katdobemom
11-23-2008, 04:10 PM
ALL
With life kinda getting in the way, today was the day hubby and I had to celebrate our Thanksgiving. He will be traveling Thurs, I will be preparing mentally and physically :) for Black Friday at my job.
Personally, I have alot to be thankful for. Husband of 25 years, a home, a job and of course the two nub waggers who bring "life" to my life. Great friends and rescue that brings me much pleasure.
As I sat down to read the paper this am, I came across another article of how the horrendous economy is having on our pet owners.
The article went on to tell of the plights of the animal shelters who are unable to keep up with demand because of folks just being unable to keep their pets due to home forclosures and simply because they are unable to care for them. It also talked about the staggering number of folks who are sadly trying to hang on by living in their vehicles with their pets.
One vet spoke of trying to help dog owners by at least staggering some of the vet costs (ie, shots months apart, rather than all hitting the pocketbook all at one time) It also spoke of more people just being unable to afford surgeries or care just beyond shots and them being unable to afford. Some are choosing to have their pets euthanized because they just cant afford more expensive care/needs of their animals.
We (DAR&E) as a rescue are absolutely seeing increased calls as well.
I think we really began to see alot of this within the last year but one such call that really touched us all.
This past summer we rec'd a call from a gal regarding a 1 year old female dobe. Her home was being foreclosed and she needed help with her dobe. Her old dobe mix at 10 was welcome to new apt they had to move into. The doberman was not welcome. The owner had tried to rehome the girl but nothing she found made her feel at ease. She had called our dareline and I had called back several hrs later but she was at the Animal shelter at that point. She went thru the motions at shelter but found she just couldnt leave the dog and she called me back. Time was running out for the dog.
She had called and begged the electric company to leave the electric on for a few days til we could get Kayka, the dobe. It was dead heat of the summer. The rest of her family and ther belongings were already at the new apt. They would come daily to visit with Kayka, walk her, feed her and play with her.
Kim and her family drove to our vet facility and I met her there.
Her two children, husband and Kim all knew why they were there.
The children brought their stuffed doberman toy, a few books related to dobermans. I knew how tough this was going to be but when her children asked me to make them volunteers so they would be able to see Kayka again it really hit home that this could be any one of us.
Kayka laid on the floor on the childrens laps, all sprawled out, the girl reading to her, while the paperwork and all was handled.
How horrible for this family.
Kayka was put into a foster home, who also had two girls, while she waited on being adopted. One of our volunteers fell hard for Kayka and she now lives with him and his other adopted dobe. Happy ending for Kayka.
Each time I read an article regarding the economy and how tough things are on folks and their 4 legged families, I think about Kim and hers.
I have kept in touch with Kim and she knows that Kayka is loved.
I guess it truly does make us feel thankful for what we have and can make us appreciate even the simplest things.
With life kinda getting in the way, today was the day hubby and I had to celebrate our Thanksgiving. He will be traveling Thurs, I will be preparing mentally and physically :) for Black Friday at my job.
Personally, I have alot to be thankful for. Husband of 25 years, a home, a job and of course the two nub waggers who bring "life" to my life. Great friends and rescue that brings me much pleasure.
As I sat down to read the paper this am, I came across another article of how the horrendous economy is having on our pet owners.
The article went on to tell of the plights of the animal shelters who are unable to keep up with demand because of folks just being unable to keep their pets due to home forclosures and simply because they are unable to care for them. It also talked about the staggering number of folks who are sadly trying to hang on by living in their vehicles with their pets.
One vet spoke of trying to help dog owners by at least staggering some of the vet costs (ie, shots months apart, rather than all hitting the pocketbook all at one time) It also spoke of more people just being unable to afford surgeries or care just beyond shots and them being unable to afford. Some are choosing to have their pets euthanized because they just cant afford more expensive care/needs of their animals.
We (DAR&E) as a rescue are absolutely seeing increased calls as well.
I think we really began to see alot of this within the last year but one such call that really touched us all.
This past summer we rec'd a call from a gal regarding a 1 year old female dobe. Her home was being foreclosed and she needed help with her dobe. Her old dobe mix at 10 was welcome to new apt they had to move into. The doberman was not welcome. The owner had tried to rehome the girl but nothing she found made her feel at ease. She had called our dareline and I had called back several hrs later but she was at the Animal shelter at that point. She went thru the motions at shelter but found she just couldnt leave the dog and she called me back. Time was running out for the dog.
She had called and begged the electric company to leave the electric on for a few days til we could get Kayka, the dobe. It was dead heat of the summer. The rest of her family and ther belongings were already at the new apt. They would come daily to visit with Kayka, walk her, feed her and play with her.
Kim and her family drove to our vet facility and I met her there.
Her two children, husband and Kim all knew why they were there.
The children brought their stuffed doberman toy, a few books related to dobermans. I knew how tough this was going to be but when her children asked me to make them volunteers so they would be able to see Kayka again it really hit home that this could be any one of us.
Kayka laid on the floor on the childrens laps, all sprawled out, the girl reading to her, while the paperwork and all was handled.
How horrible for this family.
Kayka was put into a foster home, who also had two girls, while she waited on being adopted. One of our volunteers fell hard for Kayka and she now lives with him and his other adopted dobe. Happy ending for Kayka.
Each time I read an article regarding the economy and how tough things are on folks and their 4 legged families, I think about Kim and hers.
I have kept in touch with Kim and she knows that Kayka is loved.
I guess it truly does make us feel thankful for what we have and can make us appreciate even the simplest things.