People for Animals
Newsletter July, 2006
People for Animals
433 Hillside Ave
Hillside, NJ 07205
http://pfa.petfinder.org
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Union, NJ
Permit No. 101
THIS ISSUE!
HAPPY TAILS!
Mars makes himself at home
Will this be another happy tail ??
Here at People for Animals, we make the best use of every dollar donated. By far our largest
expense in rescuing homeless animals is medical care. Many of the animals that come to us
have been neglected, the end result being expenses in repairing conditions that might have been
prevented with a little education along with regular veterinary care. In this issue, we follow up on
many of the animals that your donations have helped – so that you can see for yourself the
‘happy tails’ you’ve helped to create through your generosity.
Pictured here, another happy tail in the making. Gordita (Spanish for ‘little fat one’) was rescued
from owners who failed to spay/neuter and found themselves over-run with Chihuahuas. People
for Animals helped by taking as many as they would give up into our rescue program and by
providing the owners with vouchers for free spay/neuter at our clinic for the rest.
Gordita is approximately 10 years old. She is the friendliest of those rescued, and has a special
personality that makes everyone she comes into contact with instantly fall in love with her. Her
favorite pastime is being carried around. Her medical problems are not unusual or surprising to
us. Her checkup showed that her teeth are rotten to the point that they’ve created holes in her
upper jaw that reach up into her sinuses. As you can see, several missing teeth cause her
tongue to fall out of the side of her mouth (don’t worry, when it gets dry we put lip gloss on it).
One can only imagine the pain her toothaches have caused her over the years. People for
Animals will of course get Gordita the surgery she needs to stop the problem from getting any
worse, including the repair of the openings in her jaw.
We hope that you enjoy this issue – we sure had fun following up on a few of our previous
‘patients’. The ones ‘thrown away’ when their health faltered through sickness, accidents, neglect or age. The ones who through the
years broke our hearts when we first laid eyes on them and then healed our hearts with purrs and big wet kisses as they gained
strength and health. They teach us daily the meaning of the word compassion, and reward us with a moment like no other – the one
we experience when we see them go home with their new family to enjoy a new, different kind of life.
L
ooking for a fun way to spend a Friday night? SAVE THE DATE! Come to
our Tricky Tray on October 13th at the Somerville Elks Club, 375 Union Ave
in Bridgewater!! Doors open at 6pm, drawing starts at 8pm. Admission price at
the door for $10 includes one sheet of tickets for regular prizes. Pre-register by
sending $10 per person to our clinic (433 Hillside Ave, Hillside, NJ 07205)
receive a second free sheet of tickets at the door when you arrive! Prizes will
be posted on our website at http://pfa.petfinder.org.
50/50 raffle
Food and drinks available for purchase.
Adults only please
See our website http://pfa.petfinder.org, Email pfadiane@optonline.net
or call 908-964-6887 extension 312 for more information
Farewell to Chevy
Spot
Spot had to have his rear
leg amputated due to an
injury that could not be
repaired. He gets
around fine, and lives
with the Laurias, and
several other Chihuahua
friends!
We only have the ‘before’ picture available –
Chevy was rescued from an inner city shelter.
After some intense clean-up and TLC we
found Chevy to have such a great
temperament that we placed him as the
mascot of Sunrise Assisted Living in
Westfield, where he brought joy to the
residents as he ‘made his daily rounds’. He
will be missed.
Tara with ‘Mom and Dad’ Derogatis
Rescued from an inner city shelter, Tara is a smart, shy shepherd
who we knew would make someone a wonderful pet. She had
been wearing a harness for so long that it had created wounds in
the skin of her underarms and belly. Though she still has scars,
she is healed and very happy in her new home since 2004. We
ran into her as she was shopping for a new bed.
Paul Anderson and Mars (now Lars). Lars was rescued from Hurricane Katrina – a
big dog with lots of energy! He waited a long time for just the right adopter – someone
who understood how it feels to be a big dog with a goofy personality. Lars is runnerup to Mug (see below) for PFA dog with the largest head.
Remember Charm?
Taken from a high-kill shelter in 2004, we noticed she had an injury to her foot.
Accordingly, we brought her to the vet to have it taken care of. We were quite
alarmed when the vet informed us that the deformed foot was fine, but that she had
massive internal injuries which required immediate surgery – she probably would
not have survived at the shelter another day. Probably it was the result of being hit
by a car. Charm now leads a charmed life with the Harmon Family, enjoying the
life she deserves.
The abandoned-with-broken-leg gang
We don’t think that a broken leg is any reason to euthanize.
Unfortunately, there are too many people out there who either
don’t care or don’t have the time/resources to deal with a
condition that is usually simple to fix. Pictured above are Bijoux,
Joey, KC and Lawrence. All have healed and been adopted by
wonderful families who are taking very good care of them.
Indie has a neurological condition called
cerebella hypoplasia. He can't walk very well,
and falls each time he takes a step. Indie was
adopted by Gloria O'Connor and her daughter
Valerie. They have other special needs pets,
including Peanut the chihuahua who has
cerebral palsy and Gigi the cat, whose back
legs are paralyzed. Gloria and Val are truly
exceptional people who have a special place in
their hearts for disabled pets.
Keeping the ‘fun’ in fundraiser!!
A Perfect Day for Pets!!
Our first Tricky Tray event in many years was lots of fun
and we raised thousands of dollars to benefit our clinic
and animal rescue programs. It was such a successful
event that we’re doing it again on October 13th! Have
any new, unused items to donate? Call 908-964-6887
extension 312 or email pfadiane@optonline.net.
Sunday, May 7th was a beautiful day to kick off BE
KIND TO ANIMALS WEEK. THANK YOU to the
people and pets who joined us on that day for our
Annual Walk for Animals at Nomahegan Park in
Cranford. Your efforts and those of our dedicated
volunteers resulted in People for Animals collecting
over $10,000 in donations! All monies raised will
support our Pet Rescue and Adoption Program,
which provides medical care and shelter for
homeless animals awaiting adoption into permanent,
loving homes.
Fran Kirchner, our fundraising chairperson, with our
friends at Coloron Plastics – who helped organize
and plan the event!
Fran, Richie & Nikko Mayer
Thank you to the following for their generosity and
support: DAD’s, Nylabone, Nutro, Vitakraft, Hartz
Mountain, Nature’s Variety, Trader Joe’s of
Westfield, Pathmark, and Union County College.
Jim & Nancy Curtis, and Richard Garvey
volunteer at our ticket table.
Winners of the $25 PETsMART Gift Cards with the
total pledges each raised are:
Sherryl Schaefer - $1,408
Fran Mayer - $940
Jacalyn Baldassarre - $700
Kim Komar - $300
Congratulations to all of the winners of our Dog
Contests!
Al and Ilene Braunstein, basket winners!
A special thank you to Amity Bryson, who adopted Haley
(above) from People for Animals several years ago and
the winner of our 50/50 contest – for donating her
winnings back to People for Animals to help our
homeless animals.
At five weeks of age, Matthew was rescued from a sewer
grating by a kind couple. PFA, with the help of generous
donors, provided veterinary care for his broken leg and
internal injuries. When he was healed, he began attending
adoption events. A young woman and her mother came into
PetSmart looking for a white kitten. But when the young
woman picked up Matthew, sparks flew between them as
they gazed into each other's eyes. Matthew found his soul
mate and is currently living happily ever after.
Champ came to us already having seen a vet with his
leg bandaged and a great prognosis. However, as often
happens what is thought to be a simple problem turns out
to be quite complicated. Two surgeries and many
months of rehabilitation later, he is now happy in his new
home, with the Colfer family, running around now and
with no shortage of attention!
Talk about stress. We met Fate when her owner brought her to one of our
adoption days to try to find a home for her. She was moving, and we invited her
to bring Fate so that Fate could find a new home. It only took a minute or two
after the owner left for us to see that there was a serious problem with Fate’s rear
legs. She could not stand for more than a minute. Taking a closer look at her
body, we saw that she must have been in this condition for quite a long time – her
entire back end had no muscular tone, and looked like it was wasting away. Her
front shoulders and legs were extremely muscular from trying to shift the weight
off her back legs and onto her front.
It took three tense weeks of trying to convince the owner (who denied there was
anything wrong!!) to surrender her to us for medical treatment. It turned out that
Fate had torn ligaments in BOTH her rear legs, an EXTREMELY painful
condition. During the next year Fate endured two operations and intensive
swimming therapy. Just when she was ready to be adopted, she developed an
autoimmune condition which affected the muscles in her head – and she could
not open her mouth to eat. Luckily treatment with steroids allows her to lead a
normal life, though she will need to take them for the rest of her life.
Fate, pictured here with her new owner Diane O’Donnell (our Executive Director)
and her ‘brother’ Cooper – also adopted from People for Animals. Silly dogs.
Fate is now a happy, spoiled rotten Rottie who always has a lot to say about
everything.
Chet was unceremoniously dumped at a local shopping center,
starved and flea infested. He was nursed back to health and
adopted by the Luhrs family.
Katrina was one of the dogs we brought back
from New Orleans. She was ‘howling’ at us, and
we just couldn’t leave her there. Turns out she’s
quite a vocal girl, even more so when there’s
any sign of food around.
She had a full-body yeast infection which caused
her to scream each time she scratched
herself. She had severe dental disease which
combined with the way her skin smelled made it
just about intolerable to be very close to
her. Though she had every intention of staying
close to you! Her nails were grown into the pads
– she had been severely neglected well before
the hurricane hit.
After several months, the skin condition is under
control with medication. Most of her teeth were
removed. Though she will probably never have
a full coat, we joke that she grows one hair per
day (that’s 365 new hairs per year). But she’s
comfortable and happy, and has the sweetest
personality of any dog we’ve had. She was
recently adopted by Franca Suk, a true dog lover
who sees that beauty is only ‘skin deep’, and
another dog of ours (Brownie – dumped in a
parking lot and fostered along with Katrina –
they were best of friends) was adopted by the
Franca’s daughter Kathryn. They live right
across the street from each other now, and play
together daily. The third dog is the daughter’s
beagle, who has two new sisters.
MUG!!
Mug is a very special dog with a very special personality. People
either run FROM him or run TO him (those running to him usually
have an uncontrollable urge to squeeze his jowls). Tied up in the
middle of the night to the door of a local shelter, with a basketballsized abcess on his shoulder and what turned out to be a
dislocated hip – probably the result of an encounter with a car,
you would never have known there was a single thing wrong with
him based on his great attitude and happy disposition. He ended
up needing surgery for his hip, and went through quite a bit of
therapy. He never lost his sense of humor or his unusual talent
in knowing exactly how to relate to various people and animals.
Known for his instinct in playing rough and tumble with other
active dogs who were his foster brothers and sisters and
conversely playing so tenderly with the young foster puppies –
laying on the floor with them allowing them to climb all over ‘Uncle
Mug’ – mercilessly tugging his ears and tail (and lips) with only an
ever-so-gentle nudge with his big head to ‘discipline’ them.
Mug was adopted by Brian Devitt and lives with his beagle sister.
The average pug weighs 10-14 lbs., while our sweet Bella originally
weighed an astounding 35 lbs. when we rescued her, her previous
owner having passed away. She was barely able to walk.
She was fostered by Laura Seely for many months as she was put on
a strict diet and exercise plan – though we all know how hard it is to
lose weight Bella was very successful and is now able to get around
just fine! Laura has now adopted her. Bella has her own website
(www.phatpug.com). She is now living the metropolitan life in New
York City, and enjoys playing at the beach while on vacation.
Jake and Johnny are father and son who are devoted to
each other. Everybody wanted to adopt Jake the kitten,
but nobody wanted to take the two of them together. It's
so hard for rescuers to separate pairs who love each
other and only want to be together! PFA volunteers held
out until the perfect family came along to provide their
forever home.
Dirk was one of 4 kittens that had the unfortunate
luck to be born to a cat inside of a Hillside
warehouse. An employee of the warehouse
discovered the 2 week old litter and told a
coworker. The coworker whispered not to mention
the kittens to anyone else. The warehouse owner
did not want cats there, and would do them harm.
Horrified, she called our hotline. Two days later she
decided to smuggle the four helpless kittens out of
the warehouse in a bag and brought them to our
volunteer. We offered to come into the warehouse
to trap the mother but were told that the owner
would not allow us to come in.
Dirk and his littermates, Dusk, Dawn and Darth were
bottle fed by a People for Animals volunteer until
they were old enough to eat solid food. Weeks
passed and they grew to be strong, healthy little
bundles of kitten energy and curiousity. All four
have since been adopted to loving homes. Pictured
above, Dirk in his favorite sleeping spot on top of
the microwave. Thanks to a concerned warehouse
worker, People for Animals and their new family,
these kittens, born into a dangerous world now are
safe, warm, well fed and best of all LOVED and
CHERISHED.
There are times when we encounter medical problems so severe that we are unable to rehabilitate an animal. In those cases, we
allow the animal to stay with us until their time comes – for as long as they’re happy and comfortable. These special ones spent
their last days being loved and cared for as if they were our own, and we miss them.
Gifts in honor of …
Bridgewater Kitties, from Robert Blewitt
Caspar & Sammy, adopted from PFA, from Mary J. Strelko
Darla, adopted from PFA in 2000, still filling our hearts with love and happiness, from Pat Capitano
Patches, from Jessalyn Brodie
Rascal, from The Nicodemo Family
Gifts in loving memory of these cherished friends …
Anthony Rogala, from Francisca Kraak
Anthony Rogala, from Michael A. Rogala
Ed Reger, Father of Carol Reger, from Michelle Nazar
Edward Biely, father of Iris Furlong, from your friends at People for Animals
Irene McFarland, in loving memory of my sister, Lillian Neves
Laurette A. Morgan, from Yvonne Yetman
Lucille and Samuel Benion, from Yvonne Yetman
Ned Kelly & Stretch, from Lebanon Township Education Association
Marilyn Lines, Sister of Carol Hilton, from Art, Denise and Chris Rostel
Gifts remembering these beloved pets …
Bert, beloved cat of Diana and Raphael, from Susan Heineman
Bo, from The Nicodemo Family
Charlie Hilton, from Michaele Bucci
Cinnamon(Nino), Brenda’s wonderful little cat who loved giving massages. He’ll be missed, from Bob Johnstone
Dallas Barrentine,we will miss you Dallie, from Dr. Joy Weinstein
Derek Tompkins, from Mom, Dad, Tery , Casey, Cara, Ross Fairweather and Karen Simons
Fallon, he was our son, and nothing can replace him, from the Bennett Family
Gizmo, beloved pet of Penny Lewis, from Veterinary Surgical and Diagnostic Specialists
Jeremy Chanda,who had a wonderful life with Bob & MaryEllen, from Susan Mellen
Jeremy & Gideon Chanda, from Karen Simons
Mr. Mittens, from Judith Paterno, Victoria & Kevin Barry, Deborah Kochbarski, Manuel & Edith Finkel, and Elizabeth Hill
Morris, we loved you and will miss you dearly. May your soul be at peace, from Peter & Eleanor Jones
Penny, our loving Dalmatian with the brown spots, from The Glennons
Randy, a special cat in many ways, his family will always love him and never forget him, from Judy Byron
Tass Hess, the big, beautiful girl had a great life for almost 17 years with a great family, from Robert Johnstone
Toby, beloved pet cat of Beth Moose, from JoAnn Pulaski
Tyler Furino, from Michaele Bucci
INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING THIS CHARITABLE SOLICITATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY BY CALLING 973-504-6215. REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT.
Printing of this newsletter has been generously donated by Steve and Linda.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yes! I would like to support People for Animals! Please send your check and this form in the enclosed envelope, or donate
online at http://pfa.petfinder.org with your credit card!
Name(s) __________________________________________________________________________________
Address __________________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________________________ State ___________ Zip ___________
Home Phone _______________________________ Email Address _______________________________