Wigglin' Home Boxer Rescue

Hello one and all,

I’d like to open this report by sharing with you a time-sensitive exciting announcement. Each year MudBay hosts their annual FUTY (From Us To You) Festival celebrating animal welfare volunteers in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the celebration party, each rescue organization is invited to nominate one volunteer for the award of excellence. The three nominees with the most votes will receive $1000 cash prize and the nominating organization will receive $1000 also!    SO, we nominated our puppy whisperer. Andrea Saso who fosters our puppies! 48 puppies to be exact! Many times, more than one at a time along with medically fragile puppies! You can read her nomination on MudBay's website under FUTY awards- and we would be thrilled if you would consider casting your vote for her. A $1000 would give our Earl's Bank and SERIOUS boost. Go ahead, the link will pull up in another window, we'll wait for you to vote before we continue on. Go ahead.

Now, what about this dog days of summer nonsense, and a star?

Yep, that’s what National Geographic says. It’s all about an ancient Greek belief about a star and then it seems some Joe Schmoe didn’t know what it meant thus made something up about dogs being so hot they just lay around. Way to botch a super cool, ancient story. And there you have it. Well, sort of. Here is the WHOLE STORY

Today I took a peek at our president’s Facebook page, the WHBR president DeAnn King’s Facebook page that is. I guess I’ve become used to checking her page now and then and forgot that long ago I stopped following it. Why? It was just too hard on my ol heart. So many people flood her page with pleas and pictures of dogs that need saving. I just can’t deal with all of their sweet faces, tucked tails, and I’m beyond thankful that she can and does what she does. Working fulltime, caring for a family, several of her kids are deployed in the service, AND running a rescue. No idea, no idea howwww she does it. 

In thinking of her strength and dedication to rescue it reminds me of a recent failure in strength that I had. Failure in critical thinking? Several weeks ago I saw a FB post of a pup in Riverside Animal Shelter, he wasn’t even a boxer but his eyes looked into mine. I wanted to get in my car and race south through the night and into the morning to get him but, there are things happening in my life. My Hank is 14 and getting weak, I’m getting ready to move and will probably be staying with friends for a while- it’s not wise to adopt another dog right now. So, I pushed on with my day and that day turned to the next when a few days later the same post came up in my FB feed with EUTHANIZED across the top of his picture. My heart dropped to my stomach, all the sudden my reasons weren’t enough, they were ridiculous. Riverside Animal Shelter has one of the highest euthanasia rates how could I not see what would happen?! Why was this hitting me so hard? He was old, I probably wouldn’t have had him that long but they would have been good days for him. This was about a month ago and clearrrrly I can’t get him out of my mind. Then I think of the wonddderful souls who adopt our senior pups and give them an ever so loving home for their remaining time. They didn’t make excuses. They know the senior pups are the hardest to place, the pups that have the least chance. There are so, so many pups that need our help and a lot of people would say “you/we can’t save them all”, but I should have saved the Riverside pup. I’m immersed in rescue; I know the statistics and I should have acted immediately when I saw one that touched my soul. My excuses for not doing so were minuscule compared to EUTHANIZED over his picture being his last place on earth. His name was Elliot.

• Just as we ask people to weigh out their reasons for getting a dog, we should look just as hard at why we aren’t and are those reasons really valid?

Gee, what a way to bring us down eh? Me too, I finished that paragraph, dropped my hands into my lap and sighed. 

Swinging our mood up, one of our adopters recently posted a picture of their sweet girl Bunny. Some of you might remember her. Bunny and her babies from the Korean meat market.  This adopter really stepped up. We had no info on Bunny's background and wow was this young momma pup packed full of energy. Her adopters didn’t hesitate, didn’t worry, didn’t make excuses.

A month or so ago we took in a medically fragile momma and her four little girls. She was named Darla (no idea) so I called her Darla and her Darlings. Found as a stray, but clearly had been held captive without food and then released, she was taken to a shelter where someone called to ask us to save them. In dire shape, Darla went to a foster home that cares for medically fragile dogs. Her healthy, bouncing, baby girls stayed with her for a bit and then split up to their own foster homes. Today Darla’s girls are snug as lil bugs in their new homes. Darla, an ever so dainty, sweet, deaf girl has a forever home waiting for her while she heals from her spay.

Wilbur came to us via an owner surrender. What a sad pup he was all the way from Montana to the southwest corner of Washington. Little did he know he was headed for ‘Camp Colvin’. The Colvin household has rescued 90+ boxers and counting. They have four of their own (two are foster fails) who welcome each rescue through the door and show them the way ‘this is where we eat oh and over here is where Crabby Bob likes to sleep so don’t lay down there and around 5:30 pm he becomes a freak about the food bowls so stay clear there too and we go out this door to go outside…..’                                                      Here you see Les at the end of a long day with his pups and Wilber taking a break. Wilbur is in good hands as his fur sibs show him the ways of the house and play for long hours with him. Soon this boy will be in his forever home.   

• If you know someone who needs to find a new home for their pup, ask them to check out all-breed rescues or rescues dedicated to their breed of dog. It is the safest and most responsible avenue. Craigslist is the most dangerous and shelters fall in between the two.

I’ve talked before about our volunteers and the many hours they put in to keep us in front of the public, sharing our organization’s mission, and raising funds. It takes a strong volunteer family and support system to do what we do.  We thank you greatly. 

A closing note and hopefully a date for your calendar. February 22^nd, 2020 will be our third annual Wags to Riches silent auction and dinner fundraiser. Held in Portland Oregon we would love to have you there if you can make it. Mark Yer calendar.

A donor sent us feedback on our last report which was wonderful to receive, I thank you for your kind words. You had also asked if we could put pictures in the letter along with the writing. I had previously looked for a way to do that and couldn't find it, then I received your feedback and again looked. It appears Global Giving does not have that feature. We are allowed a photo at the top and photos below our letter. It would be nice though, wouldn't it? Again, it was great getting feedback and would like to hear from more of you!   Comments, questions you name it.  

So, across the miles near and far we hope you are well and the summer has been good to you. 

Remember folks, your support is how we can do what we do. When you see our success stories I want you to know they are your success stories as well.

Thanks everyone