my pet first

Archive for the ‘volunteer with an animal shelter’ Category

My heart is HAPPY today.      We found a special couple to open their hearts and give another dog a home!  Yay! How good does this feel?   You know what I mean if you have ever found an animal in need.  You feel all that tension and anxiety, and ask “why did I get involved with this?”.  But then you stick with it, you get support and the magic starts to unfold, ending in a blessed act of kindness!  Your hope is raised and you are happy you got involved. You kick up your heels and feel like you helped.

I love this; helping shelter and/or pets that need new homes…and WHEN they get adopted.
It’s a lot like magic.  The Internet is amazing, so powerful and reaches many miles and makes the limits much wider.  I often think about all the dogs, cats, pets that used to rely on the local classified ads in newspapers.  If you were lucky enough a person telephoned.
Our world gets smaller as we match up a dog with someone in LA and the dog lives in NY, or the new pet parent lives in SF and the dog needing a home and is from Utah.   The “right” parent has a better chance to find the “right” pet.

I love doing this work for the animals, it’s from my heart.   My income is generated with my massage practice and has been since 1984.  

In 2010, I created www.mypetfirst.com to educate, network and build community for the animals.   It helps to bring income & keep my heart projects alive. Please consider stopping by and looking at the Pet food I represent, or click google ads below, or buy from my affiliates, and/or order stuff through my link at Amazon (for anything you buy).   We all will benefit!

The pet food, supplements & treats I represent at Life’s Abundance is a human grade pet food that gets delivered right to your doorstep…on a schedule that you control.  The Holistic Vet that formulates it, Dr. Jane, donates, quarterly, to animal rescue groups. The benefits keep on coming!

Please go to my site and check it out:

www.mypetfirst.com
Thank you! Barbara Tapella

This is Barbara and Moki. She found Barbara & was adopted when she was 7 years old and lived a blessed life until she was 16.

This is so CUTE!!!!

Winter will soon wrap her cold, sleety arms around much of the country. We want to remind everybody to take special precautions to keep their fur kids safe and healthy. Veterinarian, Dr. Sarah, devotes time to the crucial topic of cold-weather safety.

Be it Winter or Spring or any other season…. EMBRACE the responsibility of a new companion animal.  Make sure you are educated to best serve your new family member. It’s a FOREVER COMMITMENT.

Dr. Sarah has some seriously helpful tips for all  new and established pet parents alike. It’s our (Life’s Abundance) version of the best-of-the-best info for winter pet care, with a dash of old-school puppy safety thrown in for good measure. Hopefully, this brief video will put your mind at ease, demonstrating just how simple it is to keep wee pups, and old dogs, safe throughout the chilly winter.

Claudia Hoffmann writes:    My friend Eldad Hagar and his wife Audrey Spilker Hagar do such an amazing job helping stray animals. The videos bring awareness of what’s really out there. More abandoned and stray dogs than a lot of people dare to imagine.

You can pick up CAR LOADS of stray animals daily in LA and surrounding areas! PLEASE spay/neuter and micro chip your animals!

Just look at this video! Heartwarming and a happy ending!     Faith still needs a home.  Please share and support Hope for Paws!

• The American Humane Association has completed phase I of a three-part study on pet ownership. The goal of the study is to help find families for more homeless pets, and to help those pets remain in their new homes forever.
• Phase I of the study examined the reasons people don’t own a dog or cat.,what One surprising result from the survey of 1,500 previous pet owners was that 20 percent were still dealing with the grief of losing a prior pet, which prevented them from getting another four-legged companion.
• Results from phase I indicate pet advocacy groups need to address general negative attitudes toward cats, focus cat adoption strategies on the people most open to owning a kitty, and better understand the role grief plays as a barrier to future pet ownership.

Pets are good for your well-being. Companions and helps calm your nervous system. 

resource: Dr. Becker’s Blog

Quality Pet Food for your Dog or Cat….go here and read about and click it to buy. Simple. and delivered to your door!

found this today, please educate yourself:

I asked Sara how she came across Luna, her dog…(see my last blog)….this is what Sara wrote-Please read-and if you can send a few bucks..it will make a HUGE difference! Sayulita-Their work is heart and soul!

“Last full moon night (August 30th) I drove home from Sayulita. I live 5 km from town. Just when I turned into the drive way I saw something black standing on the side of the highway. I stopped my car and got out to see what that black thing was. It was a dog. I immediately took food out of my car (I always keep dog food in the back), put some kibbles in my hand and slowly carefully approached the dog. He was careful, didn’t trust me at first and it took him a while to decide what to do. Finally he came up to me and started eating out of my hand. I put some more food in a bowl and put it on the ground away from the highway. I looked at him closely, it was a bright night and it broke my heart. I saw his jaw looked weird, I saw he was limping from his hind leg, I saw his fur was rough, I saw he was dripping wet as it had rained just before, I saw he was painfully thin……..overall he was the worst I have seen.

He ate and let me touch him. 
Because I have a pack of 4 dogs and one of them is aggressive I couldn’t take him home that night. I decided to put him in my car and in the morning I would bring him to the clinic and have the vet look at him.
So I carefully picked him up and carried him to my car. He didn’t like it but let me do it. He absolutely did not like being in the car and wanted to jump out. So I said to him: ”ok buddy, I let you out, I put food for you here and you better stick around till the morning. Wait for me here and I will get you and we go to the vet!”
I drove off and saw him in the back mirror lying right there. I came to my house, turned on the light and……… saw that there were thousands of maggot-like insects growling all over me! I screamed at my dogs not to come close and went straight to the bathroom where I took a shower with my clothes on! It was gross and made me realize that the dog must be COVERED with these things but he didn’t even scratch himself. He is beyond that, he is like a Zombie dog.

Next morning came and he…..was NOT there. I looked for him but nothing.

The morning after he…..was THERE! I fed him and took some photos (one I sent to you) from that first meal. And then I saw all the insects that were living on him! Horrendous! I picked him up again and carried him to my car and off we went.
The vet and I gave him a bath which made me almost throw up and she checked him out.
He is old, he has no front teeth, his tongue is hanging at the side most times, he has a fractured leg or hip, he has erlichia and he is EXTREMELY sweet!

So now he lives at the clinic and I love him so very much. I named him Luna (even though he is a male) because I fist saw him at full moon.

I have been doing dog rescue for the last 3 1/2 years and it’s brutal work, Barbara. My heart is so broken and my soul so sad that I sometimes feel I can’t anymore. But I WILL! I won’t give up. It’s my passion and the dogs and cats are my very best friends.

Right now there are 5 starving dogs at the highway for whom I put food out. Four a female so as soon as they are fatter I will try to get them and have them spayed. They are very shy but with time I will win their trust.
Thank you for listening and thank you for your kind words, support and encouragement!

Yes, donations are coming in thanks to your efforts! Kimberley Clemens donated $15, Katie Hoffman $75 and Kim Kurylo $50 so far!   Click here to help-www.sayulitanimals.org
It’s just wonderful!
 Big hugs back from the SA gang!
 Sara                                                            

Sayulitanimals opened its doors in February of 2009, in response to the packs of dogs and hoards of cats who wandered around unwanted, sick, abused and actively reproducing.  To meet the needs of the community, four core programs were put in place:  Medical Aid for Street Animals, Adoption and Foster Assistance, Community Education, and Free Spay and Neuter.  http://www.sayulitanimals.org/home.html

Medical Aid for Street Animals: helps abandoned cats and dogs suffering from parasites, mange, starvation and innumerable diseases and accidents. Sayulitanimals will provide financial assistance for quality medical treatment. The person who found the animal will be responsible for its care.

Adoption and Foster Assistance:  the requirements to take an animal out of the country are proper vaccines, a health certificate, a kennel and a plane ticket.  Sayulitanimals will help you with the details, and the cost is minimal. We arrange local and foreign adoptions.  We also have a list of foster homes for short term care.  

Community Education:  educates our town concerning relevant and up-to-date animal practices. Whether it is medical aid, proper training or pet care fundamentals, Sayulitanimals puts the information into the hands that need it.

Free Spay and Neuter: the only successful plan to diminish animal problems which stem from overpopulation:  disease, abandonment or animal cruelty.  Sayulitanimals offers free spay and neuter appointments every Saturday, as well as quarterly campaigns.  We average 600-800 animals a year.  http://www.sayulitanimals.org/home.html   

Progress is made through the understanding that it takes everyone working together to bring about significant change.  We cannot do the necessary work without supporters from around the world!

Thank you so much!            sayulitanimals@hotmail.com   ( we would appreciate you sharing this)

and you can go directly to site and donate…ANY domination helps!!! http://www.sayulitanimals.org/home.htmlSara (one of the women that began this compassionate welfare )  And Luna (photo taken 9/2012)

We have made some much needed improvements to Sayulitanimals to allow us to function as a limited space shelter. Three large kennels were recently constructed, costing $14,600 pesos. This was an unexpected expense, but necessary due to the amount of dogs the summer has put in our care. This large project almost wiped out the savings of Sayulitanimals, and we find ourselves unable to continue without an immediate influx of funds. We would love to do a fundraiser, but currently the town is empty, and it takes money to put something together. We would be very grateful if you could help us out at this time. We have a large spay and neuter campaign planned for the 1^st and 2^nd of October and currently do not have the funds to accomplish this. If you are able to help us out, you can make a donation on our website at www.sayulitanimals.org and click the Donate button on the bottom right. Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Sara Briner

*****Any amount helps! It’s such a fragile situation and these folks put their hearts and souls into the animals. $10.oo even makes a difference! http://www.sayulitanimals.org/about.html

You can go to that link and read about the story and how it all began.

There are so many horror stories about people, dogs, and other animals that have been left to die in hot, parked vehicles. Why don’t people learn? (I feel heartbroken if I see this, especially on a hot day. I actually broke into a car once because there was a dog suffering from hot temperatures and was caught in the seat because it’s leash was still on- BT).

It’s illegal to lock an animal in a parked car or other vehicle in 14 states: Arizona, California, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia. Although the types of animals that are protected vary, it’s obviously encouraging news that our pets are protected.

However, in order for the law to be violated, the animal’s life must be in danger from the conditions of the confinement, which include:

• Extreme hot and cold temperatures
• Lack of ventilation
• Failure to provide food and water
• Other circumstances that could reasonably lead to suffering, disability, or death

  People who knowingly violate the laws can be fined and even incarcerated. In New York, the fine for the first offense is $50 to $100. The steepest fines are proscribed in Vermont, where you can be imprisoned for not more than a year and fined up to $2,000. In West Virginia, you can be fined $300 to $2,000 and sentenced to up to six months in jail. North Dakota, Maryland, Nevada, and South Dakota do not provide a penalty for violators. 

Various “rescue provisions” are provided for 11 of the 14 states if a protected animal is found locked in a vehicle. Most of the provisions allow an authorized agent to take any action necessary to rescue it, such as breaking the window. In New York, the rescuer is specifically protected from civil and criminal liability “if they take such action in reasonably good faith.” Fourteen states have laws that regulate and/or prohibit leaving animals locked in cars. Should a pet owner have the right to treat their animals in any way they see fit? Obviously, according to 14 states, the answer is “absolutely not.” Despite the fact that dogs and pets are personal property, there is a public interest in treating that property with respect.

After all, most dog owners do not see their dogs as property, but as loving family members. 

Posted in: LAWS AND DOGS, DOGSTER DEBATE, HEALTH & CARE (dogster.com)

Always leave fresh water and food out for your Dogs and Cats! Summer can be brutal.

Don’t leave in the car or a closed room without ventilation. Please use your brain.