13016 West 151st Street Homer Glen IL 60491 (708)301-1594 Open 11 am-4 pm Tuesday through Saturday Closed Sunday and Monday webmistress

Summer Issue 2007 Tributes

Rain Rain Go Away was the Chant of the Day Of all days for the weather forecast to call for thunderstorms, the day of TLC's annual walkathon. The sky was dark and forboding, looking as if we would have a down pour any minute, but TLC volunteers are a steadfast lot, not letting an impending threat of rain stop them. Our great volunteers were hustling to get everything ready for the event, under the direction of Annie Coleman. George Mikota hauled the supplies in, and set up the watering station for the dogs, while Michele and Josh Chalifoux manned the hot dog machine. WCCQ Radio pitched their tent and lined up all of their giveaways, and Phyllis Klingensmith, Mary Ann Lucas, Judy Kunkel and Nina Pellici said they would work the Sign in table... although we wondered with the threatening weather, if anyone would be there, but as stated in our flyer, the walkathon would go on "Rain or shine." The threat of rain did not dampen anyone's spirits though. As it grew closer to sign in time, the dark clouds disipated, and the sun began to shine. People and their canine friends began checking in, ending up to be one of the biggest turnouts we have ever had. Denny Carter, Casey Carter and Keith Miller were also at the event lending a helping hand. We want to extend a big thank you to all of the followmg sponsors: All Pets Hospital, Animal Care Clinic of Homer Glen, Animal Clinic of New Lenox, Archer Veterinary Clinic, Berman and Sons Accounting, Cold Stone Creamery, Don's Dental Repair, Grand Prairie Animal Hospital, Happy Tails Pet Sitting, Jake's House of Kibble, K-9 Guardians Training Center, Lockport Animal Hospital, Reliable Home Improvement, State Street Animal Hospital, and USBones.com. The generosity of these sponsors helped to make the event a success. As the crowd waited for the walkathon to kick off, Gary Tippet of K-9 Guardians put on an agility demonstration for the crowd. Folks also had a chance to check out the tables with givaways from Grand Prairie Animal Hospital, Jake's House of Kibble, K-9 Guardians Training Center and the Animal Clinic of New Lenox where Dr. Tekyl and his staff were giving out complimentary nail trims and massages to many of the canines attending. It was fun fun fun as the walk began! As people and their canine buddies finished the course, Sandi O'Brien, Jerry Pryzybyla, and Clare Paskiet were busy taking photo finish pictures of everyone. We wish we could show you all the photos and the video taken of the event but you'll be able to see them by going to www.tlcanimalshelter.org After the walk it was on to the pet tricks contest that Sandi O'Brien set up with Clare Paskiet, Morgan Franczyk, and Terry Dean of WCCQ as judges. There were 19 categories being judged and the winners were: "shortest" Wrigley, "tallest" Apollo, "oldest" Oscar, "youngest" Shelby (who was recently adopted from TLC by the Lukas Family), "slowest" tying for the honor Molly & Meadow, "fastest" Jayke, "best catcher" Barnie, "cutest tush" Katie, "best dressed" the VIP crew consisting of Mia, Jack, Squirt, Pal, Buddy & Princess Stinky who all got into the pirate mode, "best kisser" Ernie, "looks most like owner" Midnight, "a face only a mother could love" Lucy, "highest jumper" Diamond, "top tail wagger" Lexi, "most macho" Miller, and the two funniest categories "won't behave" with the honors going to Diamond and the "drama queen" who was won by Puddles. We want to say thanks to everyone who participated and raised pledge money to help the animals at TLC. It was a great time for one and all, and we hope to see you all there next year! With our Sincerest Apologies There are about 10 people who are going to be disappointed when they read the "memorials" and donations made "in honor of" that the names they had requested appear will be missing. We are very sorry but computer crashes can create more problems than you can imagine. We thought we had everything under control after the last crash occurred but it happened once again. We feel even worse this time because we lost some of the names that should have been in the memorial column this issue, and we are devastated. We know the memorial you made is very important, and we regret this error. The only way we can rectify the situation is to have you contact us about this, which will allow us to have those names included in the fall issue for you. Since the newsletter also appears on the TLC website, our webmistress, Sandi said she will be glad to make the corrections. Again please accept our sincerest apologies. TLC Garage Sale It was a lot of work for Annie Coleman setting up the annual garage sale she holds for TLC. Annie's garage was brimming with items, but Annie had the situation under control, with the help of other TLC volunteers. Tables were set up and organizing and pricing was done all in preparation of the two day sale. A big thank you goes out to Mary Ann Lukas, Donna Holous, Sharon Hager, Judy Kunkel, Connie Bylsma, Kathy Przybyla, & Michele Chalifoux for giving Annie a helping hand. We also want to thank Clare Paskiet for the photos she took at the sale. When Annie finally got to sit down and put her feet up, she counted the proceeds that amounted to $2,000.00 and Annie is still selling the few items left over. Pictured are in front Tian and Ally Tasso, last row Annie Coleman, Judy Kunkel, Kathy Przybyla and Connie Bylsma. Photo courtesy of Clare Paskiet In conjunction with the TLC garage sale the children that live next door to Annie wanted to raise money for the animals too. Tian and Ally Tasso decided to hold a combination lemonade/cookie stand to help raise money for the animals. The children raised a total of$78.70 on their own and donated it all for the critters. This is not Animal Plant - Rae Jean's Story A woman stopped to see Rae Jean and her two pups after seeing their pictures on the shelter's website. Rae Jean and her pups had been victims of abuse. The woman said in total disbelief that she did not think things like this happened except on shows like Animal Planet. We told the woman, we wish that were the case, but we deal with more cruelty cases than we would like to remember and poor Rae Jean was just one more victim. Rae Jean had been abandoned with her two puppies that appeared to be about three weeks old. Rae Jean was nothing but skin and bone. Because a collar was too tight around her neck, it ate its way into her flesh leaving an ugly gash of red meat, that had become infected. I cannot imagine how Rae Jean survived, let alone try to care for her two puppies! Rae Jean was a good mom, but due to her being extremely emaciated, she had not been able to produce enough milk for her pups. One pup was twice the size of the other pup, and the smaller pup was very thin with a sunken in stomach like her mom, she was starving to death. By the time they were brought to the shelter, it was too late to save the smaller pup. As hard as we had tried to save her, the tiny pup was beyond hope, and passed away. We were all deeply saddened, but perhaps it was for the best, not knowing what developmental complications might show up later on. We had debated as to whether or not to show the more graphic picture of Rae Jean on our website. Some people have said they do not want their children to view things like this, and other folks said they are too squeemish about seeing such things. We discussed the pros and cons of showing Rae Jean in that condition, and agreed that it is important that folks know that animal abuse goes on everywhere and not just on shows like Animal Planet. Each day we watched Rae Jean grow stronger as she began to put on weight, and the gash in her neck began to heal. Her surviving pup flourished, and in a few weeks they were both ready to be adopted. Thanks for helping us help animals like this who would never have a future if it were not for the kindness of people like you. You are invited to attend a "Blessing of the Animals" October 6th Mark your calendars for a special event and bring your pets with you. There will be "the Blessing of the Animals" at the Faith Lutheran Church in Joliet, located at 353 N. Midland. This special event will take place Saturday October the 6th at 10:00 a.m.. This should be a wonderful time for all. Wanted - Dirty Cars for TLC's Annual Car Wash July 29th Being hosted once again by the Animal Care Clinic of Homer Glen, 13061 West 143rd Street, Homer Glen, Car wash hours are from 10:00 until 2:00 on Sunday July 29th. Get your car sparkling clean, while helping the animals at TLC. With Postage rates Higher... As you all know postage rates have risen again, and in an effort to cut expenses, we will not be sending out achnowledgements for contributions that are under $20.00. It is not that we do not appreciate donations of lesser amounts, each and every donation is important to us, but at forty one cents each you can see why we are trying to cut costs. Your cancelled check will still suffice for tax purposes. Also if you are moving, please let us know your new address, so we can keep Paw Prints and Shorty's Shelter News coming your way. When we get mail returned, with "moved" written on it, there is not much else we can do but to remove your name from our mailing list. Hope you would miss us as much as we would miss you! Don't let that happen, drop us a line with your new address or jot it down when sending in your donation for our furry friends. * Also we respect your privacy and would never sell or give out your name, address, or email address to anyone. Warning It only takes a matter of minutes for a parked vehicle to become a deadly inferno in the summer. If you see a child or animal in distress in a locked vehicle call the local authorities for help. Notice to Our Supporters: Another group calling itself"TLC" is now operating in our area. Although we applaud all efforts on behalf of the animals, we want our supporters to know that this new group is not affiliated in any way with the Tender Loving Care Animal Shelter, and has not pledged any funds raised to us. If you are unsure about a fundraising event, please call the shelter or check our website to see if we are sponsoring it.