Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on December 15th, we adopted out the following dogs: Jada, Noble, Hero, Eddie, Charlie, Teddy bear, Snowball, Scooter, Jingles, Frank, Leon, Lovey, Jesse, Verucca, Maggie, Linus, Lucy, Sammie, Billie, Moose, Patrick, Mack, One, Noel, Jenny, Jerry, Bobey, Madison, McBean, Rudolph, Holly, Casey, Ben, Jackpot, Claus, Kringle, Arlette, Jackson, Gabby, Lil Bill, Spunky, Janie, Hunter, Matilda, Madden, Rufus, Rosie, Jonie, Cody, Major, Janie..again, Arlette again, Jackie, Smokey, Mabel and George, Josie.
The following cats were also adopted: Charlie, Eddie, Cleo and Ricky. That is a total of 61 adoptions this month. Great. Good luck furries!
We had a lot of “pairs” adopted this month too – people coming down and taking two dogs home. Hero & Noble, Linus & Lucy, Claus & Kringle, Cody & Major, Matilda & Madden and George and Mabel went home as duo’s. It is so much better for a dog to have a companion. We’re really thrilled by this latest trend.

One of the stand-out adoptions this month would have to be Bobey. Bobey has lived either in a shelter or at the end of a chain his entire two years of life. He has even been with US for many months. He had almost no interest from adopters, and yet he was such a great dog. A family came to see another dog and he was in the lounge waiting to go back to the kennel and they fell in love with him and took him home. Here is their latest update:
I wanted to thank you for letting me adopt Benny formerly known as “Bobey”. We’ve had Benny for about a month now. What a lovable sweet boy. From the moment Benny got to his new home. he was very nervous & timid. Benny hasn’t been in a home for 2 years its understandable. But in his eyes you see the eagerness to please. He has mastered crate training & is doing fantastic with housebreaking (it took him 2 weeks). I can see signs that Benny was abused/abandoned. So I decided to pamper him at a grooming salon. He did not want me to leave him (abandonment issue). But we got him to stay. When I picked him up a few hours later I swear he almost took out a couple of tables because of that beautiful shake/wag of his. SOOO Happy! Benny loves to chase the deer off my property. He smiles at me after the deer run off. Benny loves car rides as well. Benny also has all the patience in the world. I have an autistic son that is 4 1/2 yrs old. My son does not speak, just makes noises (sometimes loudly). I’ve talked to Benny about my son several times (just like I would talk to another human being) explaining my sons situation. Benny wants my sons attention but does not push my son Nicholas for it at the same time. If Benny sees my son acting up he will stay away from him or just lay on his bed. If he sees my son playful, Benny becomes playful. Benny gives my son all the space in the world like he understood every word I told him. I’m just trying to stop Benny from jumping up on you, which I can see lots of improvement. I was scared he would knock my son over by jumping up. Once again Benny trying to please me and being such a fast learner. I cant believe with Benny’s past that he has remained soo sweet & forgiving of people. Benny seems to have alot to teach people in life.

Congratulations Benny/Bobey. We’re so very happy for you.

Pets Alive Puppies
We have so many puppies right now (odd for us) that I created the
Pets Alive puppy slideshow: Hope you enjoy it. Click here to watch.
Intakes:

This month we took in 19 dogs from West Virginia (take a look at the news coverage on that!), 9 from Ohio, 2 from West Virginia, 7 from Kentucky, 7 from North Carolina, 3 from South Carolina, and 3 local dogs.
General Updates:

Last month we told you about a challenge to increase sponsorships. If we could get 100 new sponsors in two months, an anonymous donor would match the amounts for ONE YEAR. Thanks to all of you – we did it. As of January 1st, all those new sponsorships are being MATCHED. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to help. Thanks so very much.
New Staff: Pet Alive found ourselves in need of some extra staff this quarter (Eddie and Tom are no longer with us). We have not hired a new kennel worker yet. Juan and Marcos have been absolutely AMAZING – truly AMAZING, coming in early, staying late, working extra to make sure everything is covered. However we did hire a dog trainer and we did hire a new horse caretaker (we are still looking for a kennel worker if anyone is interested you can email info@petsalive.com).
Nancy Parker has started doing dog training here. She is willing to work with any volunteers that want to do some additional work with our dogs, and she will also be starting dog training classes in the spring (as soon as the weather is accommodating). She is also handling owner surrender requests. In other words all of the many requests we get to take in dogs – MOST of them are easily fixable. So she is working with these owners to keep the dogs IN their homes, rather than surrender them. So far it has been going great and we’re seeing a huge difference. Nancy also handles all our negative follow-up calls. Most of you know that we call and follow up on our adoptions after three days, then three weeks, then three months to make sure all is going well. If we hear anything negative or the new family is having trouble, Nancy puts on her cape and goes to work. She does ONLY positive reinforcement training and is very good at working with aggression issues as well, which many trainers shy away from. She practices the best practices we learned from Best Friends and we’re really happy to have her with us.
(That is a picture of Houma playing in the exercise yard. Doesn’t he look happy?)
We also hired Juliet Charkin as the new horse caretaker. Juliet comes in for a few hours every morning to tend to the horses needs. She is simply wonderful. She has started taking pictures of Glen’s eye every week so we can compare it weekly to more easily tell if he starts to have trouble. She also really loves all the horses here. She gets a special look when she talks about them which deeply touches me. We really like her and I hope she’ll be around for a long time. The horses ALSO like her, which is even MORE important. She has a very good way with them and we’re thrilled to have her join us.
If you see them around,please take a moment to stop and welcome them both to the Pets Alive fold! Welcome Juliet and Nancy!
Note to our Volunteers (written by Nancy Parker): This is an important factor in getting a dog adopted. I would encourage all humans to make eye contact with dogs as they interact. When volunteers and staff take the dog in and out and walk, encourage the dog to look at you (once you are out of the main kennel). Stop and say the dogs name or just make a clicking sound. Once the dog looks up say YES (marker word) and give him a good pet or rub to acknowledge. Doing this several times during the walk will keep him connected to humans. When dogs are around dogs for the major part of their day they will focus on only dogs and the behavior of dogs. They loose the ability to connect with humans. We need to remember to encourage them to look into our eyes and connect. I teach this basic behavior as part of my Leadership Skills Training. I know it is difficult for staff, but having volunteers take the time to make eye contact during the walk will help the dog to remain connected to humans. I noticed volunteers take the dogs out for short walks….would be better, if possible, if you could take more time and walk the same route two times. This will encourage the dog to slow down and walk better on the leash. Usually second time around the dog slows down and relaxes. Anxiety goes down and the walk is more fun!

Did you see my blog on
What does “no-kill” mean?.
Pet Food Pantry: Pets Alive and Orange County Veterinary Hospital (OCVH) and have created Pet Chow Pantry to help feed family pets who are going hungry and may ultimately be abandoned. The Pet Chow Pantry will immediately start collecting donations for distribution at OCVH, 1761 Route 17M , Goshen Monday-Friday 8:30am t o 5:00pm. Additional locations will be set up shortly. The Pantry hopes to have enough inventory to start distribution to those in need by mid February. Families in need can visit distribution location: Pet Chow Pantry, 43 St. John Street, Goshen.
Oreo’s Law Update: Oreo’s law will be presented to the agricultural committee this month (it has to pass there first). DID YOU REMEMBER TO EMAIL, FAX, CALL your Assembly Members and State senators? THIS IS URGENT! We need you to tell them, ask them, beg them to support this bill. You can do so here: http://petsalive.com/mailem.php. Additionally, we also need letters in support of Oreo’s Law to go to the Agriculture Committee Members as well: http://tinyurl.com/yk6f9md – calls and personal notes and messages mean more than template sends, so keep that in mind. Thanks for your support. TOGETHER we can stop the killing.

For more information click the button below:

Animal Medical Updates and Issues (written by Janet):
Although all the staff had the joy in seeing so many wonderful animals spend the holiday season with their new families, some were not as fortunate. Over the past two months, we have been persuaded to take in a handful of dogs of either geriatric standing or failing health. One such pair was Annie the Shepherd mix and Trixie the little chubby beagle. When I first met Trixie, she was obviously OLD and FAT…but was full of energy. I thought to myself, ‘gee does that dog need to go on a diet’! Many beagles tend to become obese especially as they age, because they are such food motivated critters and they are so cute owners have a hard time telling them ‘No’. So the dog staff placed her on a reduced calorie food as she began the long journey of weight loss. Sadly though only a couple days after Christmas, a volunteer was taking Trixie out for a walk. Trixie came back extremely winded and short of breath. The dog staff became very concerned. Of course it was mid-day on a Sunday (the absolute WORST time for any animal emergency) but we were lucky enough to get in touch with our vet, who met us at the office. Quickly our vet was concerned for her prognosis. He worried about a possibly internal mass that ruptured, cardiac complications, or cancer. He was sending out bloodwork, but in the meantime, set her up in ICU with IV fluids and diuretics. If she did not improve overnight, he would then take x-rays. Sadly, even with the quick response, Trixie did not pull through. Our vet informed us that Trixie indeed had cancer. I suppose we should just be relieved that her health went quickly, instead of experiencing any long term suffering. Still, Trixie missed her chance to live in a loving family as she so deserved.

DID YOU KNOW: The number one health problem with dogs in the US is being overweight?

Trixie had been surrendered with Annie the Shep mix. Although the very limited, inconsistent paperwork states simply that Annie is over 8 years of age, it is pretty apparent that is a conservative statement. Her teeth are worn, her eyes are glazed with age, and her frail emaciated body bears the burden of neglect. Upon her intake, we found out that she is Lyme positive. Although not a surprise to see this in dogs living in this region, it is not good news. If caught early enough it can be treated with antibiotics, BUT left untreated and it will affect the kidneys. Annie was immediately started on Doxycycline, and a full blood panel was sent out. But the doxycycline was upsetting her gut, so we needed to stop for a few days and give sub-q fluids. In the meantime, the bloodwork came back revealing increased kidney levels. We are continuing daily fluids to help flush out her kidneys and we were able to successfully start her back up on her medication. We will recheck her kidney values in two weeks. In the meantime, Annie is getting more confident…and her appetite is great. We simply hope to make her as happy and healthy as possible in her situation. And boy oh boy is she getting a LOT of attention lately, which she truly enjoys.
Another old sad couple arriving to our facility was Simba and Nala, two decrepitly old beagles. They had lived together their entire lives and were now the victims of divorce. Simba visibly is the older (14 years old) and his body frame is frail and arched. The staff had just been discussing the fact that neither dog (especially Simba) seemed to have much time left. BUT neither appeared to be in any pain or distress. When the dog staff and volunteers arrived that next day, ironically Nala just never woke up. She must have died in her sleep. We were afraid that Simba would be distraught over her loss, but he is so old that he seems undisturbed. Simba’s days involve sleeping, eating, pooping/peeing…and then a whole lot more sleeping. As long as he has some quality of life in him, we are content.
Mufasa, the old grumpy Chihuahua that was saved from euthanasia at another local shelter has also been sick this past month. He was neutered at the end of December and since he is typically unhandable, we knew we should have every thing done while sedated He needed a full dental (leaving only his two canines present) and a blood panel came back looking great. But a couple weeks later, Mufasa started feeling ill. He vomited and became very lethargic. Of course he was completely uncooperative at the vet. We would muzzle him and have TWO people restrain him while giving him sub-q fluids and injectable medications. We continued this for several days until the point that he was eating normally and taking oral antibiotics. Luckily (or unluckily for some) this little dictator is back to his normal little tyrant self!
Oreo, the much adored pit bull has fallen sick again!!! She is roommates with the mighty Mufasa, so immediately we assumed that she caught something from him. But Oreo presented with a sporadic cough. Sometimes she was acting completely normal, but when excited she’d go into a little coughing fit. Our vet feels that she has kennel cough (the plague of the shelter world!) and hopefully with some antibiotics and cough medication, she will be just fine. If she worsens (or doesn’t improve in a week) then steroids will be given and radiographs taken. She is still her happy little self though and is actually already looking improved.
The Notorious Biggie Smalls has been losing a ton of weight. When he arrived last May we did find out that he has an underactive thyroid. So he was put on appropriate medication. But with his pronounced weight loss, there was the possibility that he needed an adjustment to his medication dose. Bloodwork revealed that this was indeed the case. He has been lowered on his dosage and will be rechecked in two months. Everyone who has seen Biggie lately can’t help but state how wonderful he looks and how active his is. Biggie is like a brand new dog.
Last week while placing a canine kennel mate back into the run, two volunteers noticed a small pool of blood in the drainage area. When I went back to check, I noticed some blood on Mabel’s paw…but upon closer inspection there were no evident punctures on the body. The only thing we could see was a bit of blood along her gum line where she apparently was chewing at her dog run. We relocated the pair hoping to stop that behavior. Although Mabel was lucky enough to not fracture any teeth in her endeavor, she must have punctured an area of her mouth. A few days later and it swelled. She needed it drained and is now on antibiotics and pain meds.
Talk about pain….Angel the pit bull had her left hind pad torn off during rough play with her kennel mate. The vet did need to remove the entire (hanging) pad but feels that is should recover nicely. I’m fairly certain Angel is in full appreciation of the benefits of pain medications at a time like this. Poor Girl!
Dog Update:
Annie is a senior dog that we took into Pets Alive. Her case really touched us. Her owner was killed in a motorcycle accident. The family went to the house to get her, after his death, and she was so frightened by all the people and the commotion that she darted out the door and was gone. The family tried to trap her for over a year, as they kept seeing her in the area, to no avail. Annie slipped them up every time and was getting more and more thin. Finally her hunger got the better of her and she was trapped. Whew. Well. No. They brought her to a shelter. There Annie lived for another YEAR. The shelter was kind but holding a dog this old (she is about nine or ten) that was getting no adoption interest was beyond their space capabilities. So she was scheduled for euthanasia. Pets Alive was deeply moved by her story and we accepted her here. She came here but she was just “dead”. She had no life to her. Her eyes were dead. She did what you asked of her but there was no joy. One of our volunteers, Colleen, discussed Annie and how troubled she was about her lack of interest in anything. Annie affected me terribly and I started having trouble sleeping for thinking of her and seeing those eyes that never lit up, that tail that never wagged, that body that was giving up and just wanted, it seemed to me, to die.
I put a note on the volunteer board and asked volunteers to spend time with her. Boy did you all come through! Everyone that came by, read the note and stopped in to see Annie and spend time with her. We moved her out of the kennel and into the senior room. I started spending time with her every day too. Little by little Annie came back to life. Her eyes now shine, the tail now wags, and she will come and lay in your lap when you sit in her room with her. We even matched her up with another elderly dog although ultimately she decided she’d rather live alone. Still, our volunteers and staff are just the most wonderful bunch of people. They have touched her little life and made her remember “joy”. They taught her tail to wag again and they taught her that even in a shelter, she can be loved and cherished. Thank you all for that. Now…we need to find her a home. It won’t be easy as she doesn’t really like other dogs, but I’m determined that she will love someone again, and not die here at Pets Alive. Please consider taking Annie into your home, or perhaps there is an elderly person you know, that could use a companion for a few years? She is house trained and really no trouble at all. I hope you will think of this dog that loved someone once, was betrayed, but now has hope again and think of a way to help her find someone to love once more.

Cat Update:
With winter hitting hard, our feral cat house was a concern. Last year we heated it with an electric extension cord running all the way from the house out there to an electric heater. CAN YOU SAY EXPENSIVE? So this year we came up with a better idea. A propane heater (ventless) that we could temperature control. We called the oil company and had them drop a 100 gallon propane tank there, hooked up a brand new heater we found on craigslist CHEAP, and voila’. Our feral cats have heat again and rather inexpensively. We’re all thrilled with the results and I thank Tom Dore for doing so much work over there to figure it all out for us.
Horse Updates:

With the new horse caretaker comes some new horse care taking. (grin). Juliet has been getting to know all the horses and her calm and easy demeanor resulted in a great session with the farrier this week. Our farrier is really good with the horses and barely charges us, so it is a great asset to have him and Juliet as a team when the horses need their feet trimmed. This past week was completely uneventful and everyone mostly slept through their trimming. Juliet also started bringing in her digital camera to take some pictures of Glenn’s eye. She wants to keep a weekly record for comparison and thinks the photos will be helpful. So far the eye looks unchanged to her, but when you look at something everyday, small changes may not be so obvious. We love the idea and love having Juliet’s thought process here.
Our shyest horse, Murphy (pictured here) was her first challenge. Murphy can be very difficult to catch for vetting or feet trimming. He is frightened to trust too much, but once he gives you his heart, you have it forever and he trusts you explicably. Once a carriage horse, Murphy seems to always be anxious about being made to leave his field, friends and new life and be put back to work! Juliet has already won over his heart though and he eagerly comes to her when he sees her.
Upcoming Events or Fundraisers
We received the following email and while it doesn’t help US or the dogs HERE, it DOES help shelter dogs and we encourage you to send them your old sweaters!
We are trying to save shelter dogs from the freezing cold this year by taking in used sweaters (donated to us) and then recycling them into doggy sweaters for all the dogs stuck outside the shelters this time of year. I noticed on your website you had a list of resources and I was hoping you would add us to that list to help us spread the word about this cause. We not only want to reach dog lovers to obtain old sweaters but also shelters who may be in need of these sweaters. So please ad our blog to your resource list. http://bignutshell.com/blogs/dogproject/
We will be having many events and fund raisers this year. So far our membership has come through for us when we ask for specific items we need but our events are very poorly attended. We would really appreciate your support and your physical presence at the functions we are running this year. We are trying many things this year to entice you into attending. Remember these are not just great days or nights out, the ticket is also a tax deduction. We hope to have a casino night this year, we’ll be doing our annual yard sale, we will be doing some really fun other things too – but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too early, but stay tuned. We’re super excited at this year’s line-up and we really hope that you will come to them!
We also need your HELP in putting these events on! 2010 is going to be a great year for Pets Alive. The past couple of years Pets Alive has been in survival mode, but 2010 is the year this turns around and PA begins to really grow. We are going to get that medical building – we’re determined – and we aren’t stopping there. I know that we have many talented people out there that would love to be pat of this if only you knew how to help. There are a ton of things you can do to help us and you’ll have fun doing it too. Just send an email to volunteer@petsalive.com and tell us about your skills, strengths and talents? We will contact you to let you know how you can help Pets Alive change the lives of countless animals this coming year! Please – ACT. Send that email. By helping us, you help these animals and by helping these animals you help yourself. Giving of yourself and your time for a good cause is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have, to say nothing of the good karma (and friends!) that you find as a result. We look forward to meeting you and making you a part of our team!
Ragazzi life is hosting a contest. They are asking that you submit a photo of you and your dog, and for every photo submitted they will pay Pets Alive $2.50! They are giving the winner of the contest a free custom oil portrait by renowned artist Michele Amatrula…..and you’re invited to attend the party where they announce the winner. Not bad, and your submission wins for the animals! I submitted one already of course. WAY cute. I challenge you to beat it! Click here to submit your photo.
Thank you’s
Thank you so much to Liz who came by to pick up all our broken horse blankets and repair them for us. Horse blankets are very expensive, so someone that can repair them is such a godsend. Thanks so much for this Liz. This is the second year she has helped us with this.
Thank you to long time supporters Bob and MaryEllen Chanda. Bob has invested money for Pets Alive and whenever we need a little help he dips into it and sends us some. Their recent donation of $6000 is a huge boon to us during the “dry” donation months (January and February) and we really needed the help. They are also always thinking of us, networking, coming up with ideas to help. We just love the two of them (they also ADOPT from us!) Thank you both so much for your CONSTANT and CONTINUOUS support!
Our displays at the Middletown and New Paltz Starbucks were VERY successful. In less than 30 days they raised OVER $1,000 in donations! Thank you to Starbucks for allowing us to set up there and thank you to all the generous people that put money in our display! That is Artie and Anna in front of the display! They volunteer here at Pets Alive with their great mom Mary Ellen,who is always doing wonderful things for us. We love them!
Thank you to Cathie G for coming in every Sunday to get new pictures of the dogs for our website and for volunteering walking dogs & helping out with the horses. Thanks also to Vera who cares for the horses for us every Sunday.
Thank you to Dave D for replacing the door in the laundry room. Thanks Carmine for donating, building & organizing this for us! Thank you also to Jan for redoing and cleaning the grooming room. Our new file racks…thank you Wanda, Claudia, Amy …one so came with no name! TY! They look great!
Thank You to Charene Tse & her daughters Kirsten & Chelsea for making all the new going home bandannas for our adopted dogs. They buy the fabric & make them at home. They sent us several with Christmas fabric, now have doggy valentine themed ones. They are really wonderful. They also come and spend time with our shyest dogs. This picture is with one of the pile puppies!

Thank you to Gil and Maria for coming down every week, and more than once a week! You both do so much for us. And OMG Gil is now walking Cam! Go Gil Go! Another person that can handle Cam. This is so great. We really appreciate your love and support.

Thank you to Girl Scout Troop 127/Otisville. They came to Pets Alive, volunteered and brought donations for the animals!
Thank you, as always to our very good friend, John Heads, for all the doggie pickups, transports, repairs, the cabinets, making the file folder hangers, putting together that impossible desk, and for just always being there whenever we need anything. We so appreciate you.
Thank you to Marc Roberge and his charity organization HEARD THE WORLD FUND. They recently lost their precious pitty Judy and made a $5000 donation to Pets Alive in her memory.
Thanks to Sue and Marty P for all the decorating for the holidays, the extra time with our special needs dogs and for always stepping up when we need you!
Thank you to the Monhagen Builders Club for raising money and donating a Kuranda bed to Pets Alive!
Thank you to Maria and Anne, who made a winter weekend trip to Pets Alive and helped clean the puppy room and the cat house. They also brought tons of cat food and supplies.
Thanks for a really flattering blog from John S. about his time volunteering at Pets Alive.
Thank you so much to Paul Q who nominated us for the IBM Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign! Thanks Paul!
YAY! Thanks to all your voting we received a $1000 check from Petfinder for being voted #1 shelter in New York!. Thank you all SO MUCH!
Thank you so much for the help on the weekends from Barb, Trudy, Lisamarie, Colleen, Ricki, Alina, Becky and Fran. We could not do the adoptions and orientations without you all!

Thank you to Mari and Rob Thomas for giving all the Pets Alive staff tickets to his show at the Mohegan Sun, bringing us all backstage and treating us so wonderfully. We had such a great time and it was fabulous to see you in your element. Thanks for all you do for us and all the love you show us.
Current Needs:
We are in great need of reams of paper for our printers. If anyone can donate some paper, we’d really appreciate it – just standard printing paper. We also found out that Kuranda.com now has cat towers and cat beds. Cat Towers and beds are available at a discounted rate for shelters and rescues. You can go to their website and just pick our shelter and they send it directly to us, let us know it is from you, and give you a discount for doing it! If you can consider sending us a cat tower or bed, the cats would LOVE it. These seem great as they are so easily cleaned.
We also just found out that our brand new washing machine can only use High Efficiency detergent. Most of what we have is NOT. That is ok, we can still use what we have up at the cat house in the older washing machine but now we REALLY need some HE Laundry detergent! Thanks for your consideration on these items.
We are also looking for clean fill to fill an old inground swimming pool on the property. We want to make it into a big exercise yard for our dogs. The pool is just an old fenced off area and we’d love to fill it and make it a surface we can use! We also really need to get our driveway paved. It is filled with potholes again and I’m at wits end with the thought of filling the holes yet again. Paving is the only thing that is going to solve this for us. If you have any connections that can get either of these things done for us, please let us know!
Lastly, we really need a building. We want to build a medical facility on site with a meeting room for our students (Humane Education) and maybe with three little adoption rooms. Currently if we have more than one family at a time, we have to have them stand outside while the current family is in the one room we have. Not ideal when it is 20 degrees out. Anyone have like $200-300k just laying around they are looking to get rid of? Or maybe a big building you wanna deliver? Just sayin’. We could really use it.