Give a Penny, Save a Penny

At last, an update! With the Walk behind us, we can all breathe a little easier now. We had a great time at the Walk, by the way--it was lovely to see so many of you there! Some of you have already heard about this year's milestones, but they bear repeating:

·         This year, you all raised $7,000 more than has ever been raised online before.

·         The average amount raised per fundraising page this year was $200 higher than last year's page average!  

·          And 98% of those who created fundraising pages actually obtained donations, which is a 25% increase from last year!

Pretty awesome. The money our community raised will do a ton for our animals!
 

See more fun at the Walk here! Photos by Jared Katz of Black Dog Photos

Speaking of, let's get to the adoptions. We have so many to report since the last update!

Cats: Nuzzi Jade, John, Mike, Sam, Rocky, Taylor, Casper, Odie, Midnite & Seymour (!), Allycat, Garfunkle, Maggie, Pacer, Layla, Malikeye, Colors, Izzy, Zebra, Chowder, Panda, Ella, TJ & Cooper, Kathina, Captain Jack, Costello, Kinslee, Bisque, Paprika, Suzie all went home.

Kittens: Jake, Jill, Jen, Jim, Jack, Neville, Spock, Ronald, Batman & Robin found new homes.

Smalles: Mango the guinea pig; Biscuit and Crumb (hamsters) went home.

Dogs: Tucker, Ohren, Lola, Jackson, Bella, Soleil, Maddy, Maximus, Pugsley, Sterling, Bear, Jake are in new homes.

That's 56 animals in six weeks!

And there's yet one more. Our featured adoptee is … PENNY!

Penny is a young beagle-type mixed breed who came to the shelter in mid-March as a stray. Right off the bat, it was easy to see she was in need of help: Penny had a condition called "cherry eye," in which the gland of the dog's third eyelid becomes inflamed and protrudes over a portion of the eye. Our medical supervisor, Jen, also found an umbilical hernia. Other than that, though, she appeared to be in relatively decent health. And her temperament was downright wonderful. At just 20 pounds, Penny's small stature did nothing to dwarf her big personality. Inquisitive and engaged with her surroundings, Penny had definite thoughts about the world and was not afraid to express them. For instance, if one of our animal care staff asked her to sit, Penny had plenty to say about it. Barking and baying, she would eventually plunk her small rear end down -- but our staff swear she talked back while doing so, retorting something like, "Why don't you sit first!"

At other times, Penny was not about to interrupt her nap in yard if she wasn't ready to. If staff called her in while she was sprawled in the yard enjoying a snooze, she opted to "play dead" instead. Short legs and long ears akimbo in the sun, Penny would grant the flustered animal care person no more than a slightly opened eye before sinking back into slumber.

Yep, Penny was a playful and often silly girl. But because of her eye condition, her time spent at the shelter was definitely not all fun. Penny spent the majority of her residence here in a cone. Anyone who's observed a dog in a cone knows just how enjoyable they find that to be.

In early April, we sent Penny to Green Mountain Animal Hospital to get her spayed, repair her umbilical hernia, and correct the cherry eye. GMAH gave us a fantastic deal: $500 to do everything! The spay and hernia healed well, but unfortunately, Penny's eye did not (not uncommon with cherry eye).  GMAH suggested we try medication rather than revisiting surgery right away--so Penny's cone stayed on for two more weeks, and she was not allowed to roughhouse with other dogs. Penny remained patient and upbeat. But … the meds didn't work either. So we scheduled a consultation for Penny with the only Board-certified vet ophthalmologist in the area, Dr. Hoy of Vermont Veterinary Eye Care.

Penny on her way to a consult with Dr. Hoy. Photo taken by our med supervisor, Jen Parker

Living up to her excellent reputation, Dr. Hoy discovered the cause of inflammation to be a small, sharp piece of cartilage under the swollen gland that was not allowing the eyelid to heal. She told Jen that another surgery was the only fix--otherwise Penny would be destined for a life of chronic eye infections. We sent Penny back a few days later for surgery, not realizing then that if the surgery were a success, we would have to follow it up with eye meds administered four times a day for two weeks straight! Poor Penny. The surgery did go well, and Jen posted signs around the shelter to help staff remember to treat Penny's eye according to the rigorous schedule. Our staff did a fantastic job, and Penny's eyelid dramatically improved over the next two weeks. By the end of that period, Dr. Hoy was satisfied enough with the results to recommend she be made available for adoption.

What a glorious day for Penny! 

Photo by Mountain Dog Photography

The cone finally came off for good for the first time in two months, and Jen and our canine supervisor, Robyn, gave Penny her first official play date in a very long time. They brought her out to our large play yard with Jen's pup, Winnie, and burst into laughter as Winnie and Penny somersaulted over each other, Penny--in typical fashion--telling Winnie exactly what she thought about her rough play as soon as she was right side up again.

Photo by Mountain Dog Photography

Penny went home three days after she was made available--we knew she'd go fast, that cutie! We were so happy to watch her prance out the front doors with her new family, butt a-wiggle and nose held high.

All in all, we'd spent ~$1200 on Penny's two eye surgeries and various medications, hernia repair, and spay surgery--all provided at great discount. We had some outside help, too: Mrs. Heinz's fifth grade class at Orchard School decided to hold a Yankee Candle sale to raise money for HSCC. Would you believe they raised $800 profit in candle sales?! Well, $400 of that covered Penny's second eye surgery. The other half was spent on all kinds of pet supply goodies at Pet Food Warehouse! Such an amazing help.

We have seen so many examples of youth fundraising over the last year: bake sales, candle sales, greeting card sales, art sales, pet supply drives, donations in lieu of birthday gifts … the kids in our community continually show incredible selflessness and compassion. We hope Penny's story shows the impact that hard work makes in the lives of shelter animals! Penny, for one, will now live a life free of chronic eye discomfort. We're sure she'd have PLENTY to say about that!

That's the good news this week. Thanks for your support!

Queen Charlene Led the Way

Today we write in honor of a faithful participant of our Walk for the Animals: a beautiful lady with long, flowing white hair and sparkling dark eyes; refined taste; and the confident ambition of a successful leader. Queen Charlene made Walk history. She also stood about two feet high. She was a gorgeous American Eskimo.

Charlene’s doting person, Marian, assisted the Queen in her many successful Walk ventures. Marian writes:

“The 6th Walk for the Animals [twelve years ago!] was the first event for Charlene and me … I chose Charlene out of all of my dogs because she was beautiful, she loved attention, and she loved to go for a walk. She knew my walking shoes and she'd have a fit when she saw me putting them on; she'd run around the house barking until I snared her and put her leash on. Each year at the Walk, no matter where we started in the crowd, she'd pull ahead until she was in the lead. Then she'd hold her beautiful head high, smile, and wag that beautiful plume of a tail. She loved it. And she loved winning."

Indeed, Charlene and Marian have taken the top fundraising prize for several years now, and together raised thousands of dollars for HSCC!

“People loved giving Charlene money,” Marian writes. “After a while people would ask if it was ‘time to give Charlene money again.’ She had a following.”

And Marian helped.

“Each year I made a postcard with her photo and a theme: ‘Take Charlene for a Walk,’ ‘Still Going Strong,’ and, of course, in 2010 as ‘Sweet Sixteen’ with her crown and sash. Somewhere I also have ‘Queen Charlene,’ ‘Keep Charlene on Top’ (she's sitting on a bench and my other dogs are under the bench) … you get the idea. I'd enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope so it was easy for people to send a check back to us.”

We, too, looked forward to the advent of Charlene’s inevitable win at the Walk each year. It became tradition to announce Marian and Charlene as the winning fundraisers. In the midst of applause, a proud, petite white dog would emerge purposefully from the crowd, approach the stage with her starlet smile—fur blowing in the breeze—and accept the award with the knowing grace and humility of a dignitary. We loved that moment.

Make a tribute to Queen Charlene's work for shelter animals.

On May 5^th, we received this email from Marian:

“The star of the walkathon, the lovely (both inside and out) Charlene, died today. She lived for two words: ‘good girl’—and she earned those words hundreds of times over her almost 18 years. So the walkathon this year, for me, will be in her memory.”

As you can imagine, we were deeply saddened by this news. It’s hard for us to imagine the Walk without Charlene.

Marian has chosen Charlenes’ 15-year-old sister, the Fair Miss Bianca, to fill her predecessor’s dainty white shoes this Sunday—because Miss Bianca is “the softest dog in the world.”

Marian and Bianca began their rounds over the weekend, and have raised over $700 already.

If you haven’t begun fundraising yet, could you follow Charlene's lead? Set up a fundraising page online or download a pledge form to raise money offline. Don't feel like fundraising? Make a tribute to Charlene by donating to Marian and Bianca's page.

We have only five days left to make the Walk a success for our shelter, and are still $13,000 from our goal. You do not have to attend the event to help.

We have a special award for Charlene planned for this year’s Walk. We hope you’ll join us in honoring her steadfast work for her temporarily less advantaged fellow animals. And what better way to remember her, then by asking your friends, neighbors, family to invest in the futures of the animals at HSCC ... with a wag and a smile!

Thank you.

You can find details about the 18th Annual Walk for the Animals here.