Open letter to the former mom of Rex

Animal care lead Jenna gets a big hug from Rex

Dear former mom of Rex (a beautiful young shepherd mix),

You stopped by the Leech Lake Puppy Roundup on Sept. 22, 2012 to ask about a dog you had to surrender in July, 2012 because you were not allowed to have a dog where you lived. You told me his name was Rex. I wasn't sure if we had taken him into the Leech Lake Legacy program but you assured me you had. You had contacted the Leech Lake Tribal Police and Rory (the Community Services Officer) had gone out to your house. He reached out to the other co-founder of Leech Lake Legacy, Jenny, about other options we had for Rex ... unfortunately we did not have any temporary housing options available for Rex and so you surrendered your sweet boy. You came back that chilly Saturday morning to ask if he had been adopted. You had found a place to live where you are now allowed dogs. You wanted to know if Rex was still up for adoption at the shelter and if he was okay.

I am sorry our conversation was interrupted that Saturday morning. I am sorry that I wasn't able to get your name and contact info before you turned around and left. I am sorry I wasn't able to give you answers that morning. I have been haunted by the sadness in your face and the tears. I know that all you wanted to have was some closure ... to know he was okay; to know he was loved and cared for. I want you to know that I came back and looked up your boy. I want you to know I remember Rex very clearly. I remember when he arrived on transport from Leech Lake Reservation on July 20, 2012. He was renamed to Jeriko. He was a bundle of joy when he got off the transport vehicle. Our friend Jenna (who is the animal care lead at the Animal Humane Society) was there to welcome him, and he immediately gave her a big hug and a kiss. I also want you to know that your boy Rex was adopted on July 24th, just four days after arriving. He had one of the shortest stays at the shelter and in that time was loved and cherished. I'm not surprised he got adopted so quickly. You and your family did a wonderful job raising him.

Rex is happy to get out of his crate!

I know all you wanted was some closure and the knowledge of knowing that Rex is safe and in a loving home. I have no way of reaching you and so I am writing this letter to you on our blog, in hopes that some day you will stumble upon this blog and know that you touched my heart and soul with the love and compassion you had for Rex, and for caring enough to come back on a chilly Saturday morning to check and see if he was okay.

I know the decision you made in July, 2012 was a very painful and difficult decision. There is no doubt in my mind that I know you loved him with all of your heart and you simply wanted to make sure he was okay.

I am sorry I didn't have all the answers for you that chilly Saturday morning on Sept. 22nd when you stopped by the Leech Lake Tribal headquarters. You have been in my thoughts and I just needed to let you know that your boy Rex is doing great!! My hope is that you will find some comfort in seeing these pictures of your beautiful boy and the joyous, happy spirit you can just see from his face :)

with gratitude,
Marilou
Co-founder, Leech Lake Legacy

Sweet, sweet Clementine

Clementine after she is picked up at Leech Lake Rez

Clementine, a sweet, sweet rottie, was picked up by Rory, Leech Lake Reservation Community Services Officer this morning. Leech Lake Legacy got a call this morning about Clementine, a very pregnant rottie with a face full of porcupine quills. We gave Rory the okay to immediately take her in to our partner vet, Animal Care Clinic in Bemidji. Just earlier we had alerted them to some puppies also arriving. Rory picked up a litter of 3 puppies (Cash, Cinderelly and Chicory) in addition to Clementine.

Clementine snarfed down a pocket pill that contained pain meds but is unable to eat. The vet checked her out, and said she needs to be sedated and the quills removed. She is suffering too much. The staff at the clinic assured us that the sedation they used would be safe for the pups, but at this moment, it was more critical to take care of Clementine who was obviously in so much pain. We gave the okay for them to sedate Clementine and remove as many of the quills as they are able. They suspect she is about ready to have her pups any time.

Leech Lake Legacy has reached out to partner shelters and rescues. We are planning to transport her to the cities on Sunday and are hoping one of our rescue or shelter partners (with a foster network) will be able to take her in. Please send positive thoughts Clementine's way ....

The three pups who were also brought into Animal Care Clinic (Cash, Cinderelly and Chicory) were also checked out. They are being treated for mange, fleas and chewing lice, and we are also working on placement for these sweeties.

With today's intake of Clementine and the 3 pups, our medical emergency fund is taking a big hit. If you are able to contribute even a small amount to help us replenish our medical fund it would be greatly appreciated. Please click on the 'Donate' button on the right hand side of our blog, or if you would prefer to write a check you can send it to:

Leech Lake Legacy

PO Box 385454

Bloomington, MN 55438

Clementine - close up

Cash

Cinderelly

Chicory

10/26/12 Update: Clementine had her quills removed and is much more comfortable now and resting at the vet clinic. We are grateful to Second Hand Hounds rescue for taking this sweet girl into their foster program.

Yazhi ... deserves only the best from this point forward ...

Yazhi ... taken at the Bemidji Impound

This poor girl was dumped at a grocery store parking lot in Bemidji, MN. She ended up at the Bemidji Impound where she captured the hearts of the staff at the Impound and made her way down on transport to the cities on 10/9/12 and was taken in by one of  our partners, Animal Humane Society/AHS. The poor girl was scared to death and was shaking like a leaf.

Yazhi spent some time at AHS getting checked out by the staff veterinarians. We soon learned sweet Yazhi had many, many health issues. We were told the following:

• She has a heart murmur (grade 3 or 4 on a scale of 6)
• She has cataracts in both of her eyes
• Her teeth appear to be rotting (they were unable to check out her teeth while she was awake, and told us they would do a thorough check when she was sedated).
• They were able to shave all the mats off of her body but would shave her face and head while she was sedated (she did not like her head our mouth to be touched ... understandably!)
• She has at least 5 tumors/nodules along her mammary chains

Yazhi arrives at AHS on 10/9/12

Leech Lake Legacy and AHS worked together to explore what we could do for sweet Yazhi and what would be in her best interest. There is a strong possibility the tumors are cancerous. After much discussion we decide we have to at least give Yazhi a chance to experience the good life and to be loved and cherished. We also know what's most important is to keep her comfortable and free from pain. We were fortunate to have a wonderful, experienced foster step forward to provide temporary hospice care as we continue to reach out in hopes that someone out there would be willing to adopt Yazhi, a beautiful senior pup who has been through so much and simply deserves to live out the rest of her life being treated like a queen.

Yazhi was sedated and shaved .. all the mats are now gone from her face and body and she is like a brand new dog!! :) When AHS had her sedated, they went ahead and extracted 11 teeth (they indicated that 5 had already fallen out). She has a few teeth remaining and they did their best to clean her remaining teeth. After getting a closer look at our teeth while Yazhi was sedated they estimate her age to be around 12 years.

Yazhi gets ready to go home with foster mom Vicki!

Samples from a couple of the nodules along her mammary chain were removed and sent to the lab to see if they are cancerous. AHS will notify us in about a week when the results come back. Her foster mom Vicki picked her up at AHS this afternoon. It was apparent Yazhi got lots of loving and pampering from the staff at AHS. We are extremely grateful for our partnership with AHS and for all they have done for Yazhi and for working with us so that we could ensure that Yazhi has the opportunity to experience the good life ... we all deserve that :)

We are extremely grateful to Vicki for temporarily fostering this sweet girl. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

We realize there are a lot of unknowns with Yazhi. We realize she's a senior dog with a multitude of health issues (including cancer). We realize she may not have long left in this world. Despite all of that we believe she deserves the very best and we believe she deserves to enjoy whatever time she has left .... If you are interested in meeting Yazhi and would consider opening up your heart and your home to this special senior pup, please email us at leechlakelegacy@gmail.com.

Recovering from surgery

Yazhi ... she even had a little bounce in her step! :)

Update: Poni finally finds a home!!

Poni (formerly Ponemah) was one of many cats surrendered at Leech Lake Legacy's first spay/neuter clinic in March, 2012. Poni came down to the cities along with 51 other animals who were surrendered. All were taken in by our partner, the Animal Humane Society. Even while Poni was up at the Leech Lake clinic there was concern regarding whether or not we would be able to help this beautiful boy. He was considered semi-feral and was simply NOT going to let anyone handle him. We decided, however, that we would bring him down to the cities and AHS was going to see if he would settle down a little. Unfortunately, Poni continued to be very fiesty and hissy and would not allow anyone to handle him. In the best interest of Poni, we reached out to another partner, Pet Haven Inc. of Minnesota, a foster-based rescue to see if they could take Poni. We are extremely grateful when Pet Haven left with Poni and one other wild, crazy, beautiful cat (Periwinkle, fka Pia).

Well, we got great news from the Cat Adoption Director at Pet Haven:

"Pet Haven placed Poni, a relatively unhandled lynx point siamese x from Leech Lake, in between the last show and this one.  We took him from AHS when he was too hissy to be on the adoption floor there. He came down with a flea borne disease after we got him that attacks the red blood cells and was treated for that, really enjoyed Deb's dogs (can't say that about the other cats!) and went to a home with a puppy.  It's going well."

Congratulations Poni on finding your new home!! And a HUGE thank you to Pet Haven for taking Poni into your foster program and for giving him the much needed time to learn that humans aren't all bad :) 

 

Pre Order your Leech Lake Legacy T-Shirt!

We took an informal, extremely unscientific poll on facebook to see if our supporters would be interested in purchasing Leech Lake Legacy/LLL t-shirts as another means of helping support us financially so we can continue to help the animals up at Leech Lake Reservation :) The feedback has been extremely positive so we have decided to move forward with ordering Leech Lake Legacy t-shirts!

We are taking pre-orders for short sleeve and long-sleeve t-shirts (Gildan 100% pre-shrunk cotton).

Deadline to place your LLL T-shirt Pre-Order is 

Thursday, October 18, 2012.

Price:

Short Sleeve: $20/each (pay by check) or $21/each (pay by credit card on PayPal)
Long Sleeve: $25/each (pay by check) or $26/each (pay by credit card on PayPal)

* Add $1 for every X over XL sizes

Color Options:

• Pistachio (green)
• Orchid (purple)

Pick-Up Options and shipping charges, if applicable:

T-shirts will arrive early November and you will be contacted when they have arrived.

• Pick up your order at the Pause for Paws Fundraiser on Thursday, 11/8 at the Medina Entertainment Center (we will have a booth at the event). Leech Lake Legacy is one of the recipients of the Fundraiser. It will be an awesome night and all funds raised go towards helping homeless animals. Ticket prices are $25/person (until October 15th).
• Arrange to meet us on a Saturday afternoon at the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society and be there when one of our transports arrive from Leech Lake Reservation. In addition to picking up your t-shirt(s) you can get some slobbery kisses :)
• Email leechlakelegacy@gmail.com and arrange to pick up your shirt in west Bloomington.
• Shipping Charges .... Have your order shipped to you. Add $5 for 1-3 t-shirts; $7 for 4-5 t-shirts; $10 for more than 5 t-shirts.

Payment Options:

Email us at leechlakelegacy@gmail.com (or call 612.702.6967) to place your order. We will need the following info:

• # of t-shirts (short sleeve or long sleeve, or both!)
• Color of t-shirt (pistachio or orchid)
• Size(s)
• Contact info (email address, name, address, phone #)
• Indicate your pickup preference or if you would like it shipped

We will then let you know what your balance is. Payment can then either be made by check ....

Mail to:
Leech Lake Legacy
PO Box 385454
Bloomington, MN 55438

or by credit card on PayPal - click on the 'Buy Now' PayPal button on the top right hand corner of our blog.



You will receive an email confirming payment.

Remember, the deadline to pre-order is Thursday, October 18th, 2012.

A huge thanks to our supporters. By purchasing a Leech Lake Legacy t-shirt you will not only help us raise much needed funds for homeless animals at Leech Lake Reservation, but you will help us continue to be a voice for these precious animals by wearing a Leech Lake Legacy t-shirt.