I don't know why you say goodby, I say hello

I guess it shows my age to have that old Beatles song running through my mind!

Three weeks ago we said goodbye to little Meadow. We didn't have her for very long before the little cutie was adopted by a great couple in Gastonia. I've received updates and pictures from them and she is doing very well. She landed in a very soft place, and I've had the good fortune to meet two more very nice inhabitants of the planet.

That left little Magnolia here as the only puppy. She has flourished in the past few weeks. SHe's doing well with house training. She's crate trained and behaves in her crate, never messes in it. She knows "sit" and "stay". Her favorite activity is getting toys from the bottom of the puppy pool, or just laying down in it to cool off.

She's sweet, affectionate, and is just as happy to sit on your lap and cuddle as she is to play with our older dogs, her foster "Aunts" Casey and Noir.

Magnolia is one of those special dogs... when you look into her eyes, you can see there is "someone home". She is bright and intelligent.

Her new family will have to provide not only love, but also challenge for her.

It will be difficult to give her up, but I want her to have the best possible life, a safe backyard to play in and other doggie friends to keep her company.

Yesterday a new little puppy came to stay with us. He is 10 weeks old and was removed from an abusive situation. I don't even want to think about what kind of monster could abuse a puppy. Anyway, we felt he deserved a "do-over" so we named him Mulligan.

We're not sure what he is, but so far our guesses are Bernese Mountain Dog, Saint Bernard, rottweiler, and spaniel. :-)

Mulligan is a beauty - black with a tan face and legs, some white on the chest and some of his toes. He's cute and sweet and is loving having a little friend to play with. The first time on the deck he marched right over to the puppy pool and walked right in to get the tennis ball that was floating in it.

He's starting to understand that being in the crate means be quiet and sleep. He hasn't messed in his crate, and only cries for a few minutes when he goes in it. He sleeps all night too. He has not yet messed in the house. He already knows to sit to have his leash taken off when coming in from outside.

All this and puppy breath too!!

I have done something...

I looked at all the caged animals in the shelter...the cast-offs of human society. I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness, and betrayal. I was angry. "God," I said, "this is terrible! Why don't you do something?" God was silent for a moment, and then spoke softly, "I have done something," was the reply. "I created you."

~Jim Willis

Union County Animal Control and a local rescue group partner to rescue 24 dogs

On January 20, 2009, Union County, NC Animal Control released 24 dogs taken from a puppy mill to Animal Adoption League. The volunteers in the photo, led by rescue volunteer Cindy Starkey (front row, center), transported the dogs and coordinated their intake and movement to foster homes.

One of the dogs, now named Bella, has health problems and is about to deliver puppies. She has her own blog! I hope you'll take some time to read about her.

• Bella's Blog: Puppy Mill Survivor
• Union County Weekly article:
  "County, adoption league partner to rescue puppy mill dogs"
• More photos of the transport and intake

The medical care for Bella and her soon-to-be-born puppies will be provided by a local rescue group. Costs are expected to reach or exceed $2,000. All donations are tax-deductable, and we are grateful for your help! There is a donations button on her blog page.

Molly moves on...

Wow, that was fast! in the 4 days I had Molly listed on Petfinder, she got 650 hits, and several great applications were received for her. Yesterday Jim and I took her to meet a man in Lake Wylie, SC, and tomorrow he's going to pick her up and take her to her forever home. He's retired and his wife is retiring next week. She has been begging for a dog for a while, so this will be a little surprise for her. Should make her retirement very interesting!
I'm flying out to Colorado for the weekend, so I won't be here to see her off. All her things are packed - vet records, a few days' worth of food, her first hearguard and frontline. Jim will add in a few of her favorite toys.

As always, I'll miss her. She's so adorable! But I know she is going to a good home and will want for nothing. We'll check in with her in a few weeks and see how she's doing. Till then we'll wonder how she's doing, if she's behaving, and if she likes her new home.

On Monday, Bob will move into the puppy crate. He's a little pitty puppy that was neglected and left for dead, rescued near death by my friend Cindy 3 weeks ago. She hovered over him, giving him IV fluids for a whole weekend. Now he's doing great. Jim and I went over to see him last night. He loves to be held and sat in Jim's lap for a long time. He's on Petfinder as "Cowboy Bob", dressed in a cowboy outfit with a hat and everything. TOO CUTE!

>>> Bob's" Petfinder Page

Ok, so my angry face was on the local TV news...

An angry public outcry at the fact that 13 pit bulls had been returned to their abusive owner caused local Charlotte news stations to follow up on the story and get further explanation from the sheriff's attorney who defended, OOPS, I mean "prosecuted" this case.

Below is the link to the full story and video. My angry face appears about half-way through. The picture above is a screenshot of it.. scarey, huh? Yeah I'm one angry animal activist these days!

News story and video: Attorney explains why 13 pit bulls returned to owner