Pets Alive Updates
Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on July 17 th the following animals were adopted: Mitchell, Murphy, Morgan, Alfonso, Lucia, Dibble, 14 puppies (10 were taken by other shelters and adopted out), Elmer/Riley, Sampson, Keaton, Samantha, Paula (again), Scout (again), Trooper, Tyson, Lady, Bailey, Vail, ChunkyGal, and two cats Nemo and Pepper that someone said I did not mention last time!
Matt’s Latest Blog:
Matt discovers the Meaning of Life in his new blog entry. Don’t miss it.
As usual he imparts words of wisdom to us all.

Goodbyes:
Beyond belief we also lost TWO horses this month…both in the same week. We have never lost a horse in the year and a half we’ve been here and it was a huge blow to staff and volunteers alike. Blackie passed away quietly in his sleep this week and yesterday we let Maureen go. It was very emotional and we’re all still reeling from the grief of losing these two very special horses. I’ve been around horses most of my life and I will tell you without any doubt that these two were some of the most compassionate and kind animals I’ve ever had the pleasure to know and work with. No matter what you asked of them, they were willing to try and to do so carefully to not hurt you. We will all miss them tremendously. Please review their memorials posted on our website.
Additionally we say goodbye this month to Patti P. Patti has been the adoption coordinator here at Pets Alive for the entire time Best Friends was here and then after they left. She has helped to, or placed, over 600 animals in her time here with almost none coming back. (that means it was a good match). Over 200 puppy mill dogs and over 400 – maybe 500 of the other animals here. Patti was an absolute adoption machine and we learned a lot from her this year.
She was the best adoption person you’ve ever seen and her shoes will be hard to fill. She cared very deeply about the dogs here and in finding them homes where they would live forever and never suffer abuse or neglect again. She weeded through thousands of applications and picked the golden tickets for our dogs. Hundreds of dogs sit in homes and run to greet their new families every evening because of the love and care that Patti put into this job. She worked very hard for little pay and we never heard a complaint or a negative word from her. We miss her terribly and we love her very much.
This is one of my favorite picture of Patti. It shows the unbridled joy that the dogs often greeted her with, almost as if they knew she was the one that would find them their family…and her expression is one of such tender sweetness. It never fails to touch me and it reminds me all the time of why we do this. For THAT look. That look on both human and animal. She is now living in Ohio and says she is retired but I suspect that some shelter out there will someday be the beneficiary of her love as we were. I am already jealous of them. She is the MAIN reason many lives were saved here at Pets Alive. Thank you Patti for everything you did for us and for the animals here. You’re a tough act to follow in many ways. I know that I will personally miss you a great deal. I had tremendous admiration and respect for you. Enjoy your retirement and come back and visit often.
We are also bidding goodbye to Mary who has been the receptionist here for over a year. Mary has done so much for the animals at Pets Alive – taking care of things they needed before they even knew they needed it and helping the volunteers find their niche here. She has been a godsend to Pets Alive and we will miss her. We hope we’ll continue to see her loving on the dogs here, and them returning the favor in kind.
We’d like to welcome Kerri K. as the new adoption coordinator. Kerri has worked doing adoptions for another shelter for over four years and has so much heart and so much energy that I suspect she will be stuffing her feet into Patti’s big shoes as soon as she can. Please make her feel welcome and loved as you do all our staff. She can be reached at adoptions@petsalive.com.
Please also say hello to Pam K. She started a few weeks ago and is a whirlwind! We can’t describe her exact job duties because we want to keep giving her things that we don’t want to do. So for now her job description is classified until she rebels. We figure we can go like this for a few more months until that happens though. 🙂
Pets Alive Takes in Mare and Foal
So here we are all weepy over Maureen and Blackie, kicking our toes in the dirt and just emotionally wrung out when we get a call from Lynda over at Equine Rescue. Can we take in a mare and foal from a neglect case up in Albany? She is packed full to the rafters and has no room. 18 horses are being seized and they have no where to go. Can Pets Alive help? Of course we can. Shoot, as it happens (sadly?) we have space for two horses. Sometimes things work in very mysterious ways around here. Matt has mentioned this in his blogs more than once and here we are again. Two horses desperately need help, the same week that we lose two of our own. So how could we refuse. The newspapers all ran the story: Neglected horses seized from farm. It was just what we needed. Our spirits down and our emotions on edge over losing Maureen and Blackie and what arrives on our doorstep? A GORGEOUS little foal and his mama. You simply can not be depressed or sad around a baby horse. They are full of spring and full of joy and full of love and cuteness. Did I mention cuteness? OH SO CUTE! So we welcome Kerry (the mama) and Baxter her wee little one. (I know we’re flush with Kerry’s all of a sudden – I swear it’s not by design!)

This month we also took in more dogs from the south, from a very bad situation down there – 17 puppies, and 5 adult dogs arrive this weekend from the same place. Also arriving this weekend are three rotties from a breeder that got shut down in Buffalo. Whew. Additionally we took in 5 dogs from Pennsylvania, and three dogs from a local shelter where their time was up, two dogs from local residents that could no longer care for them, and 6 dogs from a shelter that lost their lease and were evicted. Poop scoop anyone? With the flies this year we’re really in need of some extra poop scooping in the afternoon. Our staff does it every morning but if you’re down here walking dogs and can grab a scoop, we’d love the extra cleaning help!
Cats at Otterkill
Otterkill Animal Hospital has asked us to appeal to all of you in regards to a mama cat they got in. She was brought in as a stray on Saturday August 9, with a kitten hanging out! They did an emergency spay and removed the other kittens. Happily they all survived- 2 males & 1 female. Mama is taking excellent care of them, but they are hoping to find a foster home so that they can be separated from the sick animals that are there so as not to expose them to so much while so young & nursing. Mama cat is approximately 1.5 years old – FELV/FIV negative. Can you foster these cuties for a while? Please contact Lauren at Otterkill.
Red Apple Dental Supports Pets Alive in a BIG WAY!
Gregory McMahon, D.D.S., is the owner of Red Apple Dental, P.C. They are located at 2711 Albany Post Road, Montgomery and are commencing a Tooth Whitening Campaign that will donate 100% of the proceeds to Pets Alive now through 12/31! Mention Pets Alive when you call to make your appointment for your tooth-whitening procedure! For more information please visit www.redappledental.com or give them a call at 845-457-1647…be sure to tell them THANK YOU FROM US!! (…and hey, I was looking at you the other day and your teeth are looking a bit dingy. We think you should go and see about this).
Thank You’s

You’ll notice some big changes at the kennel! You know we got ceramic tile all done on the floors down there and it looks FABULOUS. Well Debbie D came in and was just not able to stand all the clutter and disarray. She has gone through each room like a tornado and redirected, re-organized and redistributed just about everything in them. She yells at staff, throws them and their junk out of the rooms she is working on and runs a tight ship around here. All the same it’s really looking up (almost like having Ann back!) and we finally have clutter free rooms and can find things when we’re looking for them! Thanks Debbie! Thanks also for bringing your daughter Jess (or is it vice versa) who comes down here and will do whatever we need that day even after working a whole shift and being exhausted! (That pic is of mom and daughter!).
Special thanks to Charlotte H, a young girl who decided she wanted to do something good for Pets Alive. She hosted a lemonade stand and a yard sale where she sold a bunch of her toys. Her sister Emily also helped. She also contributed her allowance to the stash and presented all the money she raised to Pets Alive. What a special little girl. Thanks Charlotte. Thanks Emily…and thanks to her parents for raising such an altruistic daughter!
Becky also volunteered Cathy to paint the volunteer lounge! Cathy was thrilled that in addition to managing her personal life, doing volunteer transports and holding down a full time job that she now needed to come here, paint the whole room and ceiling, and then paint little animals all around. She got some help though in dragging Becky into it with her (along with Debbie and Yvonne)…but the result is the rooms look great. Thanks guys! Everything is really looking up around here.
Thank you also to our big donors this month. Rose…what would the animals do without you? Thank you for saving so many, every single month…and tending to their needs when they were here. Recently Rose paid for an MRI for Aretha. It was THOUSANDS of dollars. I can’t thank her enough for that.
Thanks also to Angela Huffman, MD who continues to look at what we need and cover it for us every time we ask. She also sent a HUGE basket down here for the staff to thank them for giving their lives to this. That was very touching and very sweet. Thanks Angela also for the Dex for horses!
Thanks also to Karen K. who stays in touch every month, along with Frank to ask – “What do you need this month, how can I help” and sending us or bringing those items down.
Thank you also to everyone who donated ANYTHING. We get boxes all the time and it may be some old towels, or newspapers, or we will get a check for $5.00 or $10.00. It ALL goes to the animals and it ALL means so much. Thank you all for your continued support. No matter the size or cost, every little bit helps us.
Thank you to the Walden Federal Bank located in Otisville! They ran a drive for us to raise money and supplies and presented us with a great tool kit, power screwdriver, dog kennel and $125 in donations! This is such a great example of local businesses chipping in to help. I would love it if we could get some support from other local businesses in our area! Please support the companies that support US! Make sure you tell them that’s why too! The Otisville branch is a great little bank and the staff is amazingly friendly. As is often the case with an animal sanctuary you can not predict what your day will be like. We showed up 30 minutes late due to problems that day that were beyond our control, and were still met with smiles and welcomed. Thanks Walden (and Denise!)!
Thanks to Marty and Sue for continuing to mow, weed whack, walk dogs, clean up after them, pick ups and drop offs and a host of other things. Carmine and Lucia and Linda – you guys are just the best. Thanks for coming every day and loving these dogs so much. Thanks to Tom who is the peach in our pie around here – fixing just about everything and coming here after working an entire shift and then taking direction from a bunch of us that don’t know anything but want to give him advice. We love him for his patience and rolling of his eyes. You should see the workroom he cleaned up. Dale claims he doesn’t clean at home so even she was blown away. Thanks Charlie and Mary Ellen for coming down every week and Julie, Allison, Camille, Sonya, Liz, Terry (welcome and THANK YOU for all the puppy clean-up), Jim & Peg, and Bonnie and the Spohn Family. Thanks to Chris and Chris for the horse love and advice, and to Frank (you treat us all so special!) and the other Frank for all your donation of time and supplies and support with Amelia. Thanks to Becky for the endless amount of work you do for us and to Toni for taking our problem children (smile). Thanks to Lori and the gang for the donations and coming all the way from NYC to walk EVERY dog and also tend to cats and horses! Thanks Sarah M for all your time and the tons of donations you brought.
I also want to mention another special young person that graced Pets Alive this month. Jason lives in Colorado. He is 12 years old. Recently his grandparents, Caroline and Don, decided that every year they would take each of their grandchildren away – separately – for a vacation. Whatever the child wanted to do. Now I know a lot of kids in my life and I know kids are SUPPOSED to be self centered and the world revolves around them. I know that is a normal part of growing up. Yet once in a while you find a really special kid that is mature beyond his years and moves past that.
Jason asked his grandparents to take him somewhere that he could donate his time and work hands on with animals. They came here thinking to combine New York City with Pets Alive. They spent a number of days here and in that time Jason could tell me the names of every animal, their likes and dislikes, where their run was and their approximate age and kennel-mate. Caroline and Don were no slouches either. They didn’t sit in the shade watching Jason run around. They participated in everything. Walking dogs, cleaning up, helping where needed. They even spent time up at the cat house and helped out there.
I was very warmed by Jason and his family. It made me really believe that we CAN touch the children of today and hope that they will change the future for animals. I hope that one day, in Jason’s lifetime he will see a no-kill environment in the United States. I can tell you for sure that he is on the right track and that if we could find more kids like him, it’s possible. Everything is possible. I’m trying. You’re trying. The Jason’s of tomorrow will carry on. Thanks Jason. You gave me renewed hope and vigor in this fight for life. The lives of innocent animals that don’t deserve to die because some humans stopped caring (or never did). Every dog you walked – was about to be put down somewhere. Every single one that you pet and hugged and took into your arms is alive because of people like YOU – that cared enough to try to make a difference. A difference like you made this week. I needed you this month. Thanks for coming here. Don’t give up your dream of working with and helping animals. You’ll never be rich but you will lead the richest and most amazing life you could ever hope for. I hope we’ll see you again someday.

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