It Takes A Village To Save an Animal In Need!

One of our dedicated foster care providers sent in this harrowing story about the rescue of a neglected puppy and his owners.

On Saturday evening, Denise arrived home to a commotion in the alley behind her home. Her new neighbour was putting his 1 year old male pit bull in his yard. The man was distraught as the dog had jumped out of his car window (while the car was moving) and attacked another neighbour’s cat. The owners of the poor cat victim, Shadow, were nearly hysterical . Denise raced them all off to the vet, with the pit bull owner offering to pay the bill. Shadow and her family are ok, but traumatized.

That night and all throughout the next day, Denise and her neighbours heard howling and whining and bodies hitting walls in the house where the pit bulls reside, and realized that no-one was home. The owners had taken off with the offending dog.

There were 2 other pit bull puppies in the family and she realized that they were left alone in the house in extreme heat with no air conditioning. At 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon Denise called Animal Protection to report that the puppies had been alone since 6 p.m. Saturday. Normally the minimum is 24 hours without care, but with some persuasion, along with several other calls from neighbours, Denise convinced the Animal Protection officer that the puppies were in distress and creating a disturbance in the neighbourhood.

It turned out that the tenants were in jail, and the offending pit bull and another puppy were already at the RHS, leaving 1 puppy alone in the house. Animal Protection arrived and assessed the situation, observing from a window that the puppy was locked in the kitchen and had diarrhea. The temperature was 32 degrees and the house was not air conditioned. The Animal Protection officer assessed the situation but was unsure how to proceed as the situation was a bit unusual. After some consultations, the Regina Police Service was contacted. The Animal Protection Officer went to great lengths to get info on the tenants to no avail, trying to determine where the puppy owners were being held, and how the home could be accessed.

Several hours later, 2 police officers arrived and access the home quickly. They released the puppy to the Animal Protection. At this point the puppy had been locked in the house 27 hours. The rescue was a success, with a very dehydrated puppy who was rescued from a very hot house. All he could do was kiss everyone in gratitude. What a forgiving little soul!

Despite some communication challenges, some uncooperative people at times, and a very busy police service due to the Labour day Rider game, all these people collaborated and an animal life was saved.

The good news is that Shadow the cat is recuperating and has ventured out again on her leash . She was rescued herself by Denise 3 years ago off the street, and is a fighter, not to mention a very lucky black cat to survive a pit bull attack.

The tenants showed up at the house to get the puppy and were surprised to find it gone. They were perplexed when Denise advised them that the puppy would not have survived another day in the house and that Animal Protection had taken him. Perhaps 2 days in a hot house with no food, water or bathroom facilities would have helped them to understand the dire situation they had left the puppy in!

This story turned out well, but Animal Protection and the Humane Society are limited in what they can do when faced with these types of situations. There is not enough funding (or other resources) to help all the animals in need in our city. Please support your local animal rescue groups and shelters, and consider letting your city councilor know that animal welfare is an important issue to you. In the words of anthropologist Margaret Mead "never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has!"

Thanks to Denise for sharing this story. We are glad that Shadow the cat is ok, and that the puppies are now receiving care at the Humane Society.

Alanna

Nine Lives, and Then Some...

This handsome fellow is our resilient Rusty, a 6 year old male we wrote about in the spring after he was was found near death in a ditch outside the city.

He was rushed to the vet, where he was found to be extremely emaciated and dehydrated, then off to one of our most dedicated foster moms, Denise. He was so thin that even gentle petting caused him pain, but with proper care and lots of TLC he recovered nicely and began to put on weight. We were certain that he'd turned the corner when we provided this update a few weeks later.

A few weeks ago, Rusty suddenly took a turn for the worse and was once again near death. It turns out that he is diabetic, despite the fact that he is severely underweight and has been for some time. Things were looking grim, but Rusty once again pulled through, and is back on the road to recovery. He lost all the weight he'd gained and is pretty much starting all over again, but he continues to be a gentle, loving cat who enjoys other cats and people.

Denise sent these pics of Rusty enjoying the outdoors safely in her backyard. Although he is fragile, he still has spunk and spirit and he doesn't like to be left out out of the fun! Rusty has shown an amazing will to live and he gives tremendous gratitude and love to the people who care for him. He is a great inspiration and a great cat!

Alanna

Young Cat Defies Odds!

Check out this handsome young fellow, Berkeley. Berkeley is a short hair tabby male with gorgeous big eyes, a loud voice, white chest and paws.He was rescued by our dedicated volunteer, Brittany, from the rough streets of North Central when he attached his little bitty self to her and meowed desperately for help!

Even though we are completely full with rescued cats, Brittany could not bear the thought of this little guy being left behind. She could see his every bone was protruding through his skin so she picked him up for placement into foster care, hoping for the best.

It turned out that Berkeley was a very sick young boy. What we thought was a 4-month old kitten turned out to be a one-year old adult in very rough shape from life on the streets. He became increasingly ill and was taken to the vet, where it was determined that he had a blood parasite in his system. It was rough, and at one point we feared the worst, but he persevered and held on. After several days at the vet, he was released and went home with Brittany and her family, where he will get lots of TLC while he finishes his medication and recovers.

Despite his illness and harrowing experience, this is a very loving little cat. Even at his sickest, he was purring and talking to the vet clinic staff, though he was so weak he couldn't even lift his head. He is extremely affectionate and he will be as good as new within 2 weeks when his medication is finished. He will be ready and raring to go to his new forever home!

If you are interested in adopting Berkeley, please contact me at abanana71@gmail.com. Thanks!

Alanna

Bugsy is learning how to play!

I have written about Bugsy often on this blog. He is no longer a PFA foster cat, as I adopted him last year after fostering him, and realizing that I simply couldn't part with this amazing boy. Bugs is a true survivor of the streets. When he was finally trapped and taken to the vet, we weren't sure if he would ever tame up completely. We also didn't know if he would ever be able to use his damaged eye properly. Now, he has had three surgeries on his face and his eye. He has battled horrible ear infections, a by-product of the long term damage done by chronic ear mites while he was on the street. Because of this, Bugsy also has some hearing loss. However, he is now finally a healthy cat, and his eye and ears are fine.

For the first year or so at my home, Bugsy mostly slept and ate. We are used to tomcats who have been rescued virtually hibernating as they recover from their experiences, and that is exactly what Bugs did. Slowly, he would let me touch him, and he began to truly enjoy the attention. Bugsy has also made fast friends with the other critters in the house, especially my female cats, who are kind of like his harem.

Now, Bugsy has really come full circle. He is vocal and loving. He cuddles with me on the sofa in the evening, and chases the other cats around in play. And, much to my surprise, he has begun playing with cat toys! These photos are of Bugsy discovering the kitty tunnel in the living room. He loves it, and lurks in there till another cat walks by, at which point he leaps out and scares the poop out of them.

-Sarah

Super Hero Kittens

These two sleek black kittens are Batman and Robin. Both came into foster care with their mom Mary and 9 other kittens. They are now about 5 months old.

Due to being born to a feral mom and living on the streets until their rescue they are both timid. When I first took them into foster care, they just hid under the bed. Now within a few weeks little Batman (solid black) will come when called and crawls into my lap with a loud purr and enjoys being petted. Robin (white patch on chest) however is still a unsure of people but can approached and will sniff your hand and even eat treats out of your hand! I'm confident that he too will come around like his brother.

Being in a foster home with many cats they have been well socialized with other cats and both enjoy playing with the Warehouse kittens.

Look for them in our adoption pages as they will be listed soon!

Michelle

Mouse

This is Mouse. She was rescued this spring when someone in the community alerted us to a momma cat and her 5 kittens sheltering in an old dog house trying to protect her babies from the neighborhood tomcats. She was taken into foster care when the kittens were about 5 weeks old.

All kittens have been adopted except for one, little MJ (Mouse Junior), now known as Frankie.

When PFA tried to get Mouse spayed she almost died on the table but with the quick thinking and action at Victoria Vet Clinic they were able to reverse the anasthetic and bring Mouse back around. They determined she had a reaction to the anasthetic and found lots of mucous in her lungs. Mouse returned to her foster home with a shaved belly, a tattoo and medication for Upper Respiratory Infection. After 2 rounds of antibiotics she has now been on Prednisone for 3 weeks with 1 more week to go and then needs a check up to see if PFA can proceed with her sterilization then adoption.

Mouse is such a good momma cat, and is still a bit timid due to her experience living on the streets and now all her medical issues. However she still greets you with a meow and loves to have a good head scratch. She has a beautiful long coat and is super soft.

Michelle

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Check out this adorable little cat family! It's a mama cat with her two kittens hanging out and looking cute. Don't they look like they would make sweet little pets?

Surprisingly, these are feral cats. A concerned citizen contacted us earlier in the summer about a feral cat that gave birth to kittens in her neighbours garage. The neighbour does not want these cats around and has threatened to harm them, so we are assisting with a trapping initiative and will attempt to find a good farm home for these cats once the kittens are old enough to sterilize.

Sadly, we were not able to get these kittens before they were too old to be able to tame. But, we will do our best to get a good outcome for them nevertheless.

-Alanna