Lifeline aids foreclosure victims

The Lost Our Home Pet Foundation is dedicated to helping pets put at risk due to the housing crisis.









Dogs are yet another victim of the foreclosure epidemic plaguing the nation, especially in the Phoenix area. Too many times to count, former mortgage banker Jodi Polanski heard heart-wrenching stories of families forced to move out of their homes due to foreclosure, leaving their pets behind to fend for themselves. Often, those animals weren't discovered until a real estate agent came to the house in preparation for its sale. Polanski knew this had to stop.

In 2008 she founded the Lost Our Home Pet Foundation, dedicated to helping pets put at risk due to the housing crisis. The organization started small and quickly grew.
"It exploded because the need was so much bigger than I ever imagined," says Polanski, the group's executive director.
"These animals are the innocent victims. They don't have a choice. They didn't do anything wrong."
The organization has helped more than 2,000 pets. . What makes this group unique is that it reaches out not only to abandoned dogs, but also to dogs at risk of being abandoned. The foundation offers a temporary haven for pets owned by people facing immediate foreclosure who need time to find new, pet-friendly housing arrangements.
"They just lost their home," Polanski says. "They don't want to lose their family, too." .
The group also allows people battling financial issues and foreclosure to surrender their dogs to them instead of abandoning the pets or turning them in to high-kill shelters. Many of LOH's dogs come from these types of situations.
LOH provides food, spay-neutering services, and supplies to owners who cannot afford these things. It even serves as a resource between renters and real estate agents, helping owners find pet-friendly housing.
Today LOH houses abandoned and surrendered dogs at a new boarding shelter and with foster families. Roughly 120 volunteers assist the group in these efforts, but more help is needed, Polanski says. Real estate professionals are a huge source for locating abandoned dogs, getting them to LOH, and letting owners know that LOH is there to help.
As Polanski says, "There are people who want to do the right thing, but they don't know where to turn."
For more information about Lost Our Home Pet Foundation, call 602-230-HELP (4357) or visit www.lostourhome.org — Kyra Kirkwood
The efforts of Lost Our Home Pet Foundation to aid and rescue dogs inspired FreeKibble.com, a website dedicated to providing nutritious food to shelter animals, to donate 5,000 meals to LOH.

I saw this article this morning and it made me smile! What a wonderful group!
Dallas rescue group helps unwanted dogs find new homes out of state | Dallas-Fort Worth Communities - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

Now, if we could just get this group to start this with larger dogs like Golden mixes it would be just perfect!

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Meet Yogi! http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...tion-yogi.html

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater

Not sure if it will work - I saw this video shared on FB. Truly amazing!

How One Stray Dog Brought a Neighborhood Together

By Caroline Golon

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Photo credit: Bruce Klein

click image to enlarge


When Chewy, a beautiful St. Bernard/Border Collie strolls around his Modesto, Calif. Neighborhood with his owners, Bruce and Lauren Klein, neighbors flock to greet him. These are the same neighbors who, five years ago, joined forces to care for the dog and, ultimately, save Chewy from the streets and an uncertain fate.

In a recent editorial in the Modesto Bee, Bruce Klein tells the story of how Chewy came to live with his family and him.

Five years ago, Chewy was a stray. He roamed the Modesto area by day, each night returning to his “home” – a bridge near Enslen Park.

The neighbors in the area watched over Chewy and worried about him. But, while Chewy was friendly and gentle, he wouldn’t let anyone close enough to him to catch him.

Still, residents who lived near the bridge left food for him every morning and every evening. In bad weather, some people brought blankets and one time, even a doghouse.

Neighbors who didn’t know each other met and became friends because of Chewy. It was some of these friends – Lauren, Cecilia and Gary - who eventually hatched a plan to save Chewy after someone had witnessed some people throwing rocks at the gentle dog.

Cecilia fed Chewy some hamburger laced with tranquilizers. She waited hours for him to fall asleep and when he did, hauled his huge furry body into her car – and to his new home with the Kleins.

Bruce Klein writes that five years later, Chewy is doing great as part of the Klein family.

But the neighborhood hasn’t forgotten Chewy. “More than 100 people have stopped my wife to tell her their Chewy story,” writes Bruce. “The other day a man ran out of his house, elated to see Chewy and learn of his rescue.”

Getting a Pawsitive Start

Dec 11, 2012 2:04:00 AM by N. Burns
At the Michigan Humane Society, people working direclty with the animals have learned something vital. Food, water, and shelter are important steps to making a pet adoptable, but it isn't enough just to meet a pet's physical needs.

The mental and emotional health of a shelter cat or dog is just as imporant as the physical. Teaching dogs and cats new skills, good manners, and even tricks keeps them active and interested during their stay at the Humane Society. Mental stimulation makes for a saner, more adoptable pet.

The Pawsitive Start program does all this and more. With training, dogs and cats become better socialized and have the chance to learn that people are a source of treats, fun, and love - not something be afraid of. With good socialization, new skills, and a healthy interest in life, pets in this program have the best possible chance at finding the perfect forever home.

Guest blog by Andrew Binovi, ASPCA Federal Legislative Manager
With all the political gridlock in Washington D.C., it seems that Congress has nearly ground to a complete halt. So it was very exciting late yesterday when the U.S. Senate considered two important measures to help animals in need!
First, the Senate took up the cause of canine heroes who have served in our military and passed a provision that streamlines the adoption process for retired military dogs and authorizes the Department of Defense to provide veterinary care in the animals’ retirement without any cost to American taxpayers. Military dogs perform dangerous, critical tasks, and it is our duty to honor these dogs and ensure they are cared for after their service is complete. The House passed similar language in their version of the military bill earlier this year.
Then, just moments later, the Senate passed the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act by a unanimous voice vote. This bill, introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), along with Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Scott Brown (R-MA), will give law enforcement additional tools to crack down on animal fighting. The legislation will make it a federal offense to attend an organized animal fight and will impose additional penalties for taking minors to animal fights.

Well.........would you look at that. Congress CAN get things done.
2 great bills.
Thanks for posting that CM. The media had absolutely no coverage on any of them.

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By Lauren Sullivan, TODAY
Service dogs are known for helping people with disabilities. But what happens when the dog is the one in need?
The team at Canine Assistants – a nonprofit that trains service dogs in Milton, Ga. – confronted that question when a golden retriever was born with only three paws last year.
Employees at the center suspect the umbilical cord was wrapped around the dog’s foot in utero, preventing him from growing a fourth paw. The team at Canine Assistants named the newborn “Pirelli” after the tire company – referring to his need for a "retread."
Jennifer Arnold, the nonprofit's founder and author of "In a Dog's Heart," told TODAY: “You could see in Pirelli... something very special."



So Arnold and her team found an alternative way for Pirelli to help others: They brought him to schools to promote a message of acceptance and overcoming obstacles. NBC affiliate WXIA tracked the dog's journey, and soon donations for a prosthetic leg flooded in.
When the first prosthetic proved less than successful, Hanger Clinic, which specializes in prosthetics for people, stepped in to create a carbon-fiber foot – similar to the one worn by Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius.
Pirelli, who will receive the new leg in the next few weeks, is an inspiration to all.
"It doesn't matter what your body looks like or how it functions,” says Arnold. “What makes you important as a person is what you are on the inside."

CM - great story!

It reminds me of a mini donkey named Emma that I learned of from another patient's human during my girl's last chemo appt.

Link to the story with pictures is here:
Featured Story - Miniature donkey foal fitted with prosthetic limb at Auburn?s College of Veterinary Medicine

video link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBU8-KOCg9k

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Part 1 of Hannah's story - Cancer diagnosis - - - - Part 2 of Hannah's story - grab bag of health issues

So amazing the advances in Technology, medicine, and what Vets are doing for animals, love it.

Emma is so cute......way to go little girl.