Harney County Save A Stray Rescue

I just wanted to let you know what wonderful and important work you are doing to save these dogs. I just moved to Eugene a few months ago and am currently a graduate student in college……I adopted one of the Aussie puppies from the Burns hoarding seizure and he has been with me for about 2-1/2 months now. I named him Zephyr and he and I have grown inseparable. I never knew that I could love something so much. You have truly done both of us an invaluable service and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping bring Zephyr into my life. Attached is a photo I found of him on your web site and a photo of us now!

Annie

We are so CLOSE with about 10 more dogs to rescue!

Can you believe how far we have come since December?  Counting all the dogs and puppies born before or after they were rescued, our new count is <drum roll> 123 rescued from this situation!!  Every dog that was in a pen or living at the end of a chain has now been rescued thanks to SO many wonderful people that have stepped in to help out!

The really good news of the moment is that the court is giving us more time because rescue continues actively moving forward.

I know I have been saying “about a dozen more” for awhile now.  Here’s why:  it becoming harder and harder to find places for the dogs to go.  Many of the people who so generously offered to help back in January and February are no longer in a position to do so.  We’re down to about 10 dogs that need placement.

If you, or someone you know, could help out with fostering, please email me!

My deepest thanks to everyone who called, emailed and sent cards about my dad’s passing.  He loved hearing about this rescue and during our last visit he asked me how it was going with these dogs.  It meant a lot to him too, things will never be the same without him there in Burns every time I go “home”.

I also owe a great big THANK YOU to Keleigh Schwartz of beachdog.com, our HCSAS webmaster!  In the very early stages of this rescue she knew I needed to get the word out if these dogs were going to be saved so she took up the torch and created the website and she continues to do all my postings and updates. I couldn’t have done this without her help and support!!  <webmaster’s note:  ::blush:: >

Also, a big thanks to Maria and her FurKidz911Connection team who have gone above and beyond with the last group of dogs that were rescued on March 13th.  Check out their blog and read all about some of the dogs!  If you live in or around the Seattle area and can help the FurKidz team, they could also use a few more fosters with the rescue dogs in their “camp” right now.

Melanie

Just as she was planning to head to Princeton for what would hopefully be the last load of dogs, Melanie’s dad was hospitalized and passed.  As she so poignantly put it, “He was ready, but I wasn’t”.

Melanie and Angie are the backbone of HCSAS and our hearts go out to their entire family.  Please join us in holding them in prayer as they go through this difficult time.

Here’s the really wonderful news: We’re almost there and we’ve been given a bit of extra time to make the final push.

Saturday, Curtis and I met up in Longview with Byron from the Washington State Animal Rescue Team (WASART).  He and another WASART rescuer had gone after another load of rescue dogs.  Three of the dogs he brought were strays and not part of the hoarding case.  Those went to South Pacific County Humane Society here in Long Beach (thanks, SPCHS!).  Byron also brought us 11 from Princeton: 2 males and 9 females (2 of which are tiny pups).  Furrkidz911 Connection took this latest bunch of dogs again.  I can’t thank Maria enough for all her help in finding foster homes.

Byron said he got lots of new pics so when he catches his breath he will send them and we’ll get them online for your to see.  He thinks there are 10-12 left to capture and about 5 of those are female.  Those that are left are, of course, the wildest teens. They’re hardest to catch and hardest to place in appropriate foster situations because they need someone with experience socializing feral dogs.  The girls are our top priority; we don’t need more pups!

Thank you to everyone who has offered to take these wonderful dogs.  I’m going through your email now and screening to find the best fits for socializing (foster or permanent).  Once the dogs are socialized, I’ll go through your email again to match up any still needing homes.  If you want to offer to  foster or adopt, send me an email.

Thank you.

Melanie

Here are the updated pics of that mom (Honey) and pups that Project Pooch took in in January, they are 6 weeks old today!  Are they cute or what?  Four of the eight pups are already pre-adopted!  I have fallen for the little golden one laying in the front of the crate with the little merle one in front of him!!  ~Melanie

Photos by DAMIAN?MULINIX/Chinook Observer

A great article came out in Melanie’s home town paper in Long Beach, WA today.  The Chinook Observer article details the Princeton case, the work of Harney County Save A Stray and all the people and agencies who have pulled together to make this rescue a reality.

http://chinookobserver.com/main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=25&ArticleID=32946

or

Chinook Observer Weekly Newspaper | Saving one dog at a time.pdf

Harney County Save A Stray Rescue received an official letter today.  We’re now a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization!

Our designation dates back to September, 2009.  If you’ve made a donation since then, it is tax-deductible.

YAY!!!!!

Here are some new photos taken today February 26th,  of the remaining dogs on the property that still need places to go.  We estimate now there are about 20 to 25 that still hang out around the house.  It’s hard to get an accurate count because they don’t all come back to the house while we’re there.

What I am looking for is small foster based rescues that can each take in a few and follow through with getting them vetted and following through with their eventual adoptions.  I have been getting some feed back from lots of the rescues that have taken some of these dogs in and most are coming around in a very short amount of time.  Right now the owners are working on getting them into pens where we then can get them into crates and then transported to foster homes.

Each rescue, boarding facility, or shelter that has taken some in so far has added up to 100 now that have been rescued since just before Christmas.  How amazing is that!?!  Without every one’s willingness to help out most of these dogs would have been killed one way or another.  We are almost there and I’m really hoping every one of them will have a happy tail to tell!

~Melanie

Maria with FurKidz911 Connection has been doing an awesome job of updating her blog on the 16 dogs they took into fostering.  Please, take a look at the FurKidz911 Blog.  One of the dogs is very pregnant, Moon, and they even have ultrasound pics!