Why Adopt? Pet Adoption = Instant Friend for Life!

Ask anybody who has adopted a rescue pet, and they’ll swear their bond with their rescued pal is as deep as they come. When you open your heart and your home to a pet who needs help, they really do show their appreciation for the rest of their life! Dogs or cats who have been uprooted from their homes, or have had difficult beginnings are likely to bond completely and deeply with their new human caretakers, whom they regard as heroes. Pups and kitties who find themselves in the shelter or at a rescue because of a death or other tragedy in their former human family usually go through a mourning period. Once they are adopted, however, they usually want nothing more than to please their new hero—YOU! No matter what circumstances brought them to the rescue, most cats and dogs for adoption are exceptionally affectionate and attentive, and make extremely loyal companions.

Cookies for a Cause

a Fundraiser for HomeFur-ever Animal Rescue

What:  Receive a ‘to go’ container and fill it from a variety of home-made holliday cookies, pay by the pound. Dog treats, calendars and stockings will also be available.

When:  December 12th, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Where:  The Woods Clubhouse, located behind the Laurel Park Mall in Livonia (6 Mile/Newburgh area) 18328 University Park Drive

For More Information:  Contact HomeFurever Volunteer Denise @ 734-233-5146 or 734-844-3513

Click HERE for more details

Stray in Birmingham, Michigan Out of Time – PLEASE HELP!

We are trying to save the life of a young pit bull in Birmingham, MI. This wonderful dog was brought into a local Birmingham vet office as a stray and her time has run out. One of our volunteers was just contacted today to try and save her life. She is a young (6-12 month) red and white pit bull mix. She has a great temperament, wonderful with people and other dogs. They did not test her with cats. 

She is very friendly and happy and we hate to see her short life end because of human irresponsibility. Please ask all your fosters and contacts if they can provide assistance with finding a foster for her ASAP. 

Our volunteer is playing middle man for 2 vets that don’t want to see this dog euthanized but have no control over the owner/management of this vet office. They were given permission to seek a foster, a rescue or an adopter and our volunteer was contacted. 

Please let us know if you can help. Her time is limited. If you would like to meet her, please email Raegan at HomeFurever@gmail.com .

Breed Discrimination Found in Monroe County, Michigan

Currently there are four Pitbulls being kept at the Monroe County Animal Control. They have been temperament tested and evaluated by the Monroe ASPCA and the Buster Foundation; one of the most reputable authorities and advocates for the breed. They were found to have sound temperaments which would allow them to be adopted into loving homes. 

However, they have been handed a death sentence by a judge in Monroe based on an evaluation by a veterinarian.

Upon viewing the attached video and reading all the accounts from the Monroe ASPCA and The Buster Foundation which has led up to this point, it is clear that this is a case of breed discrimination. What has transpired is despicable; akin to racism in the dog world

Please view the video and read the details of this case. In the video you will see a dog that is by no means vicious. The evaluation was untrue and unfair. You can judge for yourself.

To view the video and sign this petition, click on this link. http://thebusterfoundation.rescuegroups.org/

Please speak up for the voiceless and sign the petition so that the lives of these dogs might be spared and they can get the chance they deserve to placed into loving homes.  AND…please pass this information on in any way shape or form possible. These dogs need as much help as they can get!

Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart

We’re excited that Home Fur-Ever has been chosen by our friends at Nestlé Purina and Kroger to participate in the 2011 “Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart” program.  The fourth-annual “Tales” campaign is a joint program between Nestlé Purina and Kroger stores to donate up to $175,000 to 20 participating animal welfare organizations across the country. 

The campaign encourages pet enthusiasts to share joyful tales, photos and videos of their pets.  In addition, we hope you will consider entering the campaign sweepstakes that kicks off in July.  Nestlé Purina and Kroger will donate $50,000 to one of the participating animal welfare organizations – it could be us! – in honor of one randomly selected person.  The winning person will also receive a year’s worth of groceries at Kroger and a year’s supply of Purina pet food.

Just for participating in this campaign, Home Fur-Ever will receive a $5,000 donation.  Also, for every pet tale submitted to the program website, www.TalesForThePetLoversHeart.com., Purina and Kroger will donate $1, up to $25,000, to be divided equally among the participating animal welfare organizations.  So Home Fur-Ever has an opportunity to receive an additional $1,250 if 25,000 stories are submitted.  We encourage you to log on to the website and enter your tale – you have an opportunity to support our organization and other worthy animal welfare groups around the country.

The “Tales for the Pet Lover’s Heart” campaign runs through November 2011.  For more information, feel free to visit the program website, www.TalesForThePetLoversHeart.com, or Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TalesForThePetLoversHeart.  And thanks to our friends at Nestlé Purina and Kroger for including us in this program and supporting pet welfare.

Help us get Skip adopted!

HomeFur-ever is urgently in need of donations specifically toward the training of our adoptable dog, Skip, so that we may insure his ability to be adopted.  Skip is currently in a foster home with someone who is interested in adopting him, however, his behavior issues are causing the potential adopter to re-consider.  We have found a trainer who has signficantly reduced their fees and is willing to help; can you please help us come up with the funds needed?

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THIS IS THE SITUATION: due to issues with food aggression, Skip is currently not able to be adopted and needs professional training to overcome this. To see his handsome mug shot click on this link: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15620032 

Skip was evaluated this week by Bonnie Waintz, a very reputable trainer from Alternative k9 training http://alternativek9training.com/bonny.htm

Bonnie assessed that he is totally redeemable and with some work will make a fine dog. However he needs one-on-one training  to resolve his issues. His foster is going out of town and Skip needs to be boarded. Bonnie has offered to take him into her home and work with him for one week (doggie boot camp) and then conduct follow up visits with Skip’s foster to reinforce his training. She wants to help Skip and has reduced her fees.  We only need to raise an additional $170 to make this happen.

If you have boarded your animals, then you know barding alone would cost at least $20 or more a day. To have Skip professionally trained too, is an outstanding deal. Most importantly this will give him the chance he needs at being adopted into a forever home.

Are you able to contribute a couple of dollars or maybe $5, $10, or $20? We realize times are tough and money is very tight, but any amount would greatly help Skip get on track.

If you are able to help, please send a check made payable to Alternative k9 Training to:

Melinda Schneid, 455 Woodvale, Walled Lake, MI  48390

Time is of the essence as arrangements will need to be made this week depending on if we are able to raise the funds. If  funds in excess of $170 are raised, they will be used for evaluation and training of other dogs that need help. We will keep a detailed accounting of all funds received for this purpose and will provide a financial report upon request.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this proposition. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

LOW COST SPAY / NEUTER CLINIC COMES TO METRO DETROIT

By Christine Ridgway

According to the Humane Society of the United States, for every human born today in the United States, 45 cats and 15 dogs will be born. Six to eight million will end up in shelters. (aprox. 25 % pure bred – 55% unaltered). Over half will be euthanized because there simply aren’t enough homes. If you have not sterilized your pet and it has a litter(s), every home found for one of your pet’s offspring takes a home away from an animal waiting in a shelter.

Countless homeless animals that never make it into shelters scratch out a miserable existence on the streets. Abandoned, they will suffer from illness and injury or fall prey to abuse. Before dying, they will produce more unwanted litters for which there are no homes. In addition they can become potential threats to public health and safety.

By sterilizing your pet you will be doing your part to prevent the number one cause for death and suffering in cats and dogs: pet overpopulation. Won’t you please be a part of the solution!

If you have an un-altered animal please contact your veterinarian today to make an appointment to sterilize them. If your current financial situation prevents you from doing so and you are seeking an affordable alternative, please look into All About Animals Rescue’s Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic located in Warren MI.

All About Animals Rescue (AAAR), a non- profit animal welfare organization dedicated to reducing pet overpopulation, has opened the first full time spay/neuter clinic in Southeast Michigan. This is a unique and exciting concept for our area! They offer high quality, high volume, low cost spay/neuter services for pet owners 5 days a week, as well as some weekends.

Call 586-435-6930 today for their schedule or visit: http://www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/.

For more facts about why you should spay/neuter your pets please see: http://www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/spayneuterfacts.html 

AAAR offers incredibly reasonable prices to enable people to affordably sterilize their companion animals. The fee is $40 for cats and $80 for dogs. AAAR also has subsidy programs for low-income owners who cannot afford the surgery fee and offers special discount packages on basic vaccines and heartworm testing.  In addition, AAAR performs low-cost sterilization for feral cats to facilitate trap neuter and release ( TNR), thus providing an alternative to euthanasia for these special needs animals.

REPORT ANIMAL CRUELTY

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Mahatma Gandhi

The June 13, 2010 New York Times Magazine article titled “The Animal- Cruelty Syndrome” by Charles Siebert, illuminated the connection between animal abuse and other forms of violence. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/magazine/13dogfighting-t.html

 A direct correlation between those who abuse animals and those who commit other serious crimes has been clearly documented. By reporting animal abuse, not only are you aiding a voiceless, helpless animal, you are assisting to stem violent crimes against humans as well.  

The Michigan Humane Society investigates more than 5,000 animal cruelty complaints each year in their service area of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park.

If you know an animal is suffering due to negligence or violence, YOU can help the Michigan Humane Society prevent and alleviate animal suffering!

Learn to Recognize Animal Cruelty. Be the eyes and ears of the Michigan Humane Society. Report suspected animal cruelty right away to the appropriate enforcement agents who have the authority to investigate these crimes in our area. 

Animal cruelty can take many forms. To name just a few that MHS sees far too often:

• A skinny dog chained to a fence in the freezing cold or blistering heat with no shelter, food or water in sight
• Cats, dogs and other companion animals abandoned in a home, garage or yard- forgotten and left to die a slow death.
• Stray or companion animals captured and used by dogfighters as bait for their dogs’ training
• Vicious individuals harming whatever animal happens to cross their path

Report Animal Cruelty – Who to call: 
The Michigan Humane Society investigates cruelty complaints in our service area of Detroit as well as Hamtramck and Highland Park.  To report suspected animal cruelty in these cities, call the MHS Cruelty Hotline at (313) 872-3401, Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or leave a detailed message any time.  Be sure to leave all the information requested on the voice mail message, including the complaint street address and major cross streets. You can remain anonymous, but please include your phone number if possible in case additional information is needed.

In other cities, please contact the local animal control/police department which has the authority and responsibility to enforce our state’s animal cruelty laws, and any local ordinances, in that area.

YOU have the power to make a difference in an animal’s life. Please stand up for the voiceless.

Information excerpted from the Michigan Humane Society website: http://www.michiganhumane.org

Does Macomb County, MI Need a New Animal Perspective?

Our apologies about the difficulty in reading the article below, but it’s worth the effort.  This article was written by the founder of Pet-a-Palooza in SE Michigan, who previously sat on the board of the Macomb County Animal Shelter.  He is able to provide an interesting perspective on animal rescue efforts in the Detroit Metro area, and asks some questions that are well worth considering.

No-Kill Conference

The No Kill Advocacy Center is teaming up with the Animal Law program at George Washington  University Law  School, Maddie’s Fund and Friends of Animals to bring together the nation’s most successful shelter directors and the nation’s top animal lawyers. They will help you create a No Kill community and teach you how to use the legal system to save the lives of animals.

Learn from animal control/shelter directors who are now saving over 90% of all animals using the building blocks to No Kill success – programs and services that have had results in both urban and rural communities – to increase adoptions, reduce length of stay, increase redemption rates, rehabilitate animals, and much, much more.

Learn from animal law experts who have challenged our legal system to help animals: Whether it’s drafting model laws, fighting breed specific legislation, eliminating the gas chamber, filing impact legislation, or protecting condemned dogs, learn how to use the legal system to save the lives of animals.

Learn from activists fighting entrenched and regressive shelters in their own community as they show you how to launch successful campaigns for reform.

To get more details about this event, click HERE.

Hero Dog Saves Boy From Cougar Attack

Angel the golden retriever became a guardian angel when cat pounced

By Mike Celizic

TODAYshow.com contributor

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The 11-year-old boy didn’t have time to react — and barely enough time to realize that a cougar was flying toward him with dinner on its mind. Luckily for Austin Forman, his dog, Angel, threw herself between her best friend and a lethal predator.

Never was a dog more appropriately named than the 18-month-old golden retriever who nearly gave her life to save Austin Sunday in Bar Boston, a small Canadian town some 150 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

“She was my best friend, but now she’s even greater to me. She’s more than a best friend now,” Austin told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Tuesday morning from his home, where he was joined by his mother, Sherri Forman, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Chad Gravelle, who shot the cougar and saved Angel.

“We’re really lucky that he was saved by an angel. That’s exactly what it was. There’s no other word for it,” Jay Forman, Austin’s father, told NBC News.

Angel to the rescue
Around 5:30 Sunday evening, Austin went out with a wheelbarrow to bring in wood to feed the family’s wood-burning furnace. At that hour at that northern latitude, it was already dark.

Angel went along with Austin, and the boy found it curious that instead of playfully galumphing around the yard as she normally did, the dog stayed close by his side. He would shortly learn that there was a reason for her actions.

Austin was a few feet from the woodshed when he saw the cougar, which he first assumed was another dog. Although cougars inhabit the surrounding forests, they usually stay away from towns.

There was a light in the backyard, and when the animal got under it, Austin saw it was a cougar getting ready to pounce from less than 10 feet away. But just as the animal leaped, Angel came to the rescue.

“The dog knew something was up, because she ran toward me just at the right time, and the cougar ended up getting her instead,” Austin said. “I was just lucky my dog was there, because it happened so fast I wouldn’t have known what hit me.”

Dog in danger
The cougar clamped its jaws around Angel’s head. Frantic, Austin screamed for his mother and ran inside the house, yelling, “There’s a cougar eating Angel!”

Sherri Forman looked out the window and saw the cougar on the patio with Angel’s head in its mouth. It didn’t look good for the heroic pet. Angel, Sherri said, was “whining and making noises like we’ve never heard before. We knew that cougar was killing our dog.”

TODAY The cougar threatened Austin Forman as the boy was fetching firewood.

She called her father-in-law, Lloyd Forman, and he told her to call 911.

Boston Bar is a small town of fewer than 1,000 people about 150 miles outside of Vancouver in British Columbia. It’s the kind of place where everybody knows everybody else, and that applies to Constable Chad Gravelle, who was finishing up the day’s paperwork when he got the call at his office less than a block away from the Forman home.

The 911 dispatcher told Gravelle that a cougar was attacking a young boy. When the constable took down the address and family name, he knew immediately that the boy could only be Austin Forman.

He rushed to the home, thinking that Austin’s life was in danger. When he arrived, “One of their daughters ran out on the porch and said, ‘Hurry up, Chad, the cougar’s got our dog,’ ” Gravelle said. “At that point, I was a little bit more relieved that Austin was OK because I know he’s the only young boy in this house. Now we only had to deal with the dog.”

A shot in the dark
Gravelle drew his sidearm and went out the back door. He saw the cougar’s tail extending out from underneath the porch. Although he had a flashlight, it was dark and hard to see, and Gravelle was dealing with a deadly animal in a confined space.

TODAY Constable Chad Gravelle, 11-year-old Austin Forman and Sherri Forman spoke with TODAY via satellite.

“The dog and the cougar were all kind of tangled up as one unit,” he said. But he was able to see the big cat’s hindquarters and fired one shot, hoping to sever the animal’s spine.

When the cougar kept up its attack on Angel, Gravelle moved around to get in front of the cougar, which was less than 6 feet away.

“It was really dark out, and I was just trying to line up my shot as best I could. I could just see about two or three inches of the cougar’s head sticking out from behind Angel, and luckily I was able to get a good shot off,” Gravelle said.

“Without him, there’s no way Angel would have survived,” Sherri said. “The sounds had all stopped, and it was just a matter of seconds. The timing was perfect.”

The shot killed the cougar and missed Angel, but the cat still had its jaws around the dog’s head.

Hero hound
Austin’s cousin, Travis Comkin, was also at the house, and he went to help Angel.

TODAY Angel sustained injuries in her encounter with the cougar, but her owners are hoping for her full recovery.

“The cougar had its mouth over the top of the dog’s mouth, trying to suffocate it, blood all over the animal,” Comkin told NBC News. “And out of nowhere, the dog breathed a gasp of air, just like it comes back from being dead, and just spits up blood. And I’m looking at her, and I’m holding her, and I’m like, she’s going to be all right.”

From being all but dead, Angel went back to romping around the backyard, her head covered in blood. The Formans took her to a veterinarian, where she was treated for extensive — but not life-threatening — injuries.

“She had surgery yesterday afternoon,” Sherri told Lauer. “She was in for about an hour in surgery: extensive injuries to her head. Her skull was fractured, and they had to piece it together along with numerous other wounds. We’re hopeful for a full recovery.”

Angel was expected to return home as early as Tuesday to a hero’s welcome and a thank-you present purchased especially for her by her best friend.

“I bought her a big, nice juicy steak,” Austin told Lauer.