FUR BLURB
December, 2004
The animal rescue and welfare newsletter from Bridging the Worlds
Devoted to the Love of Animals, and the People who Love Animals
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Bridging the Worlds
An animal rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary
A 501(c)(3) non profit public benefit organization
P.O. Box 9109
Santa Fe, NM 87504
(505) 501-1887
www.bridgingtheworlds.org
Blessings and Good Wishes
Greetings from David. I’m the Secretary/Treasurer and Business Manager for BTW. Beverly and Robert do the rescue work - the real work. They only need me because these things have to be run a certain way to protect the contributions of donors. Beverly and Robert are so swamped with “blood and fur” they don’t have a spare minute in their day to handle “administration.”
They’ll never toot their own horn. They are so passionate and absorbed by the work they aren’t always aware of the impact they’re making on the greater good. So I’m here to let y’all know what they’re up to.
I’m a successful businessman in my own right, and I donate my services to the administration of BTW. There’s a reason I do this. When I think about, and talk about what Beverly and Robert do, I get tears in my eyes.
You may be thinking they’re tears of sadness for all the suffering animals, but that’s not it. That’s not what I see. I see Beverly and Robert SAVING the dogs from their torment. I see people standing up and creating solutions. And that touches my heart very deeply.
I already know there’s suffering in the world, but in Beverly and Robert I finally can associate with people who are doing something about it. It gives me hope, and a positive view to hang my hat on. I have admiration and respect and pride for these dedicated people. I could go on and on with stories about their heroism and contribution. In fact, I’ll periodically use this forum to do just that. But I won’t bore you by trying to do it all at once.
The one thing I want to add for now is this: they did this work long before they had help. They exhausted their personal resources and still wouldn’t quit. That’s when people stepped up to help them out. Because what they’re doing is needed and wanted in the world.
You’re getting this newsletter because you’ve helped them out in some way. It may have been financial, it may have been donation of goods or services, it may have been volunteer of time, assistance in a rescue, or adoption of a dog in need of love. You may have shown up at an adoption day, or someone forwarded this to you because they know you care.
It may have been one other thing. It may have been Blessings and Good Wishes. The fact that you care adds to our force and power, even if you don’t have money to give at the moment. As life blesses us, we bless others in whatever way we can, and we help each other to grow. I have respect, admiration, and pride for every one of you as well. We are doing our part to make this world a better place. As a Father, there is nothing of greater importance to me than that. Thank you all.
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In This Issue:
Director’s Cut
What makes Bridging The Worlds unique?
Case history of the month
New Arrivals
1000 member drive
This month’s Article: Animal Hoarders
Reducing Animal Abuse
Gratitude to our donors of the month
Our Philanthropic Business Associates
What's In It For Me: Testimonial Letters
Pet health tip of the month
Wish List
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(Note: Our Director, Beverly Antaeus regularly sends reports on BTW activities. Her enthusiasm, passion, and writing style are so lively we’re passing them on to you.)
I'm awful good at saving dog lives, but last week I outdid myself: 24 dogs off various death rows, with only 6 coming here, the rest into foster care, mostly with NEW foster homes!
One of the foster moms, who took in a Mama and her 8 one-week-old babies, needed a Dogloo. Money's tight, so I decided to call Tineke (who once bought us 6 brand new ones) to ask if she might donate another. Before I got around to looking up her number, she called me to say, "all week I have been feeling that you are in the middle of a big project and need help." I said, "WE ARE. And I was planning to call YOU." Told her why and she said why don't I give you money to get what you need. YUP YUP! sez I.
So, on Saturday her husband stopped by the Adoption in Santa Fe and handed us an envelope with a generous donation.
Gave it to the vet and now we have a credit with them! They're happy and amazed, and we feel great, because we spend half our lives there and they always let us just come on in, no matter how busy they are. They give us a discount and get us meds at cost and he's the best vet west of the Mississippi.
I sent out two big mailings last week. You'll be impressed by the number of adoptions. GOOD adoptions.
People seem to be really rootin' for us! The adoptions used to be dull and discouraging. Now they are lively and doggies and their people are finding each other! Robert posted 36 dogs on Pet Finder and on our site about two weeks ago and inquiries leading to adoptions are flying in.
Many Saturdays (at adoption day events), we step out of the car, and adoptions begin before the pooches are even all unloaded. Someone came down from Durango for Tahoe (full blood German Shepherd). He and they just slid right into each others lives. And we're still getting inquiries about him daily.
Also, people who adopted dogs from us awhile ago, now calling to adopt a playmate!
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What makes Bridging the Worlds unique?
We don’t use chains or cages. The animals have roaming space and running room, and they get to play together. We will never kill an animal to control population. We advocate for the importance of spay/neuter programs to prevent unwanted population expansion and abandonment. We advocate humane care for existing animals, and will help find a good home for any dog who is not receiving proper care. For more information on what we do, how we do it, and how you can help, visit our web site: www.bridgingtheworlds.org
We don’t want to be unique. We want to be a model that gets copied.
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We've hit a new low -- as in low to the ground. Have taken in a Chihuahua. Never had one, never wanted one, but he's cute as the dickens! Unfortunately, he has a very contagious fungal condition. He routinely escaped from the puppy pen so we had to spend $200 on an enclosure that would hold him! No idea what the vet bill will be yet.
His name is Tater. When he was rescued he had no hair at all and his skin was so red the rescuer and the vet both thought his skin was hemorrhaging. Under black light he glowed vivid "ring worm green." He's been Lyme dipped four times and received meds for three weeks. Although it looks moth-eaten, he now has fur! But hair test is still positive for fungus. Another month or two of oral fungicide. He's very patient with the quarantine, but wants with all his heart to run and run and run and run -- very very fast! The hugest of all our many huge dogs don't faze him in the least. He pretends they're not there looming over him while he lifts his leg so high to pee he looks like a ballerina!
Tater was quickly adopted into a fine home and completed his healing there. To see pictures of our other fine friends, to support or adopt them, visit our web site: www.bridgingtheworlds.org or call us at (505) 501-1887
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These are our newest arrivals, we've taken in 12 so far this month.
Dove is a Blue Heeler, who arrived here from the Los Lunas area with five one week old babies. She's very people friendly, but still quite scared of our big guys. Her five babies still haven't opened their eyes yet. They're such tiny tykes, they all kind of look alike at this stage, so we're only posting one baby picture here.
Paladin is a Lab/Pit Bull mix from the Artesia area, male, maybe two years old. He arrived on three legs. It turns out he had dislocated his right hip so long ago that it couldn't be put back. Our vet performed a femoral head ostectomy a week ago, and he's already begun using it in a tentative way. After much exercise and rehabilitation, Paladin will be running on all fours again, so watch out. He already climbs over wood and chain link fences to get where he wants to go -- mainly to be with the humans. Loves to play ball, tug of war, chase birds, swim.
Angelica, an emaciated, beat up pit bull rescued from the Roswell area. She's already moved into the house with the other dogs. Full of life and spirit. She's tiny, but probably full grown and about a year old.
Marlowe, a very pale Light Red Siberian Husky, male, about a year old. He has yellow/green eyes. Very, very Siberian -- always interested in what's going on and where the humans are. Doesn't know what chain link or wire fences are for. Assertive, but not aggressive. He's quite loving and very happy to just hang out near the action. Rescued from the Los Lunas area.
Diablo, a Copper Siberian Husky, male, about a year old. He has pale blue eyes. Like Marlowe, he has great interest in what's going on and an uncanny ability to be anywhere on the land and then appear at the exact instant you're opening a gate or door. Assertive, but not aggressive. You'll definitely need to be a Siberian Husky lover to adopt either of these guys. If you are a Siberian Husky lover, these guys are for you. Rescued from the Los Lunas area.
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Opportunity for business owners. Find out how philanthropy can increase your income instead of decreasing it.
To discover the increased profits and benefits to you for using the proper system of giving to help others, click here
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We know that everyone wants your money, and that can get tiring. So we’ve come up with a great plan that will allow you to painlessly give us financial assistance if you want to. If you can’t do it right now - we all have tight months - believe me, we know about that and understand. We send our best wishes for prosperity to come to you.
Like all businesses, we need a steady cash flow to stay alive and do our work. Unlike most businesses, we don’t have anything to sell, so we rely upon the good will in the hearts of people who believe in our cause.
But we don’t need a lot of money from one person (OK, that would be really nice too), so much as we need a little bit of money from a lot of people.
We’re doing a drive to get 1000 members to donate as little as $10 a month, up to $25 a month if you’re in a little higher income range. For me that means I only have to skip that fancy espresso drink and dessert once a month (not every day, God forbid) to make a meaningful impact on the world.
If 1000 people are giving $10 a month (through automatic monthly withdrawals, so you don’t even have to do anything or think about it ever again once you sign up), that’s $120,000 a year. At $25 per member, that could be as much as $300,000 a year. That may sound like a lot, but that is actually our current annual budget. Rescue and rehabilitation can be expensive work, especially when they come to us 20 at a time. We’re rescuing over 12 times as many dogs as we did just one year ago.
So instead of trying to find one major donor, we’re hoping to distribute the cost so it doesn’t burden anyone. (We’re looking for major donors as well so we can afford to do much needed repairs and upgrades, and we constantly need to replenish our well used emergency medical fund.)
If this makes sense to you, click here, or call us at (505) 501-1887
Donations may also be mailed directly to:
Bridging the Worlds
P.O. Box 9109
Santa Fe, NM 87504
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Animal Hoarders
Beverly is always talking about rescuing 10, 20, 30 dogs at a time. You may wonder how/why such a thing is possible. There is an incredible psychological pathology known as animal hoarding. It seems that certain people, who have become devastated or somehow traumatized by something in their own life, try to work it out through controlling a large number of pets.
But Hoarding is not the same as having a lot of pets. For instance, a loving family may legitimately have numerous pets, but they value and take good care of them.
A hoarder has somehow lost the boundaries of civilized behavior, and will collect dogs (or other animals), even breed them, while holding them in unbearable confinement, neglect and starvation.
What’s unbearable confinement? Sometimes a chain one foot long that defines their world as the distance to their own waste. A crate in a basement for ten years, where the animal loses its sanity. A collar so tight that the skin grows over it. In addition to confinement they’re deprived of food and water, but oddly given just enough to cause them to survive for a very long time. So they become emaciated and prone to chronic illnesses, fungus, parasites, mental breakdown, and prolonged suffering.
This obviously can happen to single pets, but an even worse thing is the people who collect and breed these animals. We can only speculate as to the motivations of people who do these things. Perhaps they are re-enacting something that happened to them. Perhaps the control over so many lives gives them a sense of power in a life where they’ve lost their way. There’s evidence that this type of person takes out their resentment on animals when they're angry at other people, and sometimes use the animals as hostages against other people, such as in the case of divorce.
I’m sorry to paint such a picture, so here’s the other side of it. When we get these animals to safety, they can recover. We throw away the chains and cages, and our adopters must agree to a policy of humane care and no more chains. We use every mode of health care at our disposal -- medical, nutritional, and holistic -- to bring the condition they may have under control so it can ultimately heal. If there is no known treatment, we work with vets and advisors and create one. Terrible suffering can be reversed.
There are laws against animal abuse, and we are working to create awareness and enforcement. Certainly, if a human child were subjected to these conditions the torturer would be prosecuted. But animals are more considered property of the owner than creatures with rights, and the law is not as strong as it could be in preventing this behavior. We will, unfortunately, have a lot of work to do for a long time.
Of course, the deeper issue may be the way people treat people. If these hoarders are indeed acting out against some torture once imposed upon them, this needs to be addressed. We encourage you, if you have reasonable and accurate information that a person or animal is being abused, tortured, or neglected call in an authority to investigate. We don’t have to constantly monitor one another, or nose into our neighbor’s business. Bursts of anger are normal human events, so abuse is not happening just because people fight. But 20 starving dogs, or a starving and dissociated child is hard to miss.
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For information on reducing abuse click here.
Adoption hotline: To adopt a healthy dog that has been rescued click here, or call us at (505) 501-1887
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Our gratitude to the following supporters for their help in the past month:
Danielle Ferreira, for donation of proceeds from art sale.
Tineke, for being “psychic” and offering help before we even had the chance to ask.
Dr. Hinko, Veterinarian, for discounts and credit and always being there.
Critters and Me pet store, for discounts and donation of food.
Barker Realty, for a generous cash donation and recognition ceremony.
Frances Lesher, for generous cash donations, and always being there.
Hapman, Inc. for pledge of ongoing support from proceeds of business.
BMI, for developing our newsletter, setting up our business plan, arranging a business loan, and creating our business philanthropy program.
David Lindemuth, for creating our financial profile and Grant Writing program.
Laura Lee Thompson, for grant research.
Lambriar Vet Supply , for extra discounts on vaccines and top spots. We have been told that Lambriar is affiliated with a huge ring of puppy mills.
Anonymous for generous cash donation.
To all of our supporters, We love you. Our work would be impossible without you.
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Please patronize our philanthropic business associates
Danielle Ferreira show opens Jan. 3 at the Harwood Arts Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Arts Crawl (official opening) is Jan. 7th and artist talk/ reception Jan. 21. Danielle's animal art will be featured on our web site and newsletter in future issues.
Dr. Hinko, Veterinarian, Animal Clinic, 1500 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Phone: 505-982-9821
The Critters and Me pet store, 1403 Agua Fria, Santa Fe, NM 87501 Phone: 505-982-5040
Lambriar Vet Supply online source for vaccines, etc. We have been told that Lambriar is affiliated with a huge ring of puppy mills.
What’s In It For Me
Why do people take the time and give the effort to help an animal in need? Here's some feedback from a few of our adopters this year.
Well, you've done it again! You made me fall completely in love with a fuzzy four-legged like I never thought possible. Ishmael is wonderful. He fits in perfectly, is VERY easy to train and he wants to please so terribly!
Jennifer, Jemez Springs, NM
It is a joy to watch Phoebe become more and more comfortable in her new home. She is affectionate with both me and my children and continues to be absolutely amazing. She is my constant companion. I am amazed at my luck in finding her. It feels like we have always been together. She is a gift and brings me so much joy and love, each and every day!
Nancy, Santa Fe, NM
Ruby is such a good dog. She and my cat are now friends and she is loving her new home. I love her and am so happy to have found her.
Connie, Santa Fe, NM
Teesha is doing really well with her training. She is very bright and we love having her around. Thanks for bringing this ray of sunshine into our lives.
Ammon and Erin, Santa Fe
We think Dwight is making our other dog happy and he makes us very happy as well. We think this is a perfect match.
Rob and Melissa, Los Alamos, NM
Tahoe is adjusting wonderfully. He has been on his first family hike and stayed by us like a champ. Our boys love him and he is very happy to have all the attention. His favorite pastime is chewing on our 7 year old Lab, who he seems to have decided is his mom. He follows her around and she tolerates him like a mom. We are all enjoying his new energy and the added personality in our home. Thank you for all that you did for him.
Melanie and Ed, Durango, CO
We love Gus dearly with all of our hearts. He now shakes, sits, hi-fives and rolls over. He is a smart and loving dog and protective of our family. He is house trained and loves to be loved by all. Thank you for loving the animals the way that you do.
Cori, Red River, NM
You were right: Smokey is the best companion for Cedar and for me. It is a match so wonderful for both the dogs that I am often amazed. Smokey is a sweet gentle boy and I feel so much happier now that Cedar has a playmate. When they wake up in the morning, they bump noses, kiss each other and then begin to tussle like young puppies.
Judith, Santa Fe, NM
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Could you be poisoning your children and your pets? A recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council concludes that the risks far outweigh the benefits for a majority of the flea and tick control products. While these products do in fact kill fleas and ticks, their effects go far beyond that. Children are especially at risk from exposure to these pesticides. There are some safer alternatives, including non-toxic natural solutions. For the executive summary of the NRDC report, click here. For the full text of the NRDC report, click here. (Requires the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe. You can download that here.)
Before reaching for any pesticide, you should try to reduce or eliminate the problem through physical measures.
- Give the dog a bath. We use and recommend Neem "Protect" Shampoo and Neem "Protect" Spray from Ark Naturals. The main ingredients, Neem and Citronella, are not pesticides, so they don't provide a month long "immunity" to ticks and fleas. They do repress their desire to feed (thus they don't feel like biting your dog), and they act as a repellent. Neem oils and extracts have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties.
- Brush and comb your dog frequently. Handpick any ticks you find. Tweezers work great for this.
- Wash the dog's bedding. At least once a week, more often if necessary.
- Vacuum and scrub the floors. At least once a week, more often if necessary.
- Wash or inspect the walls, ticks love to climb. At least once a week, more often if necessary.
In the best of worlds, none of us would never have to use pesticides. As a sanctuary, we frequently take in dogs that are infested with ticks or fleas, and need to bring it under control quickly. Our guys also spend plenty of time outdoors chasing rabbits, hunting mice and pack rats, and collecting ticks (we don't have a flea problem in our area). So we're glad we have some relatively safe pesticides when we need them.Of all the flea and tick products out there, the NRDC narrows the list down to a dozen or so that they feel are relatively safe to use, both for the pets and the people that come in contact with them. We've narrowed our list down to three. We have found Frontline and Revolution to be effective against ticks and fleas, as well as sarcoptic mange. Occasionally, we will use Capstar, a pill, for a dog with a severe flea infestiation since it knocks out almost all the fleas within an hour. We have noticed no side effects from any of these products. Revolution comes as a once a month top spot. Frontline comes as a once a month top spot, and also as a spray that kills ticks and fleas immediately on contact -- for severe infestations. We use the spray very sparingly because of the vapors.On the other hand, Preventic tick collars (also given the okay by the NRDC) did not work as advertised. The ticks did not quickly die and detach. We seemed to have less ticks, but still had ticks nonetheless, happy ones at that. About five of our dogs (10%) had allergic reactions and scratched themselves like crazy until we ditched the collars and gave them a bath. The collars themselves are not a pleasant thing. They need to be fairly tight, so that they contact the skin, but they continually stretch and need adjustment every few days. I found myself petting the dogs less because I didn't like touching the collars. Imagine having one tight around your neck.
Find out more about alternatives to pesticides in general at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
Wish List Note: to help with any of the following, go to our web site, www.bridgingtheworlds.org , or call us at (505) 501-1887
MONEY. Can’t buy food without cash.
Charitable Remainder Trusts. Incredible financial and tax benefits for wealthy donors. Find out more. Do you have an article to contribute to the newsletter?
Details on our web site about how to use philanthropy and joint ventures to increase your business.
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