The Kindness of People or One Person Can Make a Huge Difference

   Rescue is hard.  I have met some of the worst people in rescue and also some of the very best.  It is hard not to be angry with people at times.  The people that dump their pets; the people that try to hurt or sabatogue you when you are just trying to help some animals; the people that don't understand everything that goes into rescuing this one animal; the people that think that rescue is a waste of time; the people that hurt an animal; and on and on.  Really though, those people that are stinkers are few compared to the people that are really great.  It's just that we tend to dwell on the bad experience.  So instead, I want to dwell on some people that have done things out of the kindness of their hearts.  Instead of wasting any thought on the people that aren't very nice, let's focus on the ones that are kind. Here are a few that I think are just great!

Acts of Kindness

• Bing, who is 82 years young, comes every Friday morning to the shelter and picks up the dirty laundry and brings back the laundry that is done for the shelter animals.  Until a month or so ago she was also washing 5 or 6 dogs at the shelter until she hurt her knee.  She always has a kind word to say and is always positive.  We all look forward to seeing her every week.  
• Terry and Sue, who are neighbors of the shelter, just donated their van to us.  They have always been supportive of the shelter even though they are within barking distance, which can be a bit loud at times.  They are always encouraging and promote P4P.  
• Stephanie worked all year raising money for the animals at our shelter and raised $500.00!  She took the money and bought all kinds of supplies from kitty litter to neosporin for P4P.  She delivered a  whole van full of goodies for the shelter.
• Jenna D, a vet tech at HSLAH, took our little pit pup, Bates, home to care for him.  Bates was severely injured and was most likely used as a bait dog.  He had over 100 puncture wounds and one of his ears and ear canal was severed.  Jenna took him home out of the goodness of her heart to give Bates extra special care.  She worked on his back leg infection in the hopes he would not have to have his leg amputated. He didn't!
• Sue and Walt took Kisses under their wing to help her recover.  Several weeks ago Kisses had a severely broken leg and had to have it amputated.  Even though they volunteer for SpotSavers, their group went above the call of duty to help this girl.  Kisses is rehabbing at their home.  
• Lisa K. saw a picture on the internet of a dog at a pound in Springfield that was going to be euthanized.  Even though she had not been involved in rescue and wasn't sure how to go about it, she felt compelled to help this dog.  As I said, rescue is hard.  After asking a lot of questions and hanging in there when the going got tough, 13 dogs were rescued that week that would have been euthanized. And she is helping more! 
• Melissa makes hats.  She makes alot of hats and they are really cute.  Each one she makes she donates the proceeds to help the animals.  This year she sold 286 hats and donated the money to P4P!!!  Hats off to you girl!
• Every person that fosters a dog or cat saves two lives-the one they are fostering and the one we can pull from the pound since we have a spot open due to their fostering.  While you might think fostering a dog isn't that big of a deal it is to the dog or cat they are fostering and to the one that got out of the pound instead of being euthanized.
• Tom made it his mission to set out donation boxes and pick them up when they are full.  He manages to pick up a nice amount of change and dollars each week for P4P.  It is amazing how much just some change adds up to each month.
• Margie took a vacation day from work and drove her own car to Louisville, KY to get one of our dogs that ended up at the pound there.  Many attempts to get a transport fell thru and it was do or die, literally.  So Margie, being that kind of person, drove all the way there and back in one day to get Gordon.  Wow!
• Rebecca took one look at Kelsey Mae's emaciated,  heartworm positive, tired, old body and took her home to heal.  Kelsey came to us from the Springfield pound with 12 other dogs.  She was very shaggy and after she was shaved we all gasped.  There wasn't much dog there.  A few more days and she would have been dead.  Slowly but surely she is getting better.  She is finished with her heartworm treatment now.  
• Denise got a call from a vet office that said a severely emaciated boxer had been found by a hunter while hunting.  Could we take her?  Scarlett was so emaciated she could barely stand.  She had no life to her, weighed 30 pounds and had a very badly infected foot.  Denise took her home to take care of her and she is doing great. Within a week she had gained 8 pounds and the life had come back in her eyes.  Now she is up to 50 pounds!
• Chris started collecting donations at her work to help the animals at our shelter.  She and her co-workers raised $182.10!  The power of a few is great!  She also collected a huge bag of toys for the dogs.  Chris is a very quiet person but her determination to help is heard loud and clear.  Thank you!
• Danielle and Hannah are two, 15 year old teenage girls.  Both girls worked together for a year and a half to raise money and supplies for the animals at our shelter.  They babysat, had lemonade stands, did odd jobs, had a piggy bank, and held a rummage sale to help P4P rescues.  On the Sunday before Christmas they came to Petsmart with a whole truck load of supplies-40 bags of kitty litter, toys, treats, towels, food, and a check for $250.00!  They can't even drive yet and they are out there working to help save more animals.  They are an inspiration.  
• Joan comes on Friday mornings to the shelter to groom our dogs.  Sometimes it is a huge undertaking as we get some real messes.  She never seems to mind and knows that it will make them feel so much better.  The most disgusting dog with matts, dirt and grunge turns into the cutest little dog.  They are so happy and excited to get all cleaned up.  Another shelter once commented that we only adopt out the cute little dogs.  Well, you should have seen them before Joan got ahold of them.  Believe me, they were not cute nor would anyone adopted them in that shape. 
• Katie's Kookies 4 Pets are being made by a 7 year old girl that is determined to help the animals at our shelter.  She sold over $100.00 and gave it to help the rescues at our shelter.  What a cool kid!! 
• Crystal, another HSLAH staff, saw Ritchie and ws determined to help him.  He had some slipped discs in his back and couldn't walk.  The decision had been made to put him to sleep because he was at the end of his rope.  He was in pain and the discs could not be fixed.  Crystal called to see if she could try some hydrotherapy and massage.  She knew a massage therapist that would donate her time.  Along with some medications Ritchie is much improved-up and walking.  Pain under control.  She was his guardian angel.
• When the momma dog of nine, 5 day old puppies abandoned them two days before Christmas my heart sank.  Bottle feeding puppies is really hard and there were 9 of them. Great timing too.  We had hours to figure out what to do and to feed 9 puppies.  Within hours the 9 pups were divided between 4 surrogate moms.  Lisa K, Beth, Jan and Pam all pitched in and the next few weeks of botle feeding puppies every 3-4 hours started. I'm happy to say all pups are doing great and are now 6 weeks old.  Thank you to the 4 sleep deprived people that saved the pups and the day!
• These are just a few examples of the kindness of people.  There are many, many more.  The volunteers, staff and fosters for P4P spend countless hours helping to save the dogs and cats in our shelter.  Every day I am reminded what great people they are to spend their time helping the animals with P4P  They come to help at adoptions, open their homes to foster, help clean the shelter, take pictures of the animals for the web site, answer the phone, look over the applications, do the bookwork, write grants, set up fund raisers, work at fund raisers, take the animals to the vet, go to the pounds, want to help the ones with parvo etc, and provide the support and encouragement needed to carry on. Each person does their part to help and the pieces make a whole that is really awesome.  And really works to help rescue dogs and cats out of the pounds.  Thank you!