent food - you would be amazed how easy it is to fall in love and adopt a senior dog - they are my absolute favorites (and I do a LOT of fostering of pregnant moms and puppies)... 

We tried all kinds of different ways to improve CookieBear's 'curbside appeal'... We'd dress him up, take different photos of him, talk to potential adopters... 

People would hear his age and immediately move onto another dog... We'd scratch our head and wonder why he was still with us... 

With people's lives being so busy, and folks surrendering dogs that were high maintenance or with behavior problems, we just couldn't understand why CookieBear wasn't getting adopted... 

So CookieBear continued to be my foster and each week, we'd go to adoptions and I'd bring him back home for another week... He'd curl up with my husband on the couch and continue to be a bud, watching TV with his eyes closed... 

One night, another foster decided to pick a fight over a specific place on the couch and CookieBear got the worst of it... 

One of those late night flights to the vets, but again - we had no choice - CookieBear's eye looked horrible... There goes another vet bill... sigh.... He's now a $1,000 eleven-year old black dog with no prospects... 

But you know?  Here's the thing... If we humans gave up on every 40-year old human and said they had no right to live, what kind of a society would we be, ya know?  The smaller the dog, the longer the lifespan... 

So an 11-year old Chi mix is about the same age as a 40-year old human... Still young, vibrant and full of life... Could you just imagine if we started discarding 40-year old humans like yesterday's newspapers?

CookieBear stayed in the TLC rescue for 653 days - he is our record as a matter of fact... 

It is what you do... You just don't give up on a dog unless their quality of life is not what it should be... That is what No-Kill is all about... 

And in April of 2012, CookieBear got the million dollar lottery ticket... Two very nice folks drove in from Los Angeles to meet CookieBear in person... and went home with him that day!  He could not have a better home and we stopped the clock from ticking - giving him enough time to find the folks who would love him to infinity and beyond... I mean, how great is that?  

CookieBear's furparents continue to use one of the TLC volunteers to pet sit for them when they have to go out of town because they don't want to kennel him... And the TLC volunteer just sent me a photo of CookieBear at her house... Beautiful, healthy and VERY MUCH loved...  

Merry Christmas, CookieBear!  We know you got all of your Santa wishes answered in 2012 by having such great folks adopt you and love you just as you are!

P.S. Get out there adopt the older dogs, folks... They all have an attitude for gratitude because they KNOW how bad things CAN be and recognize when they find a GREAT furever home!

9 Precious lives - No-Kill style

Eight beautiful puppies have their very lives today on this Thanksgiving Day due to the commitment to No-Kill in our county... 

According to California law, no intact animal can be adopted out to the general public unless they are spayed or neutered... And accordingly, any shelter has the LEGAL right under California laws to euthanize a pregnant mom who comes into their facility or a nursing mom with pups...  Folks believe that 'puppies will always get adopted - let's just take them into the pound and they'll find a home' (also the basis for their justification as to why their female is not spayed)... 

Facts are, our shelter systems were not built out to house the huge amount of incoming animals - nor do we fund the shelter systems to take on these kinds of animals... And raising a litter from birth to 8 weeks is a time-consuming, energy-depleting and expensive undertaking - something the shelters are not equipped to do... 

So today on this Thanksgiving Day, let us all give thanks to the employees of Ventura County Animal Services (VCAS) who made the commitment to No-Kill in the summer of 2012... By committing themselves to this mindset, you do whatever it takes to save the life of an animal... And in VCAS' case, they immediately alert their rescue partners as to the arrival of a pregnant mom into their facility... 

Today, Noelle (now renamed "Molly" by her foster mom) gave birth to eight beautiful little German Pinscher pups... So beyond just these lives, the commitment to No-Kill also saved Molly's life... It is a lot to be thankful for indeed!

People ask me why we work so hard to save the old, sick, preggers, etc. but also another fact of human nature is that everyone does love puppies... Not everyone is really prepared for the amount of extreme effort and expense that goes into a puppy's first year... But there are some folks that will go shop the Internet and buy a puppymill puppy if they cannot adopt one... Or they will buy a puppy out of the back of a person's car in a parking lot... 

We, at TLC, believe if we can invest the 8 weeks, the time, the energy and the love into these moms and their pups, we can stem the tide of people buying puppymill puppies shipped into our state from the 11 puppymill states... Where breeding for greed is a profitable business regardless of the horrific health and conditions these dogs live in, breed in and suffer through until they are no longer producing anything profitable.

There are some folks who will come in to adopt a pup, realize how much work it will be and in turn, adopt an older pup or adult, glad to be beyond the puppy chewing and pooping stage... And we in turn, go out and pull another dog from our shelter, saving their life... 

Molly did not have her litter in a cold cage where legally she just had to be able to stand up and lay down in (legal puppymill regulations)... Instead, she gave birth this morning in her foster mom's office and willingly laid with her pups, keeping them warm and loving them like a canine mom should be able to... 

This is how we SHOULD be conducting ourselves as a humane society... Not killing healthy, adoptable animals, but putting the brakes on the puppymill puppies and the sale of puppymill puppies in pet shops not only here in Ventura County, but around this country... Home grown and loved with TLC... 

No-Kill is not a sprint but a marathon with ALL of us doing our part... 

Just SAY NO TO PUPPYMILL PUPPIES

Say YES to adopting locally

Rescue Juice - Garth!

We LOVE to include the successful adoption stories - it is what we TLC volunteers call the 'rescue juice'... It's the stuff that keeps us going when things get really tough or hard, and we question why we are still trying to stem the tide of killing adoptable dogs... 

So here is your rescue juice dose of the day from one of adoptions recently:

Garth with his new BFF, Norma!

"Here is a picture of Garth with his new and exclusive human, my 93 year old mother, Norma.  (I'm on the right with my 15 year old doxie, Doodlebug). 

"Garth immediately attached to mom and adopted Doodlebug as his BFF.  He allowed me to clip him, removing the goatee and trimming all but his legs, ears, eyebrows and handsome mustache.  

"Norma has always had a dog during her life.  Garth is the FIRST to be allowed to sleep on her bed!  

"Garth has trimmed down and muscled up - loves racing around full speed.  He now lives on a ranch property, so he can race at will and not be endangered by cars, bicycles or whatever.  

"Thanks to TLC for the perfect addition to our family!

Musings from a rescue director....

Last night, I laid in my bed with my cuddler, Momma... She's a good cuddler and she'll even cuddle with an OMG Chihuahua.........!

There is something very relaxing about this nightly ritual... Gives me time to rethink my day and then think about what I need to get done tomorrow, the next day, etc... I'm sure some therapist could have a field day with this ritual... Momma stretches when you stop petting her or scratching... And it nudges you to start again - especially if you are deep in thought about things from the day... 

I digress... Last night, I was thinking about where I have been, where I am right now and where I want to be in the future... When I reflect back on some of my past work, I can get myself overwhelmed 'cause I never expected to accomplish some of the things I have... And as I journeyed around the mental hallways of my mind, I thought just how downright happy I am in SO many ways... 

I'm not wealthy... We are like most folks - we struggle every month... And with running a nonprofit small dog rescue for the past almost six years, even when there is a bit extra in our bank account, I can usually feel that a dog needs this or that much more than I personally need a few extra dollars... I know a few people who I consider 'wealthy' and sometimes?... I'm not so sure they are ever really, really happy... 

Yesterday, our rescue took in four 4-week old pups that had been thrown into the garbage (really)... The pups are now safe, clean and will go on to live furever lives... I thought about that person's soul who felt it was 'OK' to throw four lives away like that... What kind of home life did they have growing up to treat life so casually like that?... You can throw out yesterday's newspaper (actually, recycle it), but you just don't throw away life/living into the garbage... If you do, there is something wrong with you... And I felt sad as I thought about that person, but happy that when I had tough decisions to make in my lifetime, the majority of them were good ones... 

I had been contacted by someone wanting to surrender their dog 'because we are moving and the new place does not allow dogs'... And as I thought about that email last night, I was reminded of a conversation that I had had with one of my volunteers... 

She and her husband always favored BIG dogs and rented... And although she admitted it was not always easy to find someplace to rent that would allow her to have her furbabies, she always did... As I thought through this aspect last night, I thought to myself how many folks I interact with that have my highest respect for their level of integrity and for doing the next best right thing instead of taking the easy way out... 

My mother used to always say that saying - "Tell me the kinds of friends you have and I'll tell you the kind of person you've become"... And it is true - if you surround yourself with people of integrity and those you truly respect, life is just SO good and grand... If you can push out the negative people and energy, life is just so much easier to live each day... Last night I could not think of one person in my life (that I am close to and consider a friend) that I am not proud of, respect and consider a positive force in my life... I mean, just how cool is that?...

Maybe it is just being able to cuddle with a rescued dog that was set to die because her owner did not spay her and she was pregnant that can spawn happiness as I drifted into sleep... 

Maybe the positive force of saving a dog's life is such that it can bring you real happiness as you reflect upon the day's problems, solutions and joys... 

This is REALLY something to consider when you next look for happiness and are trying to decide if you yourself are really happy, ya know?

Needs a guardian angel...............

We were contacted about this dog because of our past work with this breed, but this is just not a dog we can take on right now for a number of reasons.  I will share his story and photos in the hopes someone has the knowledge and heart to save this boy.

According to officials with Riverside County Animal Services, the black and white male Labrador-shepherd mix was found roaming as a stray in the Sky Valley area on Thursday, September 19th. A concerned resident reported the strange sight and two officers showed up to assist the pooch.

The officers saw the dog's head was stuck inside a large, cylindrical plastic jug. You may have seen a similar container at the grocery store filled with snack items like pretzels or cheese balls.

"Plastic containers, especially ones that used to have food in them, are curiosity magnets for critters," said Riverside County Animal Services Commander Rita Gutierrez. "This is another major reason why people shouldn't litter, and of course, why people shouldn't let their pets roam freely."

Lt. Luis Rosa and Officer Gerald Duchene cuaght up with the dog along Lyons Boulevard. According to the release, Lt. Rosa was forced to use a tranquilizer dart because the dog would scurry away every time they would approach him. Once he was sedated, officers were able to safely remove the jug from his head.

Veterinarians at the Coachella Valley Animal Hospital in Thousand Palms examined the dog and he appeared healthy, despite having his head stuck in a plastic jug in temperatures that reached 105 degrees. Animal Control said he wouldn't have lasted much longer in the heat, and obviously wouldn't have been able to eat or drink anything if they weren't alerted to the situation.

"We do not know how long he had that thing on his head, but it couldn't have been a comfortable situation in this terrible heat," Lt. Rosa said. "We were very happy to be able to help him out of a jam."

Commander Rita Gutierrez said she once had to pull a child's toy teapot off a skunk's head. "Not only is littering terrible for the environment, but our pets and wildlife get curious and sometimes that curiosity can lead to serious injuries, or even death, all because of the trash people discard.


According to officials with the Coachella Valley Animal Campus, he is extremely fearful and needs a experienced rescue or dog owner.  


This boy is at the Coachella Riverside shelter - RCDAS.ORG 

His impound number is A1142708 and he can be found online HERE.  Their phone number is (760) 343-3644.  Address is 72050 Petland Place, Thousand Palms, CA.
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According to a fellow rescuer, this dog is back in isolation again because he is so fearful.  The shelter staff have been working with him, but he really needs a miracle (or a guardian angel).  

$1,500+ Chihuahua

Wanna meet a $1,500+ Chihuahua?  And yes, you could own (i.e. adopt) one without being Paris Hilton!

Meet Barnie... He's a cute little munchkin of about 4 pounds... Just as cute as cute can be... Isn't he just darling?

That's what we thought too when we pulled him out of Camarillo about 10 days ago... 

Barnie looked like he needed to gain a few ounces, was a tad bit grumpy, but otherwise a highly adoptable little Chi that folks go for... Probably a purebred from his conformation and picked up as a stray from Oxnard, he was just not reclaimed by his owners... 

Holding him, we knew we'd need to get him neutered, micro-chipped, etc... Just part of what we do normally as a rescue... Back at the rescue shop, he arrived and promptly threw-up... Then trying to poop, we noticed a huge mass underneath his skin at his bum while he strained and strained to no avail... 

One of volunteer vet techs came in and looked at him... "Linda, this dog has to be seen by a vet - NOW".... So off to Conejo Valley Animal Hospital we went and they were gracious enough to get Barnie in as an emergency case... 

Upon being examined, blood tests, the vet thought we were looking at immediate surgery, but for the night, she got him comfortable...   $356.70 ...  

Three hours later, Barnie leaves with us halfway stoned out of his mind (the pain in his rear end was that severe)...  

And off to another volunteer's home (Nurse Kathryn) who agreed to overnight him, then off to see our vet at Caring Hands the next morning... 

Unable to do a lot with Barnie awake and in such great pain, Dr. Betty did the best she could until he was given a sedative... The decision was then reached to do anesthesia and exploratory examination... She felt that we were dealing with compacted fecal matter in his lower intestine... In the meantime, Barnie lost his very bad teeth in the mouth - it is all nice and healthy now and comes with a cute pink tongue that hangs to one side for the camera (free of charge!)... $325.01 ...

So here Barnie is, still seeing purple elephants from that surgical procedure... Noticed the glazed look in his eyes?... Still cute as cute can be, huh?

Final diagnosis was that Bernie's hernie needed to be repaired... A long surgery, Dr. Koss undertook it on Tuesday, September 23rd... Five days after getting his mouth squared away from all of the rotten teeth... Now his mouth is still sore, he can't strain to poop and his bum is just as sore as sore can be... $613.12...

Poor little guy... 

He's probably had this condition all of his life and Nurse Kathryn has been diligently taking him back and forth to Caring Hands as needed during his recovery period of time... 

But because of the stitches and repairing the intestine (plus being neutered), this little guy should be as grumpy as grumpy can be - he's not, surprisingly so... His recovery period will be two weeks and he is making great progress... 

He's got a great nurse, for sure... 

And that hair will grow back in and the bum will not be nearly as swollen as it was right after surgery... Facts are, Barnie's tail was facing one way and his bum was facing another... Can you imagine how much pain this little one has been in probably all his life?

But just as important is that we don't walk away from the medically hard case, even if we don't know them going on... You don't see that in an adoption donation when you adopt... We don't put a price tag on the dog because of what we have invested in them... 

Barnie's vet bills and after care is just about over $1,500 now and it has bought him a healthy life and vet care he should have had LONG ago that the previous owner did not give him... The $200 tax deductible adoption donation won't even come close to what was needed to get him healthy and ready to be adopted... But that is what we do, and where your donations go... 

He will be coming up shortly for adoption, and we want to make sure the right person adopts Barnie 'cause he's extra special and very much loved... Are you the right person to adopt Barnie?  If so, please fill out an adoption application at our website!

If you would like to donate towards Barnie's medical bills, you can do that on our website as well HERE... We can always use donations and they go right out on the next dog's life we are trying to save!

Barnie sends you his love and thanks the TLC volunteers and nurses who have seen him through this difficult part of his life!