Sunday, November 29, 2009

2009 End of Year Donation Request

Update 01/15/2010: LRRoC Board of Directors, Volunteers, and especially our wonderful dogs currently waiting for homes, are grateful to all of our supporters for your much needed donations. Because of you, LRRoC was able to pay off our veterinary bill which by December had grown to $15,000+ . Because of you, we were able to receive enough donations, which were matched, to pay for the care of our dogs! We are so very appreciative of each and every one of you. We were able to start 2010 with a clean slate so that we can help more dogs. LRRoC rocks because our dogs have you - the best supporters on earth :) Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you in 2010!




12/01/2009


Dear Friends of LRRoC Dogs,


As 2009 grows to a close we ask that the most important thing you do for your dog this Holiday Season is to help our homeless dogs in their honor. Many of you have adopted from LRRoC and some have adopted from other rescue and shelter organizations. From the depths of despair and heartache that many of these dogs come, arises a loyal and unconditional love that only a rescue dog can give. Those of you blessed to share this devotion understand what words cannot express.

We had an exciting year of accomplishments, hurdles and yes, heartbreak. We rehomed 167 dogs through November 2009. Those included in this statistic are: Labradors/Labrador Blends: 41 Pups, 82 Adults, and 4 Seniors. We rehomed 40 Dogs of Other Breeds to include- Golden Retriever/ Golden Blends (10), Newfoundlands/Newfie Blends (7), Great Pyrenees (4), Old English Bulldogs (2), French Bulldog (1), Pomeranian (2), Yorkie (1), Papillion (1), Miniature Dachshund (2), Basset/JRT (2), Doodles/Schnoodles (7), and our first Bernese Mountain Dog (1). Currently, we are caring for 22 homeless dogs and support 2 dogs that were previously adopted to keep them in their home. We have many more scheduled to come in that need our help.

LRRoC has always been on the rescue radar for taking in special needs cases and this year has been no different. To reflect, and some are still with us:

• Specialized Surgery cases: 13 cases - Corabella, Ravioli, Beecher, Bocephus, Chief, Royce, Champion, Yankee, GracieLynne, Bumper, Sugar Plum Merri, Tugboat, and Baxley.
• Heartworm Positive: 9 cases – Aubrie, August, Buzz, Cayo, Geena Marie, Guetherie, Latte' Caffe', Oxford, Yankee
• Special Needs: 2 cases – This year brought our first two deaf dogs - Harbour and Tobias who were both tested by the renowned Dr. Peter Sheifele of the FETCH LAB @ UC, which confirmed their hearing loss.
• Cruelty: 2 cases – not a year goes by without the need to help those that have been inflicted terrible pain and cruelty toward them. This year brought us Lancelot and Buzz. Lancelot endured years of neglect at the end of a chain until finally removed by the humane officers and Buzz was tied to a pole and a wasp nest thrown at him. Buzz suffered hundreds of wasp stings until his cries brought help.
• Emotionally Damaged: 3 cases – These are dogs that are broken in spirit and have lost, or never learned trust. They are by far our hardest cases. The staff at EAH and our volunteers work hard to bring these dogs out of their shells and be able to function in a normal home environment. These poor lost souls are also among the most grateful once they have a whole new world opened to them. Sebastian, a Great Pyrenees, was but a juvenile and afraid of the world until volunteers took him in and socialized him and he became the dog we saw behind his soulful eyes. Currently we have Sprocket and Fletch who are making strides but have a long way to go before ready for adoption.
• En Memoriam: This year we sadly lost some of our wonderful rescue dogs that had been adopted by you and through various ailments lost their battles. Spago, who was with us for 3.5 years and when adopted jumped a fence and was found by our volunteers tragically killed by a car. And, we lost a few that never found their forever home as well: Major Tom, Bubba Jed, Maxxfield, and dear Scrat.

2009 brought us many new volunteers and exciting projects! We were honored to be part of the “Lost Souls Found- Inspiring Stories about Labrador Retrievers” rescue story project which features many LRRoC Labs and their adopter stories (see our website on how you can purchase a copy for yourself or as a gift and help our homeless dogs). O’Chase McLabrador, lost soul found wandering with a note pinned to his collar that his owner had died, visited the Columbus CH4 News and unveiled the new OHIO PET PLATE featuring a Yellow Labrador Retriever. Be sure to buy your plates for 2010 as proceeds help LRRoC Labradors with a grant through the OH Pet Fund! Our event schedule has been busy with awareness and fundraisers and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming ones! See website for details on upcoming events.

For our supporters that help our dogs throughout the year- we give special thanks. Every year-end, we ask that you help our homeless dogs so that we can pay off our annual veterinary bill. For 2009, we currently owe $12,000 and we still have what December surprises bring to us. Adoptions are slower than usual due to the economy, and due to lack of funds we took in fewer dogs that needed our help than in the past. We took the most crucial cases and thanks to you we were able to help them all! Our Angel has emerged again and offered to match your donations to help us pay the bill. This means your tax-deductible $25 turns into $50, $250 turns into $500 and your $2500 turns in to $5000!

Donations can be made on our website through PayPal or Amazon Payments or can be mailed to the address below.

In addition to your much needed tax deductible donations, below is the LRRoC Wish List:

• Passenger Mini Van - LRRoC has used and reused their two 1993 vans to the point of no return. If you have a used van in excellent working order (we cannot afford to fix one that does not run), and would like a tax donation - please consider donating your used mini van to our dogs. We use the vans to transport our dogs as well as for events and everything rescue!
• Nylabones - No one loves Nylabones more than LabraGoats! We like our homeless ones to have something safe to do while they bide their time awaiting their new families to come. Nylabones help their teeth and keep busy Labbies happy. We use the largest sizes only and Galileo for durability.
• Biscuits, Biscuits, Biscuits - What Lab isn't happy to get a treat? We use Iams and Milkbone dog biscuits to help routine and train our kids. The dogs request large boxes of treats because they like them so much :) IAMS has a 20# box of small biscuits for about $25. Costco also has a large box of yummy biscuits priced at about $10.
• Large Dog Beds (Costco beds are only $20 w/tax!!!) - for our elderly guests, we like to keep plenty of doggy beds available for their old bones - and they are ever so grateful.
• Medium and Large Collars- Quick Release Clasp - Nothing says "WOW" like a Labrador in beautiful clothes! We like our pooches to be "dressed up", if you will, when they come out to prance about to meet perspective adopters. We prefer cute prints that go well with black, chocolate and yellow to show off their natural highlights :)
• Dog Walkers – No charge to walk our doggies! A breath of fresh air, socialization and exercise are great for both you and our dogs! Our dogs love to go on field trips! Bring a friend and take a Labby or two for a long walk at a local park!
• Foster Families – If you can find it in your heart to open your home to foster a homeless dog, you will find no greater reward. The recipe = patience, love, routine – all with a dash of humor! See our website to complete a Foster Application.

So please, in honor of all of your wonderful pets that have a Home for the Holidays, will you help ours who have no family to call their own for the Holidays? Have a Joyous and Safe Happy Holiday Season as we all look forward to an exciting 2010!

Sincerely,

Board of Directors and Volunteers

For the Dogs of LRRoC