The St Louis Senior Dog Project is a not-for-profit dog rescue organization specializing in older dogs but taking in and finding homes for dogs of all ages and even a few cats. See our adoptable pets at www.olderbetter.petfinder.org/
Today we're #1 again in Missouri in the Animal Rescue Site contest. If we stay there for about two weeks more, we win a $1,000 grant. We could win more if we climb higher than our #35 position nationally. And it's a real run for the finish line. Please vote daily and find friends, family, twitterites, Facebook friends and others to do the same. Here's the link.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3
Ellen's Notes:
I see a lot of this. A sad, abandoned dog looking out at me from behind bars. This fella was adopted out of Jefferson County and returned because he was "too lazy or too old to do steps."
I'm calling him Jester because he does remind me of a clown. He's somewhere between 5 and 9 years old and quite the nice gent. I just couldn't leave him behind even though I'd come to the shelter to pick up a different dog (which also went home with me).
Where does it end. I've had calls every hour from people wanting me to take their old pets -- some as old as 15! I've had emergency emails about conditions in local shelters which were overwhelmed with what we call "owner surrenders" -- people getting rid of their dogs.
One bit of good news was the big bust of a dog-fighting ring. Authorities confiscated close to 300 dogs -- most of them pitbulls. It's stomach-turning to think that some people ask their dogs to entertain them by killing and being killed. But the cruelty is only one part of the story. Visit any shelter today and you'll quickly see that the homeless dog problem is primarily a big dog problem. And more speciically, you'll see a disproportionate number of pit bulls, rottweiler and their mixes -- dogs acquired not because of their sweet nature (which they often do have) but because of their reputation as fighting or protection dogs. Break up the dog fighting business, close down those who breed fighting dogs, and you also help the bigger pet overpopulation problem.
Of course every day brings cute pictures and news of dogs we've adopted out earlier. We heard from Rosie, who was one of a litter of puppies found by the side of the road. The mother had been hit by a car and killed. Looks like Rosie is doing just fine.
Ellen Ellick
President/Founder
St Louis Senior Dog Project
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