I know. I know.
Everyone that knows me is shocked. Wait…huh, who is writing this? Is this Kerry?
KERRY IS WRITING A BLOG ABOUT CATS??
Yes. Why, yes I am.
Contrary to what many of you believe I do NOT dislike cats.
I am just more of a huge dog lover, but there are some blackmail pictures of me out there snuggling up with a cat or two. I do NOT dislike cats. And feral cats…I actually REALLY like feral cats. I’m impressed by them. And moved by them. And I like to watch them. I find them mysterious, and entertaining, and independent. I love their disdain for humans (I feel like that many days too!) and I love that they survive almost anything and that they can be seen throughout the winter, and in the heat of summer, and survive not only extreme heat and cold, but floods, and starvation, and injury and illness. I’m so impressed by how they adapt and find a way to survive and live and thrive, how they develop family networks and extended family communities, even though almost all the odds are stacked against them.
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No-kill by kerry on May 27, 2010. There are comments.
So over the past week many of my friends, relatives and fellow rescuers, have been sending me a petition to sign.
I warn you that I see and read a lot of “horrible animal stuff” on a regular basis, doing what I do for a living. Reading this one resulted in a lot of grief and tears for me from the imagery it presented. I’m not quick to that reaction anymore. Perhaps I’ve been desensitized or learned coping methods of not letting it in too far. I won’t analyze it, but accept that how I shut a lot of it out is a necessary survival mechanism.
So I read a little of this one and was not able to shut it off and I didn’t finish the read. You can if you like, here is the link: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ban-the-use-of-gas-chambers-in-north-carolina-pounds.html
For the weak of heart I will summarize.
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Legislation by kerry on May 20, 2010. There are comments.
Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on March 22, the following dogs have found homes! Casey, Nugget, Cody, Gus, Tat, Zack, Fuzzy, Aubrey, Rocks, Ty, Sleek, Larry, Sparkles, Trace, Bella, Oreo, Hooper, Gabby, Fuzzy (again), Chase, Buddy, Marley, Madison, McGreggor, Bob, Sophie, Jillian, Spud, Foxy, Petunia, Hawkeye, Natascha, Angus, Dooley, Pluto, Abigail, Jilly, Monkey, Junior, Cindy, Lincoln, Neiko, Hawkeye (again), Badger, Will, Butterball, Gracie, Hansel, Gretel, Gomer, Caramel, One, Daisy, Copper, Benji, Elizabeth2, Byrdie, Sharpey, Ty (again), Cashmere, Earnhardt, Snookie, Trisha, Elizabeth, Larry, Tango, Augie.
We also sent dogs from the West Virginia rescue to other rescues who stepped up and offered to help. We are really grateful to all of them. 21 dogs went to St. Huberts, one dog went to Mountain Rottie Rescue, four to Sullivan County, four to Newburgh Shelter and one to Paws Unlimited. Almost all of those dogs have been placed as well.
The following cats were placed: Oreo (yes, I’m not kidding. OREO!!), Violet, Robert & Bob (who went to MHAA), Fred, Tiki, Tangerine, Mickey, Christie, Chloe, Hermes and Kadji, Summer.
We also adopted out both the donkeys! They went to live on a 700 acre farm with cows and goats (all pets!) and little Peanut has learned to play soccer!
That is almost 115 animals in less than six weeks. Wow. What a long way Pets Alive has come in three years.
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Updates by kerry on May 06, 2010. There are comments.
Gus was a dog we took from another shelter a few months back. We didn’t have any issues with him at the sanctuary and we had a LOT of applications on this really adorable dog, but after being adopted, his new owners returned him the next day advising us he was vicious and very aggressive. Huh? We were shocked. We loved our little Gus and he was the happiest dog we’d ever seen. Always ready to wag his tail and always with a big grin on his face. But any dog returned for aggression raises many red flags. Will this dog become a lifer? Destined to spend his life here because he is unsafe to be placed?
That is the absolute worst possible scenario and something none of us want to see. We immediately put Nancy to work with Gus and he was a charmer. Still. We had to make him a yellow dog, based on what the previous adopters had said and we had to be very careful about adopting him out. I lost a lot of sleep over Gus. The previous shelter was willing to take him back (we had touched base with them to see if there were any issues when he was with them) but they were not a no-kill and we really feared for Gus. And….sigh…we loved him. He came into our arms, into our shelter and we felt responsible for him. He was so young too. Was he really as aggressive as the previous owners had said?
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Case Studies by kerry on May 05, 2010. There are comments.