Many of you may have seen the issues with our taxes from 2007, covered on the news and in the local papers. We are happy to say that this is all resolved now, thanks to County Executive Edward Diana. When Sara, the founder and past director of Pets Alive was dying in 2007, she never signed the form that says “everything is the same” and mailed it back to the town of Wallkill. We tried to fight it, but were getting nowhere fast and then got word that they were going to start foreclosure proceedings on us. Thanks so much for the great article in the Times Herald Record by Keith Goldberg, we started to get some attention and some help. Ed Diana personally called us and said that we wouldn’t have to worry – he had our back and was going to personally see to it that this got resolved for us. He was true to his word, working late that night with a team of lawyers to figure out a way to resolve the issue.
The problem will be solved at the county level. As a backup our Assembly Member Annie Rabbitt drafted a bill that would absolve us of the tax bill from 2007. PLEASE take a moment, right now to thank Ed Diana: (845) 291-2700, Ediana@Co.orange.ny.us. Without him, we would have been looking at foreclosure or coming up with over $40,000 to pay the bill. We ARE tax exempt 501(c)3, and thankfully someone was willing to say “Hey, this makes no sense”. Thanks so much Mr. Diana. You are the only government official who we actually felt understood the situation and worked to fix it. It’s great to have friends like you in high places.
Big Fundraisers Planned!
Pets Alive is planning TWO amazing charity fundraising events in May. One is on May 22, 2010, at Catlin Gardens, in Slate Hill, NY. The tickets are $125 to that event. The other is on Thursday May 27th, 2010 at Life in Ardsley, NY (7-11 pm). The tickets to that event are $200. The FurBall is a fabulous formal evening celebrating the animals that have been saved by Pets Alive. There will be cocktails, dinner, music, dancing, celebrities, a silent auction and a special presentation featuring the animals of Pets Alive. This will be the animal event of the year, and it is VERY likely that Marisol and Rob Thomas will be attending these events! Do not wait, buy your tickets now for Westchester Furball, or buy your tickets now for Hudson Valley Furball! (Note: no crazy people. Crazy people will be removed! DRUNK crazy is ok. Crazy fan crazy is not!)

Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on January 22nd, we adopted out the following dogs: Gondor, Jet, Kramer, Tyson, Chief, Lana, One (again), Derrick, Shadow, Richie, Sammie, Titus, Mercy, Sassy, Merry, Jack, Valentino, Coreen, Tater, Bocci, Faith, Rambo, Duke, Yankee, Mufassa, Maco, Misty, Buster Brown, Goldenrod, Max, Benji, April, Nakota, Daisy, Gus, Julia, Petey, Macey, Miller, Princess, Dusty, Daphne, Chili, Debbie, Milliard, Grace, Casey, Dallas, Jenny, Dimples, Hush Puppy, Mason (again), Sakari, Delia, Drummer, Kia, Biggie, Bella, Connor, Cookie, Remus, Jessica, Benny, Sadie, Macy, Kodiak, Jones, Pirate, Hope, Hank, Venice, Annabelle, Pluto, Muki, Flying Ace, Jack, Petey, Henry, Nigel, Griffin, Simba, Buddy, aks, Dumpling, Hope, Dolly, Pickles, Carson, Johnny, Hero, Sweetie Pie, Stacy, Fenway, Tricky, Chanel, Johnny (again), Java, Patriot, Pirate, Scooter, Cherub, Pervis, Jenny, Joey, Java, Eddie, Socks, and Sassy.
The following cats were also adopted: Aga Khan, Shah, and Jake.
We also adopted out a horse this month. Devil was adopted and is doing wonderfully in his new home! Check out this link for the most amazingly happy pictures of him in his new home. Beautiful!
That is over 115 adoptions. Good luck furries! We also placed 16 dogs with other rescues (dogs that we pulled from the West Virginia hoarder situation).
We also said goodbye this month to Valentino, Molly, Avery, Large Hissing, and Peaches. The last four are cats and I guess we are at “that point” with cats and it is very sad. So many cats here are so old and had been here for years, that they are actually starting to die of age-related illnesses. It breaks our heart that they never had a home of their own and we’re probably looking at losing many more in the next two years. We take every death personally and grieve for every one we weren’t able to place, and that had to die here.
Thankfully, our Grumpy Old Man – Valentino died in the arms of Carmine and Lucia. They took him home and treasured the last few months of his life and made him special, and proud and comfortable. I’m glad that he had them. I am sure that Val will be waiting for them at the Bridge.
One of the stand-out adoptions this month is Simba. Simba was a dog that came to us with another dog. We were told they were 6-8 years old but they were much older. 12-14 or older was our vets guess. They were victims of divorce – neither side wanted them (can you imagine?). So of course we took them, and of course they needed dentals and medical care. We didn’t have the heart to put these elderly dogs in the kennel so we made a nice place for them in the kitchen. They mostly just slept the day away but Nala didn’t wake up one morning. There they were, curled together, but she had quietly slipped away in the night. We were worried how Simba would take it, but the poor senior guy didn’t seem to remember much, so maybe that was a blessing. Well…some wonderful people (Jennifer and Aaron) came to meet another dog in our shelter when they came across this skinny, disoriented, little old man, and that was it. All thoughts of the other dog left their minds and they knew they wanted to provide Simba a home with what little time he might have left. He has been in their home for over a month now and is thriving! We received this update from them:
Simba’s adjustment to his new home was slow at first. I believe he did not understand what was going on. The new smells and layout was hard for him to learn. It’s been almost a month now and he’s adjusting fine. He accidentally fell down the stairs last week confirming our suspicions he can not see clearly and he needs to be watched very closely. It nearly gave us a heart attack, but thankfully he got right up on his feet and wasn’t hurt. He is very deceiving, refusing to get up every morning when it’s time to go outside, leading us to fear it might be his last day. Only to return back to the house running playfully and wagging his tail. It is amazing to see how much puppy he still has left.
Simba is getting use to our daily routines. He enjoys walks to the pond and doesn’t fear water. So, we are hopeful he might take a dip in the pond with us this summer. He is starting to trust us more everyday, even allowing us to pick him up for car rides. More and more, he is coming and looking for attention by placing his head on our laps. Simba has met the cats, chicken, goats and sheep. He doesn’t seem too interested in them which works out just fine. It seems there are only two things he’s interested in – food and his bed beside the wood stove.
Simba has quickly become apart of our family. We frequently joke and call him Kenny after my grandfather because I often find them both sound asleep by the wood stove; both never waking with my entrance. We enjoy having him has part of our family and thankful we found him!
Intakes:

This month we took in the following dogs: 8 from South Carolina, 3 from Arkansas, 10 from Kentucky, 70 from West Virginia (yes, you read that right – SEVENTY dogs), 4 from North Carolina, 1 from Virginia.
We also took in three owner surrenders and three from local shelters.
The reason we took so many dogs from West Virginia was because of a terrible case down there. Typical “rescue gone wrong” situation and the dogs and cats were suffering. A team of volunteers and staff from Pets Alive (thank you John, Carmine, Becky, Janet and Matt) went down there and got all the dogs and cats back to us. Thank you then for local shelters stepping up to help us by taking on some of these animals. Sullivan County Humane took five, Best Friends took five, Newburgh Shelter took five and Mountain Rottie Rescue even came and took one that was not even a rottie. We also have other offers of help that we’re still working on, and more of these dogs will go to local shelters who have been so gracious to step up and say “We’re here. We have room. We’ll help”. We were all very deeply moved by the response from the local rescue community. Thank you all so much. You can read about the experience in Matt’s Blog titled Saving Xena.
We also took in two donkeys this month. Blossom and her baby, Peanut. I can’t even tell you how cute these two are. Well, maybe I can. This picture is little Peanut. She is 8 months old. When they first got here they were covered in filth, very shy and scared, and not in the best of health. Now they are thriving and it is so cute to watch Peanut race around in these big figure eights, just as happy as can be. Come and visit them. They love the attention.
General Updates:

Note to our Volunteers (written by Nancy Parker):
I did a survey in the kennel this week and asked the dogs what they wanted us as humans to do to make them more adoptable. Here are the answers:
When you take me out of the kennel talk softly to me and give me praise. This calms me down. If you remain calm, I will remain calm. Your energy is my energy.
Also ask the attendants if there are any dogs that do not get regular walks. Some of us are just not as popular as others. But we like to walk and love human contact.
If you do not think you can walk us just take us to one of the open outdoor kennels. This is always fun. You can ask where the balls and toys are. You can teach us to play fetch and play tag.
When you greet me in the lobby or outside, talk softly and give me praise. When you walk up to me from a distance and use a high pitched squeaky voice I get excited and I want to jump up on you. If you use your hand and just direct me in a soft downward motion that will really help me to learn not to jump whenever I see a human, and that will help my new family want to adopt me.
When you walk me please try hard not to let me pull the leash, if I am a serious puller ask about the great walking harnesses we have (Sporn Harness). These harnesses really do work and encourage me to stop pulling. Pulling on the leash is a learning experience. The more I pull the more I will pull. Pulling is a learned behavior.
I love getting out of the kennel and I love to walk. If you have time can you please walk me around the entire path when the weather is good. I would love to stop at the bench so we could talk and you could pet me. I think there are some brushes around somewhere, maybe sometimes you could brush me.
We know it is difficult to remember, but, if you can bring some bags with you (they are in the lobby) when you walk it would really help keep the path clean. We were talking about how many dogs really walk on that path and how many “go” on that path….OMG…The number is staggering. Please help us keep it clean and I will help you make the walk more enjoyable by not stopping to smell each one! If you don’t like those bags – they do seem yucky – maybe take a scooper around at the end of your visit and gather up what you can find. We, and the staff, would really appreciate it!
Please don’t forget the dogs in the offices, or senior room. We LOVE to get out too! And we need it even more than the dogs that have a place to go outside, in the kennel.
When you bring me back please remember to mark the kennel so the next person can walk someone that did not get walked. And when you are done for the day PLEASE return the leash to the leash hooks at the front door. We try so hard not to waste donor money. So returning those leashes help a lot!
Thank you so much for everything you do, we love you all. You make our stay at Pet’s Alive so much easier and happier and healthier.

Did you see Matt’s blog on
Old Souls?
This was about the rescue we did to help some dogs in Puerto Rico.
VOLUNTEER! You can be directly involved in changing the life of a dog or a cat. To find out more information about any of the below volunteer projects, please emailvolunteer@petsalive.com. If you want to be part of the planning committee for this year’s event, please send us an email.
Do you love cats?
Pets Alive is still looking for volunteers to help in the cat house on Wednesday and/or Sunday mornings.
If you would like to be a Cat Caretaker – once a week or once a month – please let us know!
Offsite Adoptions
By escorting an adoptable dog or cat to PetCo and PetsMart, you can help them find a forever home.
All it takes is one Saturday every six weeks.
Sign-up now to be part of the Pets Alive Adoption Day Team, and experience the joy of knowing that you are really making a difference.
2nd ANNUAL ALUMNI DAY REUNION PICNIC PLANNING BEGINS!
For the second year in a row, Pets Alive will host a picnic in honor of all the animals who have passed through the doors of the sanctuary.
All our furry friends will be invited back to the sanctuary for a reunion. There will be food, music, entertainment, games, prizes, a blessing of the animals, a parade, and more!
Please contact us for more information about helping with this project.
Are you a people person?
Training for new greeters will take place on Saturday, February 27 at 11:30 am at the sanctuary.
“Greeters” are the people who welcome visitors to the sanctuary, conduct orientations, and give tours.
Greeters work on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am until 1:30 pm. Only one shift is required per month.
Please don’t delay, start helping today.

Animal Medical Updates and Issues (written by Janet):
The infamous good ol’ Puerto Rican mutt who has stolen EVERYONE’S heart not only underwent major surgery BUT found her forever home. She had a previous fracture femoral head which healed horribly wrong AND a luxating patella (knee cap). The veterinary orthopedic surgeon was a bit concerned about the hip surgery (although the patella procedure was routine). Both procedures in and of themselves are grandscale. Hero had them both done at the same time. She pulled through the surgeries well and was quite the trooper when she returned. Never did she complain about pain (although of course she is on good pain medications). Not even two days after her return to Pets Alive, Hero was snapped up by the brother of the hospital administrator. They are well aware of Hero’s post-surgical restrictions and ready to do all they need for her. We’ll of course be certain to post updates of her progress as they become available.
The start of a large medical project has been the incoming of West Virginia dogs who are emaciated and horribly mange-ridden. Five adult dogs have thus arrived (along with two puppies). These adult dogs are some of the worst cases I have seen in a long time. Goldie is a lovely golden retriever mix whose vivacious attitude was probably the ONLY thing keeping her alive. She is literally a bag of bones being held together by skin (and mange covered skin at that). Each dog has been receiving daily baths along with oral antiparasitics and antibiotics (for secondary bacterial infections). Their ears were filled with yeast, which we are now treating. Goldie’s ears were so inflamed that she has a large aural hematoma. In a best case scenario she would have been sedated and the hematoma would be lanced and sutured. BUT since she is in such dire overall health, we would not even think of attempting sedation lest she not awake. We are attending to the treatment daily and she been enjoying the extra love and attention she receives simultaneously.
Frederick—One of our two darling dogo argentinos has had a problem with one of his back leg even before his arrival to Pets Alive. His hock tends to swell up from time to time. We have had it looked up several times by veterinarians. It is suspected that he had a previous lick granuloma (most probably from living in multiple shelter environments) which then turned into cellulitis. Luckily we have been able to get a lot of extra weight off him which will only help, and he is on joint supplementation. Freddy was on a broad spectrum combination of antibiotics and had a dental done. Although he may not be feeling like a puppy again, his overall health is much improved.
Annie—timid, sweet, shy Annie did have recheck bloodwork for her beginning stage renal failure. She has been receiving sub-g fluids on a daily basis since she was diagnosed. And was being retreated for lyme disease. Unfortunately Annie’s values have not improved, but on the bright side, they have not worsened. Annie also receives nutritional supplements intended to ease the strain on the kidneys. In the meantime, she is lucky to receive a lot of extra attention from an entire slew of volunteers. Its thrilling to see her eyes light up when one of her favorite people enters the room. Oddly enough, since I’m the one giving daily fluids, I am not one of those.
Caramel—crazy caramel does not like being in the kennel. He in fact torn four paws bloody while voicing his dislike. We moved him to the senior room and gave him some time to mend. During that time, we asked Nancy our trainer to start working with him. Although he’d still rather be in a home versus a dog run, Caramel is handling it better this time. And our precious Annie can once again enjoy the sounds of silence instead of Caramel’s LOUD complaints in her ears.
Angel—our selectively friendly pitty is FINALLY healed from her foot pad removal (which was torn off during a scuffle with another dog). Whenever we thought it was fully healed, she would take a walk outside and return with a raw foot. Thus we needed to limit the substrate she walked upon for a while. Hopefully soon, we”ll be able to enable her full activity privileges once again.
This month appears to be cat dental month. We have had an onslaught of cat teeth issues. Of course ALL of them were feral or semi-feral cats, who do NOT appreciate anyone looking into their mouths. Amanda, Thelma and Nero were a few of the cats going in for dental cleaning. Oddly enough, almost as soon as they returned from the vet, they were chowing down food and acting like kittens again. I’m constantly teasing Dale that she NEEDS to keep up with the teeth brushing around here! It would save us a lot money at the vet.
General Updates:
Have you checked out our new Doggie 911 blog? Keep up with all the latest training being done with the dogs of Pets Alive! Also, find training tips, advice and see how surrender requests are handled. Our dog trainer, Nancy is keeping dogs IN the homes, instead of coming back or being surrendered to Pets Alive! Read her blogs and follow the advancement of training with the dogs here at our sanctuary.
Through the ongoing Pets Alive Humane Education Program human/canine teams visit schools, churches and other youth groups in and around Orange County to speak with children. The focus is on helping young people develop empathy for animals, and teaching them how to treat animals with love, kindness and respect. Also, through this program, schools and youth groups are invited to visit the sanctuary. These visitors spend the morning in a class led by two Humane Educators and devote the afternoon to working on a service project. There is also an opportunity to interact with shelter dogs and cats. For more information e-mail HumaneEducation@petsalive.com
Have you heard our PSA?
Sean Haberkorn is a senior at SUNY New Paltz and an intern at Cumulus Broadcasting in Poughkeepsie . As part of his internship Sean recorded a Pets Alive Public Service Announcement that will run on AM 1390 and AM 1340 during all army sports games. Listeners in Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties can catch these announcements starting around the beginning of April. A native of Holbrook in Suffolk County , NY , Sean looks forward to visiting Pets Alive very soon.
Click here to listen to the PSA.
Thank you’s
Thanks everyone who came to help during the storm – you all were truly lifesavers and we appreciate your efforts so very much.
Thanks to all the volunteers who have been coming to bathe the West Virginia dogs. They are looking and feeling better every day thanks to you.
Thank you Christina, Natalie and MacKenzie from the Convent of The Sacred Heart School in Greenwich Ct, who recently held a supply drive at their school and brought a carload of donations for the animals. The girls are members of the Future Problem Solver/ Community Problem Solvers of CT and came to Pets alive to visit and to learn about how they can help animals in need. They are competing for a chance to go to the national competition. We look forward to hearing more about their project and to helping them achieve their goals.
An awesome group of kids and their parents from the The Minisink Critters 4H Club visited Pets Alive recently – and it hasn’t been the same since. These kids worked hard cleaning the garages, the barn, the cat house and even washing windows. Then they spent time playing with the cats and dogs, and walking dogs. And they brought homemade biscuits for the animals, too.! Thank you Dylan, Kyle, Syd, Meghan, Thomas, Alex, Kathleen and Ashley. We look forward to your next visit in May.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make our first St. Patrick’s Day Parade a huge success. The Pets Alive dogs were wonderful and the spectators loved them – and the puppies were a big hit. This was a great way to get our name out in front of the community – and it was a lot of fun, too – despite the fierce weather. Special thanks to Marty, who did such a great job of building the float (with some “help” from Alina and Eileen), and to Jane and Eileen for decorating the float and for carrying the banner in the parade.
Thanks to Anthony and to Toni for giving the kissing booth a much needed face lift. And to Maryellen and Gary for supplying the hats and Lisa the ponchos – they really came in handy! Thank you Alina for getting Volvo to loan Pets Alive a brand new vehicle and to Richard for towing the float around and to Andrew, Diane and Alexandra for driving in the parade. Thank you Lisa and Bleu (world’s lickiest dog), for manning the Kissing Booth. And special thanks to Ken for donating the trailer to Pets Alive so the Kissing Booth can easily be transported to other offsite events, and for everything he did to help prepare – and also for serving on Poop Patrol so cheerfully during the parade! Special thanks to the marching brigade – The puppies, Casey and Jillian, in the wagon pulled by Kayla; Jack, escorted by Maryellen and Anna; Patriot, escorted by Gary and Arthur; Bella, escorted by Nikki; Darling, escorted by Connie; Larry, escorted by Kerri; Jake escorted by Patrick; Alumni Riley, escorted by Fran; Alumni Zoe escorted by Richard; and Zoe’s sister Nevada escorted by Andrew.
Thanks to Charene, Quentin, Kirsten, Chelsea. They made the bandannas that were worn by dogs and humans alike, and they were planning to march in the parade, but severe weather in the Philadelphia area kept them from making the 3 ½ hour journey from their home! All of this paid off AS THE PETS ALIVE FLOAT TOOK FIRST PLACE! We won “Most Outstanding Unit-Overall” and it was the first time a newcomer ever won that coveted award! Yay FLOAT TEAM!! (Our Float said KISS ME I’M IRISH and we had a kissing booth with a dog in it!)

Thanks to Jan for the great job she did on the laundry room, and for all the help she gives us every single day. Couldn’t do it without you.
Thanks to Davey for all the work he has been doing down here lately – repairs, filling pot holes – new doors…he never stops. Thanks Dave!
Thank you to one of the best dog handlers we’ve ever met. Nikki – seen here with Oreo – is such a huge help around Pets Alive. She and her sisters can do practically ANYTHING. We love them all and appreciate everything they do for the animals of Pets Alive.
Thanks to Gil for sharing his time and his wonderful heart with the dogs who need it most.
Thank you to Sidewalk Angels and Rob & Mari for covering the $3000 needed to help Hero. Hero was a dog we took in that had been abused and needed major surgery to repair some leg issues. The surgery cost was overwhelming and once again they stepped up to help. Hero is recovering well and doing wonderfully in her new adopted home!
Very special thanks to Nasim and Marc Roberge (from the group O.A.R.) for having their Heard The World Foundation send us a very much needed $5000 to help us with all the expenses of rescuing the West Virginia dogs. That money will help us get veterinary help for all of these dogs and cats that so desperately needed it. Thank you Marc!
Thank you very much for everyone that read about the West Virginia dog and cat rescue and sent us donations to help. We received donations from $2 to $1000. People gave whatever they could and it very deeply touched us. Thank you all so much for caring. These dogs are all alive today because of YOUR help. Thank you.
Thank you to Churchill’s of Mt.Kisco for a very substantial donation to Pets Alive. This donation will help us make many much needed repairs around here. Thank you so very much Daniele.