The Effect of Rescuing Just One Dog

Animal Wellness Magazine recently welcomed a new rescue organization to our Ambassador Program. Based in Northern Illinois, Animal House Shelter began with the rescue of a single dog and has since grown into an organization that has helped find homes for thousands of dogs and cats. 

AW Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about your organization?

Animal House Shelter: 

Animal House Shelter began with a dog named Kiley. Lesley Irwin, founder and president of Animal House Shelter rescued a dog that had been dodging cars on a busy road in Northern Illinois.  The experience of rescuing Kiley and rehabilitating her to become a beautiful, loving member of her family inspired Lesley to devote her life to animal rescue.  Since June of 2002, when she opened the doors of Animal House Shelter, more than 25,000 dogs and cats have been given the same second chance that she gave to Kiley.  

                Animal House Shelter rescues 98% of our dogs and cats from pounds and animal control facilities with high rates of euthanasia.  These places do not have the space to accommodate the number of animals coming in and euthanize at astounding rates.  Animal House Shelter takes in these pets (many of which are on “death row”) regardless of age, breed or known health problems and rehabilitates them mentally and physically.  We then personalize the adoption process to assure that each one of our animals is going into the best possible home for their particular needs.  Dogs are walked a minimum of five times daily to give them the maximum amount of socialization with each other and with people.  Our cats are housed in a large free-roam cat habitat where they are constantly socializing with each other, staff, volunteers, and potential adopters. 

                Animal House Shelter is open 7 days a week and 365 days a year.  We never close, even on holidays, and strive to go above and beyond all standards of excellence when caring for the mental and physical needs of our animals.  We understand the importance of getting to know each of our animals as individuals in order to place them in the best possible home for their particular needs.  Each and every animal is treated with the love and respect they deserve as though they were our own pets.

AW Magazine: Can you tell us about an animal that was recently adopted? 

Animal House Shelter:

Beetle was just recently adopted from Animal House Shelter after being a resident with us for almost 2 full years.  He had originally been rescued from a dog fighting situation where, as a young and defenseless puppy, he was being used as a bait dog.  Because of this he had become very afraid of other dogs and could not be adopted into a home with other pets.  He finally found his forever family, however, and is loving having kids to play with and a home of his very own!

AW Magazine: Can you tell us about an animal that is waiting to be adopted? 

Animal House Shelter:

Hermie came to our shelter from an animal control facility in southern IL where he had been found on the side of the road with a broken leg.  Most other shelters are reluctant to take on dogs that are going to require extensive medical care but we took sweet little Hermie in without question.  He recovered in the comfort of a foster home and is now 100% mended and is waiting for adoption at Animal House Shelter!

5. What has your experience as an Ambassador been like?

We have only been an ambassador for a short time but we are enjoying the magazine and being a part of it.  The articles are wonderful and we are very excited to promote it to our supporters!

AW Magazine: Do you have any fundraising programs, or events happening? Tell us about them! 

Animal House Shelter:

We have our annual 5 K run, the Dash for the Dogs, coming up on June 1st .
Dash for the Dogs 2013 is Animal House Shelter’s 3rd annual 5K run and family fun walk  held to raise much needed funds for the medical bills and other needs of the animals here at our shelter.

  

We are also excited about our upcoming annual reunion event PAWfest 2013 on July 20th!

Visit the Animal House Shelter website for details: www.animalhouseshelter.com

Rescuing Animals in the Great White North!

Our Animal Wellness Ambassadors span the globe, reaching as far north as the SPCA in the Canadian Northwest Territories:

"We are a non-profit organization that has been around since the mid 80's.  A few years ago we seriously started looking for land and a way to have an animal shelter. Up to that point we did not have a shelter but helped out the local vet which is also the city pound.  The SPCA started a foster program 2 1/2 years ago but quickly realized we needed a home of our own. There were and still are way too many dogs in the north to help.  We opened our doors last October 2012. We did not have enough money to build all of the kennels (30), but settled on 15 plus 10 condos in the cat room.  As an Ambassador we hope to get the word out to the country about the problems in the North and hopefully find the means to mitigate the problems. The first step is to get veterinary care into isolated communities where there is a dog over-population and diseases. Shooting dogs is the only way to control this in the northern communities. This vet service mobile program will go hand in hand with education. We are starting to make some progress in this regard but we have a long way to go."

A pup named Skye was recently adopted by a family in Washington.  Quite the adventure for the little girl. She was sent to NWT SPCA from Kugluktuk Nunavut last month.

There are plenty more animals waiting to be adopted. There is a fantastic, lovable girl named Sheba, who came from a northern community, who was about to be shot. She is a few years old and has had several litters. She must have been a former sled dog or have mushing dog in her blood because she can run like the wind. She would be incredible for recreational ski-jorring or kick sledding.

The NWT SPCA is also trying to re-home a blind dog named Chopin. He is 6 years old and lost his sight about 2 years ago. The children in his family are little and are  too much for the dog to handle. The owners are afraid he will become agressive due to his disability adn nervousness. He is a lovely boy that needs a quiet home with the proper owner.

Rescue organizations frequently hold events in order to raise funds. The next NWT SPCA event will be the Peterson and Auger Golf Tournament in June. Last year was the first one and the company decided they would do the event every year. Last year they raised about $7000. As well, on June 21 there is the Annual NWT Riders -Midnight Sun Motorcycle Run. In July is the Shelter Grand Opening which should be a big open house event. 

Things get quite busy at the shelter! There are always dogs coming in and flying out. Programs include dog walking and volunteers dropping in to help. Trevor is the only paid employee and he is there monday to friday from 7-2 pm. All other hours are covered by us board members and volunteers. There is also a special needs community program called School to Work Transition happening twice a week that allows 4 young people the chance to get into the community doing jobs. There is food being donated, crate pick ups from the airport that have arrived back from Edmonton after a shipment of dogs. There is something going on every day. It can get over whelming and frustrating when there is so much to do and not enough people to do it.

The NWT SPCA says they were very excited to be a part of the ANimals Wellness Article this spring. "It was a huge deal for all of us at the NWT SPCA. We are looking forward to continuing the role in the future".

https://www.facebook.com/nwtspca?ref=hl

 

http://nwtspca.com/