Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Why we have an application to adopt
by Mary Torio
People often ask why we have such an involved screening process to adopt a dog from PPI. Perhaps this story will shed some light on that.
I got a phone call this morning around 8:30 am. It was my sister-in-law, in tears, on her way to the vet. She had witnessed a puppy being hit by a car. She and another Good Samaritan stopped. The car that hit him did not. She put the pup in her car and raced to the vet, while the other person grabbed a second puppy that was running loose in the street. He found the owner of the pups who told him: "Just let the damn dog die, I ain't payin' no vet bills." She had not gotten the contact info of the guy who took the other puppy, but we're hoping he kept that pup. My sister in law then called me to see if Planned Pethood could take the pup she was taking to the vet. I could hear the poor little guy crying in her car.
She took him to Temperance Animal Hospital, where they found he had two broken legs, a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. She called me again to check in, and was very upset. She kept repeating what this guy had said about the dog and asking "How can anyone be so cruel? At least end his suffering humanely!" While we were on the phone they came out to tell her he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and they were not going to be able to save him.
All I could offer her for comfort was the knowledge that at least the pup had someone who cared for the last half hour of his life, because it sure sounds like he didn't for the rest of it. The staff at Temperance Animal Hospital were loving with him and very kind to her. But she was very shook up by the callousness of the owner and of the person who hit the pup and kept driving.
Unfortunately we in rescue see that sort of callousness every single day. We screen potential adopters because we want to get to know something about you, so we feel confident that you are not one of those who discards canine or feline lives when they are not convenient. Please understand it isn't about you in particular, it's about what we see so much of every single day. We've taken these animals in and promised to find them homes where they will be loved and cherished, and that the home we place them in is one that fits their personality and energy. That's our priority.
So please, when you find yourself rolling your eyes at our application, remind yourself that not only are we trying to make sure you get a pet that fits you, we are also making sure your new pet has a safe and loving new home.
People often ask why we have such an involved screening process to adopt a dog from PPI. Perhaps this story will shed some light on that.
I got a phone call this morning around 8:30 am. It was my sister-in-law, in tears, on her way to the vet. She had witnessed a puppy being hit by a car. She and another Good Samaritan stopped. The car that hit him did not. She put the pup in her car and raced to the vet, while the other person grabbed a second puppy that was running loose in the street. He found the owner of the pups who told him: "Just let the damn dog die, I ain't payin' no vet bills." She had not gotten the contact info of the guy who took the other puppy, but we're hoping he kept that pup. My sister in law then called me to see if Planned Pethood could take the pup she was taking to the vet. I could hear the poor little guy crying in her car.
She took him to Temperance Animal Hospital, where they found he had two broken legs, a broken pelvis and internal bleeding. She called me again to check in, and was very upset. She kept repeating what this guy had said about the dog and asking "How can anyone be so cruel? At least end his suffering humanely!" While we were on the phone they came out to tell her he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, and they were not going to be able to save him.
All I could offer her for comfort was the knowledge that at least the pup had someone who cared for the last half hour of his life, because it sure sounds like he didn't for the rest of it. The staff at Temperance Animal Hospital were loving with him and very kind to her. But she was very shook up by the callousness of the owner and of the person who hit the pup and kept driving.
Unfortunately we in rescue see that sort of callousness every single day. We screen potential adopters because we want to get to know something about you, so we feel confident that you are not one of those who discards canine or feline lives when they are not convenient. Please understand it isn't about you in particular, it's about what we see so much of every single day. We've taken these animals in and promised to find them homes where they will be loved and cherished, and that the home we place them in is one that fits their personality and energy. That's our priority.
So please, when you find yourself rolling your eyes at our application, remind yourself that not only are we trying to make sure you get a pet that fits you, we are also making sure your new pet has a safe and loving new home.
Friday, November 5, 2010
It Is not my cat
FROM THE PRESIDENT
Elected officials in Toledo have made some wise and meaningful decisions for the dogs of our community.
First, the Lucas County Commissioners have hired a Chief Dog Warden who is not only committed to public safety but also to responsible care for the dogs in her custody. Julie Lyle quickly implemented policies that have been standard in many communities across Ohio but were ignored in Lucas County. In just six months, the euthanasia rate has been reduced to about 45% compared to 70% under the previous warden. She is working with Planned Pethood and other rescues to place adoptable dogs and lower the rate even more. A volunteer program is underway which is intended to augment, not replace, the work that goes on at the pound. If the need arises to call the dog warden, feel comfortable in doing so – times have changed.
Secondly, Toledo City Council recently passed a new dog ordinance that holds owners responsible for the behavior of their dogs. I'd say it's about time! Just impounding a biting dog and killing it does nothing to educate the owner. Further, dogs are to be judged by their behavior, not their breed. Planned Pethood's board recently revised our policy on pitbull types – the new policy is that provided we have the fosters available, we will accept puppies of ANY BREED at the age of 12 weeks or less.
What's up for the future?
It seems to me that a dog park – at least one! - is needed and on the horizon possibly at the site of the South Toledo YMCA. Let your voice be heard.
Cats, cats, cats are everywhere and while my Mother might have said it about mice, it's true of cats, “IF there's one, there's another one and then there's more”. TNR(trap, neuter, return) has been practiced by PPI volunteers for a number of years currently in conjunction with Humane Ohio, a non-profit spay/neuter clinic. We have led the way in this endeavor and urge you the reader to participate. It's easy to say it's not my cat but the reality is that soon the statement will be THEY are not my cats. We have grants and bequests to assist the public and it's really is very easy to trap cats. When you see a cat with the tip of its left ear gone, it probably has been fixed. If it's around your house, those mice my Mother talked about will be gone and all you need to to is feed the mouser. Then send us a donation to perpetuate the activity.
Planned Pethood eNewsletter October 1, 2010
FUTURE EVENTSRescue Reunion- January/February 2011
Prom for Paws - March/April 2011
Rummage Sale - April/May 2011. Donation drop off will begin in January 2011.
Paw Hoorah - April 30, 2011
Quick Links... Spay/Neuter FAQ for Cats FAQ for Dogs Donate
Holiday Greeting Cards
You may purchase 25 Planned Pethood Holiday Greeting cards for $8 on our website, via PayPal. The cards are blank inside for your personal message. You are showing your support of Planned Pethood by purchasing the holiday cards. And by promoting an organization that is important to you to your friends and family, our message reaches a wider audience. Click here to make your purchase today.Updating The Website
The website will soon have the majority of its static pictures totally changed. The information remains the same. But to keep it fresh and new, the photos were all updated. The website committee said they all felt it was important to make those changes at LEAST once a year. The opening slide show on the home page will be changed as well. And the Scrapbook page will be updated to include our most recent events. Stay tuned!
Thank you to Pam Underwood and Lou Pratt for their contribution to changing the photos. Thank you to Sally Wehner for the use of her fabulous photos.
Thank you to Pam Underwood and Lou Pratt for their contribution to changing the photos. Thank you to Sally Wehner for the use of her fabulous photos.
Make your United Way Go To Us!
Select your payroll deducted United Way donation to go to Planned Pethood. Just write our name in and we will start getting it in 2011.
Opportunities for Improvement
If you ever have a complaint or concern, you can always contact me or anyone on the board. Complaints are supposed to come to me, but if you are uncomfortable with that, you can make your concerns known to anyone on the board. Board members are listed on the website.
One of the duties of an Executive Director is to resolve complaints and address conflicts. When a complaint is made about a volunteer, our process or our program, I take it very seriously. Complaints are good. They are opportunities for improvement. They are ways for us as a group to learn and grow.
Sometimes I have a hard time ascertaining what is idle crabbing versus a formal complaint. If you think I have not taken your complaint seriously, please feel free to contact me to make sure I understand you are making a formal complaint. If I have done that to you, again, please do not think I am dismissing what you have considered to be a complaint. I might have thought you were just crabbing.
--Nikki Morey
Executive Director for PPI
ed@plannedpethood.org
One of the duties of an Executive Director is to resolve complaints and address conflicts. When a complaint is made about a volunteer, our process or our program, I take it very seriously. Complaints are good. They are opportunities for improvement. They are ways for us as a group to learn and grow.
Sometimes I have a hard time ascertaining what is idle crabbing versus a formal complaint. If you think I have not taken your complaint seriously, please feel free to contact me to make sure I understand you are making a formal complaint. If I have done that to you, again, please do not think I am dismissing what you have considered to be a complaint. I might have thought you were just crabbing.
--Nikki Morey
Executive Director for PPI
ed@plannedpethood.org
Small & Large Needs
We always need supplies. Perhaps you can help? Right now the Dog Adoption Program is in need of a folding 6 foot table. Or two folding card tables. We also always need the following:
- Crates, all sizes
- Clay kitty litter
- Litter boxes
- Paper towels and other cleaning supplies
- Medicines like heartworm and flea preventative
- Gas cards
- Printer ink cartridges (HP 33, HP 34, HP 36 & HP 37)
- 1st class postage stamps
Planned Pethood Recipient of Litter Patrol Grant from PetSmart Charities
We are very happy to report that Planned Pethood has been chosen by PetSmart Charities to receive a 2-year, $15,000 per year, Litter Patrol Grant. Litter Patrol is Planned Pethood's innovative program 
developed by Kathy Kozak and Karen Latta in 2005.
This program utilizes volunteers to contact people giving away "free" puppies and kittens. Spay/neuter assistance is then provided for these animals as well as any other dogs and cats in the household that are not fixed. As space permits puppies and kittens are taken into Planned Pethood's adoption program. We believe that spay/neuter is the ultimate rescue. Our Litter Patrol program often breaks what has been an ongoing cycle of uncontrolled breeding. As always there are strict guidelines in order to qualify for assistance.
In the past Litter Patrol funding has been sporadic. This generous grant from PetSmart represents a significant step forward in funding these efforts for the next 2 years and will provide spay/neuter assistance for approximately 1,000 animals.
Appreciation goes to Jane Holman for preparing and submitting the grant proposal and Nikki Morey for designing and implementing the necessary reporting procedures. Anyone interested in working on grant writing for Planned Pethood, please contact Jane at jholman072@aol.com.
developed by Kathy Kozak and Karen Latta in 2005.This program utilizes volunteers to contact people giving away "free" puppies and kittens. Spay/neuter assistance is then provided for these animals as well as any other dogs and cats in the household that are not fixed. As space permits puppies and kittens are taken into Planned Pethood's adoption program. We believe that spay/neuter is the ultimate rescue. Our Litter Patrol program often breaks what has been an ongoing cycle of uncontrolled breeding. As always there are strict guidelines in order to qualify for assistance.
In the past Litter Patrol funding has been sporadic. This generous grant from PetSmart represents a significant step forward in funding these efforts for the next 2 years and will provide spay/neuter assistance for approximately 1,000 animals.
Appreciation goes to Jane Holman for preparing and submitting the grant proposal and Nikki Morey for designing and implementing the necessary reporting procedures. Anyone interested in working on grant writing for Planned Pethood, please contact Jane at jholman072@aol.com.
Fund Raising Successes
Many thanks to all those that have helped make money for PPI. Our bake sale and craft sale at the Dog Days of September was a huge success. Thank you to those who contributed baked goods and who worked the sale.
Thank you to BGSU students who put together the Wag N' Tailgate party which raised $193 for PPI. Go Falcons!
Thank you for the volunteers who orchestrated the Euchre Tournament and to those who attended. They raised money that will get several animals off the streets and into warm homes.
Thank you to BGSU students who put together the Wag N' Tailgate party which raised $193 for PPI. Go Falcons!
Thank you for the volunteers who orchestrated the Euchre Tournament and to those who attended. They raised money that will get several animals off the streets and into warm homes.
How and where we get our animals
It's a balancing act.
And no one is ever happy with the results.
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Was it the phone message left on our FIXX line? Was it the email directly from A dog pound or an animal shelter? Or maybe the text from a fellow rescue, that they are also full but have a great animal in immediate need, but only 24 hours to get it out! Oh, no it was the co-worker or was it the death in the family.......no, no I remember now it was the dispatcher at the hospital. I got it, how could I forget it was the post from Face Book!
One could laugh at all the above scenarios but they are all the communication tools in which the public, other rescues, dog wardens, animal shelters, and volunteers use to let Planned Pethood know on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, that the animal they have is in immediate need of rescue. How do you choose, who gets rescued first, or next?
Planned Pethood follows a protocol and balance that has been maintained for years (not easily). First priority are animals being returned to us. Second, strays. Talk about risk, there are no controls in place to help these dogs maintain their safety- no food, no water, no shelter, no medical treatment, and no love and kindness. Third, the nearest surrounding counties, our own backyard! You see them in the paper or on the website and unfortunately, some you never get to see. Strays, owner surrenders, abandoned, and lost aniamls all end up with no where to turn but pounds and shelters. So, that is where we go next, #3 local (to Northwest Ohio) pounds and shelters. Fourth, owner surrenders. These animals usually have food, water, shelter and a loving home but for some reason must go, mostly due to no fault of their own, sometimes just an inconvenience. So that is how Planned Pethood does intake, a risk ranking based on the need and ability of the organization's foster base.
The priority order is the easy part. It is the balancing act of foster homes that is the harder part. Now, only 2 of the 40 or so families in the foster base do not have other dogs or cats. That is significant because if we have a great animal but they can not live with another dog or cat, where can they go, where can everyone get along? A balance must be achieved.
Not to mention personal preferences of the foster base; breed specific preferences (or none of a certain breed or I only want and will foster cocker spaniels), size requirements (nothing over 25 pounds, please), age (I only foster kittens), sex (only females), and simply- what a person can personally handle as well as the what the dynamics of their household or pack can handle.
Do not forget about vetting, emergencies, ability to get the dogs to adoption events, what the spouse will tolerate, vacations, responding to applicants, writing bios and filling out cage cards, and what behavior issues or disputes that may arise due to the new addition.
Whew, did we mention them all......no wait; exercise requirements, no long haired cats/dogs, must be housetrained/litter box trained, must like children, no jumping, must tolerate the daughter's dog she brings over every weekend.
So now, you have the order of intake, then you have the balance of foster homes-now, couple that with real life. For example you save a dog that appears would fit in his new temporary home but when he gets into foster care does not like the resident dog with no other available foster homes he goes to boarding. Do you leave that home vacant? Or do you roll the dice and save another life? Do you stop all intake, or just stop rescuing adult dogs? Then suddenly you get a return, but no adoptions from the weekend, another animal sitting in boarding, oh my! What about that call regarding the stray mother and her litter living under someone's porch? Then you get an owner surrender of a beautiful cocker spaniel, do you place him with the foster that only takes cocker spaniels or do you pass him by?
Our volunteers might see a sign for a free dog or cat and want to help it and foster it themselves. But the Intake coordinator already has a similar animal lined up to come into the program? How do you juggle that without offending the foster family?
Decisions, decisions all with precious lives at stake. All decisions and actions are made with the very best of order, balance and intent to save as many animals as possible. Remember we also do this while maintaining a non-profit organization that is dependent on public donations and our fund raising efforts, without this we have no rescue.
House Bill 79/55
House Bill 79 was introduced by Representative Barbara Sears (up for re-election in Ohio) of the 46th district. The bill is co-sponsored by Representative Michael Skindell, Representative Gerald Stebelton, and Representative Lynn Wachtmann. The bill would remove the term "pit bull" from Ohio's statutory definition of vicious dog. Ohio is the only state to have enacted statewide breed specific legislation. As of May 28, 2010; House Bill 79 was added to House Bill 55 and went before the full House for a vote. It was overwhelmingly passed and has moved to the Senate.
H.B. 55 encourages judges to include companion animals in domestic-violence protection orders and anti-stalking protection orders. H.B. 55 also emphasizes the need to counsel convicted animal abusers and contribute to a safer society by lowering recidivism. This would be accomplished by requiring courts to order psychological evaluation and counseling, if necessary, of minors convicted of animal abuse, and by requiring the state psychology; medicine; and counselor, social worker, and marriage and family therapist boards to approve at least one continuing-education course on counseling individuals who abuse animals. Lastly, the bill would help ensure that Ohio treats animal cruelty crimes seriously by making additional acts of torture to livestock and wildlife misdemeanors of the first degree (punishable by up to six months imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine).
HOW YOU CAN HELP!
1. Contact your senator, http://www.ohiosenate.gov/directory.html, and ask him/her to support passage of House Bill 55. Written letters have the most impact. In all correspondence, please be polite and respectful and stick to one or two talking points.
2. Contact the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice Committee Members and ask them to support House Bill 55.
- Senator Tim Grendell (Chair), 1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: (614) 644-7718 Email: SD18@senate.state.oh.us
- Committee Members:listed at this website and denoted with ***
3. Follow up with a phone call to each Senator's office a week after sending each correspondence.
For further details, click here.
H.B. 55 encourages judges to include companion animals in domestic-violence protection orders and anti-stalking protection orders. H.B. 55 also emphasizes the need to counsel convicted animal abusers and contribute to a safer society by lowering recidivism. This would be accomplished by requiring courts to order psychological evaluation and counseling, if necessary, of minors convicted of animal abuse, and by requiring the state psychology; medicine; and counselor, social worker, and marriage and family therapist boards to approve at least one continuing-education course on counseling individuals who abuse animals. Lastly, the bill would help ensure that Ohio treats animal cruelty crimes seriously by making additional acts of torture to livestock and wildlife misdemeanors of the first degree (punishable by up to six months imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine).
HOW YOU CAN HELP!
1. Contact your senator, http://www.ohiosenate.gov/directory.html, and ask him/her to support passage of House Bill 55. Written letters have the most impact. In all correspondence, please be polite and respectful and stick to one or two talking points.
2. Contact the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Justice Committee Members and ask them to support House Bill 55.
- Senator Tim Grendell (Chair), 1 Capitol Square, Ground Floor Columbus, Ohio 43215
Phone: (614) 644-7718 Email: SD18@senate.state.oh.us
- Committee Members:listed at this website and denoted with ***
3. Follow up with a phone call to each Senator's office a week after sending each correspondence.
For further details, click here.
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