Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on January 5th the following dogs were adopted: Pringles, Sola, Leo, Lorna, Mooch, Candy, Bentley, Scout, Dixie, Manny, Mongo, Harley, Happy, Hope, Hercules, Cathy, Terrance, Bella, Ebony, Rosie, Josie, Pietra, Nina, Lolita, Casey, Amelia, Purdy, Little Lady and Justin. (Ninah, Pietra and Harley came back though so if you are interested in them please contact us). I guess the most amazing of these adoptions is our Amelia. Remember that just a few short months ago this girl could not even be handled. Today she is in a loving home and her people have already posted updates about her. Thanks again to Pat W. and to Best Friends for helping us to help Amelia. We’re so very happy for her.  Check our forum for updates on her.

Cathy has also been adopted. She has come such a long way. When we heard people were interested in her, we all flocked to the kennel to sort of try to “see” them without interfering. You should have heard us all whispering in the background. They were such a sweet couple. They gave her time to get to know them, they were patient and kind to her and she really came around with them! They did ask to see a few other dogs too and we were all so dismayed. Would they still be interested in Cathy, with all her problems, if they saw young, healthy, happier dogs? It was with great reluctance we showed them some other dogs. I actually walked away and went back to my office. I didn’t think they would ever pick her…but a few minutes later I heard on the walkie talkie “THEY WANT CATHY!” I ran back down there so I could stare at them and smile. Yeah, I know but I couldn’t help it. We were all so happy we could only grin at each other all day. Our sweet “pregnant boxer mama” (see the blog if you don’t know what I am talking about) who was just MINUTES away from euthanasia was now going to go to a wonderful home. Sometimes this job is just the best job in the world.
PLEASE if you have adopted a dog or cat from us, please post an update! We all rush to that forum every day to see how our little charges are doing.
General Updates:

Everyone is asking us about Mindy and how she is doing. Mindy is doing GREAT! There are no further issues with her and she is ready to go into her new home. Are you that home? Please fill out an adoption application on our site if you are interested in adopting Mindy. We have tested her with dogs and cats and she seems to be just fine with both. She really deserves a break this sweet girl. We’re looking for a very special family for her.
Cam has been doing wonderfully too. For those of you not familiar with Cam, he was a pit bull that had some very serious aggression issues years ago. Pat and Mike (from Best Friends) worked with him and then other staff and volunteers and now he can be walked by almost anyone. He DOES still require an introduction – but once formally introduced to him by someone he trusts, he is a sweetie. His latest friend, is none other than cat caretaker – Dale! She has been loving up on him lately and he starts wagging like crazy when he hears her voice. His favorites, Toni, Carmine and Becky took him to the exercise yard this week to play with him. That is our very own Air-Cam. He is a celebrity! First featured on our Holiday Card and now Becky is talking about making a frazzle stamp of him. He is such a character and one of my personal all-time favorite dogs. I’d love to see Cam get a home. That doesn’t seem likely, but I still hope for that every day.
I do not know how many of you know Bonesy. Bonesy is what we call a “lifer” here at Pets Alive. He can be very aggressive (but also very loving) and so he has found sanctuary with us. The people that originally found him did their absolute best to work with him and make him a member of their family but Bonesy has….errr….occasional “issues”. That hasn’t stopped him from loving up on some of the staff and volunteers though. This is a great picture of Bonesy out playing fetch with some of the dog caretakers. They try to take a few dogs out there every day and let them race around, play and burn off some energy. The wonderful people that found Bonesy still sponsor him to this day. He has been here for years and it is VERY unlikely he will ever find a permanent home due to his aggression issues, but he will always have a life here, and love, and staff and volunteers that play with and walk him – and he still has a sponsor that makes sure his needs are met…even all these years later – and still emails me regularly to see how he is. Thank you, Skye, for caring so much.
It is with tremendous sorrow that we tell you of the passing of Sweet Baylee. Baylee was a senior beagle that came here with the Hurricane Gustav dogs. She was the most darling dog from the moment that she walked into the room and we all fell in love with her. She lived for a few weeks in the volunteer lounge (with Buddy) and we never failed to pat her or love her up when we walked by. She had heartworm and arthritis and it turned out she had very severe tooth decay and we had to have 16 of her teeth removed. Her gums became infected and she just had so many problems. Through it all she NEVER, ever, stopped thumping that tail and smiling at you when she saw you. We assumed she would die here, but the most amazing people came forward and adopted her. They posted regular updates about her in the forum and it was so very obvious how very much they loved her. They even drove all the way from New Hampshire to meet her and take her home. Truly they were sent to be Baylee’s final home and Baylee rebounded and came alive again under their loving care and welcoming arms. She also had other dogs in the family with which to share her life and her walks with. Sadly, this sweet old girl couldn’t combat her latest breathing issues and so she passed away, in the arms of her mom, to the Rainbow Bridge. We’ve been shedding a lot of tears since we read the final post in the forum, but we are so grateful that she did not die on a concrete floor, or in a cage, but instead was held and loved out of this world. Please consider adopting a senior dog. You have no idea how much they give back.
Kingfish, one of our senior horses – a retired, NYC Carriage Horse – also continues to fail. We have found him caste three times in the past month and that is never a good sign (caste is when a horse lays down or falls down and can not get up on their own). Especially in this weather it is worrisome. If he were to lay down or fall and not be able to get up, and if it happened in the middle of the night, he may lay there for hours. He also shows little interest in TRYING to help himself get up, which is an additional bad sign. He is double or triple blanketed though so at least there is plenty of cushioning and warmth (thanks to all the blankets donated when Horse & Rider sent out the request for us). He continues to lose weight though and vets say there is little more than can be done at this point for him. He DOES continue to eat well, which is a GOOD sign, and still loves to be groomed, brushed or pet. So it is not his time yet, but we are definitely concerned. Our horse caretaker, Brittany is excellent though – check out the barn when you get a chance – it and the tack room are immaculate! She has been doing a really great job and we’re happy she has joined our staff.
Intakes
This month we took in four kittens that needed a home – Precious, Peanut, Tucker, and Tammy. Please check our website to take a look at these little cuties. As soon as they are old enough to get spayed and neutered and vaccinated, we’ll be sending them into new homes.

We also took in two dogs from Monroe. The Monroe dog pound is about thirty minutes from Pets Alive and we have been working with them as they are very small and their dogs get very little exposure. Last month we took in Manny and Hercules and adopted both out, so this month we took in Keena who is a sweet (albeit shy) Akita and Oscar who is a gorgeous young staffordshire terrier. Both are great dogs and we look forward to placing them in homes.
Additionally we took in Diesel who is a MASSIVE – and I mean HUGE American Bulldog. When we first saw him we thought we might have to put him in a pasture rather than a kennel!
Tilly’s puppies are almost ready for adoption. There are seven of these adorable little bundles of puppy breath. Tilly is a foxhound mix but we have no idea who the father or fathers were. All we know is that they are active and adorable and you can feel free to come and change puppy papers if you don’t have anything to do and that strikes you as something fun (grin).
We also took in two dogs from the south – Pietra and Blitz. They were transported up here in TWELVE different cars by twelve different people who each took legs of the trip to get these sweet dogs here. The transporters were all volunteers and all absolutely wonderful. Thank you all for everything you did to save these two great dogs.
Events and Fund Raising:
Don’t forget our Penny Social! Tomorrow (SUNDAY) at 1:00 (calling starts at 3:00). Many of you have asked WHAT THE HECK IS A PENNY SOCIAL? OK, I didn’t know either. I admit it. They also call them “Tricky Tray’s”. Here is a cute article about a reporter that attended his first one. Basically you buy tickets (for a penny each), then drop those tickets into boxes in front of items you want to win. At 3:00, they will start calling the winners of all the prizes by pulling one of the tickets out. If it is yours you win that prize item! So you can put all your tickets in one basket, or spread them out to try to win a bunch of different prizes. We have some FABULOUS items, gift certificates that local businesses donated, some used items, and some breand new items. It is a mix of sort of an auction, a yard sale and a flea market. There is also a concession stand. It is being held at the VFW hall in Greenville (on route 6). They DONATED the use of the hall to us! All the items were donated as well. Please come. We would be horrifed if the volunteers that put this on for us did all this work and had a small showing. All the money being raised – 100% will go to Pets Alive. Four paintings were donated by Anthony T – who did them especially for this event. He has been doing oil paintings and writing something about Pets Alive on the back, then leaving them in subways and inviting people to take them home. He hopes that people will read the message on the back, appreciate the art, and make a donation to Pets Alive, or at least check us out. He drove all the way up from the city today to bring us the four paintings. They are beautiful.

Rough Month
It’s been a really rough month here at Pets Alive. In addition to the disaster with the CACC (that cost us roughly $17,000) we had to put a water system down at the kennel ($2200) and our pipes froze and exploded. Staff came in to open the door to three inches of water in every room (thankfully NOT where the dogs were, just the office space). That cost us $2500 to get repaired and back up and running. It’s been an absolute financial disaster here and I’ll be glad to kiss January goodbye once and for all. Let’s hope February is a better month for us all. We still have eight dogs with heartworm that we need to treat (about $600 each). Our electric bills (since most of the heat is electric around here) are about $4000 a MONTH for the kennel, the brick house, the barn, the water pump etc). If you can part with any money, please consider now as a GREAT time to help us. I sit at my desk and sweat just thinking about our finances (which at least keeps me warm). We really need a new boiler and heating system in both the kennel and the brick house. We have to get this done SOON. It’s just constant patching and band-aids right now.
The American Dog Magazine
Subscribe to the American Dog Magazine and Pets Alive will receive the profits. Click on this link to subscribe: http://www.theamericandogmag.com/subscribe.shtml. In the very first box “animal charity special code” just type in “Pets Alive”. Pets Alive will receive 100% of the subscription profits (about $5) for every member who subscribes online for a one-year subscription ($20).
Special Thanks
We must thank Dr. Karen Dashfield for all she did for Pets Alive, and all she continues to do for us in wake of the CACC near disaster. It is thanks to her that we did not spread ANY of the contagious diseases last month. Every Pets Alive dog was safe. It was truly amazing and thanks very much to her and the great staff we have here.
Thank you to Valorie Kuhens who donated all of her savings, 11.00 and change to Pets Alive. Valorie is just 6 years old and loves the cats most of all. She comes sometimes on the weekends with her mom Pam and she can tell you all about every cat here, their personalities, their names, and just about anything you might want to know. She donated everything in her piggy bank to help us! Thank you Valorie.
Thank you to Sonya. Sonya works in the cat building and comes just about every day. She tends to EVERYTHING. This week she commandeered Frank and before you knew it the kitchen was immaculate. I tend to be a neat freak and that kitchen always seemed so cluttered it made me feel claustrophobic. They did an amazing job on it. You can actually see that it used to be a kitchen. She also helped me this week – well ok – I actually helped HER – when Dale was very ill and could not come in and Frank got into a car crash and totalled his car (he is ok thank goodness). I walked in and it was just us and I looked at her with confusion and she took control, barked out where I needed to be and what needed to be done but mostly she did the entire cat house with food, litter and water. I changed a few waters and swept a room or two the whole time whispering under my breath “Thank goodness she was here, thank goodness for Sonya”. Thanks Sonya. You’re such a pleasure to be around.
We also have to give tremendous thanks to Carmine P. I don’t think anyone really knows how much Carmine does for us. He is here almost every single day and works long hours to help the animals here. He repairs, builds, fixes, maintains, snow blows….you name it. This month he added insulation to Cam and Valentino’s outside run. It was simply too cold for them to be outside and the heaters we put in there kept blowing the fuses and leaving them AND the feral cat house with no heat. With the temperatures what they have been we simply could not have this. So Cam and Valentino have come into the brick house for the nights and we ordered “Hound Heaters” for their shed that the guys had built the previous month. The problem was that the hound heaters were not effective if the shed wasn’t insulated. Carmine stepped up and did the entire job himself (with some help from the guys at the end). He got the materials, did all the work and now the dogs are warm and cozy.
Carmine is also hard at work right now as I sit and type this, adding dog doors to every run in the third section. He is working with John S. Remember John? John moved to Best Friends to work for them and he had a few days off and came home to visit. He is spending TWO of those days here, working with Carmine to get those dog doors done. What can you say to people like this? Is “thank you” ever really enough? The reason for the dog doors is that we currently have guillotine doors. During the winter, the staff gets all the dogs in at night and has to shut those doors, to keep the heat in. The dogs are locked inside in the indoor runs from 4 pm until 8am the next morning. Horrible for a house trained dog. The dog doors allow us to keep the guillotine doors (to shut during cleaning and lock dogs in or out) but also allow us to have the dog doors as well, which enable us to keep the indoor heated but the dogs able to go outside if they wish. Our first two sections were done by Carmine and John last year but the third section never got done. The doors then were donated by an anonymous donator. Now we had to purchase them ourselves but thanks to JB Pets we got a great price and were able to pay for them ourselves. The third section is our quarantine section and the dogs that come there often have travelled for many hours, or many days. How awful that they would get here and not have access to go out. Now that will all be changed, thanks to Carmine and John and let us not forget that the guillotine fiberglass doors were originally all donated by Joe Sylvester at Creative Glass. I insisted we pay for this set from him, and we have the product – he did a rush on it for us and cut them all to size as well, but he has not sent me the bill yet. He is just a fabulous guy. PLEASE utilize his shop if you need anything. Please tell him you heard about all he has done to help Pets Alive. (Creative Glass, 8 Brook Rd, Wyckoff NJ 07481, Tel: (201) 264-2630).
Thank you to all our volunteer adoption helpers! Wanda and Lisa Marie continue to come every week to help on the busiest adoption days. We’re really grateful to everyone who has stepped up to help us with this. It gets very chaotic when we have ten families coming down to pick a dog, meet their new dog, introduce their current dog, process their paperwork – well, let’s just say we’re very thankful to have you all.
Thank you to Karen K and Trudy for their constant support, encouraging emails and gift boxes every month. You guys are the best. Thanks to Angela and Rose for funding so many of the needs that the animals have here. Thank you to Frank for sending a box of whistles when we called for help, and thank you to Pam D who sent us 10 bottles of MTG and 20 hoofpicks. We also got donations of other hoofpicks and some kennel wash and some communion classes drove up with tons of donations for us – all items off our wishlist. Thank you to the Middletown School district (Tammy and Amber!) for working to raise funds for us this month and to Judith and her family for putting on and doing ALL the work for the Penny Social! Thank you to Andrea and Trudy for the dogzillas! The dogs are going CRAZY for them.
Thanks to Kayla and her angels. Her fingers are all blistered but so far she has raised over $500 for Pets Alive. KID POWER! We still have a waiting list for the angels too (so Lisa Marie, get cracking – don’t feed her until she kicks out a dozen or more! – just kidding, just kidding….)
Thank you Victor Turi from Mountain Top Landscaping. He continues to come and plow – FOR FREE – all the Pets Alive driveways when it snows. I really don’t know what we would do without him. Thank you Victor. Please also use Victor for all your needs and please also tell him you heard about what he does for us! (170 Guymard Tpke, Middletown, NY 10940, (845) 386-5296)
Thank you to Natalia and Darrick for coming every week and helping out with all the animals here. Darrick is home schooled and part of his schooling is giving back to the community. They come every Tuesday and Thursday and a lot of the dogs recognize him because he lets them run in the play yard and takes them all for walks! One of his favorite dogs (Justin) got adopted this week and Darrick was a big part of helping Justin come out of his shell.
Thank you to Marisol and Rob Thomas, and Mari’s mom Maria for continuing to help support Pets Alive. One of Mari’s friends in lieu of Christmas Gifts to her corporate associates made a donation to Pets Alive. It was for $2500 and this month, I could have just cried when we opened it. I don’t have permission to use their names, so I won’t but I hope that they read this, and know how very grateful we are. Mari and Maria also came up to Pets Alive this week. It is always so great to see them and walk around Pets Alive. Thanks for coming again guys! Maria is moving here soon and she plans to be here every week. Can’t wait! We hear Mari’s dad is quite handy too…..double can’t wait (grin).
As always thanks to the indomitable Becky T for ALL that she does CONSTANTLY for Pets Alive. I really, truly, would be at a loss without her. She recently started helping with the cat adoptions and as you know she also does all the photos for Pets Alive. Believe me when I tell you that is just the tip of the iceberg. No matter how harried or over worked or how many requests get tossed her way she always smiles and is always a pleasure to be with. I also love that when you get on her nerves she can politely tell you so (all her friends and the people that know her are dying laughing right now because they know what I mean). I really love her and she’s been an absolute godsend to us here. Thank you so much Becky.