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SPECIAL CRITTERS with SPECIAL NEEDS

Gracey needs our help...click to find out how you can help!

Thank you for being a FRIEND!!

Mindy Barone is a member of Adopt A Rescued Pet (www.adoptarescuedpet.com/), one of Citrus County's all volunteer animal rescues and we just had to create a special blog post for Mindy AND Adopt A Rescued Pet to say THANK YOU for all they do to help the animals and people of Citrus County Animal Services! We can all take a lesson from Mindy and “AARP” on the finer points of having the passion & compassion to "get things done".

In the last 2 months alone the animals of Citrus County Animal Services have received not 1 but 2 generous donations from the AARP team. To provide added comfort and increase the standard of living for the dogs at our now 40year old shelter...they have bought and donated 15 Kuranda beds (http://kuranda.com/) for the shelter - both medium & extra large in size. Kuranda beds are made in the USA beds that are comfortable, durable, easy to clean & provide comfort to the dogs at the shelter, as compared to the hard cement floor many shelter pets will spend weeks, even months on. There is nothing like seeing a litter of our shelter puppies curled up together on one of the kurandas!

Secondly, when Mindy and AARP caught wind of the surgery needs for Pepper, the Rotty Mix (see our previous posting from june 30,2010)...they immediately flew into action. It just so happens their team had been present at PetSupermarket when Pepper stole the heart of a family...who are seriously interested in adopting him! Not wanting to allow the cost of an extremely routine (although pricey) surgical procedure to prevent Pepper from being placed in the home that he deserves...Mindy and her team collectively raised $850 in one week towards our "Pepper Fund".



Our most recent PEPPER/SPECIAL NEEDS fund tally stands at $1,180 - thank you ALL who have contributed. Thanks to Mindy and AARP's amazing efforts - Dr. Julie is able to get surgery scheduled for Pepper and we will just have to keep our foot on the pedal of fund-raising for Pepper and the rest of our Special Needs shelter animals (such as Gracey pictured here who arrived at the shelter with her front leg bent/broken & will require surgery when she gets a little older)!

Adopt A Rescued Pet's advocacy for the Shelter is nothing new. Last year, when they discovered that the washing machine at the shelter was DEAD...with no money in the budget for a replacement in the foreseeable future...guess who donated a new washing machine to Animal Services? You guessed it! And if anyone has ever spent any time at the shelter knows...we produce PLENTY of laundry EVERY DAY from donated sheets and towels that are used in the care and bathing of our shelter pets.


Lastly, the Friends of Citrus County Animal Services would like to thank you - Friend of Citrus County Animal Services, Mindy Barone, for your personal donation to our incorporation expenses!! You are a true Angel and Friend!

The Life of John Henry

Lest any of us shelter friends (you know who you are) gets discouraged...I hope this posting reminds everyone of how our efforts have made a difference. We've just got an update and some photos of John Henry and his little brother Charlie...two CCAS alumni. Here are John Henry and little bro Charlie enjoying a dip with some ducks in their Summer home in New Hampshire with Friends member Donna Sprague and their new family.

John Henry and Charlie are the poster-children for creatures most of us would not hold out much hope for when surrendered at the shelter. John Henry's former owners surrendered him because they could no longer afford to keep him. A Retriever/Mix, JH's age was estimated at 9 years....9 YEARS OLD!!! What is the likelihood of a senior dog surrendered at our shelter...getting adopted? NOT VERY GOOD. Charlie was surrendered as a stray puppy, requiring medical attention for an injured eye. At the same time, the shelter was home to at least a dozen healthy puppies competing for placement into quality homes.

Donna spent her winter months walking & bathing our shelter dogs....even going so far as to foster dear Sophie (the catahoula mix) AND Sip (the walker-hound mix) until they found their forever homes. Being empty nesters (as it relates to furry companions), Donna's husband Bob and she had been keeping their eye out for a potential permanent new addition to their family. Donna had mentioned a fondness for Doberman's by her husband so she was not rushing into an adoption. Well...it was May and it was coming time for Donna to pack up to head back up North and to our surpise and pleasure...Donna & her husband decided on John Henry, the "senior" lab-mix who had been at the shelter for 2 months & who captured their hearts!!! At the same time, Donna's son adopted "little" Charlie.

Following is a note from Donna....we look forward to seeing her back in Citrus County this winter!!

Hi all,
I finally downloaded some pictures.
Happy to say that John Henry is doing well and has adjusted to life in NH right now and Charlie (the little puppy) has adjusted and GROWN!
We have one happy family and just had a large family gathering for the fourth of July. Everyone loves the dogs and they love the family as well.
John Henry may never have seen a lake before, but he goes up to his chest wading with the ducks.
Charlie has just learned to swim and he is very active!
Hope all is well with everyone and hope you all had a good holiday!
Donna

Fashion by Friends!

How exciting is the level of support & enthusiasm that is being generated towards the creation of Friends of Citrus County Animal Services. One of the most interesting aspect of the outreach coming to us, is members being able to offer their support by way of their many and and varied talents. Thus, "Friend of Fashion" has come to being (or whatever we want to call it...FOCCAS Fashion, etc....you be the judge)! Our dear friend and member, Chris Vanerka, has both an industrial strength sewing machine AND the talent to make wonderful dog coats....all she needs is the inspiration! Chris has been walking (and bathing) shelter dogs over the course of the last 6months...a huge contribution and commitment to the shelter. Recognizing the need to raise money for our incorporation and more importantly to fund the monies to help the shelter animal...Chris is making one of a kind dog coats that Friends of Citrus County Animal Services can sell!

I've got a collection of dog coats from Chris' talented hands and have attempted to do justice by shamelessly modeling my own shelter dogs - Lucy & Lefty (check out that lovely underbite on my Lucy) ....but was also able to model them on Adopt A Rescued Pet angel KiKi as well. Obviously these fashions look fabulous on many body types!

BTW - Chris also ended up getting "suckered" into adopting a beautiful dog from the shelter. Formally known as "Rebel", this bully dog is now more appropriately known as "Guinness"...he is a beauty, with a gorgeous brown coat that certainly remind me of a delicious pint!

Chris has reported that she has made additional coats, sweatshirts AND bandanas...while at the same time spreading the word about "Friends of " (aka FOCCAS). She has since been donated a bag of material, velcro and other miscellaneous items to MAKE MORE COATS!!! This is exciting!!!! Being the obsessive compuslive volunteer that she is (like the rest of us), Chris has just ordered 8yards of fleece and Velcro from JoAnn Fabrics....the fashion possibilities for Citrus County Pooches is infinite!!

Lastly, Chris was getting dear Guinness' manicure done at Heather's Dog Spa (on 491) and one thing led to the next and Heather's may very well be willing to put "Friends Fashion" up for sale at their shop...and probably a donation jar too!

Well...this is what its going to take! If you want to get involved...and HELP the SHELTER ANIMALS...bring on your talents. Ask....no....beg...for donations...whatever it takes! Let your passion for animals spur your creativity AND your ability to create our income streams. That's what it takes. Don't think for a second that some army of volunteers is going to do it for your. Get involved!! Use you talents. And don't forget the most important thing - "TO SUGGEST IS TO VOLUNTEER" - if you have some great way to gain funds for our shelter pets...make it happen! You have friends here at Friends Of Citrus County Animal Services...but don't forget for a moment how BUSY we all are. Bring on the great ideas & energy & recruit for our cause.....we need as many hands on deck to GET THIS DONE!!

County parks to allow dog walks during 90 day trial

County parks to allow dog walks during 90 day trial

Help us help "Pepper"!

Dear Friends of Citrus County Animal Services!
I would consider this our first ever "Special Needs Funds Drive". As some of you may know a group of us are currently in the process of incorporating to form a 501(3)(c) to partner with the shelter. We are still a couple of months away from being official...as life would have it....we find ourselves in a situation that speaks volumes to why we need to form an organization like this...and I'm wondering if you can help.

The shelter currently has a WONDERFUL resident, "Pepper" - a young adult Rotty/Lab Mix that ended up at Animal Services with his buddy collie "Duke" when their owner was evicted due to foreclosure. Unfortunately Pepper's owners could only have 1 dog in her new living situation and she surrendered Pepper to the shelter. As Mike DeRose can attest, both dogs were just covered in ticks. After providing Pepper some TLC and getting to know him over walks....it became very obvious what a special guy he is....with the most gentle and loving personality you could ask for. A true "mush" in a large dog body.

Here is where we need to outreach for help. After being at the shelter 3 weeks and seeing what a wonderful guys he is, Anne, Mike & Dr Julie all agreed that Pepper would be a perfect dog to bring to PetSupermarket - we had to get him out to be seen in the community! As Dr. Julie prepped him so he would get clearance to be out for the day from the shelter - she noticed Pepper was favoring one of his back legs...to the point that she gave him some anti-inflammatories. Having given Pepper a bath and given him all necessary shots we took him this past Saturday to PetSupermarket. Well...it didn't take long for his loving nature to attract attention and we have a LOVELY qualified family seriously interested in adopting him. Here is our dilemma....Dr.Julie went ahead and had x-rays done (thanks to very limited funds left in our "Angel Fund")....diagnosis: a cruciate ligament injury. Typical surgery cost for this procedure is $1,800 to $2K...with excellent prognosis for recovery with this type of surgery. Who the heck knows how this happened...since this injury was NOT noticeable until just this past Friday...however...here we are.

The family is PERFECT...however....understandably are not exactly in a position to afford this sort of an expense on a new dog from the shelter. When they first met & fell in love with Pepper they had no idea (just as we) what the extent of his injury was. They have expressed the ability to spend perhaps $300-$400 dollars...but understandable are hesitant to commit much more.

As I expressed earlier...this is a perfect example of why "Friends of Citrus County Animal Services" needs to be formed. As Mike, Anne & Pat Rupp can attest...not being able to provide "extraordinary" medical care to the worthy animals at the shelter is one of our most significant concerns and reasons for getting together to form this 501(3)(c). We are very pumped about the idea of pursuing fundraising efforts to build these "Angel Funds/Medical Accounts". Dr. Julie is a god send...but she does not have at her disposal the equipment or specialization for all procedures.

Anyway...SO sorry for the long-winded email...and its time to beg for help! Can you pledge assistance for Pepper's surgery? Any amount would be a help! $5, $10....whatever you can do. Current "Angel Fund" accounts at the shelter are currently as low as a $100-$200 dollars...not much at all. I should point out that Pepper is not the only 'special needs' animal the shelter is currently working on. Dr. Julie has 2 others that are awaiting potential orthopedic surgery. (This just goes to show how urgent our "large scale" fundraising efforts need to be).

Additionally...I should point out that currently donations to Friends of are NOT tax-deductible...not until we get our 501(3)(c) status....our paperwork is currently in front of an attorney...so we are working on it!!

If you can help, please reply email us at: info@FriendsofCCAS.com. I'll let you know the best way to send donations. If you happen to be at the shelter and want to donate....please advise the staff that the money should go "to Pepper's fund" and if making out a check....its best to make it out to cash (with a Memo: Pepper Fund).

Thanks for listening and your consideration. If you want to get more involved with our long term fundraising endeavors please let me know as we are building our TEAM!!!

Thank you for listening & caring! Please spread the word and share this email with fellow shelter animal advocates!

--
Best,
Samantha, Volunteer

Friends Abound!

Its amazing what just a bit of word of mouth can do for our efforts. Recent CCAS Adoptive family - Krisinte Hamilton & son Hunter (seen pictured here with their new CCAS alumni & family member Jasmine) have been kind enough to donate to us the following Pet Gear which they thought we could use for upcoming adoption promotion events:








PETNATION(R) Port-A-Pen(TM) can go anywhere, it’s an indoor/outdoor folding exercise pen, that’s durable, yet lightweight.

• Construction features a strong yet lightweight, powder-coated steel frame.
• 600 denier backpack grade cordura fabric panels are water-resistant.
• Fabric panels are removable and machine washable.
• Strong PVC mesh-weave for the viewing windows.
• Rounded corners protect pet and home furnishings.
• Opens and folds down easily in seconds (less than 5 inches deep when folded).
• Expandable: connect two or more Port-A-Pens to create a huge, contained play area.
• Has stake straps for securing to the ground.
• For indoor/outdoor and travel use.
• Has eight panels, each panel measures 36 inches high x 24 inches wide. retail $145

Also a plastic play pen/kennel with built in gate approx 2.5 ft tall 3x3 diameter retail $165


Thank you to the Hamilton family...for saving Jasmine's life by bringing her into your family....and for donating these wonderful items. You are officially Friends of Citrus County Animal Services!!

Cleo - Queen of the Sofa

We were so happy to hear back from Cathy Milano so soon. Cathy adopted Cleo (formerly known as CoCo) on Flag Day at Fort Cooper Park and though it was love at first sight...she was concerned about bringing a new dog in to her home & how her dog Precious would handle it. Based on Cathy's message, you can see Cleo has found her FOREVER home!!

"Hi everybody......
Thought I'd send you a couple of pictures of Coco, the little white poodle that I adopted at Flag Day in Fort Cooper State Park, June 12.
I've renamed her Cleo, it seems to suit her..... perhaps aka Cleopatra - as you can see from the pictures!
She is fitting in so well here it seems as if she was always part of the family. My silky terrier, Precious, welcomed her with open paws. I originally thought Precious might have difficulty getting along with her, but I was so wrong. They play together and have a rip-roaring good time! The cats accepted her immediately, quite a surprise to me. She is doing extremely well with her potty-training, too.
As you can see from the pictures, she is perfectly relaxed and happy in her new atmosphere, and we all couldn't be happier about it !

Thank you for a very nice experience at the shelter, and for giving me a beautiful little dog that I have fallen in love with.
~Cathy"

Cathy has since let us know that " Cleo is now completely potty-trained. She is just so smart." We look forward to future picks of Cleo playing with her big-sis Precious!

Our flagship event on Flag Day, Fort Cooper State Park!

Thank you to ALL the Friends of the Shelter that helped out in our first community event this past weekend! We could not have done this without everyone's help, support & participation. Although you couldn't be present, we want to thank Dr.Julie, Pattie Amon & Mike DeRose for their guidance and sweat equity! We also want to give a BIG thank you to Mary Neron our friend from Prescious Paws Rescue,Inc. (presciouspawsflorida.com) for the loan of your 10x10 easy up tent. Once we figured out how easy it actually was to assemble (a first for Anne, Donna & I) - it was just a godsend! THANK YOU!! We really were proud of ourselves and think our tent looked great! I also want to "give a shout out to" Gail Palmer & Mindy Barone our friends from Adopt A Rescued Pet (adoptarescuedpet.com)for making the suggestion that we look into this Flag Day Event!

Beauty (who is up for adoption at CCAS) helped us to make many a new friend: pictured here are (Friends Volunteer)Donna Faucher, (Fort Cooper State Park Manager)Harry Mitchell, (Friends Volunteer)Anne Mangano & of course Beauty! We also want to thank Diane Dye, Forest Ranger at Fort Cooper State Park - for giving us the OK to join the event! (Diane happens to be the sister-in-law of ACO Lora Peckham - its a small world!). Oh, and by the way...if you've never been to Fort Cooper State Park (floridastateparks.org/fortcooper) you've got to go. It a gorgeous park right here in inverness with nearly 5 miles of self-guided nature trails AND its dog friendly (a 6' leash required).


Now we can also brag that WE RAISED $200 through our gift basket raffle & other donations the public were kind enough to extend to us!! Obviously, we have a ways to go to afford our expenses relating to incorporating to our 501(c)(3) but this is a great start! (Friends Volunteer, Pat Rupp, who "never wins anything" was the lucky winner of our Gift Basket, which I'm sure her rescue Golden "Maggie" will greatly enjoy;)

The other wonderful part of our day is that TWO of our shelter dogs were adopted as a result of our exposure at the event:


Little Coco was adopted by Cathy Milano who was exhibiting at the park with her heritage society (it was love at first sight obviously). Also pictured are Shelter Friends, Donna Faucher & Fran Jeffers.


Our new Friend of the Shelter, Bobbie DeWolfe, adopted Scout (the dog formerly known as Humpty). Here Bobbie is shown with Scout and her friend Paulette Bean (who adopted Happy at CCAS just this past week too!)


We also ran into some shelter "alumni" at the event. You all may remember "Joey" the white fluffy havanese pup with "nip" problems. Well...he looked just wonderful and his mom, Shirley Seaman, came by to say hello and show her support. Our Friends supporter Frank Yuelling and his wife Beverly came by to say hi and share ideas for future events together! We also made a new friend, Ellen Bass, who forwarded us the wonderful poem "I Rescued A Human Today" - which I have posted on our blog for everyone to enjoy. Thank you Ellen!

Shelter Friends, Anne Mangano, Frank Yuelling & Samantha Carter.

And of course, there was the wonderful efforts of all the Friends of Volunteers that were able to help & show up the day of the event! Anne Mangano, Donna Faucher, Pat Rupp, Sandy Vogel, Fran Jeffers, Chris Vanerka, Carol Ponsonby & Suzy Warner. We had record temperatures on Saturday...but it was also a record day for getting our momentum going for Friends of Citurs County Animal Services! What a wonderful group of people - working together for our county shelter animals!

Shelter Friend, Sandy Vogel with Bobbie DeWolf & shelter alumni Scout!

Shelter Friend, Pat Rupp taking a break from the heat after transporting our shelter participants.

Lastly, I just want to thank Anne Mangano for ALL of her work making the event happen. She is also the creator & source of our AWESOME new t-shirts which I'm sure everyone agrees were just the icing on the cake for our Flag Day Event and for future community outings! And another "shout out" to our dear Friends of the Shelter, Karen Fink & Donna Sprague "up north" who were with us in spirit! You guys get back to FL soon to help out with our next event;)


Please be sure to pass on a link to this blog if you know anyone you think may like to get involved, join the TEAM....or donate money! They can email us at info@FriendsofCCAS.com
Best,
Samantha, Volunteer

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