Funds needed for Abigail Valentine
Imagine if you will, that for one year you grew up in a home where you were more or less treated like an animated object. You did receive some attention. You did have food, water and shelter. You got by. You didn't know any different kind of life.
Then one day everything you knew and needed was being carried out the door. The chair you reclined in while waiting for the folks to come home from work. The couch where you sat next to your companion while watching TV. The TV - gone. The bed you slept beside - gone. Everything and everybody you knew, gone.
Abandoned in a house with just the food and water that was left in your bowls.
You sat and waited. Then you waited some more. You hoped they would come back. They might not have been super loving to you, but at least they were there. You sat and waited. Hungry and thirsty.
One day, the door opened and you wondered how long had it been since you had been left behind. You had lost track of time. You had run out of food and water for what seem to be days or even weeks. This person, you didn’t know them. They didn’t know you. They didn’t even know your name. They talked softly to you, telling you, “It’s okay, sweetheart”. Fear took over. What should you do? You had never been mean to a person, but fear gripped at you. Still you were also weak from hunger, unbearably thirsty, and now completely confused.
You hung your head and cowered, letting this stranger take you out of the only home you ever knew.
The stranger put you in the back of her vehicle telling you that it would all be better. That you will be taken care of. Still the fear was there. That wondering of what evil was coming around the corner. What other disappointments you would have to face.
You were taken into a building you had never seen before. The folks there seemed nice. They kept saying “How cute...sweet, poor thing”. You were then taken to a kennel where food, water and a bed waited for you. You didn't know it, but you had been rescued.
Yes, this is the story about a dog who the shelter named Abby. But there was more to it and her story continued.
Abby was found on January 21st, abandoned in a house with no clue as to the number of days she was there. There was no food and water and it looked like from the “waste”, it has been a while. Abby was very malnourished.
On February 3rd, Abby was taken to a vet clinic to get spayed so she could be put up for adoption. During the surgery it was discovered that Abby had been impregnated by a very much larger dog. Abby, only 7 pounds herself, would have died trying to naturally give birth to the overly large pups. Abby was rescued yet again.
While at the vet clinic it was also discovered that Abby had even bigger problems. She was diagnosed with two luxating patellas that are considered a grade 3 on a scale of 1-5. A luxating patella is where the knee cap pops in and out causing lameness in dogs. The higher the grade, the worse the case is. And Abby, who had already been through so much, had unknowingly been given bad news.
Abby arrived back at this shelter on February 5th and the staff was given this bit of information. They were upset that a surgery spot for a spay was wasted on her since now they would have to put her down.
Humane Society of Madison County Shelter Director Betty Peyton just happened to be at this other shelter and was shocked to hear this. “Why can’t you help her”, said Peyton. “Surgery can be expensive, but you need to help her”.
The other shelter's staff answered,, “No money and no time to raise it”.
Peyton said, “Give her to me and we will take care of her. This dog, who might not have had the best life, yet have it ripped away when folks abandoned her, deserves a chance for a happy life, a happy ending.”
Arriving at the HSMC Animal Shelter with her new name as Abigail Valentine, a clean bed and plenty of food and water, the small dog curled up on the office chair and went to sleep. We believe it might have been the first good sleep she had in a long while. In the meantime, there was no napping for Director Peyton. Even though Peyton knew surgery could cost over a thousand dollars and that the Sheba/Noelle Fund, which is for medical emergencies and needed medical procedures like Abigail's was empty, she just could not give up on her that easily. In Abigail’s short life she has demonstrated that she is a survivor. This is in keeping with the HSMC's philosophy of promoting life and promoting adoption and giving survivors a second chance.
“Just look at this small, sweet, cute girl and you will agree” said Peyton. “I just could not leave her there to be put down. She deserves a chance.”
The first call was to Dr. Joe Bando of VCA Sawmill in Columbus. Dr. Bando said he would do all he could to work with the HSMC in helping little Abigail Valentine. Thanks to his generosity, the surgery can be done for a discounted price.
Help us make a life saving difference for this small girl who has already stolen the hearts of the staff at the HSMC animal shelter. There are several ways folks can donate to help with Abigail’s surgery. First, funds can be mailed to HSMC at P.O. Box 777, London OH 43140. Second, funds can be donated using the paypal button at our website www.hsmcohio.com . Third, credit card donations can be made directly at VCA Sawmill by calling 614-766-2222 and letting them know it is for the Humane Society of Madison County and for Abigail Valentine's surgery. Lastly, you could bring your donations directly out to the animal shelter (funds are deposited daily). The shelter is located at 1357 ST RT 38 SE, London next to Fairhaven School. Shelter is open 12-5 Monday to Saturday.
Abigail Valentine will be taken to VCA Sawmill on Monday, February 8th so her surgery can be done when Dr. Bando has room in his schedule. She will receive excellent care from VCA's dedicated staff, prior to, during and after the surgery.
The HSMC is currently looking for this little Abigail Valentine's forever family. A family who will give her all she will need for a happy, healthy life. Or a foster family, who will be willing to help Abigail with her recovery from surgery and the physical rehabilitation that will follow. Our first and foremost goal is to raise the funds needed to help this small, sweet girl with a big heart who was at one point nothing more than an animated object and subsequently abandoned. Abigail Valentine deserves a Valentine of her own that will make every day for her Valentine's Day!
Attached below is Abigail Valentine's picture.
Sun, Feb 7 2010 12:18
Spay-ghetti Dinner
Mark the date to help us celebrate! We're celebrating Spay Day. The special day was founded by the Doris Day Foundation to educate and promotes spaying and neutering companion pets. This is our first Spay Day event and we could think of no better group to team up with than the Black & Orange Cat Foundation. They do a fabulous job with stray and feral cats in the Plain City Area.
Our Spayghetti Supper provides a chance to educate, raise funds for spay/neuters as well as enjoy good food with great company.
Our Spay Day event is a "Spay-ghetti" dinner being held on Saturday, February 20 in conjunction with the The Black and Orange Cat Foundation in Plain City. The dinner will be from 5-7p.m. at Saint Joseph's Catholic Church's Parish Activity Center (the PAC), located at 670 West Main Street in Plain City (behind the fire station). We'll have spay-ghetti, with or without meatballs, salad, rolls, and a beverage. Cost is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for children under 12 yrs and $20 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children. We also plan to have a bake sale of "human" desserts, as well as delicious dog treats.
The Jonathan Alter High School Show Choir will be performing at 6:00pm and we will have a 50/50 drawing as well.
We hope you will come and enjoy our First Spay Day Event.
We also need volunteers for this event. If you can help with set up, cooking, serving, and tear down, please let us know by emailing or calling the shelter.
Fri, Jan 22 2010 11:58
Hard to Place Pets
Update to story on January 22nd. Of the pets listed below, Homer, Oro, Wednesday and Mortisha have been adopted. We still need homes for the rest. Can you help us find them a good home.
Some of the animals that come into the HSMC are harder to place than others. Not because they are bad, but because of many reasons. We had three pets who came to our shelter in 2008 and still have not been adopted. We want to tell you about them.
First is Oro, male cat who came to our shelter in 2008. He is orange and white and now about 2 to 2 1/2 years old. Oro loves to play with other cats and even likes dogs. He loves attention and being held. We believe the reason Oro has been over looked time and again is because he has "weepy eyes". This means his eyes always look watery and "dirty" or stained. This cleared up when he went into foster care. But now that he is up at the PetSmart Store Westpointe Plaza in Columbus off Hilliard Rome Road, his eyes are back to weeping again. It is because he lives in a cage too close to the litter box. The dust from the litter, we believe, is what cause the "weepy eye". After all, in foster care, he had the run of the whole place.
Oro's adoption fee is now discounted to $40.00 instead of the usual $60.00. He is current on his vaccines, deworming, tested neg for Feline Leuk/FIV and neutered.
Second and third hard to place pets are Ben and Jerry. They were found on New Year's Eve 2008 and brought into the shelter. They are medium size dogs weighing about 35 pounds. They are nothing more than a mutt. We have them listed as a sheltie with maybe spaniel. However, they are older, maybe 8 years old. To some folks, they think this is really old. But to be honest, if well cared for, they could live for another 8 or 10 years. Who honestly knows how long a dog will live. We want them to live forever, but in reality, that does not happen.
Ben is black with brown markings and Jerry is salt and pepper. Both boys like other dogs, but need a home with no cats. They entered the prison program on March 17th, 2009. This is where inmates foster some of our dogs, teach them basic commands and work on housebreaking. Both boys did great in this program. However, Ben recently got kicked out for starting to guard his "home" and growled at an officer. (Guard dogs are not allowed in the prison.) So Ben is now back at the shelter. Jerry is still in prison.
Their adoption fee is $75.00 for each. Normal adoption fee for dogs is $105.00 which includes heartworm testing, vaccines, deworming, neuter and a Home Again Microchip.
The boys do not have to be adopted together as they had not been together since arriving. They just need a good home with a loving person to take care of them.
Next is some of the harder to place pets who came to the shelter early in 2009.
First is Diesel. He had come to our shelter back in 2008 and went to prison for 5 months. He was adopted, then returned in beginning of 2009 after several months at home. Diesel is a rott/lab mix. He needs a home with family who can remember that he is a pet and not to be treated like an equal. When you do this with some dogs, they then start to think "well if nobody else is going to be top of the pack, I will be". Which is what Diesel did. He would not listen to the kids or mom in the family. He only viewed the dad as top and Diesel as second in the pack. So Diesel was returned to the shelter.
Diesel needs a home with no small kids because of his dominate issue. He also needs folks who understand large dogs (he is 80 lbs) and would love to find somebody who understand Rotts. He does like other dogs, but can be dominate over male dogs and he does not like cats. Diesel's adoption fee is now $75.00.
Second is Homer. He is the shelter director's favorite dog. He is a lab mix about 3 years old. His problem, he is a big black mutt (weighs 85 lbs). These kinds of dogs get over looked time and again. However, Homer is one of the only dogs that the director can take to adoption events and not kennel Homer. If she tells him to stay, he does. If she says come, he does. His one other problem is he will not heel when walking unless he has a gentle leader or head halter on. He is one of the best trained dogs in the opinion of the director. Homer loves other dogs and will give chase to cats. He is a good boy who deserves a good family to love him. Homer's adoption fee is now $75.00.
Third is Sweetest. She came to our shelter back in 2008. She went to the prison program and was adopted. However, after several months in the home, she was returned. Sweetest and their older female dog just could not get along. Both girls wanted to be the dominate female dog in the house which does not work. Sweetest came back to the shelter and back to prison. She is listed as a mastiff/shepherd mix. She is a big girl weighing in at 85 pounds and is now about 3 years old. She is good with dogs and did not mind cats too much. Sweetest's adoption fee is $75.00.
Fourth and Fifth are Wednesday and Mortisha. Two female felines who came to the shelter at the beginning of 2009. They are pretty tigers who like other cats, but really don't like dogs. They have been at the shelter since they were only 2 months old. But they have been over looked time and again. We are not sure why other than they look like every other tiger cat. Most folks when they come to adopt are drawn to cats with unique markings or colors. Tiger and black cats are overlooked lot.
The girls do not have to be adopted together. If adopted apart, their fee is $40 each. But if adopted together, it is $70.00. After all, they have lived together at the shelter their whole life.
You can view pictures of these animalsby clicking the Adoption Button and View their information and see pictures there. And even if you are not looking for a new family member, please tell others about these wonderful pets. They do need to find a home.
Some of the animals that come into the HSMC are harder to place than others. Not because they are bad, but because of many reasons. We had three pets who came to our shelter in 2008 and still have not been adopted. We want to tell you about them.
First is Oro, male cat who came to our shelter in 2008. He is orange and white and now about 2 to 2 1/2 years old. Oro loves to play with other cats and even likes dogs. He loves attention and being held. We believe the reason Oro has been over looked time and again is because he has "weepy eyes". This means his eyes always look watery and "dirty" or stained. This cleared up when he went into foster care. But now that he is up at the PetSmart Store Westpointe Plaza in Columbus off Hilliard Rome Road, his eyes are back to weeping again. It is because he lives in a cage too close to the litter box. The dust from the litter, we believe, is what cause the "weepy eye". After all, in foster care, he had the run of the whole place.
Oro's adoption fee is now discounted to $40.00 instead of the usual $60.00. He is current on his vaccines, deworming, tested neg for Feline Leuk/FIV and neutered.
Second and third hard to place pets are Ben and Jerry. They were found on New Year's Eve 2008 and brought into the shelter. They are medium size dogs weighing about 35 pounds. They are nothing more than a mutt. We have them listed as a sheltie with maybe spaniel. However, they are older, maybe 8 years old. To some folks, they think this is really old. But to be honest, if well cared for, they could live for another 8 or 10 years. Who honestly knows how long a dog will live. We want them to live forever, but in reality, that does not happen.
Ben is black with brown markings and Jerry is salt and pepper. Both boys like other dogs, but need a home with no cats. They entered the prison program on March 17th, 2009. This is where inmates foster some of our dogs, teach them basic commands and work on housebreaking. Both boys did great in this program. However, Ben recently got kicked out for starting to guard his "home" and growled at an officer. (Guard dogs are not allowed in the prison.) So Ben is now back at the shelter. Jerry is still in prison.
Their adoption fee is $75.00 for each. Normal adoption fee for dogs is $105.00 which includes heartworm testing, vaccines, deworming, neuter and a Home Again Microchip.
The boys do not have to be adopted together as they had not been together since arriving. They just need a good home with a loving person to take care of them.
Next is some of the harder to place pets who came to the shelter early in 2009.
First is Diesel. He had come to our shelter back in 2008 and went to prison for 5 months. He was adopted, then returned in beginning of 2009 after several months at home. Diesel is a rott/lab mix. He needs a home with family who can remember that he is a pet and not to be treated like an equal. When you do this with some dogs, they then start to think "well if nobody else is going to be top of the pack, I will be". Which is what Diesel did. He would not listen to the kids or mom in the family. He only viewed the dad as top and Diesel as second in the pack. So Diesel was returned to the shelter.
Diesel needs a home with no small kids because of his dominate issue. He also needs folks who understand large dogs (he is 80 lbs) and would love to find somebody who understand Rotts. He does like other dogs, but can be dominate over male dogs and he does not like cats. Diesel's adoption fee is now $75.00.
Second is Homer. He is the shelter director's favorite dog. He is a lab mix about 3 years old. His problem, he is a big black mutt (weighs 85 lbs). These kinds of dogs get over looked time and again. However, Homer is one of the only dogs that the director can take to adoption events and not kennel Homer. If she tells him to stay, he does. If she says come, he does. His one other problem is he will not heel when walking unless he has a gentle leader or head halter on. He is one of the best trained dogs in the opinion of the director. Homer loves other dogs and will give chase to cats. He is a good boy who deserves a good family to love him. Homer's adoption fee is now $75.00.
Third is Sweetest. She came to our shelter back in 2008. She went to the prison program and was adopted. However, after several months in the home, she was returned. Sweetest and their older female dog just could not get along. Both girls wanted to be the dominate female dog in the house which does not work. Sweetest came back to the shelter and back to prison. She is listed as a mastiff/shepherd mix. She is a big girl weighing in at 85 pounds and is now about 3 years old. She is good with dogs and did not mind cats too much. Sweetest's adoption fee is $75.00.
Fourth and Fifth are Wednesday and Mortisha. Two female felines who came to the shelter at the beginning of 2009. They are pretty tigers who like other cats, but really don't like dogs. They have been at the shelter since they were only 2 months old. But they have been over looked time and again. We are not sure why other than they look like every other tiger cat. Most folks when they come to adopt are drawn to cats with unique markings or colors. Tiger and black cats are overlooked lot.
The girls do not have to be adopted together. If adopted apart, their fee is $40 each. But if adopted together, it is $70.00. After all, they have lived together at the shelter their whole life.
You can view pictures of these animalsby clicking the Adoption Button and View their information and see pictures there. And even if you are not looking for a new family member, please tell others about these wonderful pets. They do need to find a home.
Mon, Jan 4 2010 08:20