Calendar Time!

WAG 2011 calendars are here, so make sure to pick up a few. You can find them at Boss Brothers Country Store in Loganville, Animal Medical Center of Monroe, Garden Gate Florist in Monroe, or send us an email and we'll make sure you get some.

Some Cruizin' pics

Ready to ride

Smilin' volunteers

Walter the Weasel

More riders

We came, we saw, we cruized

Our October 27 Cruizin' for Critters motorcycle event was great. Awesome fall weather for everyone, a fantastic variety of vendors, and better yet - several animals were adopted during the day. Our thank to Stone Mountain Harley Davidson (http://www.stonemountainhd.com/) and our sponsors: Mall of Georgia Ford (http://www.mallofgeorgiaford.com/), Attorney Charles Watwood (www.lawbike.com) Covered Wagon Trailers (coveredwagontrailers.com), Jake Wilson Parts and Accessories (http://www.jakewilson.com/) Lawrenceville Honda Yamaha (http://www.lhyonline.com/), and Tony Davis Signz (www.facebook.com/tdsignz). DJ Scottie with Just 4 Fun kept the afternoon rocking until our main event Ahdri and the Key Elements put on a live concert.What an incredible day!!

Full Speed Ahead

Lots coming up for fall - our community pet calendar will be out soon, our $5,000 drawing tickets will go on sale this month, our super adoption event is next weekend, and our Cruizin' for Critters motorcycle ride will be in October. Whew! I'm gonna need to take a nap once this is over.

Tail between legs

I'm embarassed - my blog work has slowed again. Here's the thing, lots of people are on Facebook so I'm spending more time posting there. And although I stay busy, it seems silly to be posting same stuff in two places. My technical skills suck (it's the paws) but I think there's a way to combine the two and have posts show up in both places, but that will take a bit of figuring out. If you know how, drop me a note at wagwalton@yahoo.com

Here are some recent rescue faces. All together now - awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Help us have fun!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Let's hope the next few weeks give us a little break in temperatures!

Fall/winter are looking to be a busy time for WAG. Two super-adoption events, a motorcycle ride fundraiser, fall festivals, and more will keep us from getting bored! Meeting the public at events, helping with education programs, coordinating adoptions are all tasks we have to manage. A planning committee is also forming to start work on next years WAG Walk.

Let's hope it's a good fundraising season - we want to fill our coffers for next year's spay/neuter season, plus help with more medical expenses for dogs/cats.

But we can't pull these events off without volunteers. Whether it's helping at one event, or all of them, your help is appreciated. So if you're interested in getting involved with some of the events this fall, let me know and we'll get in touch with you to work out more details. We have a lot of fun - especially knowing our efforts are for a great cause!

Pet calendar

The annual Community Pet Calendar contest is underway - don't forget to visit the website and vote for your favorites!. Entries can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/wagcalendar/ Voting goes until July 15.

We also have some room left for sponsor ads in the calendar. At only $25 it's year-round advertising at an incredibly cheap price. Drop us an email at wagwalton@yahoo.com if you're interested.

Eilean is a sweet pup dumped at the shelter when she was about 5 weeks old. But she wasn't perfect and almost didn't make it out - she had a deformed front leg. The vet said she'd never be able to walk on it and it would need to be amputated.

So she went home with Melanie, Healther and Kenny Z. for some major spoiling for a few weeks. When she got a little older the surgery was done.

Now this spunky girl is bouncing around as if nothing happened. She tips over occasionally, still learning to adjust her balance, but will soon be looking for her forever home.

Thanks to everyone who donates money to our Mercy Fund - that's how we're able to help pets like Eilean!

Good luck Emma!

Take a look at Emma and her new family. She stayed at my house for awhile, but is now the much-loved dog of Anne and Chris. Congratulations to this family as they start their new life together!!

We Came We Saw We Walked

Here's a few photos from the WAG 'n Walk. We had gorgeous weather and it was cool seeing a parade of dogs walking the streets of downtown Monroe. Sorry we don't have more photos - my paws can't handle the camera and the humans get busy at these events and keep forgetting to take photos. At least that's the excuse they keep giving.

It was a lot of fun. The Dog Spot did a demonstration on competitive rally and AShley Hills Pet Center showed us some protection dog examples. Totally awesome!

Thanks again for our sponsors who made the walk possible. Alcovy Survey and Engineering, Spring Street Studios, Law office of Stuart Oberman, Standridge Color Corporation, Peace of Mind Petsitters, Newsom Contracting, Baccus Termite and Pest Control, the Pittman Company, Monroe Veterinary Clinic, Athens Pool & Spa, Pinnacle Bank, and Paradox Spay Neuter Clinic.

We'll already looking ahead to next year!

WAG 'n Walk

Things are shifting into high gear for our first WAG 'n Walk, Walton County's first pet-oriented festival. We'll be updating our list of sponsors - thanks to all for their help! - and getting everything ready. Let's hope this gorgeous weather holds for awhile.

Get an entry form from our website www.wagwalton.com and come out, even if you don't have a dog. You can walk by yourself or borrow one of our rescue pets. They'd love the companionship.

There's gonna be music, games, obedience and protection dog demonstrations and all kinda cool stuff.

Mark your calendars!

'til later,

Buddy

Taking Hockey on the road

Here's Hockey - another last-minute rescue by an out-of-state rescue group. WAG volunteers transported him to Lexington, KY, and he was quite the gentleman during his 5-hour trip. We're glad to give Hockey another chance to find a loving home.

He made it!

Knight climbed out of the transport van on Saturday night and already has a home! His foster family will now be his permanent family. Here's the note they sent us: "We just love him, he's so sweet! He's made himself at home and we already have an appointment with the groomer for Monday. Thanks for helping us find him."

Good luck, Knight!

Rescuing Knight

This is Knight - rescued from the Walton Co. shelter on March 22. His case is a great demonstration of the successful "it takes a village" approach to dog rescue.







Knight, a 6 mos. old sheepdog mix, was brought into the shelter as a stray. His photo was posted on http://www.waltonpets.net/ website used by Walton Animal Control. Although potential adopters and local rescues check the site frequently, nothing happened for Knight. Local rescues were full.

It would be nice if all shelter animals had plenty of time to find new homes, but the shelter has a limited number of kennels. People drop off puppies, dogs, stray dogs come in, bite cases are quarantined, and things stay very full. So dogs need to leave very quickly. If they're not adopted or rescued, their last trip will be to the landfill. It's a harsh reality faced by staff and rescuers day after day, week after week, month after month.

So we hit the internet, posting his photo on nationwide rescue message boards, Facebook, and sending emails to everyone we knew in rescue, asking them to forward our request to all their contacts. In a matter of hours his photo was circulating all across the country.


Within 2 days a rescue from Doylestown PA replied and offered to take Knight. Since the Walton shelter can only release dogs to Georgia-licensed rescues, WAG stepped in and picked him up from the shelter one afternoon.


He came to my house (a hostel for traveling canines) and stayed a few days. He had a little bit of kennel cough and was treated with antibiotics. He was also neutered and just chilled out for awhile.


Meanwhile plans were being made to get him to PA. We tried a volunteer pilots organization, Pilots 'n Paws, that flies rescued pets to their new homes, but no one was available.

Finally, a paid rescue transport company was found. These folks stay very busy - you'd be surprised at the number of animals funneled from one location to another. They travel up the major interstates, stopping along the way to get animals to their new owners or rescue groups.

WAG met the transport driver on I-85 in Braselton and Knight climbed aboard the large van headed toward his new home! He's not there yet, but we think good things are ahead for Knight! We'll update you when he gets there.

'til later,

Buddy

More community support!

It's great when the community pitches in to help with our cause. The Walton County Foundation approved WAG's grant request and will be funding a whopping $4,000 in spay/neuter costs this year. Spay/neuter is vital to ending pet overpopulation. Plus, strays can carry diseases and keep shelter staff busy impounding or euthanizing them, if necessary. Prevention is a smart move.

Many thanks to the foundation for their confidence in us and their commitment to the Walton County community!

'til later,

Buddy

Guthrie

Guthrie was impounded as a cruelty case. He'd been hit by a car but his owners never took him for medical care. Skinny and in constant pain, his chance of rescue seemed slim. But shelter staff decided to give it a try and posted his photo on their website.

WAG posted Guthrie's story on several rescue message boards and it caught the attention of Whispering Woods Rescue in NY. A flurry of phone calls and emails ensued. Guthrie's happy ending came when WAG pulled him from the shelter and took him to Countryside Hospital for Animals for evaluation and pain medications. The next day a volunteer with Atlanta's Angels Among Us Rescue picked up Guthrie from Countryside to foster him. Because the vet suggested amputation, Guthrie will have his surgery in GA and recuperate before heading to his new home in NY.

One more happy tail!

The Nuts and Bolts of Rescue

There's a lot of work involved in rescue, but a lot of good stuff, too. Seeing a rescue dog blossom in foster care, a happy adoptive family and their new pet, the bouncing enthusiasm of a dog finally freed from a shelter kennel.

Rescue is definitely a "takes a village" effort. So many people help in many different ways. We'll take a look at some stories coming out of the Walton shelter. You'll see what what we mean.

Enjoy the tales.

'til later,

Buddy

WAG Spring fun

Here are a few dates to note:

April 10 is our Spring Fling Adoption Extravaganza at the Loganville Petsmart from 11 a.m - 4 pm. Over 100 dogs and cats will be hoping for new homes. Come and "Let Love Blossom" with a new pet!

Saturday, May 8 is our first annual WAG 'n Walk, a community dog walk/festival in downtown Monroe. Bring your family and pets out to walk a 1.5 mile route through beautiful downtown Monroe. There's a $10 donation for entry, OR get your friends/family to sponsor you. The more sponsor money you get, the more goodies you'll receive - WAG t-shirts and lots of other fun stuff.

So it's a busy spring season for us. Hope you can join us!

'til later,

Buddy

The ice is gone- it's time to "Beat the Heat"

Thanks goodness we're done with January. The temperature dipped into the teens, and that's REALLY COLD for Georgia. I know - we look like wimps to those who have dealt with real winter weather, snow, ice and all that stuff. Whatever. I still spent a lot of time under my blanket in the basement. Brrrrr.

February is spay/neuter month and WAG wants to spay a lot of cats through "Beat the Heat," a joint promotion offered by Paradox Clinic, WAG, Pound Puppies rescue and Save Our Strays rescue. Cat owners will pay only $25 to spay a female this month through participating vets. But this is a limited offer and only a select number of surgery slots are available, so don't wait. Call us at (770) 207-1896 for more info.