Meet Laura!

People often ask us what it means to be a foster based rescue. Basically, our rescues live in volunteer's homes until they are adopted. This means that the cats and dogs go from the stressors of being abandoned or neglected to a stable home environment. They get used to home life, kids, cats, dogs, and learn basic obedience as well as house/crate training. When they are adopted, they are already used to being in a home!

We're lucky enough to have some great volunteers and foster parents. We can't say thank you to them enough, and we love showing them off to all our fans! Today our spotlight falls on Laura who is an avid rescuer and mother of two! Laura owns Baby Steps which helps women and families through pregnancy and birth. In her spare time, she volunteers with us by fostering dogs rescued from high kill shelters. Her two daughters, Maddie and Grace, are our youngest volunteers who make sure their foster dogs are knowledgeable on how to play and cuddle!

Name: Laura Fields
Location: Powder Springs, GA

How long have you been fostering? My husband, Chad, and I started fostering when we bought our house in 2001. We took a break for a couple of years when we had our daughters (fostering only the random stray, which happened a few times), and started back last year with Georgia Humane Society.

Why do you foster? I foster because I can't stand not to. I have a great fenced yard, a dog who loves to play with other dogs, and kids who really enjoy fostering. I look at the shelter websites with pictures of all the dogs who will probably be put to sleep because nobody wants them, and I just can't NOT foster at least one of them.

Do you tend to foster any animal or breed? I started out fostering shelties, broadened my focus to herding dogs in general, then narrowed it again to Catahoula Leopard Dogs. I still have a very hard time turning away any Catahoula, but since I've been back in rescue I've just been wandering the local shelter with my girls whenever we have foster space. Then we choose a dog together that we all connect with.

Who was your favorite/most memorable foster pet and why? There have been so many, and for different reasons, it's hard to narrow down. My 2nd foster ever was Rusty, a sheltie. I was so in love with him, that I almost decided to keep him and stop fostering. He ended up in a really perfect home, but he was by far the hardest to let go. It was with him that I learned how to love them then let them leave so I could rescue another. We lost one foster to heartworm treatment, and another to cancer. The ones who don't make it always stay with you. Sometimes the new owners stay in touch, and being able to see into your foster dog's new life keeps the bond going. The best example of this for me is my Australian Cattle Dog foster from last year, Topher. His adoption felt fated it was so perfect, and he's well on his way to being a therapy dog. There's nothing better than combining helping dogs with helping people!

What have you learned by fostering? I've learned that love really can change everything. I've had dogs who have been through hell, who had been abused or neglected, but who still had it in them to love people. And I've seen dogs who seemed beyond help either physically or emotionally who have been brought back through the love of a foster mom or dad who was willing to invest the time and patience in them. They're all worth saving, if only enough people would open up their hearts and take them in.

If you could tell the world one thing about animal welfare and rescue what would it be? Please be a responsible pet owner. This means spaying or neutering, making your pet a permanent part of the family, and keeping them safe.

Favorite quote/saying? "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown

The Story of Diggs - Our Digg Dog

It was September 2005, right after hurricane Katrina, and I had just returned from spending a week rescuing animals in New Orleans. When I arrived home I announced to Buddy (my husband)that we needed to adopt another dog to make room for the homeless pets filling the shelters all over the south. He reluctantly agreed but was soon excited about adding another family member. I had always wanted a Golden and when we adopted our last dog we had intended to adopt one, but fell in love with Dino a Lab/Golden mix. This time I was determined that we were getting a Golden! We set out on a Sunday afternoon to Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta adoption day where we had adopted our Dino. There were what seemed like dozens of dogs, some young, some older and some already had adopters. We walked around looking at the different dogs and all of the sudden there he was: flattened out on the floor like a Seal! It was this 6 month old Chocolate Lab/Mutt dog. I got down on the floor and he started giving me kisses and trying to get in my lap. Buddy and I looked at each other and immediately knew he was going home with us. We talked with the foster mom for a while and she invited us to come to her house so we could see him interact with her dogs and complete the adoption paperwork. She warned us over and over that he had a lot of energy and that he was stubborn, but still very sweet. She knew Diggs needed just the right home or he would be coming back to her. We would soon learn why!

Our other two dogs were initially not happy with our choice! But, within a few days Dino was dragging Diggs around the house with a toy in his mouth. It was very cute! Diggs was into everything and the first week he jumped off the back deck and slightly tore his ACL. We took him to the vet where they quoted us $3000 to fix it or we could just rest him and see if it healed on it's own. We took option two and he healed within a few weeks. Diggs was more like a goat than a dog. He would eat anything that didn't eat him first.... money, remotes, anything too close to the edge of the counter, sticks, rocks, flowers, if you can name it I'm sure Diggs has eaten it. His favorite thing was Papaya and we never got to eat a whole one if he was in the room when we were cutting it. The minute you turned your back he would grab it and out the door he went. It was good for him so we would just laugh and realize it was our fault for not watching him.

So, you can only imagine how he got his name! It was originally Hudson, but it didn't seem to fit his personality. We spent a couple of days trying to decide what to name him and one morning I looked out on the back deck and all of the flower pots had been dug up---I mean all of them! So, it was settled, he was Diggs. Even with all of the destruction and antics, we still loved him and we knew he would eventually grow out of the puppy stage. And no...he never did!

After Katrina, I founded Georgia Humane Society and we started fostering dogs. This was great for Diggs because he loved all other animals. He would play with them no matter their size and he was always gentle even though he was over 100 lbs. He would teach them how to belong to a pack and how to get over being abused with love and kindness. There were many fosters that came through our house in the 5 1/2 years that Diggs was with us and he never failed to welcome each one of them as if they belonged here forever. We will always be grateful for the kindness and patience he showed to other animals no matter what they had been through before coming to our home.

It was late in the evening in October last year and Diggs came in the house limping. We could tell he was in pain and suspected he had torn his ACL again. I would call our vet the next morning and take him in to confirm it. We arrived at the vet and they confirmed that it was his knee so they referred us to a specialist to get x-rays and decide on surgery. We really didn't want Diggs to go through such an invasive procedure and it was going to be a major challenge to keep him down for two months to recover. We had a lot going on at the time and needed to plan for something this major. We have stairs in our house and going down to the back yard. Diggs is not a leash walker, he will drag you down the street, even with one leg not functioning. We decided to move him to the first floor of the house and gate off all of the stairs. We put him on anti-inflammatory medication and started resting him in hopes that it would heal on it's own or at least buy us time while we made a plan for his surgery and recovery. He seemed to get better as the weeks passed but in late January he began to not use his leg at all, it was time to see the specialist. We weren't going to avoid surgery.

We found a vet in Calhoun, GA that could do the surgery and even though it was a 2 1/2 hour drive it was worth the savings. The vet had done this surgery for 25 years so we knew we were in good hands. On February 3rd, me and Diggs drove to Calhoun and I checked him in at the clinic. I would spend the night in a hotel and take him home the next day. I waited by the phone for the call that he was out of surgery and recovering. The call came and it was not what I expected...Diggs had cancer. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and that my 6 year old boy had terminal cancer. The vet asked me to come to the clinic so I could look at the x-rays. I was there in 10 minutes and it was soon obvious that it was true. I asked the vet how long we had and he said 6 months to 1 year. Now, I had to break it to Buddy that our beautiful Diggs was dying. He immediately started researching on the internet for natural and nutritional cures for cancer. We tried everything but nothing was going to save him. I'm glad we didn't know in October, because we were able to enjoy those last few months with him. If we had known then we would have grieved for all of those months. Diggs was like velcro with me everyday after we returned from Calhoun. I was his caretaker and made sure he got his pain meds and was eating what he needed. I could see he was going down hill really fast and I told Buddy to start preparing. On Friday, February 25th we spent our last day with Diggs. I knew he was in severe pain and he stayed under Buddy's desk for most of the day. I kept checking on him to see if he was improving but he wasn't so I called the vet to bring him in. We suspected he might have bloat so they told us to come right away. They took x-rays and within 5 minutes called us in to see what they had found. The cancer was taking over his lungs and there was nothing more we could do for him. He was starting to suffer and we had agreed in the beginning to not allow him to suffer. We made the painful decision to let him go even though we weren't ready. Diggs had always lived his life on his terms and we had to honor him by letting him leave us and have peace. He will always be a huge part of our lives and we will miss him everyday.

Diggs ~ Feb. 2005 - Feb. 2011

Puppies

Got a call from Michelle and heard that terrible word "hoarder", then puppies, a couple sick with parvo one dead. OK, got the room ready for six week old pups and then off to meet Michelle to pick up my little pups.....oh to my surprise when I saw just how tiny they were. NO WAY these babies are six weeks, they looked to be 3-4 weeks tops. I took a deep breath and was determined I could do this.........well, because these babies are so very strong after two scary weeks I am taking a deep breath because we all made it. They are functioning like 6 week old puppies now free of worms and eating good food. And, I must mention their poop looks really good!

As I sit here with the house quiet and the puppies sleeping in the doggie bed next to me, I think about how dependent on me they are for everything, including picking them the BEST forever home. People always ask me how I can foster and "not keep them all". I usually just say well we find perfect homes, failing to mention all the people we have to weed out because they want to leave them outside, in the dog house of course, or they have a nice little pen and 10 children, 3 dogs and 6 cats. All animals deserve the best, unfortunately, we have failed as a society due mostly to greed to give them that. SAD

Check back with me, I am going to become a real blogger in all my spare time!

New Beginnings

The Animal Rescue Site is currently holding a contest called "New Beginnings" where adopters can enter stories about their pet. The winning group will win a $3,000 grant!

We currently have a few stories in the running for a grant:

• Topher! Foster mom Laura rescued Topher from a high-kill shelter after his elderly owner turned him in. He was adopted by Lindsay and Wes in Virginia where he is now training to become a therapy dog! He is probably one of the nicest dogs we have ever rescued.
• Matilda! Matilda, a black puppy, was rescued by GHS from a high-kill shelter with her siblings. They all broke with Parvo and one died. Luckily, Matilda was a fighter! She caught the eye of Karine in Maryland and it was love at first sight!
• Peaches! Peaches lived in a feral colony on Georgia Tech's campus. She was starving, and even though she was so wild, we decided to remove her and try to domesticate her. She turned out to be one of the best cats on the planet and lives with Mary's parents in North Carolina.
• Lacy! Lacy is our poster child for anti-tethering. She got a tie-out stuck around her leg and freed herself. She was picked by animal control who contacted GHS to rescue her. She had to have her leg amputated and all these horrible experiences didn't weigh her down one bit. She found a new forever home with Coalition to Unchain Dogs volunteer, Ed, and his two other dogs!
• Josie! Josie was rescued by GHS from a high-kill shelter. She contracted Parvo and struggled to make it through! Then, she found the best home ever with Valerie who is the owner of Best Fit Pet Services. Valerie and Josie hit it off so well, Valerie has since started volunteering and fostering for us!

We encourage you to click the links above and read about their amazing stories! You can also click "like" and share it on your facebook page. If you adopted a pet from Georgia Humane and would like to enter your story in the contest, you have until February 27th to submit one! Then, the judges will pick their favorites and it will be opened back up to the public to vote. If you submitted a story, please let us know so we can post it on this blog and on Facebook by emailing Mary!

What $1000 Could Do...

Recently, we have been asking our Facebook friends to vote everyday for us in The Animal Rescue Site Shelter Challenge. We are currently in 4th place in Georgia, and if we move up to 1st we receive $1,000. It may not seem like much, but for the dogs and cats in our program it means everything.

We recently rescued two litters of Daschshund puppies from a hoarder. They were malnourished, underweight, worm infested, and not doing very well. In order to take care of these guys, we have had to buy tons and tons of milk replacer and puppy pads. A thousand dollars would mean we could continue to rescue the animals that need a little extra help.

Here's some of what it costs us to rescue...

Cats and Kittens:
-Spay $55 - $70 including rabies age appropriate
-Feluk/FIV test $20- 30
-Vaccines $5 adults $15 kittens
-De-wormer $5 adults $10 kittens
-Flea meds $5
-This doesn't include URI or Coccidia that can be another $50 - $100 per cat or kitten
-Litter $100 per month for all cats in foster, food is normally free

Dogs and puppies:
-Spay $60- 120 including rabies age appropriate
-Neuter $40 - $100
-HW test over 6 months $20-35
-Dewormer $10 adults $20 puppies
-Flea/HW prevention $10- $50 depending on how long we have them
-Food free for the most part
-Doesn't include HW treatment or parvo which can be from $80- $1000

If we receive this grant, we could use it in so many ways...whether it is treating one dog for heartworms, rescuing/rehabilitating 10 kittens, or rehabilitating these two litters of Doxie puppies! It would mean so much to us to have our fans voting daily for us and sharing it with their facebook friends.

Have you voted today? If not then Click here...

If Only There Were More Caley's...

As a volutneer run rescue group, Georgia Humane could not operate if it weren't for our amazing volunteers. Our youngest volunteer, Caley, is a shining example of what we hope all teenagers (and adults) should be like! We asked GHS President, Michelle, about Caley and this is what she had to say:

"Caley is one of our high school heroes! She comes to adoptions every Saturday to help walk dogs, clean the adoption center or anything we ask her to do. We really don't ask her, she just jumps in and does whatever she sees is needed. She does all of this on her only weekend day off from school and homework when she could be out doing things with her friends. Which by the way' she has plenty of them! She's been volunteering for us since she was 16 and she just turned 18. Caley has a huge heart for the animals and is one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. We know soon she will be off to college and we are hoping she will stay in Atlanta but wherever she goes I know she will always be helping animals."

Caley comes to our adoption events every Saturday to help us with find our rescues new forever homes. While foster parents talk to potential adopters, Caley watches the dogs and puppies, plays with them, walks them, introduces them to visitors, and answers questions. If that weren't enough, she is always in a great mood and has a contagious smile that ensures our adoption events are always a good time! We want the whole world to know about the amazing things this young woman is doing!

Meet Caley:

Name: Caley Marchesseault
Age: 18
Hobbies: Soccer, reading, snorkeling
How long have you been volunteering with Georgia Humane? 2 1/2 years

Why do you volunteer? I volunteer
because I love animals-especially dogs-and I can't have any of my own because my mom is allergic. Volunteering is my way of giving back to loving animals who deserve a second chance.

What do you do as a volunteer? As a volunteer, I work mostly with the doggies. I walk them (I pick up their "business" as well) and help socialize them by playing with them and giving them lots of love. I keep the GHS adoption binder up-to-date and I occasionally clean the cat room. I have also participated in fundraising events such as the Atlanta Pride Parade and the Adopt-a-thons at Petsmart.

Is there a rescue that stands out? One rescue that I will
never forget is the only one that I have actually seen and helped. Mary told me that there was a feral mommy cat living underneath Starbucks in the Petsmart shopping center. She had 4 or 5 kittens. I asked Mary if I could help rescue them and she said yes! So we sat outside behind Starbucks in the summer heat waiting and waiting with icky cat food, trying to lure the mommy out so we could grab the kittens. It took FOREVER and we rescued all of them but one, who the mommy cat would not let us get. The kittens were feral and when our hands came close they hissed and scratched. Mary socialized them and turned them into fun loving kittens. They all found wonderful homes and I was glad to be apart of it.

What do you want the world to know? I want the world to know that animals deserve to be treated with respect. Rescue groups stand up for abused and neglected animals and give them a voice when they normally wouldn't have anyone to stand up for them.

It means a lot to us to have Caley at adoption events taking care of all the animals. As you can see from the pictures, they adore her as much as we do!

We know there are a billion things the average teenager wants to do on their Saturdays off from school, and we are so thankful Caley chooses to spend those days with us and the animals! If only there were more Caley's, then the world would be a much happier and more compassionate place!

Alpha

When we tried to rescue Jojo (Old Yeller), we had no idea of the impact he would make on us. Jojo was left to die in a shelter and by the time we got to him there was nothing we could do to ease his pain. We decided then and there that in his honor we would start a fund to rescue pets that are have costly medical issues or are elderly.

Our first rescue in honor of Jojo was Alpha. We got a plea at the end of August from Dekalb County Animal Control about this sweet 8 year old Collie that was in pretty bad shape and running out of time. They had him for about a month, and had treated him for heat exhaustion and kennel cough. No one had come forward to claim him, he was getting overlooked at the shelter surrounded by younger dogs, and hadn't found a rescue. Dekalb feared he wouldn't make it, so we stepped in to help. We went to pick him up and found this poor boy to be extremely emaciated. He weighed a horrifying 27 pounds, his coat was matted, he had horrible heartworms, and was full of internal parasites. Our amazing foster Lisa and her husband Chris decided to open up their home to Alpha and so he became the first of Jojo's legacies.

Alpha struggled in foster care initially. He wouldn't eat, had no energy, and wasn't potty trained. We've always known Lisa was a miracle worker, because every day Alpha made progress and seemed to be coming back to life! Before we knew it his fur had grown back and he had almost doubled in weight going from 27 to 46 lbs!

Lisa writes:

"Alpha came to us not able to walk. If you remember, the shelter had no hope for him and was begging someone to get him out. They thought he was old, but he acts about 4 or 5. Guess we will never know his true age. Now, he LOVES life. He is the best foster story ever!"

The day finally came when Alpha was adopted into a new forever home. We couldn't have found a better one, because Alpha was adopted by Lisa's sister Whitney! Now, Alpha lives happily with the Purinton family. He has a doxie furbrother named Duke and is now happy, healthy, and loved.

In the shelter reality we face today, Alpha didn't have much of a shot at survival. Cast away by a family, he beat the odds in the shelter and wound up getting a second chance at life. It is stories like Alpha's that remind us why we do what we do and keep us focused on rescuing one by one until there are none.

Best Fit Pet Services

The Georgia Humane Society is proud to partner with such an awesome business like Best Fit Pet Services. Not only do they offer outstanding care for pets, but they support us in our efforts to rescue homeless pets. We've interviewed Best Fit Pet Services founder, Valerie Pegg, who is also a Georgia Humane Society foster parent and adopter!

Best Fit Pet Services:

• Founded: January 2009
• Services: Pet Sitting, Overnight Visits, Dog Walking and Exercise, Pet Food and Supplies Delivery
• Location: Serving Gwinnett County, GA including parts of Lawrenceville, Grayson, Norcross, Suwanee, Berkeley Lake, Duluth, Lilburn, Snellville, Dacula and Buford

How did Best Fit Pet Services come to be? I was working in doggy day cares and kennels and not happy with the lack of control I had over how the dogs were being cared for. I was volunteering with Gwinnett Humane at an event, and that’s where I met Mike and Jasen from Two Dads Pets. They hired me as an independent pet sitter and I was with their company for around a year before I decided to branch off on my own.

How many furry (and feathered?) clients do you have? Approximately 150

Why Best Fit Pet Services? Best Fit Pet Sit Services is a compassionate, loving and fully insured and bonded pet sitting and dog walking service. Depend on us for all of your pet's needs! Proud member of Georgia Network of Professional Pet Sitters Professional United Pet Sitters, and PetSitUSA. Valerie is Pet First Aid and CPR Trained. We have a sincere desire to care for pets and to keep them happy and healthy.

Contact Information: Please see our website for a list of our services and rates at www.bestfitpetsit.com, or email us at info@bestfitpetsit.com or give us a call at 770-363-0827

Meet Valerie Pegg:

How many pets do you have? We have 3 dogs (Gizmo, Jake and Josie), 4 cats (Ajax, Comet, Chili and Nancy) and presently have two foster dogs, Memphis and Benji. We are happy that we found Georgia Humane to volunteer with, they are the best rescue organization that I have ever had the pleasure of working with.

How did you end up in animal care and welfare? My sister, Laura got me interested. I’ve always been a stray magnet, bringing home cats and whatever else I found as a kid. I started volunteering with Atlanta Animal Rescue Friends in 2001 with my sister, fostering dogs and cats. I’ve been fostering on and off since then, now with Georgia Humane. My husband Denny and I also volunteer with Daffy’s Pet Soup Kitchen here in Gwinnett County.

Why is responsible pet ownership important? Responsible pet ownership is important to keep animals out of the shelters and off the streets. To stop dog fighting. To stop backyard breeding. To stop puppy mills. To keep pets from being hit by cars. I could go on and on.

How did you get involved with GHS? My husband and I lost our sweet GSD mix, Sammie, to cancer. We decided after a couple of months of mourning that it was time to look for another pet to adopt in Sammie’s honor. Looking on Petfinder.com, we found our dog, Josie (her name was Missy then) and Georgia Humane are the group who pulled Josie from a shelter, nursed her through parvovirus and then adopted her out to us. They were so kind and laid back and helpful (I could go on here, too) that we decided it was time to get back into fostering a few months after we adopted Josie. We couldn’t foster for any other group than Georgia Humane. What an awesome group of people.

If you could tell the world one thing about animal welfare what would it be? Put yourself in the animal’s “shoes.” Try to think like an animal and see through their eyes. Also, Spay and Neuter your pets and obey the leash laws! Don’t buy pets from puppy stores, Craigslist, Ebay, or any classifieds. Adopt!

Thanks for all you do, Valerie!