Perfect Pairs!

This morning I opened an advertisement in my email box from Lord and Taylor- they are having a super sandal sale- and what do I see? I pittie mix features with the shoe-model! I was so excited, I looked into it and found out that it is indeed part of a campaign called "Perfect Pairs". They've teamed up with Best Friends and local shelters to host an adoption event in conjunction with their Sandal Sale.

Each of the dogs in their ads is up for adoption with the local partners! I love it!

To find info on your Local L&T and their local partner shelter, click here.

The Story of Sprout

I love and hate this story at the same time-
This dog (Sprout) was left at the municipal shelter after being dumped- bloody and disfigured at a police station. He had been used as a bait dog, was emaciated, had his lip split open and his left eye hanging out of its socket. Luckily ProjectPet decided to care for him, despite the medical costs and mandatory 6-month quarantine.
I've included here images of Sprout's Progress-- look how far he has come with love and care!! Someone is going to be very lucky when Sprout's quarantine is done.

You can help by donating to Sprout's care here.
Watch Sprout's amazing progress on FB page "Save Sprout"

You can be part of your own amazing rescue story, just by having a huge heart. Don't have room for a big pit bull in your NYC apartment? worry about aggression? medical bills holding you back?? None of those worries apply to this tiny girl that needs a home more than anything in the world.

 

Her name is Eloise, she is only 10 months old and a precariously thin 18 pounds. All this girl needs is love and LOTS of food. She has been rated completely mild and has been at the shelter since April 12th. Click here for more info.

Winnie needs Surgery.

Bad news everyone...

Winnie has a torn ACL!

This explains her persistent limp, why she sits in uncomfortable positions like this:

and why she always seems to be sassy or in a bad mood:

"i is sassing you..."

We are glad to have finally found out what was wrong with her leg (actually her knee, read more about it here) but we are blown away by the price-tag.

The estimate we were given by the Vet was $3,284. ($2,200 for the surgery itself and the rest for injections, check-ups and medications.) She said that people often wait longer to get it taken care of but that more scar-tissue and calcification builds up and making the chance of her being permanently lame and arthritic much higher. As it is now, she will probably always favor the other leg, but if the surgury goes well she could be a lot more comfortable in a matter of months.

I am really sad that my young dog (only a year and a half) already has a problem that usually faces elderly or overweight dogs. 

To finance the surgery, I am going to begin selling personalized dog items on Etsy. I am pretty artisitc and crafty, so hopefully it will go well. I was thinking of staring with personalized glass treat jars, labeled with the dogs' name(s) and filled with treats and decorated with ribbon. I doubt I'll sell much but any way we can chip away at that price tag will help.

Do you all have any ideas of some other items I could make and sell? Or other ideas of fund-raising for her surgery? What have you all done when facing high vet bills?

I have posted a chip-in in case any of you feel particularly generous, any tiny bit will help as we are two recent college grads living in NYC with two rescue dogs on paralegal salaries. (or wait until I've got my little craft business up and running!)

Miami-Dade Shelter Crisis

A deadly outbreak of distemper in a Miami-Dade Animal Shelter has led to a mad rush to adopt or rescue dogs before they will be put down. Due to the severity of the disease, the shelter officials face the tough reality of needing to basically "cleanse" the facility by removing or killing all of the dogs.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcmiami.com/?__source=embedCode.

Thankfully this has led to overwhelming response from the rescue community- but the dogs will not have homes- rescuers are taking home many more animals than they can possible handle to bide their time and hopefully save them from being exposed to the virus or being killed for having it.

Officials have waived the adoption fee for dogs, but as of Friday night, 100 dogs were adopted, but 180 still need rescue and "one way or another- all the dogs need to do" before the shelter is set to be "sterilized".

Read more here and here
Donate here

The Miami-Dade shelter website provides a list of adoptable dogs, but it is unclear if these dogs are actually still available and why there are only 16 listed.

This golden retriever, known only as "this dog"  is apparently among the dogs that are available and need rescue:

Pit Bull photo Contest!

Last month I submitted a batch of photos of Bruno and Winnie to a pit bull photo contest to raise money for  PittieLove Rescue in Massachusetts. Turns out one of our photos won 2nd Place!

Original Photo Contest Info and Prizes!

Our Photo on the Homepage of The Pit & the Pug

First Place

Second Place (Ours!)

Third Place

In this season of Giving...

Give to the Animals who need your help.
I choose to donate to Animal Haven in soho, especially with my time, and I know that they use their resources wisely to save animals' lives. If you are from the New York area, consider giving to this Shelter-- if not, give to one near you.

Animal Haven's Holiday Video
Animal Haven rescue video

Eat Chocolate - Save Lives!

If you want to help pit bulls and other dogs in need through donations to Animal rescue organization and get chocolate at the same time, please click here.

Rescue chocolate- (who doesn't want a chocolate flavor called "pit bull peanut butter"?) is a great way to help. Its vegan, kosher, eco-friendly and 100% of the net profits go to animal rescue.