Sunday, August 21, 2011

UPDATE ON THE "SHED" PUPS


Mitch - on his way to New England!

More happy updates for some of our pups! PAWS volunteers, Lisa & Leanne, were able to bring the "Shed" puppies into their home and out of the heat once the "E" puppies were adopted and the "H" puppies left for rescue.

The good news continues! Four of the "Shed" puppies (Mitch, Miles, Matt, and Max) left for rescue in New England this week and the remaining four (Marley, Mark, Millie, and Megan) will be leaving on transport next Friday!


Miles

Matt

Max

Marley

Mark

Millie

Megan

Thank you to everyone who donated funds, came out to our sno cone fundraisers and who spread the word about these adorable pups! You all made a big difference to the future of these unwanted souls.

www.pawsofmarion.org

HAPPY UPDATES!


Rockin' Rosie has a wonderful home!

We have some happy tails to share! Rosie and the remaining three "E" pups (Eric, Eli & Emily) have all found loving homes locally!

Rosie, now "Lily" is sharing her home with another Border Collie mix. Her new mom was drawn to Rosie as she looks just like her current dog did as a puppy!

Eric (now "Moose"), Eli (now "Hooch") and Emily (now "Sadie") all went home together! Their new family came to meet one of the pups, then thought two might be better than one...in the end, they could not leave one behind - so took home all three!

Normally we would be wary of someone wanting to adopt three large pups - but we just could not ask for a better home. Huge fenced in yard, very experienced doggie owners, impeccable references and proved to be wonderful dog-loving human beings. We are so happy for these abandoned pups. They sure hit the jackpot.

Below are some pictures of the "three Musketeers" loving their new life.





Thank you to everyone who helped us to help these pups - without you these happy endings would not exist.

www.pawsofmarion.org


ZOEY- OUR NEWEST URGENT PUP


Please help sweet Zoey!

Meet Zoey.

PAWS received a call this week from a woman in Parkin who had found a dog and she wanted to know if we could help.

The woman said that she had seen Zoey for about a week and couldn't stand the thought of her being out there on her own so she went and picked her up. She said that she called everyone she could find on the internet and they all turned her down.

PAWS volunteer, Leanne, went out to meet Zoey and to take some pictures. Here is what Leanne reported back about Zoey:

Zoey is the sweetest dog ever!

Even though she has been let down by people she still loves them. She is fairly young maybe a year old. The woman who has her really would like her gone by Friday, so we really need to find her a foster home ASAP. I can't leave her out there - who knows what will happen to her.

Zoey walks really well on a leash. Her wounds appear to be healing but she has a lot of scars on her, there is no telling how long she has been on her own or what she has been through.
Despite it all, she maintains a positive outlook and loves every person she meets.


Zoey continues to smile despite how the world has treated her.

Look at how sweet she is!

Please foster me! Help me find my new beginning!

Please help us to help Zoey. She needs a loving foster home to help her heal and to prepare her for a new and better life. If you would like to be a part of Zoey's new beginning, please email marionangels@yahoo.com.

Friday, August 19, 2011

WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE...UPDATE ON THE KOA DOG


Meet Macy - The KOA campground dog!

What is the old saying? If you want to get something done - do it yourself? Thank goodness the folks at the KOA campground decided to follow that advice!

Despite our last blog plea for help - the pup abandoned at the KOA campground remained as a stray until the owners of the campground decided to take matters into their own hands. They are the heroes in this dog story.

They borrowed a live trap from the Marion Animal Shelter and were successful in catching MACY, the scared pup who was abandoned on their campground.

The shelter will not take in dogs from outside of the city limits - so once Macy was caught - dedicated PAWS volunteers, Lisa & Leanne took her into their own home (despite being full to the brim with puppies and adult foster dogs.) You guys are the best!

Macy after her first bath

Macy is very sweet and we are happy to be a part of her rescue effort!

She still scared, but coming out of her shell a little more each day. She LOVES to play with the other dogs in her foster home and should definitely go to a home with another dog or two in residence.

We think she is about a year old. Macy is at least 10 lbs underweight - so will need to do some serious eating before she can be spayed. She should weigh about 40 lbs when healthy.

Next week she will be going to a quieter foster home (Thank YOU Susan!) where she will receive more one-on-one attention.

We do not know Macy's heartworm status yet - but chances are good that she will test positive.

Stay tuned for updates on this sweet girl!

Kudos goes out to the folks at KOA who went out of their way to help Macy and also to camper Jane, who would not give up on finding help for this girl.

Macy relaxing finally!

Check out my huge ears:)

Though Macy is safe and on her way to a new beginning - the problem of stray and abandoned pups outside of the Marion City limits remains. We hope that everyone who reads this story will give a call or send an email to the Marion Police Chief and City Council to ask them to at least consider solutions for this ongoing challenge.

www.pawsofmarion.org

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A LITTLE BIT OF A RANT...


Feeling the need to rant a bit about a situation that has been becoming more and more of an issue over the past few years. The issue being that Marion Animal Control is not allowed to pick up dogs outside of the city limits but that are technically still in Marion.

This issue came to our attention again last week when we received the following email:

There is an abandoned fox terrier mix at the KOA on rt 55 in Marion. It apparently has been there for 3 weeks or so. It looks terrible but is still spunky and ate and played with my dogs. I had hoped to catch it and take it with me to Arizona but it was going to take too much time to get her to trust me.

I hope you can go out there and pick her up. I think it would be easy to get her adopted.
Someone might also reach out to these camp sites, as this is not the only dog dumped and the campground owner did not know who to call - because they are not in West Memphis, the animal shelter there would not come to pick the dog up - maybe you know who would - even the pound would be better. The lady at KOA said that people were feeding her, but it clearly was not enough - she is very malnourished.

Since the campground is technically in Marion - we sent an email to and called Marion Animal Control. This was the response from the animal control officer:

I can't go in to the county . They (KOA) had called here but chief (Chief of Police) won't let me take dogs from the county.

So now this poor pup is struggling to survive off of scraps from visitors at the Campground with no hope that anyone is going to rescue her. She is not alone - many dogs are dumped at this same location and there is nobody to call for help.

PAWS would love to help - but as you all know - we do not receive any municipal funding and we do not have a shelter facility. Our ability to help at any given time is based solely on foster space and available funds. We have neither right now - and those of you who know us - know that is pretty much our status quo.

It breaks our hearts when we receive an email like the one above and know there is a dog in need that nobody is going to help.

Not sure what the solution is. We know that the Marion Animal Shelter is often full and that intaking more dogs would stress the shelter's capacity. On the other hand - it does not seem fair that these dogs are left to fend for themselves just because they do not live in the right part of Marion (the City).

I am sure there are other points to be made on this issue beyond the humane argument - such as stray dogs can be a danger to humans, carrying disease, possibly showing aggression - and having them running amok also does not help to solve the overpopulation problem.

The immediate issue is that there is a sweet, scared, hungy Fox Terrier mix at the KOA campground in Marion, Arkansas that needs someone to help her. PAWS volunteers are not animal control officers - but we try our best to help if we can.

We are hoping that someone reads this story and will go to the campground to help this girl. Probably will need a live trap to catch her at this point.

If anyone has a live trap that can be set to try to catch her and if anyone is able to foster her if she is caught, please send us an email.

The long-term need is that something needs to change - and animal control needs to extend to outside of the city limits of Marion, AR. Perhaps contacting City Council members or the Police Chief would be a good place to start? Anyone have any ideas?

Thank you for reading!

www.pawsofmarion.org



HAPPY TAILS FOR EVAN!


Great news! One of the "E" puppies, Evan, has found a wonderful local forever home! Evan's new family has re-named him "Mortimer." As you can tell from these pictures - he is a VERY happy boy!

He bonded immediately with his new canine sister, Sienna. He follows her everywhere!

Thank you to David and Kimberly for giving Evan/Mortimer such a wonderful home!


Sienna & Evan standing guard

Evan exploring the grounds!

Sienna & Evan hanging out!

I will secure the perimeter over here!

Nap after a hard day of play!

www.pawsofmarion.org

SAYING GOODBYE TO ABBY


Abby is a PAWS alumni. She was surrendered to the Marion Animal Shelter by her elderly owner when she was 8 years old. Sadly, due to her age and urinary incontinence (a common problem in older spayed female dogs) nobody showed any interest in adopting Abby.

PAWS to the rescue! Abby was pulled from the shelter when her time was "up" and fostered by PAWS volunteers, Lisa & Leanne. After months in foster care - still nobody showed interest in adopting Abby, despite her sweet demeanor.

Our rescue partner in New England posted Abby to its website - and one of their best foster parents showed interest in helping Abby find her way.

Abby was driven to Maine by a volunteer, along with another special needs pup, Ivy - as regular transport would have been too hard on these girls.

Abby, being good with other dogs, cats and children - just a gentle soul all the way around - was hard not to fall in love with. As a result, Abby ended up being adopted by her foster mom - Linda. That was several years ago.

Since then Abby has been living the life that every dog should - lots of love and companionship. She was rarely alone and had many friends, human and four-legged.

Recently, we received news that Abby was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. It was shocking news to all that knew and loved sweet Abby.

Her end came quickly after the diagnosis, but she did not suffer.

It took many wonderful people across multiple states to give Abby her happy ending. We are grateful to all but are especially thankful to Abby's mom, Linda and daughter, Sherry for seeing how special Abby was and for giving her a loving retirement home.

These pictures were sent in by Abby's adoptive family with the following message:

Here are some pix of Abby. They were taken just a couple days before we said good-bye. As you can see, she was pretty good almost til the end. The day we took them, she was laying in her favorite spot out in front of mom's house... she loved laying in the dirt (where it was cool) and mom only has a couple spots on the lawn that were Abby's favorites. We miss her so much but know she is now in a wonderful place!





Thank you Linda, Sherry and to Lucky Pup Rescue for giving Abby her chance at love. Abby, you will be greatly missed.

www.pawsofmarion.org

Friday, August 5, 2011

UPDATE ON LINUS!


We recently received an update and new pictures from Hollie who adopted lucky Linus, the abandoned Beage Boy! Linus has completed his heartworm treatment and is feeling grand! Next stop is to get his teeth cleaned! Boy did Linus really find a great home!

Here is the update from Hollie - super doggie mom:

I finally remembered everything I needed to send you pictures! I got some great pictures of Linus.

The first one is too cute of him just laying on his paws (above). I think I am going to frame this one!!

The next one is him chewing his bone. He is loving the bones!!

The next one is of Roscoe licking his mouth (Dixie is in the background barking at something outside!)

The last one is of Linus and Gus snuggling on the couch! They are so cute together. They both like laying on the couch together.

Linus used to just sleep on the floor beside the couch, but he has started coming out to join the rest of the family. I know he is feeling a lot better.

I am so grateful to have Linus. Thank you so much for posting him and tell Leanne thank you so much for meeting me halfway. I still tell Linus everyday that he will never be left behind again and that he has a family forever now!! I love him so much!


Thanks again for all you do!

Hollie

Linus loves his bones

Roscoe giving Linus a mouth bath (dogs will be dogs)

Linus & Gus snuggling!

Thank YOU Hollie. We love hearing about how spoiled Linus is:)

www.pawsofmarion.org

LUCKY PUPS HEADING NORTH!


Luke & Logan

Today was a great day! We had 6 pups head off to rescue in New England!

Luke, Logan and the 4 "H" puppies (Harriet, Hilary, Hank and Holden) are on their way to a new beginning!









Of course - we still have a pile of puppies, as well as wonderful adult dogs, looking for loving homes or rescue! Don't forget to check our website to find your new best friend!

www.pawsofmarion.org