In May 2010, Missy was stolen from her owner’s car in Tucson when they stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. In the more than a year that has past, her owner, Amber, has not stopped looking for her — regularly checking with the shelter, placing ads on Craigslist, etc.

Even after she returned to Nebraska, Amber kept looking for Missy.

Now there has been a break. Missy has been found. She is in the Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Arizona. Above is a photo of her as she looks now.

Time is of the essence. We are asking for everyone’s help. Is there a rescue or a kind soul who will step forward and pull Missy from the shelter?

Contact Amber at 402-601-7086 or via Facebook. Or email me.

UPDATE: Amber and a friend are driving to Tucson to pick up Missy. We will update you as details become available. I wish them a safe journey and a happy reunion.

Many gracias, Holly.

Puffy has been an Ottawa neighborhood cat for about a year now. Neighbors have been feeding him and keeping an eye out for him. However, he was an unneutered male, so, though handsome to the eye, a “baby-maker” nonetheless. And a bit of a rabble-rouser who got into fights with other cats in the neighborhood.

Recently, a concerned neighbor stepped up and befriended Puffy.

“…he let me pat him and cut some matts out of his fur. He had a huge tick on him, a big healing abcess and lots of smaller scabs and scratches.”

After talking to his neighborhood “watch group,” it was decided that Puffy needed to be caught and neutered. Then he could possibly be released back into his neighborhood.

So this week, Puffy got a full checkup, de-worming, vaccinations, FeLV/FIV tests, and a neuter. All went well except for the FIV test. He has tested positive for the FIV virus.

If you are unfamiliar with FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus (or “slow virus”) which is characterized by a long incubation period. An infected cat’s health may deteriorate progressively or be characterized by recurrent illness interspersed with periods of relative health. Sometimes not appearing for years after infection, signs of immunodeficiency can appear anywhere throughout the body — poor coat, gingivitis, stomatitis, various cancers and blood diseases; much like any other cat might experience. [source]

What does FIV do to a cat? Infected cats may appear normal for years. However, infection eventually leads to a state of immune deficiency that hinders the cat’s ability to protect itself against other infections. The same bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi that may be found in the everyday environment — where they usually do not affect healthy animals — can cause severe illness in those with weakened immune systems. These secondary infections are responsible for many of the diseases associated with FIV. [source]

In other words, FIV won’t kill him, but rather a secondary infection could. Therefore, to lessen the possibility of acquiring a secondary infection and for keeping his immune system as strong as possible, it is best for Puffy to live indoors now.

So we are looking for a home that can take Puffy in. He currently lives in Ottawa. Taking him to the Ottawa Humane Society would likely be a death sentence (read some of the reasons an animal is destroyed in a shelter) and rescue groups called are full at this time.

Per Judy who took him to the vet:

“The vet says he is young and seems to be in good health other than being a bit thin. He seems gentle and friendly. When he was at my house for a little while he was comforted when I rubbed his cheeks and ears.”

“I have a foster home for him only until Sunday, and then maybe another foster for a few days after that.”

If you are interested in fostering or adopting Puffy, please email me and I will connect you with Judy.

If you want to learn more about FIV — what it means, how it is transmitted, what you might expect — the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University has created this great page to explain. It needn’t be a death sentence. Puffy can live a long and happy life. Even in a home with other cats.

And please… SHARE Puffy’s story by clicking on one of the icons below so we can find him a new home.

Ciao,
Holly

Divorce can be hell. And often times, the animals get stuck in the middle as expendable objects. That is the case with the three dogs in this story.

Seven years ago, B wandered up to a house in a rural area northwest of Houston in Texas and was allowed to stay. A year later, B gave birth to two puppies, KK and Mo. They, too, were allowed to stay. This has been their home for all their lives.

But now the couple is divorcing.

Word as we received it last night is that if the dogs are not removed from the property today, they will be killed. Because we have just become involved, we asked for more time. However, there is apparently a court order stating that the dogs must be gone by 2pm.

Just a bit ago, we found refuge for them for three days. So for now, we know they will not be killed this day.

We continue to seek foster home(s) and/or a new home(s).

Here’s what we know about them.

B is a Lab/something mix, about 50 pounds. She is about seven years old.

Mo and KK are B’s pups. They are Irish Setter/Lab something mixes, though you can see they really resemble their dad with their Irish Setter looks. They are about 60 pounds.

They are fine around children and are loving and affectionate as you can see in this photo with the couple’s child.

We are working against a deadline to get word out about them. We will update this post as we get more photos and info.

Please SHARE their story and let’s find these babies homes. They must not DIE because of matters that concern their owners. These are the innocents in this situation.

If you are interested in fostering or adopting these babies — all or one, please email me at holly.ellis.la @ gmail.com.

URGENT! We need 1-2 volunteers next Friday afternoon (10/29) at CHICAGO O’HARE International Airport (ORD). Please contact me a.s.a.p. if you can help us out for a couple of hours….

As Let’s Adopt! is growing worldwide we are in need of volunteers at major US airports to assist us receiving animals from our flight volunteers, AFTER they have passed through customs.
The airport volunteer will then take the animal and check it in for its connection flight to its final destination – its new home

It’s one of the most vital part of our operations, and with that also
a lot of fun and very rewarding:

• Time commitment is only few hours.

• You’ll need a vehicle to accommodate the kennel(s) or crate(s), depending on the size and number of animals to be transported.

• Meet with the flight volunteer at Arrivals

• Receive animal(s) and all necessary paperwork.

• Give animal(s) a quick potty/water break.

• Continue to designated cargo facility nearby.

• Check in animal(s) with airline (we do all the booking)

• Send them on their way and don’t forget to take pictures and videos for our community.

• DONE!

What’s in it for you?
Be a hero to our rescues and special needs animals, by providing this essential link to the Chain of Change.
What feels better than being part of a movement, saving lives and inspiring other? There’s nothing quite like it….

“BEing in the moment – BEing part of the movement - BEing The Change“!

Will you join us?

e-mail me at misha@myletsadopt.com

URGENT:
We need 1-2 volunteers next
Friday afternoon (10/29)
at CHICAGO‘s O’HARE
International Airport (ORD).
Please contact me a.s.a.p. if you can help us out for a couple of hours. BE part of our movement!

Thank You!

Misha

BE The Change

UPDATE September 6th,2010:

SOPHIA HAS BEEN ADOPTED!

Thanks to everyone who helped save her….

——————————————————————-

Many of you might remember my rescue trip to the San Francisco Bay Area in July.

leaving Portland for San Francisco

I was able to bring back ten dogs of which we kept two with Let’s Adopt! in Portland to re-home locally.

The lucky two were Sophia, a 2-year old Chi-Rat X, who found the greatest foster home in the city, Our very own Donde.

The other is Esperrranza “Espie”, a 1-year old Chi-Pin X, who is rooming with my little tribe.

Both have been vetted, spayed, and well socialized. They’ll have a play date with potential adopters over the weekend.

Let’s recap real quick why we had to rescue these dogs…

They were on death-row – on the kill list of the shelter for the very day I got my hands on them.

Espie wasn’t even available for adoption to the public. Her crime? She was “Timid”…TIMID! After 2-3 weeks in the madhouse, all that noise day in, day out, in a cold kennel, on concrete, did I mention the noise? I WOULD BE TIMID.

The instant she was out of the building and in the parking lot with us, she gave kisses…something she’s now famous for. In fact, she chases Ouzo down on the sofa and basically gives him a complete dental at least twice a day. Very sweet girl. After weeks at the pound she needed a refresher on the house training, which she is doing well with.

Sophia is a little speed devil. She’s proud to walk on leash and can’t wait to get to the dog park to play with the other dogs and meet all the people…oh and treats of course.

I don’t even remember why she was on death row, but it strikes me as hideous that perfectly healthy animals are being killed in our municipal shelters.

With OUR tax dollars.

Can’t we do better than that?

I think we can.

Please read this week’s blog on how to become a *gulp* community organizer. To bring true change in your own community. It is time that YOU and I step up to the plate. Are you ready?

Meanwhile…sign up as a foster for us, rescue a dog or cat from your local kill pound this week, and foster it for a few days or weeks….we’ll assist you in re-homing it through our network…surprise me…

BE THE CHANGE

-Misha

Dear friends,

Today we are going to try something that, as far as we know it has never been done before, something that just a few years ago it could have never been attempted without a massive advertising expenditure.

pls read carefully and at the end PLEASE SHARE.

One of the most challenging aspects of our mission is to find foster homes. A network of foster homes is absolutely essential for the good fonctioning of any rescue organization.

A foster home is,  a temporary home where the animal gets chance to recover from the stress of being in a shelter or abandoned.  Additionally, the foster volunteer has the opportunity to work with the animal  to introduce him to family living (if its a puppy or a kitten) or to correct some of the behavior problems that may have led to him being abandoned.

Quite simply: Fostering Saves Lives.

So this is what we are going to do here today. Today we are going to use our entire network to build up our network of foster homes.

To do this we are going to need YOUR help. I need you to do three things:

1. Please feel free to use our poster, Foster Saves Lifes as avatar in your Facebook profile. You can just save the picture in this post. Alternatively you can download the small version  HERE

2. We need to have the involvement of your trusted veterinarians in this campaign. For this I would like you to download the Hig-Resolution Poster HERE, print it (in colour please) and ask your veterinary clinic to put it in its announcement board. I understand this may be a bit too cumbersome to some, but it is the fastest and most efficient way to have an inmediate distribution of this poster all over the world. It will also help us stablishing a link with our members trusted vets all over the world.

DOWNLOAD HI-RES POSTER HERE

3. Finally, I need you to share this post with your own networks. You can share it on your wall, you can email it, it doesn’t really matter, but I need you to please become personally involved in this campaign. We cannot do this alone we need you. The animals need you. PLEASE SHARE.

This campaign is being launched in our Global, USA, Canada, French, German and Turkish networks simultaneously and the homes will be available to our friends at Soi Dog / Let’s Adopt (Thailand), that are doing such an incredible job in the Far East.

If you would like to have the poster designed in your language to be used in your veterinary clinics just drop me a quick email on viktor@myletsadopt.com and Ill make sure it gets translated.

Come on.. let’s get to work.. this is very exciting! help us build a truly global foster home network.

Fostering Saves Lifes!.. Let’s get to work! That’s what we do! Save Lifes!

Start fostering today!. Contact me on: viktor@myletsadopt.com

Viktor

Dearest Friends + Supporters of Let’s Adopt!

I would like to thank you for your tireless support and votes in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge.
We have come to the realization, that we now have a zero chance to come close of making it into the top 2 of the $250k – grant category.
For that reason, we have decided to move on to focus on the urgent cases waiting for us to be handled.
We have numerous special needs dogs and cats in great need of new homes and/or vet care.
We’re also looking for volunteers in many areas.

So, I’d like to invite you to become permanent tribe members of our wonderful family, by joining your closest Let’s Adopt! network.
I have listed a few of them below:

LA! Global:
http://www.facebook.com/LetsAdoptGlobal

LA! USA:
http://www.facebook.com/LetsAdoptUSA

LA! Canada:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101251555667

LA! Germany/Austria:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99371202835

LA! Turkey:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=223594502500

visit http://myletsadopt.com/
to find a network near you!
I hope to see you on the other side…

Please continue to support our work.
We are not only looking for contributions,but are also in desperate need of VOLUNTEERS!

Flight Escorts
-
are you traveling a lot? Especially to/from Europe? – You can be a
lifesaver! At no extra cost to you. Just donate a little extra time at
the check-in/out and customs

Foster Volunteers
-
we need you in all countries!!
We’re desperate in Turkey.
TRULY desperate for foster homes. There are too many animals we can’t take in
because no one will step up and make a little space in their homes to
them….
We also need your help in Germany, France, USA, Canada, Bulgaria…everywhere

Activists
- you know who you are.
Annoyed by PETA, and a little scared of ALF?
We might just be the right place for you to land…

Contributors - our silent supporters who make so much of our work possible…
The Simba Fund:
http://bethechange.chipin.com/

Please download and add our foster flyer as your profile picture on FB for the next few weeks to raise awareness of the importance of fostering.

BE The Change

-Misha
contact me:
misha@myletsadopt.com

HALFWAY POINT!!!

Exciting???!! Well not so much.

We just fell to 110.
I promised myself I would fight for the Pepsi  Grant until the bitter end, but there’s only so much a handful of people can do.
I wholeheartedly thank everyone who supported this great opportunity for Let’s Adopt! and worked so hard, voted daily, if not twice, rallied friends, grandpa & grandma.
This evening I browsed a few pages of our ‘fans’ on Facebook  and noted how few of you bothered to re-post even once, put a little note in your profile to vote for us.

Yet Farmville, Mafia Wars and most ironically, PETville are some of the favorite time killers out there.

Daily, hourly, if not every few minutes, you’re chasing cyber goats, or chickens, feed you little cyber puppy…
Well, in the real world, puppies die, kitties die.

They are being tortured to death, starved, I just learned about a cat at my vet clinic who was dropped of because someone kicked her stomach so hard it was in her chest…
I’d love to take that cat on, but I don’t have the funds or the volunteers to do so. So, the staff does what it can, they did an emergency surgery on the cat – I don’t know whether she survived.
I don’t want to know, because I can’t make any difference in its life right now.
$250k was a big dream – a lot of money to save a lot of animals, fund spay /neuter – no kill action – we had a grand dream and an even bigger plan.
But halfway through the month it looks like we can’t compete with Farmville.
We can’t compete with your virtual reality.
My reality are the animals. Every day I see them, I sense them, I smell them, I live them.
Every day my heart breaks over one I couldn’t save for one or the other reason.
What I never did was give up or put my head in the sand.
I’d always try until the end.
So, what I am going to do now is, hand the voting power and our future in terms of receiving this grant money to you. The cyber farmers, virtual pet owners, mafia lords.
I challenge you to show that you’re alive out there and help us to get the votes we need. We need to make it into the top 2 of our category.
It was a feasible concept. Now I am too disillusioned to believe that.

Let’s Adopt! is a network of ACTIVists not couch potatoes.
You want change? Join us. You want to chase cyber chickens?

Please don’t waste our time with ohhs and aaahs over cute dogs on death row.
I could post pictures of abused cats and dogs to bring my point across, but I am honestly not very hopeful it would make a difference.

Thank You… I guess

BE The Change

Misha

We’re doing well!

KEEP VOTING!

This race is about endurance, and we’re in for a virtual “Ironman”.

http://www.refresheverything.com/letsadopt

I believe this little video will “speak” to each and everyone of those who watch it…

We are in a long distance run…

Come run with us…

Please vote for Let’s Adopt at the Pepsi Project… and SHARE…

As most of you know Let’s Adopt! USA is currently competing for USD 250.000 in the Pepsi Refresh Project.
Our goal is to use part of that money in building the worlds largest animal rescue plattform.
This competition is going very well… we are now in 431st position, bearing in mind that only the first two projects will be awarded you can clearly see we are in a position of advantage. We certainly can win this one!

Let’s Adopt is currently working in a number of secret projects. Our most ambitious one is to start rehoming animals in the Moon and Mars, to be followed by Venus.

A team of Let’s Adopt! scientists is currently based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, putting together the last details of this incredible project.

The choice between Congo and Cape Canaveral was a diffcult one but we are very satisfied with the results.

Here is a video of our historic launch…

We encourage all members of Let’s Adopt USA to continue voting for us in the Pepsi Refresh Project. Come on, we can win this one!

Please, if you are a US resident please vote HERE