Previous Animal Updates: September 24, 2009
The ladies and gentlemen of Home for Life®
As Home for Life's annual Fall Gala draws near, we celebrate our residents who always look ready for a formal affair in their classic black and white coats. These animals' natural attire never goes out of style. Their wardrobes consist of one ensemble that is equally appropriate in the outdoors and on the red carpet — and they don't have to spend a penny on fashion. (For more information about the gala, see Roll Out the Barrels at right.)
What better face to adorn a bottle of Wet Nose White than Beauty's?
Beauty
Beauty is the spokesdog for Home for Life's 2009 Fall Gala featuring
Victoria Stillwell of Animal Planet's It's Me or the Dog. She is
also the face of Wet Nose White (see photo in right column),
Home for Life's own wine label to be unveiled at the gala!
Before embarking on her modeling career, Beauty was the personal guide dog of Pepper, the elderly blind Australian Cattle dog with whom she lived before both dogs came to Home for Life®. Their former owner surrendered the dogs to a shelter upon fleeing domestic abuse. The shelter wanted to keep the dogs together, but no one would take Pepper because of his blindness and age, or Beauty due to her large size and exuberance. You can read Beauty's and Pepper's full story in our 2007 Holiday Card.
These days, Beauty resides next door to her former employer Pepper, who can be quite bossy with her. Since coming to the sanctuary, we have found that the two dogs are fine living more independently. Pepper now resides with Faith, Simon the Doberman, and Stella. Right next door are neighbors Beauty and her friends Mia the Chow Chow, Sparky the Pitbull mix, and Babe, an elderly black Lab/Retriever mix with separation anxiety.
The aptly named Beauty is believed to be a Border Collie/Husky mix, and she is beautiful both in soul and in appearance. She is presently working hard with volunteers to become a certified therapy dog through Therapy Dog International Inc. She also completed the Renaissance Program with a student from Totem Town. With her stunning looks and gentle personality (which has mellowed with age), she will be an outstanding addition to our Pet Peace Corps.
Photon
Once a year, Photon finds himself in front of the camera.
In his own way, Photon has been asking for publicity for years. Every summer, when guests visit the sanctuary for our open house and Memorial Garden event, Photon gets photographed peering over the shoulder of a visitor. This summer was no different. When Mark Luinenberg and his camera followed our guests into the cat facility, there was Photon, draped over a welcoming shoulder.
Given that the subject at hand is black and white animals, and given that Photon is a true tuxedo cat, his moment in the spotlight has arrived! (A tuxedo cat is one with a mostly black coat and white patches on the chest, belly, chin and paws.)
Photon came to Home for Life® a number of years ago with his siblings — sisters Licorice and Shoshi and brothers Pixel and Brian. The cats were rescued at approximately five weeks of age. They had been living in an unsavory pet store in Hudson, WI and were found dirty, dehydrated and starving.
Photon's sisters are black and fluffy, while Pixel is black and white and
fluffy. Both Photon and Brian have sleek short coats of black and white.
Although they have many cat friends here at the sanctuary, the siblings
have always stuck together as a family unit.
It is not by accident that Photon is frequently photographed. He shares
an effective attention-getting behavioral trait with this brothers and his
sister Licorice: starting on the floor, they fix their gaze on a visitor
or staff person from whom they'd like some attention. At the appointed time,
ready or not, they leap from the floor into the person's arms, trusting
that those arms will be receptive. And they always are.
Fritzl enjoying one of the many benefits of a loving home — a tasty bite!
Fritzl
Fritzl came to Home for Life® from Animal Ark about eight
years ago with seemingly incurable upper-respiratory infections. He was
very sick when surrendered and seemed resistant to every therapy used to
attempt a cure.
Home for Life® Executive Director Lisa LaVerdiere still remembers the day she met Fritzl: "When I picked up Fritz at the shelter, he was sick with a severe cold and could hardly breathe. The shelter staff thought he was near death and had given up. Yet when I opened the cage door to lift him out, I still remember how he looked right into my eyes. I knew he wanted one more chance."
Fritzl found that chance at Home for Life®. He has rebuilt his strength and health to the point that no longer suffers from upper respiratory infections, the blight of cats everywhere but particularly cats in shelters. Cats take the shelter experience hard. Although they may appear calm and quiet on the outside, their distress often manifests itself in incurable colds or a refusal to eat. These stress reactions often take their toll, resulting in a cat who simply gives up and loses the will to live. Once they give up, it can be very difficult for a shelter to keep them healthy enough to find a new adoptive home.
Fortunately, Fritzl found a true and loving home that embraced him the way he was and has continued to embrace him ever since. Although our home lacks the traditional nuclear human family with a house and yard, it does offer all that a cat requires to live happily: good food, safe access to the great outdoors, warm sunshine, abundant light, soft clean beds, plenty of friends, and lots of love.
Sailor still enjoys a good off-leash romp.
Sailor
Many of our supporters remember Sailor,
the Border Collie who was tied to a stake from the age of six weeks until
he was three years old. Eventually confiscated by animal control in Tallahassee
Florida, Sailor's plight came to the attention of the Tallahassee City Council,
who arranged for his surrender to Home for Life®. A council
member personally escorted Sailor all the way to the Twin Cities, where
an HFL representative met his flight and brought him to the sanctuary.
Upon his arrival at HFL nearly six years ago, Sailor had severe heartworm and had never been allowed to run free of his chain. Mark Luinenburg captured Sailor's unbridled joy as he ran off leash for the first time in all his life.
It is hard to believe that Sailor is now nearly 10 years old! He is free of heartworm, but must eat a special diet for the rest of his life due to organ damage caused by the parasite. His best friend is Meesha, a beautiful blue-eyed Siberian Husky from New Mexico who never saw snow before she came to HFL. The two friends reside in their own fully appointed townhouse. Sailor enjoys daily runs in one of our several fenced meadows.
Sailor's first run, nearly six years ago.
Despite living the good life now, Sailor still bears the effects of his maltreatment as a puppy and as a young adult. During the time that he was perpetually chained, Sailor was unable to get away from frequent torment at the hands of passers-by, including gangs of kids old enough to know better. Now that he has a safe place to live, he is very protective of his townhouse and admits only a select few inside. Protecting territory is a common behavior in dogs who have been chained.
In addition, Sailor does not like anyone bearing a broom or mop, even with the best of housekeeping intentions. While in the care of animal control, he was teased and hit with these devices and has never forgotten it. Until he trusts new staff members and knows them well, he will not permit them to bring a broom or mop into his townhouse. To solve this minor problem, the the staff simply cleans the townhouse while Sailor and Meesha are a romping in the nearby field. When the two dogs return home, they enjoy a sparkling clean house without knowing that brooms and mops were recently inside.
Guy
Guy gets some lovin'. More photos: giving some lovin' | posing for a portrait | back to original photo.
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Easygoing Guy is still the same beautiful, high-spirited Border Collie that came to Home For Life® over six years ago. Although sometimes troubled by arthritis in the evenings, Guy loves to run back and forth with a blanket or toy in his mouth and exhibit the item to the other dogs.
As one of the fastest dogs at the sanctuary, Guy is a natural leader and head of his dog group. However, he is also an unassuming dog. Over the years, younger male dogs have occasionally challenged Guy's seniority and stature. Any young upstarts who show disrespect to Guy are promptly redirected to another dog group. Guy follows the beat of his own drum, and we do our best to spare him the aggravation of young pretenders.
Currently, Guy lives peacefully with an eclectic mix of younger and older dogs who provide collegiality and yet defer to him as the group's fastest and most dynamic member.
Guy has participated in agility training and performed well. However, he never executed the maneuvers with confidence because of the maltreatment and abandonment of his past. Although he tried his best, he did not really enjoy the agility sessions. These days Guy would rather stay home, run freely with his friends, and show off his toys.
Jasper's come-hither eyes attract photographers and visitors alike.
Jasper
This relatively recent arrival at Home for Life's feline facility was surrendered
to us last year by the Animal Humane Society of Minneapolis. Jasper was
picked up as a stray during the summer of 2008. He found the humane society
shelter so stressful that he developed severe alopecia — hair loss
all over his body, including his whiskers! He could not be adopted in this
condition, but the AHS wanted to give him a chance, so they reached out
to Home for Life®.
At our sanctuary Jasper slowly recuperated. Observing the relaxed and contented state of his feline roommates, he realized there was nothing to fear. His fur has grown back, and although he is a long-haired cat, he looks like he has a lion cut.
Now that Jasper feels comfortable being Jasper, he is a very friendly cat who likes to communicate with his beautiful yellow eyes. He likes to beguile visitors with his deep gaze, and when someone notices him, he immediately meows and approaches for a pet, purring with great satisfaction. Who said animals cannot communicate? Jasper loves attention and affection and seems to prefer it even to food. He loves Home for Life®, his new cat friends, and all the attention he receives from our dedicated staff and from visitors to the sanctuary.
Eclipse
Some of Home for Life's original residents seem to be frozen in time. With
Eclipse,
who came to HFL ten years ago, it is hard to remember that she is now an
elegant older lady in her mid-teens. She is a small cat who has kept her
slim figure and seems still the three year-old cat surrendered to us long
ago.
Eclipse was sadly mistreated by a mentally ill owner who chained the cat to a dog house and cut off the tips of her ears. For years she was largely wary of staff and of people in general, but with age she has become more approachable and forthcoming.
This is a common development in cats — the independent and prepossessed youngsters begin to long for interaction as they mature. With Eclipse, the process was hastened by her love of food and any hand to which food is attached. Eclipse loves to eat and heartily enjoys meals of canned foods. It amazes us that she has kept her girlish figure over the years despite her gigantic appetite.
It is very rewarding to observe a cat who came to the sanctuary afraid and mistreated learn to trust people again. Although Eclipse may look like the same young cat that arrived at Home for Life® ten years ago, she is really a different individual entirely and has been able to put her sad past behind her.