the puppies need our help!

there's no doubt that i'm an animal lover

as a child i always brought stray cats home

and my mom who was an animal lover, and a push over, usually took them in

we typically never had less than 3 cats at any given time

as an adult, it's really hard not to bring home animals every time i see the humane society babies at our local feeder's pet supply.

i live in a condo with a cat and a dog, and there simply isn't enough room

my cat, olivia, or better known as girrrrrrrl, was rescued in October 2008

and there are very few pictures of her...well...because she's gray and generally lays around and looks like a gigantic hairball.

but she is the sweetest cat - i used to carry her around like a baby and back in my bachelorette days she would tuck me in every night and lay on my chest and then curl up next to me

she does that to bill now...

and of course you've seen my big baby

 woodford who was rescued in 2011

this beautiful dog actually came from a kill shelter - animal control - in my hometown of elizabethtown.

i wish i knew his story of how he was found

he was roughly 6-8 months old when we got him - and you can ask any dog breed aficionado - he is all brittany spaniel - not that it mattered to me, but he is about as close to a full breed as you can get without knowing mommy and daddy dog.

which is what makes me so sad as to why people continue to go to breeders over rescue shelters.  i understand loving a specific breed.  but there are rescue groups for specific breeds all over the country. 

bill and i knew we wanted an active dog - we researched different breeds and thought we wanted a setter.  we then scoured PetFinder.com - searching all local/semi-local rescues for a setter/setter mix.

woodford had been listed as a setter and was in elizabethtown - about a 45 minute drive.  i think it was a weekend when we spotted him.  i called and inquired about him and i ended up taking a half day on monday to go and check him out.  well, when we got to animal control he didn't quite look like a setter - i didn't care - but it was obvious he wasn't a setter - we were then told he was a brittany.  we were already convinced he was coming home with us, but upon googling brittany spaniel - we became nervous - because...well they can be nervous dogs...and extremely hyper.

we were in for the challenge and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise since brittany's are basically a setter/pointer in a smaller package (we're limited on space)

and you can read all day long about brittany's needing open fields and a backyard.

we live in a condo and he is quite happy.  although, bill does work from home and we run/walk him A LOT.

i feel it's my duty to urge, beg, plea that if you are considering a dog (or a cat) to research breeds that fit your lifestyle.  and then to spend time on petfinder.  look around.  search the breeds.  search all the dogs in your area. a dog is not something you go out and get on a whim.  if you are determined to find a little chi-poo-weenie-york-shu i guarantee you will find the love of your life that is begging for a forever home that just needs a chance out of a shelter.  it may end up looking more like a weenie-chi-shu, but i bet you won't even care when he looks up at you with those thankful eyes

or a smug, lazy look...whatever.

all dogs are gonna chew up a pair of shoes and pee on the carpet.  i don't care if it's a name brand or a mutt.

i'm proud to live in a community that is very animal shelter aware - i guess you could say

louisville is a "no kill" city - meaning all of the rescues will not be put down

there are many great shelters in the area, but i'm most familiar with the kentucky humane society.

our louisville branch does an outstanding job of rescuing animals from high kill shelters and bringing them in to the city in hopes of adoption.

as you can imagine, it takes a lot of money and supplies to keep all these animals healthy.  when you adopt from the humane society you are getting an animal that has been well taken care of, is up to date on shots, and has been neutered or spayed.

until all breeders breed responsibly and all pet owners are responsible enough to "fix" their fur babies, there will be overflowing animal shelters.

i wish i could take another puppy and 2 more cats home.  but i can't, so i feel it's my duty to donate to the humane society.

in the past this meant making a donation at christmas time when woodford sees "santa paws"

and in the past i have also ran the waggin trail 5k

 

which leads me to the climax of this post

the waggin trail 5k is a run/walk sponsored by the kentucky humane society

they encourage participants to raise funds leading up to the race on May 18th.

i would love to bring in as much money as possible!

right now, i've set a goal of $500

if you would like to donate please follow this link

the money goes straight to the kentucky humane society and never passes through my hands - easy peasy!

i would also like to ask all my runner/walker/puppy loving friends who are in the area to jog with me!

on the same link

you can opt to join my group.  it's $25 to sign up - the money goes towards our fundraising efforts!  annnnnd you get a t shirt.  win!

once you sign up you can forward the donation site link out to all your family and friends!

if i can get 5 more people to jog with me, and those 5 people get 5 more people to donate at least $5 each...

PLUS my $25 donation - we're already over halfway to my $500 goal

just for your reference

$50 provides 1 day's worth of food and water to 25 pets in the humane society's care
$100 provides supplies for 10 surgeries at the SNIP clinic (neuter/spay)
$250 funds an exam,vaccinations, spay/neuter and microchipping for one cat or dog
$500 pays for 1heart-worm positive dog to receive medication
$1,000 pays the bills to rehabilitate an abused or neglected cat or dog

(from here)

i can't imagine my life without olivia or woodford.

i can't imagine their life if i hadn't been there, either.

please do what you can, and pass this on to all your pet loving friends :)