Shane’s War Information Sheet

April 26, 2015 Leave a comment

By Diane Robertson

Date:  08/12/2013  Last Updated:  04/27/2014

Shane’s War

Information Sheet

I thought this list of public information would be helpful for those of us that are new to Shane’s War.  I will continue updating this list as more material is created or located.  Feel free to provide information to add to this list via the comment section at the bottom of this post.

shaneswar1

BREAKING  NEWS:

  • California City, California Pardon: The next Shane’s War Pardon starts April 27, 2015.  Visit the information page at PawsforHopeandFaith.org for more information.

Online Presence

ShaneSmithHope1

Press Coverage

California City – April 2015

Examiner.com | 04/27/2015 | Article “No paws left behind at California shelter for Shane’s War adoption event”

Gurdon Arkansas – June 2014

The Gurdon Times | 06/13/2014 | Article “Dogs at Shelter Receive Pardon”

YouTube Video City of Gurdon Pardon with Shane Smith

Coachella Valley Animal Campus – May 2014

Coachella Valley Weekly | 05/14/2014 | Article “Shane’s War Comes to Coachella Valley”

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – February 2014

Selma Alabama – Central Alabama Animal Shelter – August 2013

July 2013 and Prior

hope

Pardon Information

What is a Shane’s War PARDON?  It is a week-long and sometimes longer Adoption event where we ask the Government , the Police , the Media and the citizens to all put their differences aside for the animals.  The word Pardon does not imply the animals did anything wrong; it is simply our attempt to save them from certain Death.  After the pardons end, we stay in touch with the citizens in these towns to help network the animals.

When we came up with the Pardon idea, we had no idea if it would work or not.  We have had people who were long time enemies working together for some of these.  As long as they are in need, we will try to help.  When we go to a shelter for the first time, we visit every animal. We love them all, we travel under no banner of any national group, we are just Citizens helping the animals, our partners are different everywhere we go.   Do we offer training to staff at shelters? No.  If we see common sense things that will help, of course we speak up.  Our mission is to get animals out of harms way, any citizen is welcome to sign the pardon in a town we are in (Shane).

The following pardons have been completed and more are lined up:

  • Jones County and Monroe County Georgia – simultaneous Pardons | July 2014
  • #GurdonPardon | Gurdon, Arkansas | June 2014
  • #CVACPardon | The Coachella Valley Animal Campus Pardon | May 2014
  • #SelmaPardon | Selma, Alabama | August 2013
  • #ButlerPardon |Butler Alabama | August 2013
  • #ManateeCountyPardon |Manatee County Animal Services and Palmetto|Florida | April 2013
  • #JonesCountyPardon |Jones County Animal Control | Georgia |February 2013
  • #TerrellPardon |Terrell County Animal Control |Georgia |June 2012
  • #MaconBibbPardon |Macon City -Bibb County Animal Control| Macon, Georgia | January 2013
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control  |Macon, Georgia| May 2012
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control | Macon, Georgia | November 2011

Filed under Animal Rescue, Shane's War Tagged with , , ,

Shane’s War Information Sheet

November 2, 2014 Leave a comment

By Diane Robertson

Date:  08/12/2013  Last Updated:  11/02/2014

Shane’s War

Information Sheet

I thought this list of public information would be helpful for those of us that are new to Shane’s War.  I will continue updating this list as more material is created or located.  Feel free to provide information to add to this list via the comment section at the bottom of this post.

shaneswar1

BREAKING  NEWS:

  • #DublinGAPardon The next Shane’s War Pardon is scheduled for November 10-17, 2014 in Dublin, Georgia.  Visit the information page at PawsforHopeandFaith.org

Online Presence

ShaneSmithHope1

Press Coverage

Gurdon Arkansas – June 2014

The Gurdon Times | 06/13/2014 | Article “Dogs at Shelter Receive Pardon”

YouTube Video City of Gurdon Pardon with Shane Smith

Coachella Valley Animal Campus – May 2014

Coachella Valley Weekly | 05/14/2014 | Article “Shane’s War Comes to Coachella Valley”

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – February 2014

Selma Alabama – Central Alabama Animal Shelter – August 2013

July 2013 and Prior

hope

Pardon Information

What is a Shane’s War PARDON?  It is a week-long and sometimes longer Adoption event where we ask the Government , the Police , the Media and the citizens to all put their differences aside for the animals.  The word Pardon does not imply the animals did anything wrong; it is simply our attempt to save them from certain Death.  After the pardons end, we stay in touch with the citizens in these towns to help network the animals.

When we came up with the Pardon idea, we had no idea if it would work or not.  We have had people who were long time enemies working together for some of these.  As long as they are in need, we will try to help.  When we go to a shelter for the first time, we visit every animal. We love them all, we travel under no banner of any national group, we are just Citizens helping the animals, our partners are different everywhere we go.   Do we offer training to staff at shelters? No.  If we see common sense things that will help, of course we speak up.  Our mission is to get animals out of harms way, any citizen is welcome to sign the pardon in a town we are in (Shane).

The following pardons have been completed and more are lined up:

  • Jones County and Monroe County Georgia – simultaneous Pardons | July 2014
  • #GurdonPardon | Gurdon, Arkansas | June 2014
  • #CVACPardon | The Coachella Valley Animal Campus Pardon | May 2014
  • #SelmaPardon | Selma, Alabama | August 2013
  • #ButlerPardon |Butler Alabama | August 2013
  • #ManateeCountyPardon |Manatee County Animal Services and Palmetto|Florida | April 2013
  • #JonesCountyPardon |Jones County Animal Control | Georgia |February 2013
  • #TerrellPardon |Terrell County Animal Control |Georgia |June 2012
  • #MaconBibbPardon |Macon City -Bibb County Animal Control| Macon, Georgia | January 2013
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control  |Macon, Georgia| May 2012
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control | Macon, Georgia | November 2011

Filed under Animal Rescue, Shane's War Tagged with , , ,

Visit to Omaha Shelter

August 28, 2014 Leave a comment

By Diane Robertson

August 2014

On a recent business trip, I was lucky enough to have the time to visit the local shelter.  This post is about what I saw, experienced and have since learned about this facility.

SPOILER ALERT!  This is the nicest shelter I have visited yet.  Read on to find out about this shelter.

First, Omaha is a pretty big city with all the usual types of neighborhoods.  Wealthy, low-income, white, black…they seem to be fairly diverse but obviously more white than other races . The population of the city is around  421,000.  I found the following graphic if you are interested in a visual of the race breakdown.  I include this information for every city I visit these days because I have found that knowing a bit more about the city residents can be helpful to understanding cultural differences in their approach and attitude toward pets as well as potentially a language barrier to getting the message out effectively.  In California, some cities are overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking and it is my opinion that some of the animal population problems are the result of people not speaking to the residents directly, in their first language and keeping their cultural differences in mind when designing education campaigns and/or media campaigns.  We have to do whatever we possibly can to reach out to our community members effectively to reduce the suffering and death occurring in our municipal animal shelters.

OmahaNebraskaRaces1

 

Back to Omaha.  In Omaha, someone or group of people did a truly awesome job first by having the non-profit Nebraska Humane Society in charge of the city animal shelter/services as well as acting for the entire county.  Second, the design and layout of these facilities is just fabulous.  Let me describe the layout of the buildings.  First and foremost, there is a giant purple sign (the color of animal causes) by the road that one simply cannot miss.  This is a sign that probably once belonged to a bank or similar business – you know the kind you expect from banks and fast food restaurants.  Here is a picture now that I have put it in context of how large this sign truly is.

roadsign

On the left is the animal services building with their fleet of vehicles for transporting animals.  Next to that on the right is the animal shelter.  The intake area is on the left side, closest to animal services.   Imagine that, someone thought about placement of facilities for effective and smooth flow of animals and people!  Believe it or not, many facilities are or seem to be just thrown together with little or no thought for best flow.

Next to the intake area, in the center of this building, is the beautiful entrance for the public.   More about this later on.  Next to the shelter building is the “Humane Education” building.  This is a very large building that is probably bigger than the shelter itself.  It looks like it was once a strip mall.  This building is devoted to education for people and dogs! On reading their website a few minutes ago, apparently they also offer training at the owner’s house!  So cool.   I did not capture of a picture of the entire education building, only a small corner of it with the big education sign.  In addition to the animal services building, the very large shelter building and even larger education building, there is the low-cost spay and neuter clinic where residents can do the right thing and have their animals “fixed”.

educationcenter1educationcenter2

 

Every facility should be so blessed to have a devoted education area.  How many more animals could be saved if this was standard of practice everywhere?  Oh, I think that number surely would be in the millions every year!  Just my opinion, but I would love to be proven wrong by having this become a reality.

Now back to the public entrance to the shelter.  My first view as I am approaching from the right is shown below.  So colorful and landscaped, I am impressed before I have seen much of anything.

approaching entrance from side

 

In the center of the walkway, by the sidewalk closest to the parking lot, is a water fountain/bird bath with a dedication placard.  Let’s not overlook the stone walkway and yes, this appears to be a gigantic granite fountain that is much taller than my 5 foot tall frame.  Impressed yet?  Wait, there’s more.

omahaentrance1

 

To the right and left of the beautiful fountain is the memorial garden.  Here are a couple of pictures:

 

memorialgarden2

memorialgarden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, there is more…

They didn’t forget a truly important message for the summer time (it was raining the day I was there but summer none-the-less).  At the entrance doors here is a 3-4 foot tall sign reminding folks about how deadly the heat can be for pets left in the vehicle:

4 foottallsignatdoor

 

When you walk in the door there is a foyer of sorts.  Kind of the space between the outside and inside of the shelter.  (Probably for helping to keep heating and cooling costs down-remember this is Nebraska).  In this space, one entire wall is covered with a photograph of a woman and her dog with a placard with some details.  Off in the corner of this area is the cutest bench ever.  Check out the picture below.  Yes this photo really touches ceiling and floor, it is that big!   Sorry for the quality of these photos, I am not a professional photographer obviously.

20140827_154128

 

Off to the side is this full size sitting bench made of colored stones.  How cute is that!20140827_154139

 

 

I didn’t get a lot of pictures inside the building but the awesomeness continues.  There is a large welcome desk to the left, seating area to the right and individual cat “cages” directly ahead.  There is a center room where they keep the cat litter and other supplies, with sinks and other areas for cleaning and prep.  I know this because the cat cages are glass and I could look through the cages to the center and see all this.  Guess what, no smell.  No kitty litter odor.  Why…because it is all contained within the center room that is not open to the public.  From this center room, workers can reach into each cage and clean as needed without ever exposing the cats to  other cats or people to the horrible smells that catteries can generate.  I LOVED IT.

Besides this center room that houses say 50 kitties or so, each in their own cage, there are a number of glass visiting rooms with closing doors that people use to get to know a particular kitty they may be interested in adopting.  Going down the hallway (on left or right) that the center room lined with cat cages creates you eventually come to several cattery rooms.  In what I would call the main cattery (only maybe 6-7 cats in there), there is a gigantic water feature, beds for each cat, small food and water bowls placed like for each cat.  Again, so clean I did not notice any smells, despite  at least a couple of cat boxes in the cattery.  Here is a picture of one of the residents and the water feature:

acatteryresident                                                                                                               oneofthrwayetbowlsyepawaterfeatureinyhecattery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A single cattery would not do for such an awesome facility so there was a kitten cattery and at least one other small cattery along the back wall and another visiting room.  Check out the super cute holes they punched in the glass so the kitties and people could touch but not hurt each other.  So you could see better, I stuck my fingers the “pad” part of the kitty foot print hole.  There were a number of these cute access points in these small catteries along the back wall.

the cute holes to the csttery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just for fun I took a pic of one cat lounging in a bed mounted about 4 feet off the floor.  There were a number of these wall-mounted beds as well as beds on the floor, etc.

20140827_153823

 

The Dogs

The dog area is accessed via a closed glass door off the hallway by one of the visiting rooms.  So, it is not directly in sight of the cats or next to cat cages, etc.  Nice placement!  So thoughtful!  There are two large dog rooms that are separated again by glass doors.  I think the first room is for the female dogs and the back room is for the male dogs.  The kennels were clean, did not smell and had a bed and bedding.  Every kennel is sponsored by someone or a group and that sponsorship is noted on a blue placard on each kennel.  So awesome.


 20140827_153058

Besides the nice placards that help illustrate that it takes a lot of money and dedication to have such wonderful facilities, I noticed that just about every kind of dog imaginable was here.  I saw a couple of grey hounds, beagles, Chihuahuas, black lab, golden lab, Irish Setter, Newfoundland giant dog, a few pit bulls, an awesome chinese crested, etc.  I was amazed at the quality of the animals and variety.  Like any kennel, it could get loud with dogs barking, which was scary to some dogs and it was every bit as sad a place for dogs as  any other shelter I have ever visited.  It only helped a little to know that there were awesome staff and volunteers doing their best to take care of so, so many homeless dogs.  I guess by the time I got to the dogs I was expecting something different because the rest of the facility was so awesome.  Nope.  That are well cared for, air-conditioned, great descriptions posted for each dog, etc but it was so sad it broke my heart, as usual.

20140827_153011

 

 

 

PJ the Chinese Crested…he’s an odd-looking little dude!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20140827_153021

20140827_153047

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are two super-cute pug/beagle mixes I had the pleasure to meet:

OmahaTwins

 

 

Finally, I just had to know…what are the statistics for this facility? Do the operations match the shiny presentation?  They publish their numbers on their website.  Kudos to them for this!  Nicely transparent as all publicly funded/contracted facilities should be.  Anyway, I would say that they mostly operate to the level of their pretty, shiny exterior but I think their numbers can be a lot better.  They are apparently working on improving these numbers, which I applaud.  Never stop trying to do better and finding new ways to save more lives.  Below is a link to their numbers and a summary count of ” EUTHANASIAS” , which I call what it actually is…number of cats and dogs that were killed:

December 2013:  http://www.nehumanesociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Asilomar_statistic

Total Intake:  17,854

Total Dogs killed:  1379  Total Cats killed: 3759

Adjusted to account for owner requested kills:  Dogs: 977  Cats: 3560

Thank you for sharing my enthusiasm for saving as many as we can and for reading this post.

Filed under Animal Rescue Tagged with , , ,

Shane’s War Information Sheet

February 17, 2014 3 Comments

By Diane Robertson

Date:  08/12/2013  Last Updated:  05/15/2014

Shane’s War

Information Sheet

I thought this list of public information would be helpful for those of us that are new to Shane’s War.  I will continue updating this list as more material is created or located.  Feel free to provide information to add to this list via the comment section at the bottom of this post.

shaneswar1

BREAKING  NEWS:

  • #CVACPardon The Coachella Valley Animal Campus Pardon is set for May 19-24, 2014.  Visit the information page at PawsforHopeandFaith.org

Online Presence

ShaneSmithHope1

Press Coverage

Coachella Valley Animal Campus – May 2014

Coachella Valley Weekly | 05/14/2014 | Article “Shane’s War Comes to Coachella Valley”

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – February 2014

Selma Alabama – Central Alabama Animal Shelter – August 2013

July 2013 and Prior

hope

Pardon Information

What is a Shane’s War PARDON?  It is a week-long and sometimes longer Adoption event where we ask the Government , the Police , the Media and the citizens to all put their differences aside for the animals.  The word Pardon does not imply the animals did anything wrong; it is simply our attempt to save them from certain Death.  After the pardons end, we stay in touch with the citizens in these towns to help network the animals.

When we came up with the Pardon idea, we had no idea if it would work or not.  We have had people who were long time enemies working together for some of these.  As long as they are in need, we will try to help.  When we go to a shelter for the first time, we visit every animal. We love them all, we travel under no banner of any national group, we are just Citizens helping the animals, our partners are different everywhere we go.   Do we offer training to staff at shelters? No.  If we see common sense things that will help, of course we speak up.  Our mission is to get animals out of harms way, any citizen is welcome to sign the pardon in a town we are in (Shane).

The following pardons have been completed and more are lined up:

  • #SelmaPardon | Selma, Alabama | August 20, 2013
  • #ButlerPardon |Butler Alabama | August 2013
  • #ManateeCountyPardon |Manatee County Animal Services and Palmetto|Florida | April 2013
  • #JonesCountyPardon |Jones County Animal Control | Georgia |February 2013
  • #TerrellPardon |Terrell County Animal Control |Georgia |June 2012
  • #MaconBibbPardon |Macon City -Bibb County Animal Control| Macon, Georgia | January 2013
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control  |Macon, Georgia| May 2012
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control | Macon, Georgia | November 2011

Filed under Animal Rescue, Shane's War Tagged with , , ,

Shane’s War Information Sheet

January 23, 2014 1 Comment

By Diane Robertson

Date:  08/12/2013  Last Updated:  01/23/2014

Shane’s War

Information Sheet

I thought this list of public information would be helpful for those of us that are new to Shane’s War.  I will continue updating this list as more material is created or located.  Feel free to provide information to add to this list via the comment section at the bottom of this post.

shaneswar1

BREAKING  NEWS:

  • #SBCPardon is underway with press releases, fund raising, media coverage and organizing activities before the event begins 02/04/2014.

Online Presence

ShaneSmithHope1

Press Coverage

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – February 2014

Selma Alabama – Central Alabama Animal Shelter – August 2013

July 2013 and Prior

hope

Pardon Information

What is a Shane’s War PARDON?  It is a week-long and sometimes longer Adoption event where we ask the Government , the Police , the Media and the citizens to all put their differences aside for the animals.  The word Pardon does not imply the animals did anything wrong; it is simply our attempt to save them from certain Death.  After the pardons end, we stay in touch with the citizens in these towns to help network the animals.

When we came up with the Pardon idea, we had no idea if it would work or not.  We have had people who were long time enemies working together for some of these.  As long as they are in need, we will try to help.  When we go to a shelter for the first time, we visit every animal. We love them all, we travel under no banner of any national group, we are just Citizens helping the animals, our partners are different everywhere we go.   Do we offer training to staff at shelters? No.  If we see common sense things that will help, of course we speak up.  Our mission is to get animals out of harms way, any citizen is welcome to sign the pardon in a town we are in (Shane).

The following pardons have been completed and more are lined up:

  • #SelmaPardon | Selma, Alabama | August 20, 2013
  • #ButlerPardon |Butler Alabama | August 2013
  • #ManateeCountyPardon |Manatee County Animal Services and Palmetto|Florida | April 2013
  • #JonesCountyPardon |Jones County Animal Control | Georgia |February 2013
  • #TerrellPardon |Terrell County Animal Control |Georgia |June 2012
  • #MaconBibbPardon |Macon City -Bibb County Animal Control| Macon, Georgia | January 2013
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control  |Macon, Georgia| May 2012
  • #MaconPardon | Macon City Animal Control | Macon, Georgia | November 2011

Filed under Animal Rescue, Shane's War Tagged with , , ,

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – Update 3

November 26, 2013 Leave a comment

San Bernardino City Animal Control/Shelter

by Diane Robertson Updated 11/26/2013

San Bernardino City Animal Services has been in the news and lighting-up Facebook with charges of abuse and corruption.  Plenty of accusations and people trying to figure out how to improve operations at the shelter.

In this update, I ran across some interesting information comparative positions and salaries in San Bernardino.  I will let you derive what you will from the information presented.   Check it out.  This is from indeed.com.

SanBernardino_SalaryInfo1_Indeed.com

SanBernardino_SalaryInfo2_Indeed.com

Press Coverage

Following is news media coverage about the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter #SBC

SBSun.com | October 11, 2013 | Fundraiser for SB City Shelter

Examiner.com | October 3, 2013 | Article Titled:  More Allegations of Abuse at the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter

The Sun.com | 09/17/2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter Target of Complaints

Examiner.com | September 6, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Shelter retaliate against potential whistleblower http://www.examiner.com/article/san-bernardino-city-shelter-retaliates-against-potential-whistleblower

Image

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 23, 2013 | Blog Post Stop the Killing https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/stop-the-killing/

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 21, 2013 | Blog Post Animal Advocates Plan Lawsuit Against San Bernardino City Animal Shelter for Abuse and Corruption https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/animal-advocates-plan-lawsuit-against-san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-for-abuse-and-corruption/

Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  New horrific allegations surrounding the San Bernardino City animal shelter
Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  Demand injured Yorkie is seen by vet at the San Bernardino City animal shelter
SanBernardinoCityShelterInjuredYorkie

The Sun News | July 28, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter quarantine sparks criticism |http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20130729/san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-quarantine-sparks-criticism

Image

Filed under Animal Rescue, News Tagged with , , , , ,

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – Update 2

October 15, 2013 Leave a comment

San Bernardino City Animal Control/Shelter

by Diane Robertson Updated 10/15/2013

San Bernardino City Animal Services has been in the news and lighting-up Facebook with charges of abuse and corruption.  Plenty of accusations and people trying to figure out how to improve operations at the shelter.  In this update, I finally found what appears to be some real news reporting on the situation, with sources cited from City Council and Sheriff’s department as well as others.

Press Coverage

Following is news media coverage about the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter #SBC

SBSun.com | October 11, 2013 | Fundraiser for SB City Shelter

Examiner.com | October 3, 2013 | Article Titled:  More Allegations of Abuse at the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter

The Sun.com | 09/17/2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter Target of Complaints

Examiner.com | September 6, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Shelter retaliate against potential whistleblower http://www.examiner.com/article/san-bernardino-city-shelter-retaliates-against-potential-whistleblower

Image

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 23, 2013 | Blog Post Stop the Killing https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/stop-the-killing/

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 21, 2013 | Blog Post Animal Advocates Plan Lawsuit Against San Bernardino City Animal Shelter for Abuse and Corruption https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/animal-advocates-plan-lawsuit-against-san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-for-abuse-and-corruption/

Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  New horrific allegations surrounding the San Bernardino City animal shelter
Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  Demand injured Yorkie is seen by vet at the San Bernardino City animal shelter
SanBernardinoCityShelterInjuredYorkie

The Sun News | July 28, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter quarantine sparks criticism |http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20130729/san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-quarantine-sparks-criticism

Image

Filed under Animal Rescue, News Tagged with , , , , ,

Facebook may CLOSE DOWN your Animal Rescue account!

September 9, 2013 5 Comments

Facebook may CLOSE DOWN your Animal Rescue account!.

Filed under Animal Rescue Tagged with ,

San Bernardino City Animal Shelter – Update 1

September 8, 2013 1 Comment

San Bernardino City Animal Control/Shelter

by Diane Robertson Updated 09/18/2013

San Bernardino City Animal Services has been in the news and lighting-up Facebook with charges of abuse and corruption.  Plenty of accusations and people trying to figure out how to improve operations at the shelter.  In this update, I finally found what appears to be some real news reporting on the situation, with sources cited from City Council and Sheriff’s department as well as others.

Press Coverage

Following is news media coverage about the San Bernardino City Animal Shelter #SBC

The Sun.com | 09/17/2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter Target of Complaints

Examiner.com | September 6, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Shelter retaliate against potential whistleblower http://www.examiner.com/article/san-bernardino-city-shelter-retaliates-against-potential-whistleblower

Image

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 23, 2013 | Blog Post Stop the Killing https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/stop-the-killing/

bsudiane.wordpress.com | August 21, 2013 | Blog Post Animal Advocates Plan Lawsuit Against San Bernardino City Animal Shelter for Abuse and Corruption https://bsudiane.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/animal-advocates-plan-lawsuit-against-san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-for-abuse-and-corruption/

Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  New horrific allegations surrounding the San Bernardino City animal shelter
Examiner.com | August 18, 2013 | Article Titled:  Demand injured Yorkie is seen by vet at the San Bernardino City animal shelter
SanBernardinoCityShelterInjuredYorkie

The Sun News | July 28, 2013 | Article Titled:  San Bernardino City Animal Shelter quarantine sparks criticism |http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20130729/san-bernardino-city-animal-shelter-quarantine-sparks-criticism

Image

Filed under Animal Rescue, News Tagged with , , , , ,

A VERY SMART DOG

September 5, 2013 Leave a comment

A Very Smart Dog

By Diane Robertson

September 05, 2013

DelilahSept52013My latest foster dog is named “D”, which is short for Delilah.  She looks to be a purebred Border Collie around 6 months old.  I picked her up Sunday August 25, 2013 from Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode.

Her Condition

D was:

  • Extremely skittish
  • Submissive to all other dogs
  • Beyond skinny
  • Dehydrated
  • Stool was light brown water
  • No appetite
  • Not eating very much
  • Not drinking enough

Treatment

I went to my favorite Pet Store on Monday (Bark Avenue in El Dorado Hills, CA).  They recommended a dry dog food brand called Pure Vita and suggested the Turkey flavor.  They also suggested I add Pumpkin puree to her food to help firm up the stool.

Next she went to see the vet at Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode on Thursday August 29, 2013.  The vet and vet tech were very concerned for her and got her going with sub-q fluids right then. (Subcutaneous fluids are placed under the skin but not in a vein like IV fluids)  They took some stool samples from her butt (since I still couldn’t get a stool sample due to runny diarrhea).  They need stool samples so they could run some tests to see if she had parasites or other common diseases.

Delilah was given fluids there in the office while we chatted and I was given some medications to take home with me.  She was also scheduled to return the next day for more sub-q fluids.

Recovery Begins

D’s food intake started to improve even before we got her to the vet and her stool started firming within a few days.  Thank you Bark Avenue for such great advice and thank you Animal Outreach Veterinarian Dr. B and everyone else who helped.

After seeing the vet, D immediately started feeling better.  She was interacting more with my other dogs, playing more and her appetite really increased over the next week.  I quickly ran out of pumpkin and her special food and went back for more.

Her stool tests so far have been negative (a very good thing).

By the following weekend, labor day weekend, D was no longer submissive to the other dogs.  She started to steal toys from the other dogs (before she would give up any toy she had when another dog came over).  She insisted on keeping the toys she wanted and wouldn’t share with the others.  This was a great sign of improved health and I was very pleased.

dog_inDogHouse1

D’s confidence has kept growing ever since and now, Thursday September 5th, she is actually a bit too aggressive with the other dogs (they are smaller than her, Chi mixes).  She herds them and plays chase with them, which is great considering she is a Border Collie and fun to watch as well.  But now she will take a toy, bring it over to her favorite spot in the yard and if a dog is within eyesight, she’ll growl and bare her teeth and even lunge at them.  No bites yet, maybe some small nips.  She prefers to get her way with food too, but she does not exhibit any aggression over the food.  I’m very pleased about that!

I have not been crating D since about the third day at my house.  With the watery stool she had no control over her bowels and every morning she was in a puddle of her own waste.  I not only did not like cleaning this up, I thought it was unfair to the dog.  Secondly, she did not want to go into the crate and fought me over it.  Third, she did very well outside overnight when I tried that.  No barking, no problems.

Well, now a little more than a week after she first arrived, she is a barking fool.  My dog Frito was keeping her company outside during the last week.  I felt that Frito was giving her comfort, warmth and a sense of security.  As D became healthier and more confident, Frito’s company did not seem to be needed any longer.  I kept Frito in the house late at night for longer and longer periods.  I would put Frito outside with D if she started barking.  That worked for a couple of days.  The last two nights have been problematic.  D is picking on Frito and starting fights and doesn’t seem to need his company.  So, last night, I let Frito sleep upstairs with me in my bed.  He was willing to go “nite nite” there instead of his room, so I went with that.  D’s barking was no worse without Frito and at some point early this morning,  I fell asleep.  D must have stopped barking.

This Morning

I woke up to Frito laying next to me on the bed.  He wasn’t inclined to get up but I had to get ready for work.  Up we got and went down stairs so I could let Frito out before he peed in the house.  At the bottom of the stairs I found a very confusing then completely hilarious scene.

The backdoor is ajar and D is peaking through the opening looking at me.  Huh?  Did someone leave the door open?  NO, I’m the only one here.  It then dawns on me that D is a very smart dog and had opened the unlocked door herself.  I knew it!  We should have purchased the round door knob handle this weekend when we replaced the hardware on the back door!  But no, Diane wanted a disability friendly knob in case we rent the house in the future.  Disability friendly=smart dog gets into trouble friendly knob.  I start smiling because I am so proud of this smart little girl.  And, I will be sure to lock the door in the future, like I usually do.

I look around and notice some things out-of-place, oh no!  What has she done?  Cat food is OK, remote control is OK, books on table are OK, laptop is OK.  These are all good things.  But, hey, my wallet with the rent money in it is laying by the backdoor.  Is that cash I see on the floor?  What the heck!  Sure enough, she opened the wallet (without doing any damage to the wallet) and took out all the cash (hundreds of dollars in 20’s) and spread it around the back porch and back yard.  Holy crap!  I start running around picking up money but I can’t stop laughing.  This dog is crazy smart.

The other thing she did was drag all the dirty clothes from the laundry basket across the living room, out the back door and into the yard.  She left socks, underwear and shirts and such along the way.  She was at this for a while!  She did take my wireless mouse and chew it up.  Oh well, better that than the laptop!  I Feel like I dodged a bullet there!  There are bits and pieces of chewed up dog toys and bark from the garden in the house.  No dog pee or poop that I noticed or smelled.  I feel very lucky it isn’t worse than it is.  I count the money I’ve gathered up and I am still missing some.  Maybe I will find it later when I get home from work (like in a pile of dog poop, lol).

Before I left for work, I locked the door and put a note on it for the rest of the family.

“This door shall remain locked at all times due to the pesky, super smart Border Collie.”

Fostering dogs is so rewarding.  Every dog is different and every dog brings a new set of challenges and new funny stories to tell.  I love helping save the lives of these dogs and even though it can result in some property damage (or theft of money in this case), it is well worth the trouble.

Until next time,

Diane Robertson
Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode Volunteer

Filed under Animal Rescue Tagged with , ,

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