Spanky was picked up by FWC in the woods as a stray at the end of May. Both of his knees were severely deformed causing pain due to misalignment. Surgery on both knees was his only option. In addition, he was heartworm positive. Spanky received his heartworm treatment then had his first knee surgery six weeks later. After a five-week recovery period, he received his second knee surgery. At the time of this letter, he is recovering nicely and will be available for adoption in a few more weeks. Your donations made this possible.
Rusty was left in our drop pen at the end of August. He had a severely injured and infected eye, a severe ear infection, and was very thin. After antibiotic treatment for his eye and ears, Rusty had to have his eye removed. This one-eyed sweetheart went on to be adopted by a family in the Tampa Bay area where he is living his best life. Thank you for making this possible.
It takes a village to find homes for the unwanted pets in Franklin County. Besides our wonderful local adopters and fosters, we also partner with like-minded organizations such as Tampa Bay SPCA, Pinellas Humane Society, Smitten with Kittens, TARAA, and Big Dog Rescue that help take in our overflow of cats and dogs. As many of you know, we are a small nonprofit in a rural area that can't begin to absorb all the animals that come through our doors.
But sometimes, even we are surprised when an unexpected avenue of pet adoption pops up. This year, for example, a rescue from Wisconsin, called Crossroads K9 Rescue, contacted us about three Labrador puppies who were the only surviving members of a litter of 10 due to canine herpes.
They wanted to work with two of the dogs and train them as service animals. Pilots N Paws, a national organization that flies dogs and cats to rescues around the country, stepped up. All three were picked up at the Apalachicola airport and flown north (two to Wisconsin and one to her permanent home in Des Moines, Iowa).
Since then, one of the pups, Ryker, has passed all his tests and is a permanent member of the Waukesha, Wisconsin police department as a tracking and electronics detection dog. Ruby, his Wisconsin sister, wasn't cut out for police work and is now living a full and happy life nearby in her permanent home. And Daisy, the Iowan in the group is also living the good life.
And finally, Dolly, the pup's Mom also ended up heading north. She was flown (also by Pilots N Paws) to Chicagoland Lab Rescue where she was treated for heartworms and eventually adopted to a couple in Des Moines, Iowa and now amazingly lives just down the street from her daughter Daisy.
Of course, none of these success stories would ever happen without the generous support of people like you. So, this holiday season, please give generously, because even in a pandemic, the steady stream of cats and dogs through our doors doesn't slow up.
Karen Martin
Director
