A few days ago, a woman contacted my rescue, Tazewell ARC, about a mommy dog and litter of ten puppies someone had “set out” in her community. She was taking care of them, but needed help finding homes. The photos she sent told me these dogs would be highly adoptable and much sought-after in New England states, where our rescue partners are located. I contacted For The Love Of Dogs in Vermont, a group we’ve worked with successfully for quite a while. They were interested in this little canine family, so to keep them out of local kill shelters and off the streets, my rescue agreed to take them and vet them for transport.
We brought them in yesterday, and I’m pleased to report they’re all healthy, happy, and well-adjusted. The pups were born in late August, so it will still be a few weeks before they are ready for placement. We don’t separate moms and pups before eight weeks unless there’s a documented medical reason.
In the meanwhile, we’ll work on getting them all dewormed and vaccinated. The pups will need at least two in their series of puppy shots before transport, and can’t have the first for at least one more week. So we’re looking at having them about a month. They will also have to be old enough for a pediatric spay/neuter, which is highly controversial but the only way we can save them. To date, we’ve seen no ill effects from this procedure. Still not comfortable with it, but if it gives them a future, then it’s better than the alternative.
These dogs are all available through adoption. For people living in the northeast U.S. or Canada, For The Love Of Dogs will be happy to hear from you. Contact me and I can give you their email, or contact them directly at the link above. Be sure to include a photo of the pup you’re interested in as well as its name. People living elsewhere can contact me directly with questions about adoption, but once we give a final count to the Vermont rescue later this month, the pups will become unavailable except through their agency.
Bailey is also tentatively scheduled for the same transport. He still needs to be neutered and chipped. This adds additional expense. So my rescue is constantly seeking donations. By the time each dog is transferred or adopted, we’ve usually invested at least $300 in their care. This doesn’t include food and housing. This is veterinary care alone, usually—deworming, vaccines, microchip, and spay/neuter surgery. Not to mention additional care for dogs who, like Bailey, come to us with issues that require treatment. As a rescue rather than brick and mortar public shelter, Tazewell ARC qualifies for almost none of the grants offered by major animal welfare agencies. Our community is very poor and largely hostile toward the idea of animal rescue. Read more about this here. If not for the generosity of an international community, we could save none of these animals. So donations, either one-time or monthly, are greatly appreciated.
Now—about the dogs!
Here is Bailey, who has gained over ten pounds since coming into rescue last month, and has now received his clean bill of health for interstate travel. He’s a male Great Pyrenees mix, probably with some border collie in there somewhere, about five months old and weighing 37 pounds.
Bailey got his name from member of The Writers’ Block, who’ve rallied around my rescue to help support our efforts here in Deep Appalachia. When the mom and ten pups came in, I named them all after workshoppers who’ve been with us a while or are active in animal rescue themselves. First is momma dog, who we named Lena, after @LenaDR.
Say hi to Jess! She's named for @jrhughes, and weighed 3.12 pounds at intake.
Introducing Muxxy! Yes, of course he's named for @GMuxx. Who else? Muxxy is one of our two little boys and weighed 3.8 pounds on intake.
Here is little Peg, named for @pegasusphysics. She's another of our eight little girls, and weighed. 3.4 pounds on intake.
Drum roll! In walks Shane, named for @swelker101. He's the other little boy in our puppy family, and weighed 3.12 pounds on intake.
Introducing Tiny, the tiniest pup of the bunch, named for @tinypaleokitchen. She weighed a whopping 2.6 pounds on intake.
Don't look now, but here comes Whispy! She's named for @uniwhisp, and weighed 3.6 pounds on intake.
Last but not least is Zeni, named for zenpoetic, also known as @Mrs.DigitalGold. Zeni is our last little girl and weighed in at 3.14 pounds on intake.
We hope you've enjoyed our puppy parade! I'll keep everyone posted about their progress. :-)
