Tonight I will try and continue with the story I started the other night. How I got into rescuing seniors 🙂 Before I pick up where I left off I want to talk about one of the first dogs I took into PUP. The first week we got 4! 3 moms with litters and a pregnant young lady. She was a springer spaniel and full of herself! Her life was great in her own eyes till she started to whelp puppies! It was Friday July 16th 1993. I stayed home from work to be with her. We had a whelping box for her but she wanted no part of staying in that box alone. She chose my lap to have all 8 pups. She had 7 liver and white and 1 black and white, the runt. It took her a little while to settle in and act like a mom. She did pretty well until it came to the runt. She wanted no part of him and continually pushed him away. I sat with him while he nursed for a few days but then gave it up and decided to bottle feed him. He was not an easy baby and I had my hands full trying to keep him alive. I named him after George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life”. I told him everyday how much he was needed and how bad it would be if he died on me. Well we made it and Bailey became my partner and constant companion for over 13 years. I probably spent half of his life worrying about the day that I would lose him. I knew every hair on his head and if one of us was sick the other got sick. Until Bailey I had never been that in love with a dog. Don’t get me wrong, I love them all but Bailey was different. Puppies Under Protection and Bailey both came into my life during a rough patch in my marriage. We had been married for 18 years and it was almost inevitable that we would have some speed bumps. I got married in 1975 at 16 years old. That in itself is another whole story with a Happy Ending.

Being the first at anything has it’s ups and downs. The big problem was that as the first Foster Program we had no one to follow. We had to learn it all on our own. On the same token we also didn’t have any one to be compared with 🙂 One of the first things we realized was that by taking in all these moms and babies, raising the litters, bottle feeding many, and medicating and feeding every one we had bills coming in. There were kennels to be built and supplies in general to be purchased. The problem was that all the animals went back to Animal Control to be sterilized then adopted out. PUP’s wasn’t getting an income back in the way of adoption fees. We were only creating bills and had no way to pay them. Back to the drawing board.

I went back to Dennis Moore the director and Dr. Mary Moore (no relation) to see if we could come to a happy medium. We did 🙂 From then on we brought everyone back to Animal Control for their spays and neuters but we then picked all the puppies back up! That in itself created new solutions and new problems. We were able to make some income with the adoption fees BUT now we not only raised them but we had to adopt them out on our own. The hunt was on for our own place to set up every weekend. I happen to be friends of my horse vet and he had just opened a “Pet Shop” of sorts. It was called Discount Vet and they sold lots of little creatures, fish and birds but they left the puppies up to us! Eventually they expanded and added a Veterinarian Clinic next door. We had it made! Every Sat and Sun all the foster moms would bring any puppies that were ready and available for adoption. It was a great place for us and the puppies. After an adoption we would walk through the store with the new Puppy Parents and help pick out toys, collars, beds and special diets! It was a win win for everyone.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. The bigger we got the more we needed our vets. We used Discount Vets clinic. They too were growing and the service we had been receiving started to change. When we experienced the loss of a pup one day the response from the vet was unacceptable. Actually we didn’t even get a response 🙁 I chose to part ways. As far as I was concerned it didn’t matter whether we were getting a “rescue discount” or not. Our animals were just as important to me as any of yours are to you.

Over the years we had many foster moms come and go. It’s not a “business” for the faint of heart. We work very hard, can’t plan anything in advance, get calls at all hours of the day and night and have our hearts ripped out way too often. We didn’t pick and choose which moms to take either. We tried to take them all. It didn’t matter if they were pit bulls, mutts or hairless hounds, they needed us and we were committed to caring for them. I do have to make one point here. We NEVER had a bad Pit Bull mom! They were some of our best. At the height of our rescue we were taking in 500-700 animals per year. There was twice where I had 95 dogs at my house!!! Not something I care to do again. Oh and I worked full time. Most of our foster moms did. On weekends our kids came with us so we could spend time with them. There was never “down time”.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with some awesome vets. There is a good possibility that a couple of them are reading this right now. After all these years I am happy to say that many are still in my life. I have learned sooo much from them. I was always allowed in the surgery rooms even if I wasn’t one of the techs that day. I tried to pay attention to every little move they made and why. I learned to pronounce the names of the drugs and what they were used for. I have many more stories and maybe tomorrow I will tell you about our Greyhound Bus!

So many people in my life to Thank for getting me where I am today. Tonight it’s a big THANK YOU to my Veterinarians, past and present. I thank you for all the opportunities you have afforded me and the knowledge you fed me. I don’t ever remember any questions I ever had going unanswered. For me Veterinarians are My Hero’s. Not the actors, actresses or the musicians. So to those Vets reading this tonight I Love You and Thank You.

Nite Nite