If we could all be like this, the world would be a better place

This has been around, but it still holds true....

The Highest Plane

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can get along without pep pills, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring

aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your

troubles, If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you time,

If you can overlook it when those

you love take their frustrations out of you, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can face the world without deceit, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without liquor, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, or gender preference,

...THEN you will have reached the same level of development as your dog.

Author Unknown.

More of Lilly Faith

I'm so in love with my foster girl. She has turned into a ball of joy. I am in awe of her progress. Dogs are so forgiving. All they need is a little love, and they rebound. It's amazing how much abuse and neglect some animals suffer, and yet they still manage to give so much love back. Lilly has learned to play with toys, and LOVES to lay in our bed. I beam with pride when I see how far she has come. I realized after putting her video together, that I had no photos of she and I together. I'm so busy taking her photo, that I am never in any of them. Brian took these last night. I wasn't even aware that he had taken most of these except the one of me smiling. I'm glad I have these mementos so I will always remember her, even when she has moved on to her new forever home. :-(

That froggy is her favorite toy!

No this isn't Lilly...Obviously. But Ferbie is always the diva and has to get himself into at least one shot. He is a beautiful peke. I love his smile and underbite.

George Michael is a musical genius

Every time I hear his music, the words seem so powerful to me. (hence why I put his music to the video I did for Lilly). His music really takes me somewhere in my head and impacts me. When I hear his song Praying for Time, I still get chills. It really reminds me of what is going on in the world today, and the crisis our children and animals are facing right now. Here are the words to the song and video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Ua6L-DwVQ

Praying for Time

These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we’ll take our chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God’s children
Crept out the back door
And it’s hard to love, there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it’s much too much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time
These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year
This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here
So you scream from behind your door
Say what’s mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I’ll take my chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can’t come back
‘Cause he has no children to come back for
It’s hard to love there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it’s much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time

PG County Animal Management

Today I am headed to the PG County shelter. It breaks my heart to have to go there, only to be able to take one or two. Here are the photos of the two that are getting sprung today. I hope I have the strength to leave with JUST two. One is a male and one is a female. The pictures are below. If you are interested, go to Potomacpekes.org . At least we are saving two lives today. That is two more than yesterday thanks to rescue!

Until there are none, rescue one....

The Amazing Parrots

Recently I went to a wedding in Miami for my dear friend Jen. It was held at a resort that Brian and I had visited the year before for our friend's Andrea and Bob's wedding. While we were there, I became "friends" with the parrots. They are not in cages, but live protected outside in the beautiful sunshine. Did I mention I am obsessed with them? Their names are Sunshine and Chance. It may sound crazy, but I really think they remembered me when I returned this year. They are such beautiful creatures. It seemed like every free moment I had, I was hanging out where the parrots were feeding them my bowls of fruit.
I actually would steal fruit from the bar. But the staff knew I was gentle and really loved them, so they let me feed them. They typically don't let hotel guest feed them. Here are some amazing pictures and a video of the lovely parrots.

The one on the left is Sunshine, and the one on the right is Chance.
I just had to throw in the shot of the lovely bride. (that was the reason we were there!)

Here is the video of me feeding the parrots. I did this several times a day. Everyone knew when they couldn't find me, to check where the birds are and that is where I would be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbm3l_oRb9I

Look how lovely they are. I wanted to take them home with me, but I don't think the hotel was willing to part with these lovely ladies... :-)

In Memory of Sam

I was moved by this, but also greatly saddened.

A moment for Sam, a face to the THOUSANDS of animals that will be euthanized at the shelters...he would urinate in submission when other dogs approached - in an overcrowded pound this was reason enough to be euthanized.
RIP Sam - you are remembered.

"Life was not a valuable gift, but death was. Life was a fever-dream made up of joys embittered by sorrows, pleasure poisoned by pain ... but death was sweet, death was gentle, death was kind; death healed the bruised spirit and the broken heart, and gave them rest and forgetfulness; death came and set him free." - Mark Twain


I have to say that seeing this is shameful. How do we treat such wonderful creatures with so little respect? There is a very serious crisis going on in the world right now for animals. They deserve so much better.
Thank you Susan Cava for sharing this on FB in his memory. RIP Sweet Angel

Lilly Faith

I spent alot of my day yesterday working on a video for my foster girl Lilly Faith.

It was really challenging to make, but worthwhile. I'm hoping someone sees it, and can see a place for her in their home. She is a real love bug.

Here is the video of her I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdgShE5G2Hk

In case you're interested in other pekes, I work with a wonderful club called Potomac Valley Pekingese Rescue.

The website is www.potomacpekes.org.

If you're interested in some other types of breeds, I work with several other rescues that do a wonderful job. What I like most about rescue (besides the animals of course), is the people.

I have met some amazing, passionate, smart, loving people through rescue. I am very thankful for that. Here are a few other pictures of Lilly.

Today is a big day...Got a job interview. I have my fingers crossed.

Stay tuned......

Just had to post....

WHY, WHY. WHY?????...Is man so cruel?????

Kathi Taylor, a wonderful lady who I have worked with at PittsandRottsforlife, posted this today. It baffles me. Pitbulls are so misunderstood.

Sorry this will be long - On Friday, January 22, 2010 and email went out to rescues regarding 2 extremely injured pitbulls that were found in an abandoned house in Gary, IN. The injuries were from animals and humans. Even in their horrific condition, the injured pitbulls allowed the Animal Control Officer to handle them and assess the injuries. Sadly, the male passed away in her vehicle after his rescue. We can only be thankful that his last interaction with a human was with love and compassion.

Barely able to stand on her legs, she was extremely grateful to see her rescuer and get out of that house of horrors. Because of her injuries, the animal control office needed a rescue commitment within a couple of hours as it would have been cruel to leave her in that horrific and painful condition. Thankfully, Jamie from Almost Home Animal Rescue saw that email and grabbed this little girl. She brought her to the vet and they immediately started assessing and treating her injuries.

Her legs are mangled and have hundreds of bite wounds, her front leg has an old untreated break and an abscess, her elbow bones are exposed and sticking out through the skin, and one of her back legs has a bone infection. She also has an enlarged heart, an abscess over her eye, and is only 30 lbs!

During all of the handling, tests and treatment she was wagging her tail and giving kisses. So typical of a pitbull…to survive this and be happy to see people and let them do anything to her!

Knowing full well that we didn’t have room, one of our volunteers and board members called me and said she will take her even though her husband may divorce her and her dogs may run away from home. Luckily, no divorce papers have been filed and the dogs actually like the new dog!

Since Almost Home Animal Rescue and Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue have worked together for years, Jamie transferred her over to CBBR and Debbie picked her up on Sunday. It’s been a long time since I heard tears over the phone when Debbie described this poor girl but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of bite wounds I was going to see in the pictures.

Note from foster mom Debbie:
I picked up Destiny yesterday. She is a sweet, sweet dog. I've seen a lot of dogs in horrific condition but I've not seen a dog with so puncture wounds on their legs. I agree she was most likely a bait dog. She has puncture wounds covering all of her legs, some new, some old and some partly healed. I think she is still a pup - not much older than 7-8 months. She has a very solid temperament, calm and non-reactive. She has met all of my dogs through the gate and she has been loose this morning with Surrey and Peanut. She gives the best possible reaction - sniff and move on, interested but not focused. I know she has a long road of recovery ahead but feel very positive that she will not only heal but be very adoptable. So, once again, a big thank you to all of you who helped in rescuing her!

While many people helped donate toward her initial vet bills, she is going to need significant future care. We are asking for help in any way possible – no amount is too small! All donations are tax-deductible!

Donations for CBBR’s Destiny can be made directly to:
Animal Wellness Center of Monee
5750 Industrial Drive
Monee, IL 60449
Phone: (708)534-2200

We can always use other items as well such as gift cards to PetSmart, PetCo and Pet Supplies Plus, food and other items - see our Wish List http://chicagolandbullybreedrescue.org/WishList.asp to get a full list.

Updates on Destiny will be on our website – www.chicagolandbullybreedrescue.org as well as on our Facebook page.

My first day blogging

I have been talking myself into doing a blog for a while, and now I finally have some free time to start. I plan to blog about my experience and feelings in regards to animals, animal rescue, animal rights, news and legislation about animals, and how we can help rescue and protect animals. Oh..and sometimes I may throw in something random not directly related to animals. But basically, my life has gone to the dogs so to speak...
Lately I have felt somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of cruelty and sadness out there in the world. The more involved you are, the more you see. I'm not sure if there is just more cruelty out there, or I'm just seeing it more. Either way, I thought maybe this would be a good way for me to "vent'. Maybe someone who reads this will want to express themselves too? Do something to help? Be outraged?...Take a stand?...
Either way, it's a way for me to be a voice for those without one, and get the message out-whatever that message may be for that particular day.
Lately, I have been very moved by some wonderful videos I have been watching thanks to Camp Cocker. (Cocker Rescue)
They seem to really get it, and express that wonderfully through their videos....

Thank you Cocker Rescue for your wonderful messages!
Check these out:

http://campcocker.blip.tv/file/3014054/

http://campcocker.blip.tv/file/2909995