Meet Roxie!

Name: Roxie Patterson

How long have you been fostering? ~2 years

Why do you foster? I do not have a lot of money to donate at this time in my life so it is a perfect way for me to help a great cause!

Do you tend to foster any animal or breed? I like puppies! I also love any color, size, age and breed of cats/kittens!

Who was your favorite/most memorable foster pet and why? My first 3 kittens I bottle fed. I flunked as a foster with them and they are mine- Comet, Moon, and Star (see picture.) Moon developed pneumonia around 3 weeks and was a miracle survivor. At around 4 weeks, Star drank some spilled water that had artificial sweetner in it. An amazing vet treated and saved him on a Sunday over a holiday weekend. I had been through so much with them I couldn't give them up. They are around 2 1/2 years old now.

What have you learned by fostering? That you never can tell which animals will appeal to potential forever families. Sometimes the most unlikely mutt or black cat gets a home over fancier competition - I love it!

If you could tell the world one thing about animal welfare and rescue what would it be? That is is not easy but the rewards far outweigh the work...

Favorite quote/saying? It's a familiar one to many that I have changed to be my own with an "animal" addition--- "One hundred years from now, It will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, or how much money I had in the bank, but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in a child's and an animal's life." The author to original is unknown. I will be the author for this one!

My day as a volunteer for GHS

Day and the life of a volunteer/foster parent...........5:30 a.m. I get up to let the dogs out, my personal doggies out one door, the foster doggies out another (just in case someone does not want to get along, and you know I can't watch 6 or 7 dogs at one time). Ok they are in, breakfast for everyone. Carmen must eat- foster cat in the back bedroom who does not appreciate the animals in the house. Clean litter box. Is that the phone already? Oh no, I forgot to get husbands shirts from the cleaners, must iron him a shirt, of course one of us has to go to work!! Someone pooped on the floor, who did it this time? Hurry, shower, get ready for the dentist....phone again, there is a HOARDER in Riverdale 55 animals ~mental note get to dentist, find GPS to get to the animals that need help, put crates in car ..................skip lunch, gym AND breakfast, gag at the Dentist............Someone coming to pick up their new doggie at my house - make copies, check for poop, spray house in case there is an odor!! Mental note, MUST clean carpet.

Get home, meet my foster dogs new parents, visit, TRY to find foster homes for the animals we retrieved from the hoarder.

Dinner? What's that- send husband to the store for sandwiches AGAIN!! Break up fight between the new foster coming in and the one who thinks he lives here. Well worth it, see above for just a few of the doggies we saved from this terrible hoarder.

BED!!!!!
Don't litter, spay and neuter your critter.

1 Year Anniversary of GHS being in our lives

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the fateful trip to Petsmart where I saw Tootie the Chocolate Dachshund and fell in love at first sight. Meeting Tootie eventually led me to be a foster friend.

I’m Rollo, a senior chihuahua from public shelter. I loves my mommy and daddy. It used to be just the 3 of us. I spent lots of time with Mommy at college, so I very sad when Mommy got job and leaved every morning. All day I watch out the window for her and cry and sometimes have a ceaser (seizure).

That’s when I had a series of good ideas. First idea was to pay Mommy excellent salary to be stay at home Mom. This offer is still on the table, but no luck yet since the exchange rate for Rollodollars is not very good in the US. Next idea was for Daddy to grill me a big juicy steak every morning to cheer me up. Daddy said steak is not Rollo food. I says this is a common misconception. Well, finally I had an idea they appreciated. I said to buy me a friend!

We goed all around town looking for friend. Fulton County, Atlanta Pet, Atlanta Humane. But one day they taked me to buy toy and I saw Tootie with GHS at Petsmart. She was the shortest longest prettiest little dog I ever saw. I went up to that Tootie and licked her right on the face, and I hasn’t stopped since. Ever since I meeted my “Tootsie Roll,” I has best friend to snuggle and play with every day and night. I think everyone should have this kind of friend, especially if they’re like me and has epilepsy or anxiety problem.

Tootsie and I are inseparable. Every time I get back from vet, she so excited. If I go upstairs without her, she cry. When I was in hospital, she was so sad and moping around until I came back. I can’t imagine bedtime without Tootie making bed for 10 minutes, and can’t imagine potty time without her silly dance. But I might not have her If my mommy and daddy hadnt asked how old she was (they thought she was puppy), or hadn’t let me meet her, or hadn’t made a slightly higher one time donation than mine to get healthy, spayed, family-ready dog. We had our arms open to new family member, and she has brought love and fun to our family in ways we never knew possible

Mommy and Daddy loved me and Tooters so much that they decided to be foster family for other dogs. Now we has lots of cute friends all the time and gets to show other lonely dogs the joys of having a snuggle as we help them find a family. Since we has opened our little trio to other animals, our family has more love now than ever before. Mommy and Daddy are even getting married! I love all of the friends I have met but most of all of course I loves my Tooters. Happy anniversary, Tooterpants!

Love,

Rollo

Treating Parvovirus

Hopefully, most of you have never had the experience of treating a puppy, much less a litter of puppies for Parvo. It's devastating and exhausting with no way of knowing, who, if any will survive. They are in so much pain that they don't want you to even touch them but there is no way around it. First, you must inject them with antibiotics and anti-vomit meds. Next, you poke a huge needle under their skin in the back to give 100 CC's of fluids in order to prevent dehydration. The whole time they are screaming and fighting you.

This time I used a product called ToxiBan which is basically liquid charcoal that coats their intestines to help them heal. This is the nastiest stuff you have ever seen because they hate the taste so the are spitting it out the whole time you are squirting it in their mouth and you have to give them 30 cc's. I think it did help but it is not a fun treatment. After just a few minutes they start vomiting it back up so it gets everywhere. I know I've gone through at least 200 potty pads!!

We use Tamiflu a lot of times but you have to catch it really early otherwise the Tamiflu doesn't do what it needs to do.

It's really amazing that Mathilda actually survived because I didn't start her treatment until she was 3-4 days in and that's hard to fight back from. I'm sure it's why Bianka didn't survive because she was too far gone by the time I got her started. Poor little girl, I felt so helpless and could do anything or tell her why she was dying. So sad!!!

As you can see in this picture (besides the dirty baseboards!) Mathilda has ringworm on all of her feet and her tail. She already had a compromised immune system just from that and I'll start treating it as soon as I'm sure we are completely out of the woods with the Parvo.

The shame of it all is that vaccinations can be purchased on the internet for so cheap and that's all it take to keep them from getting the deadly disease. Of coarse, the main thing that would prevent it would be for people to have their pets spayed and neutered. There is no excuse for people to not do this. Atlanta has done a great job providing low cost spay/neuter and in some cases it's free. Lifeline Animal Project has two locations now, there is Spay Georgia that give low cost certificates, West Mobile Vet covers most of the southwest part of metro. No excuses are available anymore, except people are lazy and then want the tax payers and rescue organizations to fix what they allowed to happen.

We have made a video of the treatment of these three puppies and will post it on YouTube so people can see how it's done and why we must insist on puppy vaccinations until we can stop people from having unwanted litters.

Michelle

Herding dogs as pets

I'm a new foster home for Georgia Humane, but not new to rescue. For years I've owned and rescued various herding dogs. In the right family, herding dogs make great pets. You'll usually find that even herding dogs who have never been taught to herd anything will exhibit herding behavior. Your pet sheltie or cattle dog may nip at your heels. Your border collie or catahoula may use more eye contact and body language to try to get you to go in the direction he chooses.

Herding dogs are intelligent, active, highly trainable, and loyal. No dog should be left alone in a yard, and that goes double for herding dogs, who thrive on companionship and having a "job." Many people believe herding dogs need a lot of space and should live on a farm or acreage, but that isn't necessarily true. Their personalities vary, and as long as they're kept intellectually stimulated and get plenty of exercise, some can even live in apartments.

Some examples of herding dogs are Shetland sheepdogs, Australian shepherds, Australian cattle dogs, Catahoula leopard dogs, border collies, collies, and German shepherds. Because herding dogs are my special love, watch Georgia Humane Society's rescue list for more herding dogs in the future. Right now, Topher the Australian cattle dog is looking for his forever home; you can find him on Petfinder.

Quote

"I always get choked up when I think how if we had never "taken 1 more" or "inconvenienced"ourselves for a couple weeks some of these little lives would be completely different. That kitty was well on its way to a life like the poor kitties we saw tonight, covered in fleas and ticks and hoping for a little trash to eat. I'm glad he's safe and will always have a soft place to sleep and good food to eat!" -GHS Foster Mom Amy

This quote was in reference to a litter of kittens we took in even though all our foster homes were full. They arrived in a cardboard box taped shut and were very dehydrated. They are all so loving and sweet! Most have since found happy forever homes, but the two girls are patiently waiting. We received a note from the adopter of the big fluffy black one that really touched us, and Amy conveyed what most of us can't: each life is precious.

Lil Mama and Coalition to Unchain Dogs

Last Saturday, four GHS volunteers went to the first build in Atlanta for the Coalition to Unchain Dogs! The goals of the organization are to:

1. Building free fences for people who chain their dogs.
2. Educating the community about the detrimental effects of chaining on both the dog and the community.
3. Helping groups around the country to start free-fencing programs and to lobby for legislation to help chained dogs.
4. Lobbying for legislation which disallows or severely restricts tethering of dogs.

The fence was built in the back yard of a house just a few miles East of the city. The fence took about 3.5 hours to build, and we were lucky to have pros there from North Carolina who could explain to everyone just how to build a fence! Little Mama is a beautiful Pitbull around 3 years old who was rescued in Chicago from the owner's cousins home. T took Lil Mama with him when he moved to Atlanta, but has had to keep her tied to a tree as the landlord doesn't allow dogs in his apartment. The coalition built a huge fence for Mama to run freely and play so that she doesn't have to live the remainder of her days on a small lead. She's got plenty of shade, a big doghouse, and now she can be safely protected. Lil Mama was also spayed and vaccinated!

We are so excited to help this amazing organization! Thanks to Kate, Stacy, Michelle, and Mary for representing GHS! If you would like to get involved with this organization, please contact us or go to their website directly!

Vivianne!

Georgia Humane Society rescued little Vivianne from Meriwether Animal Control this past Friday. We think she has a flea allergy because she has lots and lots of bald spots. She is also itching like crazy. Just to be safe, our vet did a skin scrape to check for mange mites. It was negative. We went ahead and bathed her in a special medicated puppy shampoo and applied some flea/tick prevention. Hopefully her skin will start to heal and her hair will come back. I am thinking we have at least 3 or 4 weeks until she will be ready to be spayed and posted on Petfinder.com for adoption.

I am just thankful she is so sweet and good natured.

She is only 6 months old so I never expected her to be completly housebroken. She is doing really good though. Vivi always pees outside and ALWAYS poops in the bathroom. What more could I ask?!

-Amy (GHS foster mom)

My new friend, Suze

By the way, I'm Rollo the Hungry Chihuahua! Once upon a time, I was rescued from a shelter, and now I volunteers for the Humane Society. My friend Mary gived me this password so I can introduce you to some of my friends.

Suze the Husky ("Suzy")

Today, I got a big friend! Sometimes I is too scared to have a big friend, but Suze is the bestest Big Friend I has ever met! She is three years old and I thinks she might be a Husky mixed with German Shepherd. She is full grown but could stand to gain a few pounds. Daddy says that is why she gets a snack and I don't. I says that is body type discrimination. But Suze is so gentle and sweet to me that I loves her soooooo much. She licks me in the nose and on the head.

She does not go around fast inside or play rough. She is happy and friendly to everyone she meets. She is house-trained and spayed and vaccinated and loves to be in the car and go places. She also likes to take a nap on the cool floor.

I loves Suze, and I will be sad when she gets adopted so I can't follow her and lick her anymore, but I hopes more than anything that she will find good family. Suze didn't have such a good family before. She even has a mark on her neck from having chain too tight for too long. She will make a good Mommy or Daddy very, very happy one day soon. If you know of someone who would be good family for Suze, email chris@collinsdigital.com or leslie@collinsdigital.com.

Your Friend,
Rollo

Jonah and Laina!

Its been almost 6 weeks since Jonah and Laina have been in foster care. Both Jonah and Laina have been adopted by wonderful families and will be leaving to go with them soon. They are so sweet and adorable! They were so fun to foster and we will all miss them so much! They are very good with their potty training! They barley have any accidents. Jonah and Laina have gotten along so well with other animals. They play outside a lot and love playing with their toys. Although we will miss them so much, we are glad to hear that they have found their forever home!

Meet Lisa Ramig!

Below is an interview with one of Georgia Humane's amazing foster parents and volunteers. Lisa will do anything to save an animal, and has the patience and love to take the most physical or emotionally wounded animal and make them whole again.

Name: Lisa Ramig

How long have you been fostering? 2 Years in August, 2010 for GHS.

Who do your normally foster and why? Although my passion is senior dogs and of course Dachshunds – I have had many types and size dogs through my house, and a few kitties, too.

Who was your favorite/most memorable foster and why? 3 Dachshunds stand out: One female I had to fight with animal control to get her out – she was aggressive and they wanted to put her down without giving her a chance, she turned out to be a wonderful little girl. Of course, Tybee was very precious to me, and I hoped we would be able to save him. Lets NOT forget Pippi (see right), everyone thought she would be my new dog, terrible infections, no hair, wow, what a home she got and the progress she continues to make………..AND, I adore Tucker known to us as Poodle Doodle. Dumped at AC by horrible people because “he was old and had cataracts.”

What have you learned by fostering? It is our goal as a Humane Society and as human beings to eliminate unnecessary euthanasia and prevent pet overpopulation through spaying and neutering. If more people would step up to help in caring for these animals, we could save more!

If you could say one thing to the world, what would it be?

To convince people to rescue and adopt instead of buying or selling animals and to disavow the language and concept of animal ownership.

Lisa's Favorite Quote: “Don’t litter spay and neuter your critter.”

Emily with Attitude!

It's been a few weeks since I was able to get pictures of Emily but as you can see she has healed nicely and is totally full of herself. She has a get personality and loves to play with all of her foster friends, She also demands attention from her two legged friends. She's completely house trained and doesn't chew on anything unless it belongs to her. It's amazing what a little love and care can do to make a difference for a sick little starving puppy. Thank you Laura for having the heart to pick her up off the road and give her a chance at having a happy new life. Emily will be ready for her new home in a couple of weeks. We want to make sure she is fully healed before we do her spay and start her vaccinations. She's come a long way baby!!

My First "Pull"

Hi GHS Fans! I'm Mary. I've been volunteering with Georgia Humane Society for the past two years as the adoption center coordinator for their cats. They have been given a "cat room" in the Petsmart on Howell Mill Road. I started off volunteering at another group, but quickly found the dedicated and passionate people at Georgia Humane. I started off volunteering once a week, and soon found myself spending 20-25 hours a week working with their rescue cats and kittens up at the adoption center. Usually how it works is our foster parents "pull" animals to transport into foster homes. After the animals are vetted and happy, they are brought up to me in the adoption center. Saturday, I got to see first hand where the pets come from...Georgia's high kill animal shelters.

Yesterday morning I drove down from Atlanta and met Amy off exit 51 on I-85 just half an hour south of the city. She was taking me to Clayton and Fayette Animal Controls to look at dogs and cats that needed rescuing from "high-kill." That term refers to animal shelters that kill a ridiculously high number of pets that come through their doors due to various reasons: lack of money, resources, space, or even belief that there is a possibility other than death for these companion animals. I use the word "kill" instead of "euthanized" because euthanization by definition refers to animals that are suffering due to extreme untreatable illness. "Putting to sleep" of an adoptable animal is no more than killing. Georgia Humane specializes in rescuing from high kill shelters all over the state, targeting specifically the South and Western parts of Georgia, rehabiltating these animals and giving them lots of love, then placing them in forever homes.

As we drove, winding our way through back roads, I was not prepared for what I was about to see. We pulled up to Clayton County Animal Control where I found dogs covered and standing in their own feces and lacking in food and water. It was hard seeing all the abandoned and suffering dogs knowing that the chances of even a few of them making it out were extremely low. Clayton killed over 78% of their dogs in 2005. I saw puppies, adults, and seniors of every breed, size, and disposition just suffering behind closed doors. The environment was nauseating to say the least. The cats appeared better off, but I noticed over half the kennels were empty. It was puzzling that in 2005 Clayton County Animal Control killed over 90% of their incoming cats and now during kitten season they were seemingly lacking in cats and kittens. They weren't even being given a chance.

Amy has a few foster animals (temporary rescued pets waiting for forever homes) and needed a companion for her latest rescue cat. We pulled a very vocal teenage white long haired girl who looked like she had been through hell and back. As we got back in the car, I was a little shaken and we let our new rescue out of her kennel as she seemed very outgoing. She immediately started a conversation with us (I'd like to think she was venting about all that she had been through) and she gave us many affectionate chirps and head butts. I commented to Amy that all the employees were in the office, and we did not see a single person tending to the horrid conditions in the shelter.

We drove for about 20 minutes until we pulled up to Fayette County Animal Shelter. They are known for being very "rescue" friendly. I was bracing for more heart ache and indeed I did find it, but not exactly what I was expecting. The staff there were nice, the kennels were clean, and the animals all had food and water, but still there was a problem. All their kennels were full including the cat room, and without resources or rescue, the animals would have to be killed to make room for more animals. Again I saw animals of all breeds and ages, and again I thought about how in 2005 a third of the dogs and half of the cats that enetered their shelter were killed. The foster we were pulling kittens for only had room for 2-3 small kittens. We found two small kittens, between 4-5 weeks old, ridiculously underweight, and meowing at us. I looked around at all the cats and kittens, and wanted to take every single one. It was one of the hardest things ever to walk out of that room and leave so many cats and kittens in the balance of life and death. Amy thought one of our fosters had an opening for a smaller dog, so she took a little 5 year old Chihuahua whose time was up. I told myself we were making a difference for the lives of these three, but what about the rest? I was torn on the inside. If people really knew what shelters were like, would they be more responsible? Would they spay/neuter? Rescue? Would they allow for the 4-6 million cats and dogs be killed in this country every year?

I had always seen the pets after rehabilitation. As the coordinator for the cat adoption center, I see the cats when they are whole. By the time I get them, they are social, happy, healthy and ready for new homes. Having spent time in foster care, their emotional and physical wounds have healed. This was my first time really seeing broken, abandoned, hopeless animals marked for death and it's an absolute travesty that we treat helpless animals like pieces of trash.

Update: Jonah and Laina!

The puppies are almost 11 weeks old! It's hard to believe!! They are progressing nicely with their potty training. They are very energetic and loving. Every night they both get very tired and will fall asleep in your arms. They are getting bigger each day. Both Laina and Jonah get along great with other animals! They are both very curious! Yesterday night, we put the puppies in front of a mirror and they went crazy! When they saw their reflection, they thought it was another puppy. Jonah was barking at himself in the mirror. It was so cute!

Meet Our President!

Name: Michelle Humphries
Position: President/Founder

How did GHS get started? After Katrina I became aware that animals were being brought to Georgia from the states that were affected by the storm. They were literally killing animals in Georgia to make room for animals to come from other states. I thought to myself "what are they thinking?" So, I started networking with people from around the country via the internet and began transporting dogs to the northern states where the overpopulation problem is much less than in the south.

Why is it so important to work towards a no kill Georgia? It is morally wrong to kill animals for population control. We are lost as a human race if we don't stop destroying our planet and that includes the destruction of non-human animals for our convenience.

How many animals has GHS helped and in what ways? We have saved thousands of lives, through adoption, transport, spay/neuter and education. I don't have an exact number because we have set up transport programs that are still in existence and have not kept track of how many animals are transported each year through those programs.

What has been the most rewarding experience you have had? There's not just one.... what's most rewarding to me are the updates we receive from our adopters. To know we have given an animal that had been thrown away, a second chance is the most rewarding thing to me. It's the only thing that keeps me doing this day in and day out.

What has been one of the hardest experiences you have had? Documenting 300 dogs in a puppy mill that were living in the worst conditions you could ever imagine...

Do you have a favorite foster/rescue story? Alex the little Beagle/Terrier mix that I rescued from a vet clinic in December 2007. He had both forms of mange and had bleeding sores all over him. He was a mess! It took almost a year for him to recover but when he did he was adopted by a wonderful family and now has a happy life.

If you could tell the world one thing what would it be?
Stop killing non-human animals!

What can the general public do to help GHS and help save animals?
Donate and volunteer!!!

For more information on Michelle and the amazing work of GHS please click here.