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Autumn Issue 2007
Tributes
A Joint Effort Saves a Blind Dog's Life
We are very fortunate that we are located in an area where finding homes for adoptable animals is fairly easy. But other organizations located in rural areas
are not as fortunate. the Clay County
Humane Society in Brazil, Indiana is one of these. located in very rural farm country. That is why during the past couple of years we have tried to help these shelters when they send out a plea for help. This is why we thought we could adopt a little blind dog they had called Timmie.
We wish Timmie could talk, because there is certainly more to his story than we will ever know. This little guy was found wandering the streets, and lucky for him, some kind lady picked him up before he got hit by a car. She could see he was badly matted, but then she realized the little guy was blind! The lady took him home, but unable to keep him brought him to the Clay County Humane Society. The staff at Clay thought Timmie was a very sweet little dog, and someone must surely be looking for him. As each day passed, the hopes of reuniting Timmie with his owner dimmed, until they finally resigned themselves to the fact that his owner was not coming for him. With all hopes of finding his owner gone, the staff at Clay hoped that they might be able to find him a home. He was a sweet little dog, and seemed to love everybody, other animals included. Timmie just wanted a buddy to love and give him a good home, but that would not be that easy to do in this rural town with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It's hard enough for them to find homes for young animals without any disabilities, let alone a blind one, that was a little older.
In the interim we had noticed Timmie's picture on Clay's website, and watched to see if they had anyone interested in adopting him. After a few weeks we saw that there did not seem to be much hope in Timmie finding a home. We wanted to help him if we could, but we had to think the situation through carefully as we did not want to put him through the stress of the transport is we were not sure we would be able to find a home for him. We came up with the plan. We asked Sandi to put Timmie's picture on the TLC website, along with a story about his plight to see if anyone showed any interest in adopting him. We had several calls and one couple in particular seemed to be the perfect match for him, They had a little dog that had passed away and was nearly blind, so they knew how to care for a special needs pet. We were pretty confident that we would be able to place him. We got in touch with the staff of Clay and said we think we have a home for him. Clay had Timmie groomed, neutered, and he was ready to go.
I called the couple that were interested in meeting Timmie to tell them when he was coming in and his expected time of arrival. The couple told me they had already made plans for that day to go to Lake Geneva with friends. They had me
wait on the line a few moments while they discussed the situation. Much to my surprise they said we change
plans, and bring their dog to meet Timmie.
Anxiously we awaited Timmie's arrival. When we first saw him come off the transport van, we saw he was even cuter and sweeter than we had imagined. We only hoped the couple coming to meet him would think the same thing.
The couple had arrived soon after and had their dog in tow. Timmie would soon have his first test, would he get along with their dog and vice versa. We held our breath as the two dogs met.... All seemed to go well. The next test for Timmie would be if he could win over the couple's heart. The people spent a lot of time with Timmie, and realized that he would make a wonderful addition to their family. Timmie had a new home!
It only goes to prove where there is a will there is a way. It was a pleasure working with the staff of the Clay County Humane Society, along with the help of our Webmistress Sandi O'Brien when, working together to save a little dogs life.
An update on Timmie, the family emailed us to let us know Timmie is fitting in very well. They added that it is like Timmie has lived with them his entire life!
TLC VIP members bring a great deal of happiness to the many
seniors and folks in assisted living centers that they visit, but that's
not all they do. For the past seven years VIP members have
volunteered to teach youngsters enrolled in the Lemont Safety Village
program how to act around animals they encounter. Compiled
statistics show most animal bites happen to young children, which is why this program is tailored around children in the 5 to 7 year old age group. We want to thank VIP Members Judy Kunkel, Kathy Przybyla, Joan Wick, and Annie Coleman, and their four footed VIP counterparts: Princess Stinky, Shane, Pal and Squirt for doing such a wonderful job with the kids.
Thanks for helping and for being so understanding
a short story you may not want to read
A couple of
the Staff
members at
TLC heard
a low
pathetic
moaning
noise
emitting
from
somewhere,
only they
were not
sure from
where.
They had checked all the animals at the shelter and they were all fine, but the mournful sound continued to be heard. Then they decided to search outside of the building, and what they found outside was a grizzly sight.
At first glance it was hard to tell which end was the head and which was the tail, let alone be able to tell it was a dog. It was not a pretty sight and certainly not the way you wanted your day to begin, it really made all of us very depressed. The poor old dog's body was full of tumors, his coat was severely matted and covered in it's own excrement. We weren't even able to make out the gender, because of all the tumors and mats covering the dog. It was obvious that this dog had lived a horrible existence for quite some time; if not its entire life.How could anyone have done this to their old dog we ask ourselves? Our most fervent wish has been to find the person who did this, and prosecute the party to the fullest extent of the law. Unfortunately, chances of that happening are nil, as nobody has stepped forward to say they had seen the dog and knew who it belonged to. We did their dirty work by doing what we thought best for the poor little dog by having it humanely euthanized crossing over the Rainbow Bridge, it will never again have to face another day of suffering, and abuse.
We want to thank Jennifer Frayne for once again planning and setting up the annual TLC car wash as she has done for the past several years. We also want to give Dr. O'Brien a special thanks for allowing the Animal Care Clinic of Homer Glen to be transformed into a car wash for the day. It always seems the annual car wash ends up being the hottest day of the year, and this year was no exception. But the heat did not deter any of the car wash volunteers who were up to their elbow in suds, washing a total of 53 vehicles! Let's give a big round of applause to Jim, Diane, Sharon and Jeffrey Endebak, Kathryn and Ryan Kittler, Jennifer and Edward Frayne, Vicki Tryjefaczka, Amanda Heinemann, Brian Otto, Kim Barton, Aly Solie, Allie Henning, Terry and Samantha Gloodt, Dr. Kate Ball, Debbie and Heather Bumber, Jessica, Sara and Katie Baker. We want to thank all of the volunteers for all of their hard work which paid off by raising $1,345.00 to help the animals at TLC!