(You're receiving this e-mail from pup3@aol.com because you've subscribed to the Small Paws Rescue Newsletter list!
Click here to Update Profile/Change E-mail Address)

 

Wednesday April 11, 2012

Gem of the Day: "If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done.

~ John Lubbock ~



Sparkle is one of our current foster dogs. She was hit by a car in the head, when she darted out the door of her foster home, when an adult son came to visit. She is at the Oceanview Veterinary Hospital in Jacksonville Florida and her estimate is for right at $1500.00. See below.
She is only one of several life threatening situations.

Please read this newsletter. It's as important as anything I've ever written to you.

I need you. Robin


Click here for step-by-step directions for using
our shopping cart to make a donation.
You no longer need to use a password to purchase or donate!

To make a one time donation, or a monthly donation to Small Paws Rescue, you may use your major credit card securely, at this site.

If you've made a past donation by credit card, you may e-mail Louie Bertolino at louieb@smallpawsrescue.org to let him know the amount of your donation for the Bichons.

You may also call Louie on his cell phone at 1-424-442-9484
Louie is on Eastern Standard Time!
(Please leave a message and Louie will return your call if he is not available!)

You may also send a check or money order to:
Small Paws Rescue Inc.
3316 S. 72nd. W. Ave.
Tulsa, Ok. 74107

Click on the Bichon puppy to see page 2 of the Small Paws Rescue Newsletter, including fostering and adoption information.

Dear Small Pawsers,

First of all, there is yet another Diamond Dog Food Recall. Important.

Next, this is as hard of a newsletter as I have ever written to you in the 14 years Small Paws has been rescuing Bichons.

Recently, I've spent many hours in prayer, being quiet, trying to listen.

And for those of you who know me, that's neither normal or easy.

The answer that has come to me is to just to sit down and tell it to you, like you are sitting in my living room, as a friend. As a friend to these precious Bichons.

The other answer that has come to me is not to try to protect you because it's to hard to hear or too much to deal with.

I know that I have a tendency to try to do that, and sometimes, that's just not the right thing to do.

I love this organization with my whole heart and soul. I love what we do. What we stand for. I love the difference we have made in the lives of almost 14,000 Bichons and in the lives of the thousands of people who have adopted and loved them.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

That being said, we are seemingly in a season of change.

First, we are so very thankful to the The Soper Family Trust in Ohio, who has been sending $10,000 to us, about twice a year for a while now. It has been such a blessing to so many Bichons in need.

This Trust has helped many charities and I know they are all as thankful as we are.

We got a lovely letter from the family explaining that their plan to donate all of the funds in this Trust, by February, 2012, has been completed, and their last act was to write the letter to let us know that they are now out of funds.

They said they enjoyed supporting us and wished us the very best.

We are so very thankful for their help. What a blessing it has been to receive those funds, while we did.

As I said, we are in a season of change.

The horizon of rescue itself is changing, not just for Small Paws, but for rescue groups all across the country.

People who were once able to care for their Bichons, are no longer able to do so.

Life changes.

The number one group of people that we seem to get owner surrenders from is our older owners, who are going into assisted living or into nursing homes, and can't take their Bichons with them. Their hearts are broken. So are the hearts of their Bichons.

Or, aging owners have Bichons who have accidentally gotten under their feet and tripped them, causing them to fall and break bones. This happened recently to Edie Cramer, the precious wife of one of our Board Members, Brant Cramer.

Then, sadly, we are notified almost daily that someone has died, and didn't leave provisions for their Bichon. Sometimes these Bichons have been left in the home for days, waiting for someone to come for them.

Then, there are the people who can barely afford to feed themselves due to lost jobs and lost homes. They take their Bichons to shelters, never dreaming those Bichons can legally be euthanized that very day due to a lack of space.

The shelters call us. Those calls are escalating. More and more each day. More than ever before.

Presently, we have 49 Bichons that are either in our Hospice Program, or are considered to be unplaceable due to things like advanced age, diabetes, Cushing's Diseases, seizures, chronic incontinence, blindness, deafness, separation anxiety, collapsing tracheas, cancers, etc.

These are Bichons that we are supporting for the rest of their lives, and it is draining us.

It's costing us an estimated $65, 000.00 -$70,000.00 a year to care for these 49 Bichons, when you consider grooming, vaccinations, heartworm preventative, dentals, and treatments for what ever chronic illnesses they have.

The weekend before last, Riley, a 12 year old diabetic, being fostered with Glennda Bruce, (glbruce@att.net,) in San Antonio. had to be admitted to an E.R. with pancreatitus, and spiking blood sugars in the 600's. The bill was over $1000.00.

Then Glennda had to take him to her vet for an ultrasound and more diabetes glucose curve testing.

Then this last weekend, he became very sick again had to go back to the E.R and by now the bill was at $2100.00.

He is back home now and doing well, but folks generally do not donate for older dogs with chronic conditions.

Riley is up for adoption. Is there anyone who can give him a permanent home?

"Hi Folks. My name is Riley and I am a happy, loving, bichon who was born in 2000. I am 14 #'s. I can be adopted for the Senior Dog Rate of $75.00. I lost my home because my parents had to go to an assisted living facility and were not able to take care of me anymore. They were very sad to have to give me up -- we had been a family for 11 years , but they knew that Small Paws was going to take good care of me and find me a new home. I have been a diabetic for the past 6 years. I am now on 4 units of Insulin twice a day. My thyroid is also low so I take a pill twice a day for that. I am very good about taking my shots and pills. I am very active and can run across the fenced back yard in a split second."

Because we've been an organization who has always taken in the old and sick, we now have 49 Hospice Bichons in rescue, who are requiring care like Riley did.



Monty, a 13 year old in Reno, NV had to have a dental and six of his remaining eight teeth pulled. He will have been ours for four years, in May. The cost for his dental was for two hundred dollars over the estimate. It was $1012.30. I know that dentals where you live may be much less, but this is in Reno, Nevada, and we got estimates from all of the vets there and this was the cheapest, so that was after vet shopping, and a rescue discount.

The part of the country has a lot to do with vet prices.

Monte's teeth were rotten and he was in pain. What do you do in a situation like that?

It's almost like we have become upside down on a mortgage.

Our resources are going to care for probably unadoptable dogs with continuing chronic health issues.

We've taken them in. They are ours now, and of course we are responsible.

Then, last week, one of our foster dogs in Florida, Sparkles, darted out the front door when the foster Mom's adult son was visiting, and was hit by a car right in front of her house.

It's situations like this when I don't know what it's going to take to save the life of one of our dogs, until sometimes, days later.

I don't feel right coming to you and saying, "Hit by car. No idea what vet bill will be. Send funds and I'll tell ya later."

I want you to know what a medical event is going to cost. Where the dog is, and what the estimate and prognosis is going to be before I come to ask you to donate your hard earned money, which by the way, I dread doing if you haven't gotten that drift by now. :(

Sparkle's was one of those situations where we didn't know and the vet couldn't tell us at the time she was rushed in as an emergency.

Sparkle was hit in the side of the head. Her left eye was hit as well as her canine tooth which was broken in half.

The bill so far is at $1000.00. She is at the Oceanview Veterinary Hospital in Jacksonville Florida. I'm impressed with the care she is getting and they are giving us a rescue discount.

There is a very good chance that she will lose her left eye. Removing the eye and the broken tooth will add another $500.00 to the bill, which includes hospitalization through the end of the week.

Ace is 2 years old.

Then there is two year old Ace in the Dallas area whom we almost euthanized at the vet's recommendation.

He had something making him deathly ill and unable to breathe. We thought it was distemper because he came from a shelter, but lung X-rays said it wasn't that. They thought it was maybe canine flu. They are still waiting for the results of the testing.

We had him in ICU for three days and he wasn't getting any better. The vet thought he was suffering and should be put to sleep, so our Board voted to let him go.

Then, all of a sudden. Ace rebounded! He is now going to be ok but this is another one where I don't know what the final bill is going to be yet, but you can imagine after about 10 days of life saving treatments.

He is only two and highly adoptable.

Sara Pace took in three more from that horrible shelter near Chicago, on Monday. they range in age from 1-4. Highly adoptable, but their normal vetting will run around $700.00 each. Vetting costs are going up.

Please don't ask us to find vets who do rescue work for free. They simply don't exist. They, too, have to stay in business.

I'm doing everything I know to do to cut costs.

Our Board recently voted to cut the quarantine time for dogs brought in from shelters from two weeks, down to ten days. Our vets are telling us that is enough to isolate for shelter diseases.

We really do try to do everything we can to stretch a penny.

Dave Hagadorn told me that we owe almost $9,000.00 in vet bills right now, that we are unable to pay, as of this moment.

This is the hardest part of what I do.

This is what wakes me up in the night, reaching for the calculator in the dark.

Seriously. This has happened for the last three nights and I realize that we can't keep going down the same path.

We need your help.

These Bichons need your help.

We are having to make hard decisions who we can and can't accept, based on the resources we have available.

So, here I am. Coming to you again.

I believe that you believe that rescuing these precious little containers of love and light, is the right thing to do.

I know that you don't know the seriousness of the situation unless I come and tell you.

We are in a season of change. We are on an uphill climb.

I'm here to offer any matching challenges that may come in.

They need you. I need you.

All My Love, Robin

The Climb Lyrics Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming but,
there's a voice inside my head saying, you'll never reach it.

Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels
lost with no direction, my faith is shaking,
But I, I gotta keep trying.

I gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain.
I'm always gonna wanna make it move.

Always gonna be an uphill battle
And sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.

It ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side.

It's the climb.

The struggles I'm facing,
The chances I'm taking,

Sometimes might knock me down
But no I'm not breaking.

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most,

Yeah, just gotta keep going.
And I, I got be strong.

Just keep on pushing on, cuz

There's always gonna be another mountain.

I'm always gonna wanna make it move.
Always gonna be an uphill battle.

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.

Ain't about how fast I get there,
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side.

Its the climb.

Keep on moving, Keep climbing,

Keep the faith, babe.

It's all about the climb.

Keep the faith. Keep your faith

If you've made a past donation by credit card, you may e-mail Louie Bertolino at louieb@smallpawsrescue.org to let him know the amount of your donation for the Bichons.

You may also call Louie on his cell phone at 1-424-442-9484
Louie is on Eastern Standard Time!
(Please leave a message and Louie will return your call if he is not available!)

Companies Who Match Employees Donations  

See Vet Bills Paid by Small Paws Rescue
for April, 2012



From Small Paws Ebay!


Feedback Score Of 2100 100% Positive Comments.


"Small Paws Rescue Ebay SPR Ebay is open! Come and take a look. Patti Newlin

If you have items to donate to sell on Ebay, please email us! 

Don't forget to visit the Small Paws® Rescue Online E-Store
where lots of items are on clearance and we have some new items as well!!



New earrings-handcrafted acrylic. 1 inch x 1/2 ". The best on the block. $10.00
(I've never had compliments on my earrings from strangers, like I get when I wear these. Everyone loves, notices, and comments on them! Who knew?! Robin)


Necklace that matches earrings. 11" chain. Acrylic and hand crafted.


Set of 6 cards (2 of each shown) Donated from the Pinellas Park Bash.




Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness

101 Stories about Finding Your Purpose, Passion and Joy
by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Amy Newmark.
Forward by Deborah Norville.

Others share how they found their passion, purpose, and joy in life in these 101 personal and exciting stories that are sure to encourage readers to find their own happiness. Stories in this collection will inspire readers to pursue their dreams, find their passion and seek joy in their life.

This book continues Chicken Soup for the Soul's focus on inspiration and hope, reminding readers that they can find their own happiness.

The inspirational story of Small Paws® Rescue is included as told by author and SPR Executive Director, Robin Pressnall, entitled "Filling a Need". This is Robin's second publication in the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series.

Robin will sign each book. Profits from sales will go to Small Paws Rescue and the rescued Bichons!


The Small Paws Rescue Spring OnLine Auction Will Get Your Summer Off To A Great Start! Shop 'Til You Drop To Support The Continued Rescue, Adoption and Medical Issues Of Bichon Frises In Need Nationwide.

Please tell your friends, family and community that the online bidding will begin Friday May 4th at 8 A.M. E.S.T.

We Are Ready To Accept Your Items For Donation.
We And The Bichons Thank You In Advance!


Try GoodSearch.com as your search engine and as your online shopping portal!
Small Paws is signed up and each time you use it, either to search or to go to an online seller, funds are sent to Small Paws for the Bichons! You can buy those shoes at Zappos and those books at Amazon *AND* donate to Small Paws Rescue! Try it out! So far, Small Pawsers have done 102, 784 searches and have shopped to raise $1,967.51 for Small Paws Rescue!

How to Become a Much Needed Small Paws® Rescue Foster Parent!

See how we REALLY feel about our volunteers!

Prayer Reports and Requests

(God loves you more than anyone else ever has,
and more than anyone else ever will!)

Date: 4/8/2012 8:52:23 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: bichons3@tampabay.rr.com
To: Pup3@aol.com

Robin,

I would like to ask for a prayer request for Penny’s mother. We took her to the ER on Thursday afternoon. She has been suffering from congestive heart failure for years. They told us she has pneumonia and the cardiologist believes she might have had a mild heart attack. The EKG showed some damage to the right side of her heart. They have told us that they do not recommend any open heart surgery due to her complications with diabetes and kidney failure as well. We should find out more tomorrow when her regular cardiologist has a chance to see her test results. We’ll try to keep you up to date with her prognosis.

Bichon Wishes,
Calvin W. Obara
St. Petersburg, FL

Hear the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sing "So You Would Know."

Will God let us have our beloved pet's in heaven?

Information About Our Programs

(Let Us Help You to Keep Your Pet During Tough Financial Times)

"Trust, a Deadly Disease"
A MUST read, sent in by our Team Leader
to the Carolinas, Kathryn Smith
~By Sharon Mathers. Published 1988 in Canine Concepts
and Community Animal Control Magazine.~


Humphrey Sisco
Dec 26, 1993~ Aug 30, 2006

When I first saw this beautiful picture of Cheri Sisco's "Humphrey", I thought it was truly the epitome of what we do, and why we do it. I wanted to use this black and white picture of Humphrey, taken only days before his death due to congestive heart failure, to let those who may be new to Small Paws, know what we do and why we do it. Without Small Paws, Humphrey would have never known love. He would have died in a kill shelter, sick and alone. Because of Small Paws, and Cheri Sisco, he lived, he loved, and he smiled.

(All recipients of the Small Paws Rescue newsletter receive it voluntarily. Small Paws never gleans e-mail addresses from other e-mail lists. Small Paws never solicits e-mail addresses or shares them with other "lists" or organizations.)