Dear Friends Of Let’s Adopt!

Cheeta during initial critical treatment

Cheeta was rushed to our clinic last week with a totally destroyed leg.

The damage was so great that it had to be amputated.

Cheeta recovering- finally a safe place to cuddle and exhale

She is now a gorgeous three legged kitty.
…
Hairy Steak (named that way because Peke sees her as a potential lunch) had an equally tragic story.. she fell into a semi-empty pool and she was left there for two days.

By the time she arrived,  she was in a coma and blind.

Hairy Steak’s first steps recovering
Lots of care made her get out of her state and she is now an amazing kitty as you can see in the pictures.

snuggle time “zzZZzzzZZzzZZ”

Bearing in mind that they are very good friends and have gone through so much, we were keen on re-homing them together.

UPDATE: Cheeta + Hairy Steak have been adopted to TEXAS!!

and moved with the help of a flight volunteer!!!

kisses goodbye….

Thanks to all of you who are making our mission possible.
As you can see, we are all volunteers with no federal grants or deep pockets. We finance all of our rescue missions with kind contributions to our Simba Fund + out of pocket.
What’s unique about Let’s Adopt! is that we have zero overhead. Every single cent of your contribution (after PayPal fees) goes directly the care of our animals!
Chances are that most of the funds you see listed on the Simba Fund Chip In, have already been spent and put into action.

Thank You for your continuous support and making our global vision a reality.

BE The Change
Misha Dee

Early July, I received a cry for help from rescuers of the Contra Costa County death camps.
Listings after listings of perfectly healthy, beautiful animals slated to go down any time.
Something had to be done – NOW.
But how? We have no fosters in the area.
Martinez is almost 700 miles away, my car was too small, renting an SUV or van + gas was too expensive. So, what could we do? As you know, Let’s Adopt! is a volunteer run organization. We don’t have a fleet of vans or SUVs at our disposal.
We don’t run shelters or a day care. We work with foster homes. Unfortunately we don’t have enough yet, but we’re growing and I am optimistic that this story will inspire some of you to sign up to become not just another foster, but a viable lifeline!

I contacted my friend Amy with the Pixie Project, and just asked her whether I could borrow the rescue’s  SUV for a long weekend.
It was a long shot and I held my breath, hoping, but really thinking she’d laugh me off telling, me “nice try, but I’m not giving you my car to drive it 1400 miles across state lines“.
Well, Amy did not only call me back right away, she contacted a fellow rescuer in town who immediately offered to take 5-7 dogs in addition to the ones Let’s Adopt! was about to rescue. It took some scheduling and wiggling the details, but in the end we sorted it all out.

leaving Portland for San Francisco

I started my trip from Portland to San Francisco on Saturday, July 10th at sunrise. A SUV packed with empty cages and kennels and a whole lot of hope and arrived in the Bay Area late afternoon, managed to reconnect with some old rescue friends from my time of living in SF. I learned the shelter wouldn’t be open until Tuesday, so I had time to connect and touch bases about the current status of animal rescue and welfare in the Bay Area.

…And it doesn’t look good at all. I spoke to one of the managers of the SF Animal Care & Control who described in despair how the city is shaving dollar after dollar off their budget, that could potentially safe lives. Yet the city uses funds to create silly projects like some “Good Samaritan fund” that rewards people who did the right or a good thing.
We’re now “bribing” people to do what’s right?
What a world.
This deserves its own blog. Stay tuned for an interview with a SF AC&C official.

Sunday: I receive the euthanasia list from the shelter.Pages after pages … Chihuahuas, Poodle Mix, Pit bulls, Pomeranian mix, King Charles Spaniel – another spaniel mix… the list was overwhelming to go through, but I had to. I needed to choose, who I could save. I had five to seven spots. That was it. Now many of you are already questioning the following: HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?
How does one choose?
I don’t know. At some point you have to put emotions past you and look at it from a rational point of view. As rational as one can be in a situation such as this. You look for temperament, adopt ability. I knew I couldn’t bring any Pits or Pit X, because I didn’t have a foster for one, and the other rescues can’t take them due to liability issues. Both rescues run day-cares and the prejudice against this breed is alive and well…..Something we will have to discuss another time.

With Pit bulls excluded, I made a list of 12 dogs and rearranged it from there. When I got to the shelter on Tuesday, there were already a lot of people in line. Some to adopt, others to claim their animals and then there were those that were waiting to surrender their pets. I was greeted by Annie, who held yet another more recent kill list in her hands. We compared notes and just rushed inside to look at as many dogs as we possibly could, knowing “they” are starting the killings in just a few moments. We had 5 dogs in no time, added another 2 – that was it!!
Or was it?

Annie + Lori doing the paperwork

While we checked out the first dogs with the help of Lori of Good Newz Pittie Pups Rescue,  Annie, presented me with 3 wire crates another person donated to the mission. I had dividers in them!!!By taking some of my larger kennels out and using those crates, I had more room. We pulled an older Aussie Shepherd, who we since named Jester.

More about this boy later. He is a special needs boy, who happened to bite me on the way back home,during one of the breaks. It’s not an aggression issue, he did that out of fear, stress, pain combined, when I tried to get him back into the car after a potty break.

Aaaanyway:

While I was outside arranging the crates and animals, I realized that I had more space. So I called Annie on her cell inside the shelter: “I’ve got room for two more, Annie….!!!”.

She zoomed into the euthanesia room, and snatched two dogs straight out from under the needles.

Safe! Pulled with minutes perhaps even seconds to spare!

safe! one has already been adopted!

safe! sweet, skinny little Pom mix

On the Road again....Portland here we come

After getting everyone settled in the car, sorted out the paperwork, we hugged and I went on my way back to Portland.
Because of time “lost” at the shelter and during some potty breaks with the dogs, I arrived back in Portland at 2:30 AM on Wednesday morning.
Theresa from DogStar waited for me, keeping herself entertained by doing some much needed bookkeeping. We unloaded the car, put everyone in a kennel, gave them some food/water and kisses, and went home. Mission accomplished – ten dogs save – alive!
Got home at about 3:30AM, Ouzo greeted me with kisses and hugs. I snuck upstairs, kissed Al “hello”. Ouzo squeezed in between us snuggling with me, licking my bite wounds…. I fell asleep thinking….What a trip!

Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY – ANYTIME!

All started with a small idea and the desire to help. It takes a community to do this. I still need fosters – everywhere. When I sent out a call for local fosters, Donde Buckowski stepped up immediately, and offered her home to one of the rescues.

Safe! Sophia (foreground) is available for adoption with LA!USA

Little “Sophia” is a Chihuahua mix with cow markings. Great with dogs, loves kitties, full of energy. Sophia has already a solid interest – after only few days.

safe! ESPERRRANZA, available for adoption via Let's Adopt!USA

I have little “Esperrranza”, a Chi( MinPin?) mix, who was going down for behavioral. “TIMID” her card said. I found her shivering in the back of her kennel, low to the ground, the noise level in her unit was unbearable – impossible to talk. Can you imagine a little dog in there for 2-3 weeks? I would be TIMID too. As soon as she knew she was safe – she gave kisses and one could just see the big sigh of relief in her entire body language. “Esperrranza” is available for adoption as well. There is some interest for her, but we’re still accepting applications for both of these dogs.

The standard Let’s Adopt! Adoption requirements apply:

• Must have another animal dog

• will be part of the family, not live in the garage, basement, or ever be left on a tie out or unsupervised in the yard.

• We are supporters of a species appropriate diet and all Let’s Adopt! animals are being fed a raw diet. (see http://www.rawlearning.com for more info).

• Adopter has to sign up with Facebook and create a photo album to share with the Let’s Adopt! community that shows the animal’s progress. (Or adopter can send pictures to me and I’ll set up the album for them)

We do not apply an adoption fee. Adopting one of our animals is a privilege not mercy. One can’t put a price tag on any of our animals.

Even if you can’t adopt, but would like to support our mission and rescue operations such as this, please contributing to the Let’s Adopt! Simba Fund

Many thanks to the following rescuers and agencies for their support and collaboration.

Annie Wong – Big Dawgs Rescue

Lori Wilson – Good Newz Pittie Pups Rescue

Melody Chen – FB cross poster and rescuer for the Contra Costa County Shelters.

Amy Sacks – Pixie Project

Theresa Shire – DogStar

and of course thanks to Billie+ David for housing and feeding me “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVID!”, as well as “Matela” for sharing HER sofa with a human.

BE The Change -

it is not THAT difficult if you just put your mind to it.

~Misha

…GET TO WORK…

dog slated to be killed because he was no longer wanted.

Unfortunately,
thousands of dogs and cats will be euthanized tomorrow.

Many perfectly healthy, sweet, with out fault.
…Some will get gassed like Jews during the Nazi regime,
others will be (if  ‘lucky’) sedated, and then a needle will be rammed into their heart.
Others will get a needle in the leg –
“they” like to call that the most humane method of murdering animals.

What they all have in common is that they are HUMAN WASTE.

Discarded by a

• family that had to move, but couldn’t be bothered to search until they could find housing for ALL their family members,
• bimbos who had to copy Paris and Nichole and Britney and had to have their own little purse dog. These dogs were born in concentration camps, have a couple of months of questionable fun and then they’re dumped to die at a death camp. How truly cruel is that?!! Think about it for a moment.

• because the boy/girlfriend is allergic,

• ohhhh -my favorite: they’re having a baaaaaby…so let’s dump the furkid.

• Backyard breeders who thought they could breed and make a couple of quick bucks.

All these people dump their animals at the pound, and then WE are expected to clean up after them.

yes - YOU!

There’s got to be a better way.
I am hoping someone will take a few off death row.
Let’s Adopt!USA is in the process of taking in a few dogs from a high kill shelter in Northern CA.

We want to do more – but we need more volunteers and fosters.

The “ohhhhs” and “aaaahs” about dogs sitting
on death row are not cutting it. We need action!!!!

We need people who will open their homes to one of these creatures.

A safe place, a spare room, some good meaty bones and a little chicken for the summer…

Is that too much to ask for?
I wonder……

2 foster babies from seasons passed...Lila + Dexter

BE The Change – What does it take?

~Misha

This is the story of Gülümser “The One That Smiles”.

A very young kitten found eaten alive by worms.  Her ear gone, her lips, part of her tongue…. I will spare further details.

There was no way a young creature with not much of an immune system can survive such cruelty…. or could she?

The One That Smiles

“They” said she had no chance but then a miracle happened… she fought back!

As you can see, she has since recovered and grown into a beautiful, loving cat – adored by many – especially her new mom.

We couldn’t do this work without the support of our members.

Please consider adopting one of our animals..

and/or contributing to the Simba Fund:

Please share this video in your profiles as well.

Thank You from all of us at Let’s Adopt!

~Misha
BE The Change!

Dear Friends,
last month I asked whether, we as a community could save 100 animals this summer.

What has happened since…

I’ve met Mary Ann, a wonderful lady from NC.She saved several cats from a property, who’s owner threatened repeatedly

Using cats for target practice for procreating? An oxymoronic situation considering who's doing the shootin'

to just use the cats  for target practice.
Mary Ann and her patient husband set up traps, and over the course of a week were able to catch all of them.

trapped kitty - ready to be spayed

All have been altered, vaccinated and an older kitty is being treated for a couple of fighting wounds.
Stay tuned for Mary Ann’s story…..

a new lease on life instead of a never ending cycle of kittens

Then there is Daniela, who literally took us up on our challenge the very next day. She lives in Atlanta, went to a high kill shelter in Rome, GA and saved a beautiful English shepherd mix from death row.

Daniela named him Borgo, after a district in Rome.

Borgo on Death Row at the Rome, GA animal pound

Within days Borgo came down with the kennel cough. Daniela spent hours taking him to the vet, treating him, comforting him.

After several baths, a trip to the groomer, lots of love, vaccinations and finally getting neutered – Borgo is ready to move to his new home, which is already waiting for him in Indiana.
Unfortunately, Daniela is a poor student, with a minimum wage job on the side and has exhausted her resources.

She needs help with transport and/or shipping Borgo to Indiana. Please contact Daniela if you can help. dragomirovad@yahoo.com

What about the challenge?

We are a community of over 2000 members in the US. I think we can do better. Daniela, a student, with a minimum wage job, living in a small apartment has proven that there’s always a way to save a life.

Borgo and his personal angel, Daniela

Every life is worth saving. No matter how old or broken an animal is. We owe it to them to make things right.
If we don’t intervene, who will?
What can WE – as a community, as individuals do this coming month?

Step ONE: sign up as a volunteer with us.
if you can’t volunteer please consider supporting us via the Simba Fund.
100 cents of each dollar go to the care of our animals, and funding of special rescue operations. Let’s Adopt! does not have any overhead, because we are ALL volunteers.
This sets us apart from any other big organization.

• Send me your stories and pictures of the animals you saved.
• Sign up to volunteer for us. We are looking for volunteers in ALL 50 States and also in Canada RIGHT NOW.

Shoot me an email with your information:

• Name
• Location
• Volunteer Interest

Let’s make this summer one to remember…

Let's Adopt! Summer Of Luuuuv 2010

The summer we saved 100 animals - TOGETHER!

BE The Change
~Misha

It is with tremendous sadness I inform you that
we have lost Joy!
Her battered little body gave up yesterday night.
She just couldn’t go on…

Rest In Peace, little baby!

Joy [2010]

BE The Change!

~Misha

Most of you will remember the case of Gulumser:

http://animoto.com/play/XCOO0fTvdZOA8u654I94eA

Joy’s case is in a way, much worst. Whilst Gulumser condition was created by an infestation of worms, Joy’s case is different.

Joy’s condition is the result of torture.

We are taking up this case. Joy will be in treatment until she is ready to go to a loving home.
Please support our work by contributing to the Simba Fund http://bethechange.chipin.com/

I posted this earlier on my profile.
I’m in
shock and disbelief about how we as humans can do this to innocent
sentient beings – just because they trust us or are dependent on us.HOW? WHY? What causes a young man or woman to do this to a kitten, just a few weeks old? Is it evil – is it us? What is boredom, numbness?…Joy will live – we have promised her this.
I want to see her eyes shine again – the way my foster kittens’ eyes shine every day I when they crawl all over me, purring, playing, being mischievous.

I want Joy to have all that and more. Whoever took it from her will have to deal with  their own karma. Our mission is to give Joy back what she lost…. trust and love. Please help us and support our cause by contributing to the Simba Fund.100% of each Dollar goes straight to the care of our animals.
We have no overhead, because we are virtual.
Most of the money you see accumulated in the chip in, has likely been already spent…

BE The Change!
Misha Dee

A few days ago I heard the story of a young soldier currently stationed in Afghanistan.

With the incredible support of his girlfriend back home he is trying to coordinate the rescue of five dogs that, unless we do something about it, will have to stay behind in the most inhospitable land in this world.

This is a very heartwarming story of courage, heroism (the mother of the pups died whilst stopping a suicide bombing), tenacity and compassion.

To most this is an impossible mission.  We are going to give a push to this campaign and show the world that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

How to do this?  I have prepared this video..

Please click on this link

http://animoto.com/play/vDLtR1pzeAfOcgT63cFnQQ

At the end of the video there is a call to action. Please contribute to this very special fund. Any amount, no matter how small, will be helping to bring those young lives home.

If you cannot contribute then please Share this post in your profiles.  This is one of the most beautiful stories we have encountered, we must absolutely make it happen.

Now please watch this video… and share…

http://animoto.com/play/vDLtR1pzeAfOcgT63cFnQQ

Many thanks

Viktor

Whenever you visit our blogs, you might have noticed
the Let’s Adopt Community Map to the lower right of your screen.

Put yourself on the map and start saving lives.

What is it all about?
Very simple – The Map connects YOU to the rest of the Let’s Adopt! Network worldwide!

This is the place to put your marker on the map, tell us a little about yourself or copy the code to of your Facebook badge and let us know in what capacity you can support us.
For example: foster, transport, flight volunteer, action calls, etc).

Misha Dee

Create Your Badge

SAVE THE MAP and you’re all done.

Need a step-by-step?

:. sign in or register with Google
.:. Go to the map at
http://bit.ly/LetsAdopt-Network-Map to add your pin to the map.
.:. zoom the map,
.:. click the blue pin and drag it to your location.
.:. add your information, and be sure to SAVE the map when you’re done.

Easy – Yet such an important step to connect with others.

Share the map and invite all your fellow animal activists, rescuers, and volunteer friends and family, so we can truly build a tight network and react fast in any sort of emergency rescue situation.

Become part of the solution.  Join Let’s Adopt! USA today.

BE The Change!

Misha

Please SHARE/RT

It’s our worst possible nightmare. What would happen to our pets if we suddenly died? What will happen to them if we die before they do?
Some of us are lucky enough to have families that will take care of them, but what about those who don’t?

Two events have made me reflect on this issue in recent days:

1. The sudden death of two our members. They were both young. They both died unexpected deaths.
2. The fact that we are having adoption requests from senior citizens that already have a number of animals in their homes. In most cases the issue seems to have been discussed with their sons and daughters but there is always a lingering doubt… will they really take care of their animals?

I look around the websites of many animal organizations. They are all geared towards receiving donations. In most cases the whole fund raising process is done in a completely shameless way that makes one wonder. But then, I have not found anybody offering a solution to the question.

There are a number of legal provisions you can take, and this include the setting up of a Special Trust to provide for your animal. This works in countries like the US where the SPCA could (provided that a large provision is made) in theory, take care of your animals. These provisions are enforceable.

Under the California Probate Code, a trust for the care of an animal is a valid trust that can be enforced in court. An action to enforce a pet trust can be brought by “any person interested in the welfare of the animal.” This includes animal-care organizations such as the SPCA and similar non-profits that have as their principal activity the care of animals. In addition, the settlor (person creating the trust) may designate certain persons who will have the right to bring a court action to enforce the trust. If no one has been designated in the trust instrument, the court can even appoint a person to enforce the trust. Generally, regular accountings are required, and copies must be given to any nonprofit charitable organization (such as the SPCA) that has as its principal activity the care of animals and that has requested these accountings in writing. These and other protections were put in place by the State Legislature to protect against fraud and abuse with funds that were intended to provide for much-loved companion animals. For example, a remainder beneficiary (a person who is designated to receive funds remaining upon the animal’s death), an enforcer named in the trust, and animal-care organizations all have the right to check on the animal, inspect the animal’s living situation, and review the financial records of the trust.

Well… I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t leave any of my animals to the care of an institution that endorses the Killing of unwanted pets and owner surrenders. It’s the ultimate oxymoron akin of entrusting a scammer with running a financial institution (oops!.. isn’t this what happens anyway?). I also would never dream of letting any of my animals end up in a shelter struggling for food and fighting against disease.

Let’s Adopt! is a horizontal organization run exclusively by volunteers. Some would like to leave this matter to professionals but I, and I am sure, many of you, would rather entrust the life of our best friends to the incredible members of this community.

Ok, so here is what we are going to do, once again, a proof of Let’s Adopt! commitment to animal rescue.  Any of our members who wishes to do so can, from today, make a provision on his will entrusting us with the rehoming of his beloved animals in case of his death.

This offer brings with it a series of challenges, but most importantly, it should make us all realize the importance of putting all our efforts in building a large international network of foster homes as they will be needed if this program is to succeed. This also means we need to enlarge the reach of our organization, in short, we need to grow.

We don’t want you to leave any real estate to us, we don’t request from you to contribute to our Fund in any way, we don’t seek the establishment of any Trust of any kind. We will do this for you, for your animals because, quite simply, it is the right thing to do.

How to do this? Very simple.. put on writing and instruct your closest family members and, quite possibly, your lawyer, to contact us in case of death.

We have only one condition to be eligible to this program. You must put it on writing and it can only be implemented after the event of death or before if you are dealing with a terminal illness.

Please… don’t die, ever!… but if you must, please ensure your pets are well taken care of and end up in a loving family, not in a shelter or worst.