A Year in Review

Well, here we are... 2009. It was a ruff 2008. We managed to rescue 143 canines and 67 felines despite the odds against us.

We started the year out with several litters of puppies, many of which had the fatal parvovirus. We managed to save most though six puppies didn't make it. The losses were hard to take on our foster families, but we trudged on through. The litters of puppies were followed by litter after litter of kittens. Then it became adult dog after adult dog needing heartworm treatment. We rescued pets from Animal Controls in Chatham, Effingham and Liberty County, and then found ourselves rescuing animals that became victims of the economy. Junior was left at animal control after being hit by a car because his family couldn't afford his vet care. Hope was found by a landlord cleaning up after an eviction. She had an embedded collar in her neck from living more than a year on a chain and was left at the emergency vet. We picked her up and took charge of her care, which ended up also involving treatments for heartworms. We continued to take cats and dogs turned over to us by people having to downsize or relocate. A week before Christmas, I got to go trap two Shelties that had been abandoned when their home in Ardsley Park was foreclosed on 45 days ago. It still amazes me that no one ever knew they were there.

No doubt the economy played a huge role in our struggles this year. Our donations went down, and I mean way down. A lot of us were paying things ourselves as best we could. We even went one month without any adoptions, and here it is now January, and we still have dogs and cats that have been with us since July. Even Dutchess has been with us since last January when she was a puppy found thrown out on Pooler Parkway.

So what is my hope for 2009? Well, I did play the lotto when it hit 207 million, but we can all see that didn't pan out. I didn't even win enough to buy another ticket. So we're going to have to look at our strategies. Can we afford to keep our doors open? Do we have to limit the number of intakes each month? How can we recruit more foster homes to meet the intake demands? Will people ever get the hint that spaying and neutering is the only way to reduce pet overpopulation? Perhaps only time will tell. Till then, I'll keep saying my nightly prayers that good people will continue to support us as much as they can.