Tobey
Judy/Holly, we adopted Tobie about 2.5 years ago from you. He was a great addition to our family. We love him so much! About 2 months ago he came down with Kidney failure. He was taking medicine and we gave him great care and seemed to be getting better. We took very good care of him and he was so happy. On 3/19/09, we lost Tobie. We are in deep mourning. But we have Four other babies to love and take care of. I just wanted to share this with you. Thank you so much for the work you do. Tobie, was Doc Tobie. When ever one of our babies were not feeling good, Tobie would go over and play Doctor. It was so funny. He also seem to be in charge of all the others. He was one of the three original babies we adopted from Judy. He was playful, loving, and full of energy. Last year we brought them to the mountains, he loved it. Tobie will be missed but now he is with Buddy, Sadie, and Zackery.

Mr. T the Shepherd Puppy
Mr. T , Born 12-17-08—1-11-09, He was with us a very short time, but he touched many of us. My Jamie picked him for her puppy. She gave him his name because when we first brought him home he was the troublemaker. He would not take the puppy formula without a fight. He turned out to be our best eater. Everybody loved holding him and loved him deeply. But the T no longer stood for trouble it became true love. He loved laying on his back and sleeping. He will always be missed. I know he is running and playing with our Chelsie now and having a blast. We miss you and you will be in our hearts forever! ~ Brenner gang

Zeus ~ A Lost Love
In the midst of a New Year again I wish to send my deepest gratitude to you and your staff for the wonderful work you are doing! With out you, we never would have had the JOY of Loving and caring for Zeus. So it is with a thankful, yet aching heart that I share our loss with you. On November 21st we lost the battle with Lymphoma, and just shy of his fifth birthday we had to say goodbye to our "Precious Little Guy" Knowing how sick he was at the time of his adoption, and the endless vet visits; as the end began to draw near my husband asked me "If we'd have known then...would we still have brought him into our family?" My Response, as I sat stroking Zeus' head with tears that never stopped, I managed to mutter the word "absolutely" For EVERY DOG deserves a good family, and every "dog family" should live to be deserving of a GOOD DOG!! We gave him a good home, He truly had the best all the way to the end and will be forever missed!!!! So Thank You, for the many homes you warm and the hearts you fill!! I'd like to share a special poem dedicated to Zeus "Bubba" Warshawsky 3/6/04 (adopted) - 11/21/08 : Dear God, If you should hear a scratch upon Eden's gate tonight, A gentle whine a muffled bark; have Peter take a light. And open up the pearly gates and let His spirit in, For I think He lived in Heaven once... please let him back again. He may have been a handful, without much pedigree, Yet He was Loyal, Kind and Good, I think you will agree. He will be very usefull where the souls of children play, He'll romp with them and see Dear God that the don't go astray. Just tell Him that "I'm sorry" I had to pat His head and whisper that "I Loved Him" as His spirit fled. I PRAY THAT WHEN DEATH BECKONS AND MY SOUL SURMOUNTS LIFES FOG.... I'LL RATE A PLACE IN HEAVEN, DEAR GOD, BESIDE MY DOG!!!!!!

Zachery
For Zackery: My baby boy Zackery. You filled a big hole when we lost Buddy two years ago. You have been a big part of our family. You were my little boy. You always went to do errands with me and you loved to ride in the car. Now it is time to rest. It is time to go see Buddy and Sadie. You guys can run around and play. I will be seeing you all one of these days. You will always be my "little Wolf dog". Occasionally I will sing the "Zakawey" song, so you know I am still thinking of you. Love you Zackery! ~ Joe and Holly

Andre' the Giant-Hearted Kitten
The first of the year rolls around and I decide to contact some of our fosters, asking them for updates on their pets. Chris has been fostering Windy and her litter. This is a long-term situation because Windy tested positve for FLV. We won't know if her kittens are positive until they are old enough to be tested. This is the reply I recieve: "I'm a little not myself and unproductive feeling today because late afternoon yesterday I took Andre' to the vet for his FLV test and to find out why Andre' is having trouble breathing. I was so happy when the tech came to me and said Andre's test came up negative. But then the vet wanted to x-ray Andre's chest. After a little while she came back into the room and said she wanted to show me something on his x-ray. And what she showed me was a chest filled with fluid and a 95% chance of it being FIP (peritinitus). Now I had to make a decision I've never had to make before in my life. Whether or not to take this presious little kitten's life from it right now or maybe wait to see if a miracle happens, a true miracle according to the vet. And if I wait, how much more suffering am I supposed to make this little angel endure before I then try and make that terrible, fateful, fatal decision to end his life and his suffering. And even though the vet told me what she would do if put in my place, and that I was making the right and best decision, that knowledge made it no easier. I feel I must tell you a little about my Andre'. I named him after "Andre' the giant". One of the biggest men in the world who became even more famous for his wrestling. Now, I'm no wrestling fan, but I am an Andre' the giant" fan. And when my Andre' was just 10 or 12 days old I could easily tell he was the biggest of the bunch. But the main reason for his name was he liked to wrestle everyone. Even me. I'd sometimes pick him up to keep him from beating up one of his littermates too much and he would continue wrestling, now wrestling my hand ~ the amazing thing is he never hurt me or drew blood. He was always very gentle. Gentle but strong. The little guy just wanted to show the world he was big enough and bad enough to take it on. Even at 12 days old! And he never stopped being this way, that is until he started having trouble breathing. And at the end he was maybe half the size of his littermates. He made that dramatic change in the 10 days I was gone for Christmas. I had made up my mind after I had to put Andre down that I was gonna call Jackie and tell her "no more... I just can't foster anymore." Because I can't deal with this pain again. And you know this is gonna happen again and again over time. But when I read what you wrote about there being "too many people protecting themselves from the possibility of emotional hurt, and as a result all over the country we have healthy pets euthanized", that just reminded me why I volunteer. Because there is TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO WON'T! And hopefully I can make a difference, and make better, in the few animals lives I touch. Chris W.