SAINTS

everyone is totally in love with oden…what a SWEET dog!

bear went out with erin to permanent foster care today…YAY!!!

big bambi is going out with lynne to permanent foster care tomorrow…YAY!

and little daisy went off to her new adoptive home today…YAY!

and that is pretty much all of the really great news today!

Keep this night free if possible: March 24 at Golden Ears Pub on Harris Rd and Lougheed. The pub is located in the Ramada Inn. We are still working out this year’s fund raiser challenge. Details to follow soon.
Thanks everyone.

there is cat litter, senior horse, rabbit feed and bales of shavings in the van if anyone needs any this weekend..i am too beat and busy to unload tonight…i think there is plenty of everything else.

new dog oden is here…fresh from his neuter. i have introduced him to the kitchen and computer guys only and he is exhausted so i will leave it at that. he is fresh post op so he is not to be out at the barn and can only go out into the front yard with a leash and collar..i don’t want him panicking when i am not here and slipping out of a gate or going over a fence. also remember that the other new girl holly is only to also go out on a collar and a leash and is to be watched very carefully around doors when people are coming in/out. kobe has started to settle but i don’t trust him yet so he can only go out into the yard with close and direct supervision..none of the new ones are to be trusted for a second so keep the gate to the front door closed so they can’t slip out when people come in…all of them are to belong in the kitchen or computer rooms..don’t let them thru to my bedroom.

the two new kittens are named lizzie (mostly black with a bit of white) and tonka (black and white bicolor)…sweet cats but they are still a bit nervous so please move slowly and gently around them…they are in the middle medical room pen.

to the barn folks…mo is not here tomorrow and i am working. janice has done up the morning feed bowls for you and left you a note regarding the hay…there are two different kinds now..orchard grass (green and soft) and local 2nd cut (coarser and paler) and the note will say how much of which type of hay to give to which animals…thx!

today we lost edith.
she has not been doing well this week and the vets came back out to check her again. she has continued to slowly deteriorate over the past couple of weeks and today she was starting with pneumonia. the vet said if this was the beginning of her illness..we could try and treat but we have been treating her now for more than 8 weeks and she is continues to spiral down.

i want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been so kind and supportive of her since she moved into the shop. she has had many special treats brought for her and she has shared many precious and happy moments.

i really want to thank janice from the bottom of my heart for caring for edith each day with such gentle integrity. edith always had something tasty and new to try..she had lots of forays aound the shop and garden and many lunch dates with janice. i know that these last weeks of edith’s life were filled with the wonder of a new kind of life as she became our beloved little shop girl.
rest in peace edith..i know you had good life here and i will miss my little librarian and the past little devil goat who used to bowl for my poor old dogs every day..but mostly i will miss you coming up to the shop table and asking for another cracker, or peanut, or cookie or whatever interesting treat we happened to have there.
love you edith, you were an incredible goat and we are going to miss you here.

next interviewee is in 45 minutes..no point starting my car de-junking til i am done with that.

so..i guess i will dick around and do nothing for a bit.

i have been reading the rescue facebook forums and it is interesting the questions that come up…who does or does not do this…should you or should you not do that…how do you do this or that…why and how do you do certain things?

i am so single minded and stubborn that it honestly never occurred to me in the beginning to ask anyone for their opinion..i just started walking down the rescue road without much of a plan and without any maps.

hah, and look where it led me..how stupid was that????

now i find i waste a lot of time worrying about our future…should i do this or that? will we go here or there?
and what is the overall plan?

hah again..i still don’t have a freaking clue!

there is no doubt that rescue is a journey and some smart folks plan out every step of their route..but it is also a bit of an adventure and sometimes the magic appears out of no where. poof…. suddenly the elusive unicorn in rescue is just standing in front of you as you come around another bend.

i would never suggest someone rescue like i do..our magic carpet frequently runs out of gas…plus i am now living with a ton of pain in the asses in chaos city instead of the peaceful forest with a magical unicorn occasionally popping thru.

i have waited until the middle of the night (i am still slugging away at my laundry)..to tell you my shameful secret…

mystic 14
carol 0

i know, i know, i know..one day i will learn…and some days i do..but that little hagette literally waits for me to fall asleep and forget and then she munches the freaking thing, first chance she gets….it is pathetic how many times she scores with the remote and wins.

the first sorting of the office is done..i wouldn`t have ever done it if you hadn`t chased me down and cornered me! let me know when you are ready for round two….and don`t let me escape you cuz i know it has to be done.

i picked up oden from the spca…what a nice dog he is. he is so tattered and worn i did not realize he was mostly border collie..not husky like shane. he is at the vets already for his neuter first thing tomorrow. he is very thin, a good portion hairless and of course he still has his testicles so there is no doubt he has been living with irresponsible losers for most of his life….the balls always tell. oden is a hugger…he stands up and wraps his front legs around your waist, lays his head gently against you and hugs for all he is worth.

the 2 new FIV cats are in..they are only 11 months old…. brother and sister..their names are tonka and lizzie and they are very sweet baby cats. BIG thank you to the spca volunteer who took several hours out of his day to drive them thru rush hour traffic from vancouver to saints today!!!!!!

i did 2 tours and first interviews..both are very nice with lots of solid barn experience and coming back for trial shifts next week. i have 2 more to do tomorrow and then we will see.

we managed to squeeze in a quick staff meeting to sort a couple of things out.

tomorrow the vets are coming to see edith again because she is still not doing well. and tomorrow is kobe`s vet visit..his records were lost in transit so we need to repeat his cushings testing before we start him on meds.
i really have to get thru my pile of personal laundry tonight..it has been a couple of weeks and i will not survive another work week if i don`t get it done.

so..i better get the hell off my butt!

they are going to be busy. i am starting the hiring process again, unfortunately, we will be losing ryan in a couple of weeks so i have been going thru the last set of resumes from december and seeing who might be a good saints fit. it will be a part time barn yard support position…mon-fri, 4 hours per day. i am starting the meet and greet/tour/interview process today…not my most favorite activity, oh freaking yay.

this is always a difficult and stressful thing for me..trying to find the right person for here. we absolutely need certain things…honesty, reliability, excellent and efficient work ethics, flexibility,…. we need dedicated team players who can get along together and function well together in chaotic and ever changing situations, are able to follow direction and take responsibility, are patient, kind, respectful and understanding with all of our various animal’s needs….and we need that whole package with pretty shitty wages. the whole hiring and staffing process, gives me a major headache.

oh well..it is part of the job in rescue around here so i will try not to stress out while i get this done…but i do so want some long term staffing stability and predictability…then i don’t worry so much when i am not around…i know the animals are safe and well cared for by people who know and care about and for them well.
choosing caregivers for the saints animals is no different then choosing child care because as the animals primary caregiver..my responsibility for their happiness and well being includes the times when i am not physically here….soooo…wish me luck in this.

i am so glad i took dixie her apple on monday cuz i won’t get out there to see her again until late next week.

oh and i missed two petfinder challenge voting days…sorry..i suck.

come along and let me introduce you to our newest saints …

Ernie and Bert were abandoned. They are full of personality and love to have a crow off with one another. They are interesting looking and definitely full of confidence. They have a current adoption pending!

Kobe just arrived on Saturday and is super spunky.

Within minutes of arriving at saints he had made himself at home on the couch.

say cheese Kobe

Odie is a 5 year old blind and diabetic husky. Because of heath issuesw his growth was stunded so he is more like a “mini” husky. He also has some skin issues, as you can see his hair is patchy. He is full of personality and loves to lead a chorus of howling dogs. He is a bit of a jerk to give insulin to but he is a happy dog and you would never know he was blind.

We have also had some recent happy tails for many of our saints cats. Silver, Cash, Pest, and Sebastian have been recently adopted.




 
There are many more saints still waiting for a forever home. To check out our full list of adoptable saints on pet finders, CLICK HERE

Former saint, Chance is back for a few weeks while his home is being repaired from a burst pipe-he does not like all of the work men coming in and out of the house.

Chance actually likes it at saints and this little Mongolian monster is really enjoying his saints vacation

He is also very happy to be spending some time with his love, Laura

He is pretty fond of Carol too

She is mine! says Phoebe

doG help me! says carol

Inside may be cozy and warm, but outside it is icy and cold.

SAINTS suffered though a cold snap that froze its pipes in early January and a week of snow that made it difficult for staff and volunteers to make it to SAINTS to help out.

Many of the dogs liked the snow, including Mystic

Puff Daddy

Odie

Bear

Buddy (and his ball)

I am not sure what Carl and Ellie were doing here, trying to keep warm?

The other SAINTS piggies also seemed pretty happy

Brad Pitt

Wilbur (Lotti was staying in her warm bed inside).

We perfer to stay inside where it is warm

Peluchie and Jerry

See these and many more great photos in the January @ SAINTS 2012 album on SAINTS Facebook page. I just added 140 photos CLICK HERE to view

Bye for now

on my way to pick up the new girl, the spca called and said she had crashed this morning and they were rushing her into the vets. they don’t know if she will survive today but all of us hope that she does. the staff said they would call me as soon as they know…for now we wait.

update…this poor sweet dog was euthanized this morning..an xray showed a full stomach torsion..there was no way she could have survived the surgery in the condition she was in.

my last image of her was quietly standing with her head pressed gently against lora-lee’s chest (her spca caregiver) and i know that dog felt the kindness and love she needed in her last days of life.

lora-lee named her Heart..rest in peace sweet dog..my deepest condolances to lora-lee and the other spca staff who tried so hard to make her life right for her again.

holly sat on krista’s lap today and ate half a can of food..so that’s good. she doesn’t look so freaked out tonight..anxious yes but not loonie tunes. i tried to feed her on my dinner break but she wasn’t too interested and i didn’t have time to sit with her on my lap so i will try again later when i get home.

more new incoming..i said “not now” to two dogs and yes to two others…one is an old beat up dog i saw at the shelter when i picked up kobe…looks like shane with bad skin and a lot of hard miles on him. i pick him up on thursday and will drop him right off at the vets for an overnight for bloodwork and neuter the next day. oh and this dogs name is apparently “Oden.”

the other (no name dog) i went and saw on my break today and if i had any more tears left in me, i would have cried. she is a homely black shep/whatever cross..by her teeth, she looks about 10 yrs old…but maybe she is older..some really old dogs have decent teeth. anyway..this poor dog has starved. i don’t mean she has missed a few meals..i mean this is without a doubt the worst case of starvation that i have personally ever seen. the staff warned me before i saw her that she was as bad as trooper..but i never saw trooper in real life, just on TV.

anyway, once i saw her there was no way i wasn’t taking her in..i will pick her up tomorrow after holly’s vet check and i have already booked her vet appointment for thursday morning.

the other new incoming are a brother and sister set of 3 yr old cats. unfortunately for them, i think somewhere in their past they received an FIV vaccine cuz both of them are testing positive now. we do have a couple of true FIV cats at saints but most of them are false vaccine related positives. the problem of course is you can’t really tell which is which so it really reduces their adoptability in traditional shelters and it puts these cats at very risk for unnecessary euthanization. anyway..again…can’t let a couple of 3 yr old cats die cuz we developed a REALLY stupid vaccine that brands them for life as positive for the very disease they were vaccinated against.