Sanctuary Animal Updates
Since my last update all the way back in May, 347 dogs were adopted and 328 dogs came in. Also 77 cats were adopted and 89 were taken in. We also adopted a horse, two pigs and four goats!
The highlight adoption since the last update, would HAVE to be our Robert! YES! If you didn’t know already, Robert, our parapalegic dog, was adopted last month! He even has his own FaceBook page now. Robert is doing so well and was adopted by the guy that would come here every single day to work with him on his physical therapy. I guess it was love, because once Robert was done with most of his main medical treatments, Joe decided it was time for him to come home with him. Thank you Joe, and Robert – the dog that taught us all so much about who WE are and what life really means – thank YOU for showing us the way and for helping us to learn more about our abilities and that we have no limitations! Read Robert’s adoption story here.

This past weekend was amazing for adoptions! We did an offsite event in Mt. Kisco which resulted in 45 animals going home and an additional 15 from our onsite sanctuaries in Middletown and Westchester – a total of 60 animals went home in one weekend! Shattered all our previous adoption records! It was really astonishing. Many rescues don’t even HAVE that many animals, and we placed that many in two days. It was just a whirlwind of fun, adoptions, happy animals and families. It’s what it is all about and we can’t stop grinning as we read all the updates and see all the pictures of our little ones in their homes, laying on soft beds and being cuddled. Thank you to all our volunteers and staff, who worked so hard to make this weekend such a success, and who do so much for us every week. YOU are why we have managed to rehome so many animals.
Unfortunately our transport vehicle died. Our “Magic Bus” had to be towed away from Mt. Kisco and back to our facility. A mechanic will come to look at it this week. We really are hoping that we can get it fixed. Without this transport vehicle there would be no way to get that many animals to an event. So please keep your fingers crossed that we can breathe a little magic back into the bus and that financially it won’t hurt us too badly to get it back up and running.
Sanctuary Programs update
Recently Pets Alive started two new programs. We already had our Pet Chow Pantry, which helps feed animals for people who are going through financial hardships (you can get a list of all the outreach and community programs we offer here).
But we now also kicked off our Seniors for Seniors program. This is a program where we work with the Office of the Aging to provide senior pets to senior citizens. Four legged friends are a real health benefit to senior citizens! Pets help the elderly live longer, happier and healthier lives, and there are so many senior animals in shelters. Senior pets are definitely more difficult to adopt, so this program is a win-win for everyone!
Another program we recently implemented is our TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) Program. When we heard that Middletown was going to put a ban on the feeding of feral cats, we went to speak at their council meetings. When they tossed it back in our court and said “well what else can we do”, we felt we had to step up. We offered our assistance to TNR all the cats that were in colonies. Right now we have 7 colonies we will be doing TNR for and future management.
We NEED YOUR HELP with this. We really need volunteers to help us trap the cats, do surveillance (to get the number of cats) and to help transport the cats to and from the vets. Can you help us? Middletown and Wallkill area only right now. Please email us at TNR@petsalive.com. We will train you and assign you to an experienced trapper in the beginning, so don’t worry if you’ve never done it before. We really need your support to make this project a success and so that the town will continue to support and encourage TNR rather than death for feral cats!
We want to thank the town for meeting us in the middle and working with us on this project and also very special thanks to Dr. Paul Johnson for donating to us the first 52 spays/neuters and rabies shots for these cats! THANK YOU DOC! That is so generous.
Mass Rescue:
With everything going on in the southern states with devastating weather, and with so many animals and people displaced, Pets Alive stepped in to save over 180 dogs from Baton Rouge, La. (Here is one of the articles on that). The shelters were so overrun with animals, that hundreds were scheduled for euthanasia. That is where we stepped in – asking them to work with us on placing them, instead of killing them. With the help of the ASPCA, they were transported here to our Westchester and Middletown locations. All of them arrived after a very grueling 30+ hour trip, but thanks to the support of the public, almost all have been adopted already! It was an amazing mass rescue, in two parts, with about 90 dogs arriving on each transport, two weeks apart.
It made for a lot of work for the staff, for our data entry volunteers, our medical department and our adoption team – not to mention our caretakers. A lot of work, but well worth it to see these guys, once destined for death, finding their homes and being able to have a life.
Unfortunately we did have a tough time with this batch as many arrived ill. Transports can be really difficult on dogs and one dog in particular had a rough time of it. His name is Mike and you can read his story here to see how he is doing now.
Some people criticize us for transporting animals here. I think a lot of people that do, don’t understand how and WHY Pets Alive accepts transported animals. We completely understand the questions and I think that I have addressed that here: Why transport isn’t the answer.
The other mass rescue we recently did was taking in over 108 kittens and mama cats. When the CACC (center for Animal Care and Control) was scheduled all these tiny kittens for death, we couldn’t stand the thought. We stepped in and in two weeks took 108 of them to sanctuary, splitting them between our Westchester and Middletown locations. Almost all have gone into homes as a result of this rescue, we created our Kitty Nursery – which you can monitor on a live 24 hour camera feed! Just click here to watch our kitty nursery room!
Job Opening:
We are looking for a cat caretaker at our Middletown, NY location. Five days a week, in the mornings. We can be really flexible about the time. You can work 8-10, or 9-11 or maybe even 7-9. Just a few hours a day to help us with the cleaning. Pay is $9 an hour. If interested please email info@petsalive.com.
We are also looking for a kennel worker/facilities caretaker for our Westchester location. Would be responsible for kennel cleaning in the morning and then mowing, weed whacking, snow shoveling and assorted other tasks in the afternoon. If interested please email info@petsalivewest.org. Salary is dependent on multiple things but would be between $10-$14 an hour depending on handyman (or woman) abilities.
Be a part of the 2013 Pets Alive Calendar!
Pay tribute to the love of your life. It’s the perfect way to celebrate the pet in your life who gives so much, or surprise a friend or loved one by placing their pet on our calendar!
As part of the calendar, your pet’s photo will be seen nationwide including all Pets Alive locations, pet boutiques, Pets Alive events, businesses, veterinary clinics, and of course the walls of the coolest most amazing pet loving Pets Alive friends! It will keep your social calendar very handy and make a great birthday or holiday gift. YES! I WANT MY PET ON THE CALENDAR!
Farm Animal Update:
Nellie the goat came to us after she “fell off” a meat truck. She is small, and thin, and terrified and very sad. It took many weeks but we nursed her back to health. Unfortunately, she is CL+. In goats that means she is prone to absesseces and postules of infection. If you have a CL+ herd of goats, she can happily and safely live with them, but if not then she can infect other goats. The bigger problem is that it also stays in the environment…pretty much forever, so keeping her here means we could never really bring goats here again. So we have kept her confined while she was getting better, but now we need to either let her become a farm pet and wander our pastures, or find another home for her. Thanks to CAS (Catskill Animal Sanctuary) we have worked out an arrangement! They have a CL+ herd, so they agreed to take her there to live with their goats! We agreed, in exchange for their kindness, to take in 4 rabbits, as they are overwhelmed with them right now! What a win-win with organizations working together to create the best environment and situation for animals! Thank you CAS! Thank you also to Pets Alive Westchester as THEY are the ones that agreed to take in the rabbits (as we have no housing for rabbits here).
Our horses are all doing well and we had seen some remarkable improvement in Noble. He has had a major foot issue called canker, for a number of months now. Back in December the vet suggested that euthanasia might be the only option for him but she was willing to work with us if we wanted to try other options. e did and thanks to Squirrelwood Farm who have managed to come up with an amazing treatment for canker, and many, many, months of hard work, and LOTS of DAILY care from our horse caretakers, Noble showed signs of incredible improvement! We were so thrilled and really doing Snoopy dances around here. Last week however, it appeared that both his front feet may also be impacted. We are treating him now for it there as well but really hoping we can get a handle on it before it blows up.
Jeter, our resident pig, may have a home! It looks like this Saturday, if all goes well, Jeter will be on his way to a home. Jeter is an amazing pig. He is completely house-trained and doesn’t even go to the bathroom in his stall. We have been a little concerned because as winter approaches, Jeter is so used to being a “house pig” how would he fare in the winter here? We started to work on a winter plan for him, when lo and behold an amazing and wonderful application came in with a woman who had recently lost her pet house pig. If they meet this Saturday and they like each other, Jeter will have a new forever home!

We want your old clothes and shoes!
Pets Alive recently put up a clothing bin to collect your old clothes and shoes! It is right at the top of our driveway. Please help us fill it every week! We get fifteen cents a pound! If you have a business and will allow us to put one in your parking lot, please let us know! The more we have all over the town the more money we can raise in a really simple way with very little effort on our part!
Upcoming events – THIS WEEKEND!
Tail Wagger Dog Walk and Alumni Picnic

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Saturday Sept 15th, 11 AM Registration

– We are invading the C. Hudson Thompson Memorial Park (Circleville Park) for the afternoon! Register for the Dog Walk and help Pets Alive raise funds. Attention all dogs adopted from Pets Alive: we’d love to see you and your humans at the Alumni Picnic! Please come join us for all the fun.
• Party Place USA – Rockin’ for the Rotties – Sunday, Sept 16th, 12-8pm – a fundraiser to help Pets Alive care for some of the Wallkill Rottweilers and all the other animals here. Enjoy lots of music as talented bands/musicians donate their time for this event, as well as arcade games, rides – fun for the whole family. Located behind Friendlies Restaurant on 211 in Middletown.

AND DON’T MISS THESE UPCOMING

• 14th Annual Hamptonburgh Festival in Hamptonburgh Town Park – – Campbell Hall NY. 10-4pm – This is a Family Affair!!! There will be kids activities and entertainment for the the whole family. Admission is Free & Pets Alive will be there with animals for adoption.
• Volunteer Appreciation Day – Sunday, Sept 23rd, 2-4pm – If you volunteer for Pets Alive then we want to celebrate you today! Come to the sanctuary for some food, fund and appreciation. We can’t do any of this without you!
• Ridgewood, NJ Vet Hospital Adoption Event – Sunday, Sept 30th, 10 – 4pm – Pets Alive will have adoptable cats and dogs at this event. Come out and meet your new family member!

Current Needs
Biggest need right now is for TNR and offsite volunteers! If interested please send inquiries to volunteer@petsalive.com.
Material items we could use are large black garbage bags (yard size), paper towels, Libman wonder mopheads, dog toys, Panacur dewormer (the
big bottles of equine liquid has been working well for us!), Advantixx or Frontline for dogs, Panacur Dewormer, Ivermectin, disinfectant wet wipes, bleach, and Slip leads. Thank you for your kind consideration on these items!

Our mission is to improve the lives of companion animals everywhere by any means possible, including rescue, adoption, advocacy, collaboration, intervention and education.
Please consider making a donation to help us.