Just another reason WHY NOT TO KEEP A FOUND DOG

Wayward pooch, owner reunited after 3 months apart

By Corey Williams

updated 10/27/2011 7:32:26 PM ET

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — Jim Arrighi last saw Petey, his 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier, in the backyard of his Erin, Tenn., home.

That was in July, and the 73-year-old retired electrician had nearly given up on seeing his pet again when he learned the dog turned up safe about 500 miles away in suburban Detroit.

Thursday Petey was finally reunited with his owner. Arrighi's daughter, Tyanne Morrison, said Petey arrived in the care of a Michigan Humane Society volunteer who set out Wednesday from suburban Detroit

Nancy Greiser, a volunteer from the Michigan Humane Society, drove Petey home to his owner Thursday

Most of Erin's roughly 7,000 residents know one another, and many of them would recognize Petey, which is why Arrighi, Morrison and their friends suspect he was pooch-napped by an out-of-towner.

Morrison believes Petey left his yard "and somebody picked him up."

"We searched. We knew someone had gotten him," she told The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday. "We got on 4-wheelers and went all over the area. There had been some more dogs over the last few months that were missing."

While struggling with the loss of his dog, Arrighi also lost his wife, Juanita, who suffered from pulmonary disease and died Oct. 12.

"Since my mother passed away, even I told him 'why don't we go to the pound to give a home to a puppy that don't have a home,'" Morrison said.

Last week, a homeowner in Rochester Hills, about 20 miles north of Detroit, saw Petey in his backyard and took him to a Humane Society animal care center.

As it does with every recovered dog and cat, the Michigan Humane Society scanned Petey for an implanted microchip, which led the organization to its owner, spokesman Kevin Hatman said.

Arrighi, who has been staying at Morrison's home since his wife died, was thrilled to receive the call, she said.

"He thinks my mother, who is in heaven, sent the dog back to him," Morrison said.

She said their local veterinarian likely recommended Petey get a microchip.

"It was only about $70 total," Morrison said. "Now, a lot of people are inquiring about it."

The Michigan Humane Society recommends that all pet dogs and cats get microchips implanted, in addition to making sure they have collars and identification tags.

"It's wonderful when we see microchip reunions, including those that seem like miracles," said Marcelena Mace, shelter manager at the Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care. "It really proves that no matter how far your pet may travel, a microchip can help him find his way home."

Microchips, which also are implanted in pet cats, are about the size of a grain of rice and typically injected near the animal's shoulder blade, said Adam Goldfarb, director of pet care issues with the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States.

The chips do not have their own power sources and only can be found and read with a scanner.

"In the last few years there has been a real jump in microchip usage, especially in animal shelters," Goldfarb said. "There are not nearly as many that should be microchipped. Sometimes owners are not great in registering their animals with microchip companies or updating their home information."

DEPRESSING

The month of October has been a pretty good month for adoptions. We seems to have adopted out a lot of dogs and things are going pretty well for the rescue. But man oh man is it a depressing world when you look at the shelters.

Yesterday I went to Richland County Ohio shelter listing on Petfinder. OMG! They have 90 dogs. I have been to that shelter, they do not have room for 90 dogs. I was talking to the women that works there last night via email and she said in July they put to sleep 16 dogs in one day. 16! OMG! I know that there are just too many dogs and not all of them can be saved but WOW that is a lot of dogs for one shelter to put down in one day. That is just depressing.

Dog rescue and really cat rescue is worse, I think is such a pointless war. I mean you aren't ever really going to end or change anything. For every one dog you save some asshole just created an entire litter more and nothing changes it only seems to get worse.

I feel like a crazy person... fighting a battle that I will never ever win nor will I ever put a dent in it. And the sick thing is I hear stories from people ALL THE TIME about how their dog had puppies, how their co-worker is buying a dog, how this person or that person has a dog that isn't fixed. It just isn't going to end, is it? Nothing will ever change will it? The suffering, the killing, the abuse will continue forever.......

Jeannie the preganet lab

Today arrived Jeannie. A yellow lab that was CLEARLY a chained outside dog who is VERY skinny and pregnant.

She came all the way to me from Pike County Ohio. Tomorrow she goes to the vet to see exactly how far along she is and to get over all checked out.

Let the fun begin.

Special needs

A week and half ago I went to my local pound and took out a dog that NO ONE could get near. She wanted NOTHING to do with anyone. If you reached into the kennel she would snap at you and try to bite you. In order to get her out of the cage the dog warden had to put a lasso around her neck and tug her out of the cage. She walked fine once out but don't dare reach down to pick her up.
When I sat on the floor in the office of the dog pound she came up to me and wagged her tail and let me pet her but as soon as I tried to pick her up it was KILL ME TIME! She wasn't having it.



I was only able to get her in my car by basically picking her up by the leash. Poor thing. When I got home she wouldn't come out of the crate so I had to 'dump' her out of it. I settled her in a large crate in my garage and the next day my mom was able to get her out and bring her in the house. My mom and dad who both live with me were able to gain her trust and she LOVES them. They can do anything to her, me not so much. She hates me.. lol

Well she definetly needed some medical attention but I had to wait until I was able to schedule to have her fixed. I didn't want to tramatize her and I was afraid she would bite the vet. So, when she went to the vet to get fixed (5 days after I got her from the pound), I had them fix her feet. here is the before picture

Poor thing. should couldn't really walk.

Now that her feet look a little better she is still having a hard time walking, I think it might be out of habit.. I really hope she still isn't in pain. Not that I can get near her. She hates me.

Well then today I received a message from a local no kill shelter. They have a special needs female JRT who is afraid of men and hands. She fear bites, just like the other little one above. So on Sunday my mom and I are going to go get her and hopefully we will be able to help. Figured if I got one living in the house, what is two. LOL!

Wish me luck!

People are amazing to me

It is amazing to me when tragedy happens you really learn who is a take and who is a giver. As I keep saying 2011 has SUCKED. Not really for the rescue, the rescue is doing great but personally it has been a horrible year. I guess that is what I get for 2010 being so awesome. LOL!

I am sure some of you remember the Photo Album lady. Well my friend and I who she sued... my friend's husband is the one who passed away. It amazes me that someone can sue you for something as silly as a photo album but then think it isn't going to affect the friendship with those she sued. I won't go into more detail b/c I know she stalks this blog. Just dumb founded at #1. why would you use your friends and #2. why you would think that your now non friends aren't going to be upset with you. I shake my head while I type this b/c I am in shock over the illogical thinking.

Then with my friends baby getting hurt I really learned who is a giver.... I also learned this year that two people who I have known my ENTIRE life and who have known my family for 40 plus years are not so nice people. That was crushing. The more I think about it, it is probably jealously. I can't come up with why anyone would act in the manner those two have. I guess the Green Monster got the best of them.

It is a hard reality when people you trust are so awful. For example the foster home who gave away the dog I was allowing them to keep and LIED about not knowing how everything worked with the rescue AND is the one that was behind the fact that the dog was not returned. Just amazing to me the lies that come out of people's mouths. I think maybe they tell the lies so much they believe them? The strange thing about all this is looking back... I knew she was a liar. I just thought being and adult and having a child maybe she had grown out of the liar stage... I didn't know her as a child / teenage but you know how you just get a feeling about someone. I should have known better. :-(

The amazing thing is though I am surrounded by some pretty amazing people. My when my friend's baby was hurt I couldn't believe how many people who don't even know my friend but know me were jumping into help. All of the people that volunteer for my rescue are just amazing, I seriously couldn't do it without them. All the rescue folks who are willing to pitch in and help when another rescue person or one of their dogs needs help. The amazing people who have adopted from me and are always willing to help with the rescue or really with anything.

I get so upset when people are nasty / mean / hurtful.... I guess it is because logically I don't understand why they are acting in the manner in which they are acting but I need to not dwell on the idiots. I need to focus on all the amazing people I have come in contact over the years and all the amazing people who surround me. I do need to make sure that those who aren't "trusty worthy" or those who are mean / nasty / hurtful go away, far far away. I am slowly purging and it is freeing to purge b/c you don't have to deal with the nastiness but at the same time it sucks when it is someone you have known for so long.

And people wonder why I do dog rescue... I like dogs way more then people.. they aren't mean and nasty on purpose. They love you just for feeding them... they love you for being you. You can be you around a dog.. they are ok with you having a bad day and won't hold it against you and they don't lie and they aren't jealous of you. Oh I love my dogs. LOL

Great loss

This week has been a rough week.... long hours at work, 3 new dogs in the rescue on Wednesday plus the new one on Saturday and Timmy who was returned Saturday.

The good news is Timmy already found a forever home so the return was short lived.

Wednesday night I received a phone call saying that a friend of mine was in the hospital. He was bit by a dog and the bite got infected and things were NOT looking good.

Long story short on Thursday afternoon this world lost a great great man. A man that was dedicated to his wife, his dogs, his boarding kennel and helped many dogs find loving forever homes.

You are very missed by many many people Bruce Arnesen.

I must say in a tragedy like this it makes you stop and think
what is REALLY important in life?
Who are your TRUE friends?
Who will be there if you really need something?

Seriously makes me realize that getting the negative people out of my life is a good thing to do. I need to focus on those who really matter to me not those who are greedy and want to take from me.

Wooly Bear Festival Sunday October 9th!

Sunday was the Wooly Bear Festival. It was a huge success. We had a lot of amazing volunteers helping and walking in the parade. Man am I lucky to have such awesome people who have adopted from me and who volunteer. And some are both...LOL!

A lot of friends and people I know from different times in my life stopped by to say HI! It was nice to see people coming by, really feels like I am supported in my efforts. We all know this year has been one crappy year for me when it comes to people treating me like shit. Oh the stuff I don't even blog about would blow your mind... I try to keep the blogging dog related only. But I must say for every person who has treated me like crap there are 2 more awesome adopters or volunteers or friends who sure help me get through the crap!

I will say though, the general public is weird. I had a few strange experiences while at the festival. Well first of all I had a tent set up with tables in the front and dog pens on either side. CLEARLY the tent was for those manning the tent to be able to stand under and sell items that were on the table. Had the sides blocked pretty well with the dog pens but you better believe every little kid and annoying adult (LOL) would find one little opening and walk right through the middle of our tent. I even had one kid come into the tent and start grab stuff off the table. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I grabbed his little arm and walked him out of the tent. Of course the entire time him mom was screaming "Travis come here. Don't go in there. What are you doing Come here" Clearly the kid DOESN"T listen and or isn't made to listen. Sure scared him when I grabbed his arm and marched him out of the tent. LOL!

Then I had a girl, probably 12 years old walk over to me and say "Where are the Boy Scouts" I said "I have no idea" her response "Oh come on dude. Your kidding me." stomp her foot and get all mad. I gave her the nastiest look and said "why should I know where they are?" She turned around mumbling something all mad. I looked at my friend in the tent with me and I said did that really just happen? LOL!

OH and then this teenage girl came up to the tent. She had this little tiny puppy. I told her to be careful b/c a puppy that little can get sick and die. I told her until after it has all his vaccinations it won't be immune to picking up illness from other dogs. She looked at me like F-U. I told her that our dogs are shelter dogs and just because a dog is healthy doesn't mean it isn't carrying something that will make a puppy sick. She didn't say a word, just walked away. AND yep you guessed it about an hour later her and her friend had it on a leash walking down the side walk. IDIOTS! That puppy couldn't have been more then 6 weeks old.

Well at least I didn't have anyone looking for a dog to breed with.. LOL!

I did have a few people tell me $100 - 200 was WAY too much money for a dog. My response to both of those people was "Do you know how much it is to get a dog fixed?" they both said yes. I said do you really think $100 is too much for a dog? They both started at me blankly.

Oh and this was so funny. We have this SUPER nice dog in the rescue right now named Bo. He is big but so nice. I was taking him out of the crate and he was just walking out like a normal dog. This young girl scream, threw her hands out to the side of her to block her friends and said THAT IS A WILD ONE! I looked straight at her and I said "he is? why do you say that?" "He is going to get us!" She said loudly. I said "No he isn't." Her mom pulled her arms down and I walked away so not exactly sure what all transpired after that.

So weird. LOL!!

For the parade all the dogs were dressed in costumes. It seemed everyone like that idea and it got a lot of people in the crowds attention. We will definitely do that again next year. LOL!

I eat dinner cold almost every night

Thank goodness I have a wonderful husband who makes dinner for me every night but too bad I eat dinner cold pretty much every night. Why? Well simple, I am a dog rescuer who is always taking care of dogs that someone else throws away like trash.

I really wish people weren't so freaking selfish. Why is it that most people never stop to think how their actions are going to affect someone else? Seriously, I could have a less stressful life.

The last three weeks have been so crazy at work. I have been slammed plus traveling for work so that is stressing me out. Being away from my computer for a day or days traveling really sets you behind.

Then you have the rescue... so many emails from other rescues/shelters/volunteers trying to help dogs get to safety. There are so many dogs in need.

Then you have the applications that we get which is a good thing but you have people who don't complete them in total and you have to go back and forth and back and forth. They get upset with you but what they don't understand is we have to process every application the same way and if they don't give us all the information then we can do that.

Thank goodness I have a great person who does the processing of the applications. I really don't know how I did it without her before... I wish there were more people that could help with things.. it is hard to find good people that are trustworthy, organized and motivated. I am lucky in the fact that most of my volunteers are this...

I am always so busy, I don't have time to chase people down for answers, get them to do things that need done, ask them over and over again questions. It is just so frustrating when you feel like people don't think your time is valuable...

The past two weeks have kind of been like that at work. I work in HR so everything is very process oriented and yet people ALWAYS try to get around the process which causes more work for me and then those same people get frustrated when they can't get things done in a quick time. Ok, people it is simple... don't be STUPID and things will run a lot more smoothly. LOL!!

I can't wait for the month of October to be over.... this month is CRAZY busy between work and the rescue. Maybe I can eat a hot meal in November

Winter is coming.

This winter is going to be a rough one for me and the dogs that need rescued. I am very limited in space and I am really worried about how things are going to go this winter. There are SO MANY dogs in the shelters, it is sick. This year has TOTALLY sucked and I can't wait till next Spring when I can take in more dogs.... haha I know I am wishing away my life but I really can't wait till this year is over.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Man I should be able to lift a horse over my head at this point. LOL!

The good news is I have a good number of really great applications and I am hoping that this Saturday is going to be a good day for a few of my dogs. Really hoping they get to GO HOME! PLUS there are SO many dogs that need out of the pound before it is too late. This is a balancing act...

Now if I could just get some of my long termers adopted.... I really have NO idea how some get adopted so quickly and other are around for months. Just absolutely crazy.

Oh I hope all these applications I have received will actually turn into adoptions!