PARALYZED DOG SAVED FROM OWNER GOES ON TO HELP OTHERS - LOOK AT THESE LITTLE YORKIES!

http://www.care2.com/causes/paralyzed-dog-saved-from-owner-goes-on-to-help-others.html

A DISABLED PET IS SO SPECIAL...IF YOU CAN ATTEND THIS EVENT, PLEASE DO

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=4ve9oddab&v=001B7Ca3ME3LkLlWte6H5zTh4iu-KmzG39mpi0WpHSjysZpcSdswl-El2uTk893cKhLHKAe1SrqP3P7VskdfI5l1TtIJpch0pMYofn9flfZcYU6wga4AGRJOA%3D%3D

I do this for dear Granny Annie - an old, ugly Boston terrier with whom I was blessed for a year and a half.

I'll never forget her. 

She was a special little angel...heaven sent, indeed.

EVER THINK OF ADOPTING A PET WITH A DISABILITY? HERE'S A GREAT RESCUE!

http://www.petswithdisabilities.org/adopt.html#3leg

If you've never thought of adopting a dog with disabilities, consider...Granny Annie. You remember her, I'm sure, but if not, search for her name in the search bar above.

I got a call from animal control to please come for this dog. Dear God! What was advertised on their website was a 5 year old Boston, maybe blind in one eye. Well, her eyes were dim with age, and she was missing a front leg. She had a swing ball and chain on a rear leg - a large round cyst left to grow, and it swung around a back leg every time she took a step. Her skin was horrible. She'd lost so much hair. She couldn't hear very well. She stunk.


She was ancient; She had scars down her back similar to the scars manatees get, and a cleft in the middle of her face. I think she had met with a propeller, maybe from falling into the water off a boat. She had been confiscated because of the miserable conditions in which she was found. But in her past, someone loved her very much.

Could I leave her there? Of course not.

She became one of the dearest and most loved animals ever to live in my heart. She was here for a year and a half of the best years of her life.

So if you are ever confronted with a dog with a disability who needs a home, don't let it frighten you off. That animal could be your dream come true.

TODAY WAS THE DAY WE SAID GOODBYE TO GRANNY ANNIE

A sweet old lady, known to many as an elderly poster girl for adopting old dogs with disabilities.

Last night we had her last stroller walk and a man in the neighborhood stopped and told me she must have been "the spoiltest dog in the world". She may have had cancer - tumors were erupting all over; she probably had congestive heart failure. But the coughing was unstoppable and was so bad, it would weaken that one front leg and she would sink to the ground and cough some more.

So it was time.

She was sent to the Rainbow Bridge on a sweetly scented spring morning with wisteria and swamp honeysuckle wafting through the trees in the yard, rolled down to my van.

Granny took her injuries, which looked like propeller scars on a manatee's back, and her amputation in complete stride and grace. I cannot imagine how much someone must have loved her to nurse her through her trauma. But a year and seven months ago, she had been confiscated by Bay County Animal Control in terrible condition, and when I saw her I couldn't let her go. Granny Annie had a wonderful life here, and special cushions she loved, scattered on the floor.

So now she is waiting with the others at the Rainbow Bridge.

Good girl, Annie. There's a big void in the house today, but you're home where you belong, with friends you didn't know. You were much adored and will be terribly missed for a long, long time.

I want to thank Wayne Pacelle and Julie Falconer at HSUS for their interest in Granny who appeared with her story in the magazine last year.

I hope that when the time comes to open your heart to another pet, you will consider the older animal, who may not stun you with its beauty, who carry with them a tale of suffering, whether it is physical or emotional, but who will bless your life with love and life lessons like nothing else can. Just like Granny Annie. I couldn't wish you more.

Meet Toozik from Russia - a dog with a disability!

http://rt.com/Top_News/2009-10-20/disabled-dog-finds-home.html

From Russia with Love...

Deaf Dogs - No need to decide its fate -

http://www.deafdogs.org

This site will help you. It isn't a rescue, but it will give you guidance for your deaf dog.

Granny Annie...update on her 5 minutes of fame...

Got word this morning that both Dogster.com and Petfinder.com have picked up Granny Annie's
story and have mentioned it in their blogs with links to Wayne Pacelle's HSUS blog.

Here are the links...

http://blog.petfinder.com/petfinder/2008/12/24/

http://dogblog.dogster.com/2008/12/24/give-a-senior-a-new-leash-on-life/

Granny Annie's on Wayne Pacelle's HSUS blog today!

Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation | The Humane Society of the United States

Gray, with a Silver Lining

Posted: 23 Dec 2008 11:02 AM CST

I celebrate the people who go to shelters or rescue groups to adopt any homeless dog or cat. It's an act of love and kindness. But I have a special place in my heart for people who adopt senior pets. These dogs or cats may have a few flecks of gray, and may not be as frisky or fetching or as big-eyed as puppies or kittens, but they love us just the same and perhaps they need us even more. They may not stay with us as long, but that only means we need to pack a lifetime of love and affection into fewer years.

Some weeks ago, the following story came into the blog and it's a great reminder to us all during the holiday season of the special creatures who need our help. I hope you find inspiration in this tale that May Lattanzio, a freelance writer, poet and photographer, tells.

Off and on throughout my life, I have worked as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator and placement volunteer for the local humane society and in private. I put up a blog and decided to help the county shelter which is high-kill, but rescue friendly, in Bay County, Fla., by putting a rotating widget in the sidebar of adoptable dogs.

Then I saw the nameless Boston with three legs who was supposedly five years old (approximately). Her owner was incarcerated, and she was given to someone else who neglected or mistreated her so much, she was confiscated.

And there she was. Much older than five. Maybe 500. She was scarred on her flanks. Her forehead looks like it was cleaved at one time. She trailed a long cyst sack that swung when she walked. It was heavy. She is missing a front leg. She hobbles; has lumps, bumps and warts all over. She is gray-faced.

Maybe someone would want a special needs dog. I took her home to foster. Granny Annie is no beauty. All dogs are beautiful physically, but poor Annie isn't. But inside that scarred interior lives a shining, golden heart and endless sweetness of character. I was planning to foster her so that she would not be euthanized. Who would want her?

It turned out that I did. To a house full of dogs and cats, she fit right in. If your heart is set on a dog, please adopt one, and don't forget the older ones who aren't pretty anymore; or the black ones who are seldom adopted because of their color. If they have special needs, they have lessons to teach you; like courage, inner strength, patience, gratitude and above all, love.