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TLC
Newsletter - 10/28/09
Halloween is upon us: With the
holiday on Saturday, we wanted to share these
Halloween Tips for Dogs & Their Owners
Halloween ranks right up there with the Fourth
of July in the increased number of dogs that
show up in the shelters after the holiday.
Every step that you can take to increase the
chances of your pet's safety at this time will
be greatly appreciated by them!
TLC
dogs go creative: For those
TLC alumni who came by last Saturday, you will
have first hand experiences with the fun we
had, dressing up the TLC dogs in various
costumes. Congratulations to the winners
of the various contests PETCO ran! Enjoy
our TLC in various personas -
Halloweenie Slideshow at Adoptions -
two volunteers had birthdays as well, so it
was a great day all around!
Lots
of changes at the Ventura County Shelter:
With new directorship, our local shelter is
changing directions fast - and all in positive
ones too! The shelter now has more
opened hours and also vaccinates every dog
adopted with rabies (HURRAH~!!). And
with the tough economic factors we all face,
the shelter has opened up a Pet Pantry.
Too many dogs are being turned in with not
enough homes to be found - if the decision an
owner makes rests upon their ability to feed
their beloved animal, this is a viable
alternative option. Kudos to the new
director, Monica Nolan, and all of the VCAR
staff for beginning this program... many of us
in rescue applaud these great changes we are
seeing!
Pantry Provides Free Pet Food
New
Added Value for TLC puppies and dogs adopted:
The greatest window a newly adopted rescued
dog is likely to bolt and go missing is
usually the first 48 to 96 hours after a major
transition - from the shelter to a foster home
- or from a foster home to a new adopted home.
Removed from familiar smells, sights and
sounds, dogs will go to unbelievable lengths
to try and find what they have known (even
recently, as in the shelter environment).
This has long been a concern of us in TLC.
As we have gone searching in the middle of the
night for a newly adopted TLC dog, we have
personal experience in just how traumatic this
is for all of us - humans and dogs included.
We have begun a new program for the TLC
adoptions - each adopted furdog will come with
a one year prepaid IDTag. So what's the big
deal about this?
- A dog
found (even if micro-chipped) cannot
immediately be reunited with their owner
unless someone can scan the dog with an
universal scanner (shelters, vets, etc.) -
most new owners do NOT activate the
micro-chip in their name regardless of being
chipped (TLC activates every dog that is
adopted through us into the new owner's
name, BTW).
- Dogs are
most likely to go stray during a move - few
owners dual ID a dog with two ID tags - one
with the old address and the other with the
new address. Moves are tough on
everyone, and dual tagging a family pet is
just not on the top of the priority list.
- Cell phone
numbers and email addresses change
frequently - if you have this listed on your
pet's ID tag, it is expensive to get another
one engraved.
- If your
pet goes missing and needs daily meds (such
as insulin, liver shunt aids, etc.), anyone
finding your dog will not necessarily know
this is an absolute necessity.
- Most
people don't know where to begin in
searching for their pet other than putting
up posters around the neighborhood.
So to combat
all of these issues, we have put an
IDTag on all TLC pets and paid for the
first year of service as part of the adoption
donation, loaded photos and micro-chip
numbers, identifying items, etc. We
transfer this service over to the new owner at
time of adoption, just like we do the license
and the micro-chip registration.
If a TLC dog
goes missing and it is reported to the
website, all local shelters and rescues are
automatically alerted via email blasts.
If someone finds a TLC dog with an IDTag, they
have an 800 number to call, or can go to their
computer and via the Internet, contact the
owner immediately. The ID tags are
durable and very nice, plus with all these
added benefits, it will greatly increase the
chances you get back your pooch if (God
forbid!) they ever get lost. Should the
dog even lose their collar and tag, someone
can search for a dog in the local area on this
website as well!
For those who
have already adopted TLC dogs before we began
this program, stop by at adoptions and we have
some extra tags available for you.
We are thankful: The time
of the year is fast approaching us when we
look back and are so very thankful and
grateful for the things in our lives that
enrich us and our families. As part of a
Thanksgiving roll-out, we are encouraging
everyone who has adopted a TLC dog or puppy to
send us updated photos and details about your
new pooch. Each person that responds
will receive their own complimentary webpage
at the TLC website, complete with commenting
areas, etc. so you can send the link to family
and friends. Please send your
photos and dog stories to the website editor
at
TinyLovingCanines@yahoo.com BEFORE
November 22nd to be a part of this "We are
thankful" project!
REMEMBER ALWAYS
TO ADOPT AND NOT SHOP! THE
DOGS WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!
This is an
opt-in newsletter, so you're free to come and
go as you please. We're hoping you'll
be with us for a very long time. Feel
free to pass on our newsletters to other
dog lovers... and encourage them to visit us
as well! If you like to suggest a topic
or have a question, please
contact
us. We'd LOVE to hear from you!
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