Saturday, March 24, 2012.
Stickied. Scroll down for newer posts.
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Sweetie, a deaf Australian cattle dog (blue heeler) in need of a home.
Unfortunately, she’s had two homes since then — and seven since November. None have worked out. An ACD expert here in the northwest (where the breed is more common) says behavior problems that are mysterious and frightening to people unfamiliar with this very special dog are just normal, though unfortunate, reactions of an ACD neglected and under stress. The more she gets rejected, the worse Sweetie’s stress becomes.
So. We need to get Sweetie from South Carolina to the west coast and into the hands of someone who really knows the breed. Someone who will make a commitment to work with this sad dog to make her adoptable. My favorite ACD rescuer is on the project right now.
I’m asking you to help Mary Lou Seymour and me raise $400 in the next two weeks to cover a crate, a vet certificate, and airfare. PLEASE use the donation button below to send Sweetie on her way. If you don’t use PayPal, contact me at sweetie at hermit dot cotse dot net to get an address for snail mail. Any size donation is more than welcome. Any funds we collect above the transport cost will go toward Sweetie’s care while she’s in rescue. THANK YOU!
Sunday morning, March 25. Please see the update in the comment section. You guys are A-MAZING.
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Thank you for continuing to bookmark and use my Amazon link. It helps more than you know.
$ in the mail monday, Claire
Thank you, UnReconstructed. 🙂 This dog really needs the help.
BTW, since someone is sure to suggest it: We do know about the volunteer groups Pilots n Paws and ARF (Animal Rescue Flights). And also about various overland transport systems for dogs. They’re all great. Unfortunately, the short hops, multiple transfers, temporary overnights, and handling by multiple people that those entail won’t work for a dog as stressed and unpredictable with people as Sweetie. Everybody involved agrees Sweetie needs the quickest trip with the least handling, which is why the need to just buy her a flight and get her to ACD rescuers ASAP.
Thank you TH for the PayPal donation and LS for inquiring about snailing.
Hey Claire,
$ via Paypal. I hope that sweetie has a good flight and a long life in a happy home.
Now I really wish I had my place set up. Poor Sweetie 🙁
Definitely Poor Sweetie. For the moment she’s back in a cage at a private rescue and reportedly doing just terrible there.
BUT. I have some really good news thanks to you guys.
I posted the fundraiser yesterday midday. By the time I got to my computer this morning you guys had already sent everything needed for the transport — and more! And that’s on a weekend when blog traffic is at its lowest.
I was going to take down the appeal. But after talking it over with Mary Lou and the ACD rescue coordinator who’s working with us, here’s what we’d like to do instead. Sweetie is almost certainly going to need a long rehabilitation period once she comes west. She won’t be ready for placement for a long time. Our ACD hero, Linda, knows great rescuers (and is one herself, though she can’t personally take Sweetie).
Linda is now trying (whining and begging, she says) to get one of the top ACD rescue groups in the country to accept Sweetie. The volunteers with this group not only know the breed as well as anybody, but they have experience with blind and deaf heelers, AND they are very careful about making their placements. With them, Sweetie would not only get excellent rehab, but would have the best possible chance of getting a true forever home once she gets out.
As you can well imagine, being able to offer these overtaxed rescuers a solid donation to get Sweetie through rehab would be a helpful addition to Linda’s whining and begging.
So that’s what we’d like to do. I’ll leave the appeal up for a week or so, and any donations that come in above the transport cost will go to the rescue group that ends up taking Sweetie.
We don’t yet know which group it’ll be. Once I know, I’ll send the donations we’ve collected to them. Then I’ll step aside and link contributors directly to them, so if they’re a 501(c)(3) you’ll be able to get the tax benefit.
I’ll keep you posted — and ML and I will soon be sending BIG thank yous.
In the meantime, thank you and CONGRATULATIONS TO YOURSELVES!
Happy to help out Claire. Breaks my heart when I see dogs in trouble. Best girl I ever had was a big fat pit bull I got from a shelter — she was a sweetheart. My wife still teases me about that dog.
Tim, you have done more than just help out. You and I know what you contributed. And I can tell you, that big fat pit bull had one terrific “dad.”
Some people have reported a problem with my update link. I can’t reproduce the issue, but I did change the URL of the link code. Hoping that fixes it.
Mrs. Sagebrush and I hope that helps. We are looking forward to a happy new home for her!
Oh my goodness, sagebrush dog walker — you BET that helps. I just got the notice from PayPal.
And to all who’ve contributed — my deep apologies for being late to send personal thank yous. Between deadlines and making arrangements for Sweetie’s transport and care, I’m behind in everything. But I promise that your generosity isn’t going unnoticed and won’t go unthanked for long!