UPDATE September 6th,2010:

SOPHIA HAS BEEN ADOPTED!

Thanks to everyone who helped save her….

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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 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

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

In case you missed it…

On the evening of the 8 of April Let’s Adopt! received a most generous offer. Altruism in its purest form.

The offer came from our friend Leonard Coy, a businessman based in Byron Bay (Australia) that is also deeply involved in the running the Soi Dog Foundation, our Thai partner.

I’ll toss out a challenge here…

I will match your contribution (dollar for dollar, euro to euro whatever) up to a total of $100. What does that mean? If you contribute $10, your contribution DOUBLES to $20. Let me know if you make a contribution as a result of this post( leonard@soidog.org and I will donate in kind)

This is a great opportunity for Let’s Adopt! to raise some needed funds towards the rescue of our animals. It is the kind of offer that happens very rarely and when it does it is practically exclusively linked to corporate charities.

It is also a great opportunity for reflection… people from around the world are rallying on behalf of Turkish dogs and Let’s Adopt!, an organization that started in Turkey. Why would a businessman from Australia want to help our Turkish dogs? The answer is clear to most of us, because ANIMALS DON’T HAVE NATIONALITIES. The entire world understand this very simple fact, unfortunately many  so-called-animal lovers in this country believe a Turkish dog must die in Turkish soil. This attitude is born out of paranoia, lack of education and an extremely narrow perception of the world. No intelligent person could think this way. Many Turkish animal lovers do, and it is very sad.

It is bittersweet to see that this international support is somewhat not corresponded by Turkish support. Still, we accept the situation as it is and we rely on our members to make a difference. How we wish Turkish businessmen/businesswomen and normal citizens followed this example and came up with their own initiatives to help our animals.

So, feel free to contribute to our Chipin today, and drop an email to Leonard@soidog.org.   Let’s not make his generous offer be in vain.

The  Simba Fund is located on our blog and here : 

Let’s Adopt Simba Fund

Take up Leonard’s challenge today! Show the world you care!

UPDATE April 10th, 2010
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Dear Friends,
thanks to each of you for responding to Leonard Coyne’s challenge, and your kind contribution to the Let’s Adopt! Simba Fund.

When sending Leonard your receipt, perhaps add a quick note to Leonard thanking him for his incredible generosity…
I am overcome with joy knowing how many of you answered the call, and came through for our animals.
As you might know, Let’s Adopt! is a global 100% volunteer funded organization and every single cent goes into our rescue and rehabilitation efforts. We are always in great need of help, be it volunteers, fosters, adopters, transport, admin or yes, monetary support, so we can pay for care and transport of animals.

Thank You!

Thank You for BEing The Change!

Misha Dee
Let’s Adopt! USA
misha@myletsadopt.com

Dear Tribe Members of the Let’s Adopt!USA Family.

First of, I want to thank all of our members for your continuous support in growing our FaceBook Network, and helping us connecting more volunteers and activists in the US.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to welcome all new members who have joined us over the past couple of weeks.
We could not do our important work without you.

Our tribe is growing daily.

As we are approaching the “Thousand Member Mark”, I realized that many of you don’t know each other (yet)…other than that we obviously share a love for animals, have compassion for the voiceless and want change… Drastic change.

So, this week I want to invite you to visit our

Let’s Adopt! USA FaceBook Photo Album

and post a picture of you and your pet(s).

post a picture of you and your rescue to our facebook group

It’s as easy as 1 – 2 – 3:

• Go to: Let’s Adopt! USA Group Photo Album

• Add your/pet’s name AND general location (state/metro area)  as captions.
• Post the image.
• In the comment section: Post a short story about how you met, and your life was changed.

DONE …

rescuing another being is a life-changing experience.

Add a quick note about what you have to offer to Let’s Adopt! USA in your capacity as a volunteer or activist, and what you would like to see changing in YOUR OWN COMMUNITY.
If you prefer you can also send me an e-mail to misha@myletsadopt.com

We can’t wait to see all your beautiful faces and read about your connections.

companions for life

Finally, please take a moment to add yourself to our regional networks in the LET’S ADOPT! USA group’s discussion section.

This will help us contact volunteers quickly when we need local foster volunteers, organizing transports/rescue or for local action alerts.
This will only take a few moments of your time - imagine how many lives we can AND WILL save together.

Thank you again for standing up for what is right.

We have a lot of work to do.

BE The Change…

Misha Dee
misha@myletsadopt.com

Let’s Adopt! USA
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=205025950458

Give Our Angels Wings:
http://bethechange.chipin.com/simbas-fund

Put Yourself On The Map :
http://bit.ly/LetsAdopt-Network-Map

CAGE 18 — FEMALE MIX, 6 MOS.

That’s about all she was to anyone… except someone gave her the name Petra. Her photo was taken to put on the internet with the others.

Petra at the shelter

She appeared on my Facebook page last Friday evening. She and the others in the post were from a shelter in the Dallas area. Their time was nearing an end; they were the “urgents.” As are so many by the time they hit Facebook.

Always my first thought is that I want to take them all. But how would that be possible? I already have several.

So what can I do to help them?

I hit the SHARE button at the bottom of the post and add their info to my network of friends. It’s the least I can do… and maybe someone will adopt one.

Within a few minutes, someone messages me. She has seen Petra’s photo and wants to adopt her. How can she do it? Is it even possible? She lives in San Antonio — five hours from Dallas.

My first response is YES! Because I KNOW this can be done.

On her fifth try, Karrie reaches someone at the shelter who verifies that Petra is still there. She takes Karrie’s info and puts a hold on Petra. Over the next few hours, a rescue group steps up and arranges to pull the little dog on Sunday. A foster comes forward who will foster her overnight Sunday night. And at noon on Monday, transport starts for Petra’s trip from Dallas to San Antonio.

Facebook rescue in action

At 3 pm Monday, Petra — renamed Vimba which means “Hope” in Shona — arrives at her new home.

The power of sharing via social media saved this pup’s life… a happenstance connection on Facebook.

But there are more in need in all areas.

Do these pets a favor and share messages about animals in need. You never know when your message might save a life! And it costs you nothing… just a few minutes of your time.

Here are just a few of the faces saved in the past few weeks through sharing.

A new lease on life thanks to a click of a mouse

Contributed by Holly Ellis

Join us on Facebook:

Let’s Adopt! USA

Dear Friends,

Most of you remember Coco…

She was found paralyzed by the side of the road. We looked for the reason and found out she had a bullet lodged in her spine.

Most people would have either dumped her in a Municipal shelter or put her to sleep. The best case scenario for her would be to live attached to a wheelchair.

Not us….

Please click HERE and see what happened with Coco…Please watch the video till the end. It is in German but this is one of those occasions where images speak for themselves. I can GUARANTEE you will cry with joy.

We thank all of those who were involved in this operation, we couldn’t have done anything without you.

We are currently working on the process of sending some of our rescues to their final homes overseas. If you want to be a part of it we will be thankful for your contribution to the Simba Fund.

Best

Viktor Larkhill