To All Readers: Help These Dogs, Please.

A reunion of dogs adopted through Friends For Pets. (FFP Facebook page)

A reunion of dogs adopted through Friends For Pets. (FFP Facebook page)

For two years now, everything available on this website, be it articles that readers access for pleasure or research, images pinned on Pinterest and answered questions from even anonymous individuals has been provided without subscription. Nearly 240 magazine-length stories have appeared, an average of ten a month being published. All of them are based on original research and strive to provide new information or perspectives on familiar subjects. There is zero remuneration.

Reggie.

Reggie.

Now comes a chance to express any favorable approval you may have in reaction – along with the first and only request ever made to all regular readers. Please make a donation of any amount, even $5, to The Yeager Fund at Friends For Pets at this link: http://www.friendsforpets.org/monetarydonations.php#yeager.

Yeager at 15 years old.

Yeager at 15 years old.

As some of the earliest readers may recall, a year and a half ago, I lost my great and constant companion Yeager the Weimaraner.

He was 16 years old and at 90 pounds, his living that long was no minor feat.

We had been matched back in 2001 by Diane Monahan, the founder and president of an organization which exists for the sole purpose of rescuing dogs who have been abused, abandoned and neglected.

Yeager was well-cared for; The Yeager Fund intends to do that for other dogs.

Yeager was well-cared for; The Yeager Fund intends to do that for other dogs.

It’s called Friends For Pets.

With a special knowledge of the unique issues faced by the breed of Weimaraners, but accepting every and all dogs in dire need from city shelters or those simply tied to their front gate or found dumped in the desert, Friends for Pets does more than provide any necessary medical care for all of them, it seeks to match them to human companions whose lifestyles match the quirks and habits of the dogs, factors detected through a middle process of foster-care in a home.

Diane Monahan (far right) with two other FFP volunteers and Baxter

Diane Monahan (far right) with two other FFP volunteers and Baxter.

No matter how old or troubled the dogs may be, their individual lives are respected. They are not killed. Those that prove “unadoptable” will find a safe and permanent home at FFP’s shelters. Not only do those who work there do so entirely without salary but often take shifts sleeping there, to further ensure the dogs’ safety overnight.

Maggie

Maggie.

Diane Monahan has been doing this for nearly thirty years, never bragging, never begging – always focused on saving each and every dog which she can.

Literally every single cent raised for the dogs is spent on the dogs.

But it is becoming increasingly expensive to care for them.

I was able to provide Yeager with care, especially in the last eight months of his life, which I wish I could provide all dogs in need.

Lady.

Lady.

Baxter, a Great Dane and Akita mix.

Baxter, a Great Dane and Akita mix.

That’s why I established The Yeager Fund, to thank him for the unforeseen depth of my own understanding of Nature and the process of life, but to extend my appreciation to all of these other dogs, four of whom I have foster-cared.

All the shocking hell one learns about human capacity for cruelty inflicted upon non-humans is always overwhelmed when I learn of the extent of devoted commitment shown to dogs by Friends for Pets volunteers and supporters.

Ryan.

Ryan.

Just like human beings, these non-human beings each have their own story and have sustained various levels of trauma. As trite as it sounds, it is often a persistent and unrestrained degree of love, respect and attention which helps to change their lives and open the welcome doors of forever-homes for them.

There is Ryan, for example, found wandering the streets, neglected and so overwhelmed by fleas that he developed severe anemia as a result. It will take months but eventually in the care of FFP,  this house-trained and well-behaved adult dog shows every hope of gaining enough strength to the point where he can be neutered and vaccinated and – hopefully, adopted.

Flint.

Flint.

For others, the harm goes deeper, into their very souls. There is the story of Flint, a handsome dog who is so frightened when approached that he simply drops his head, terrified of being the point of focus, a reaction learned from some awful experiences.

Still, slowly and gently he has come around to allowing himself to be touched. He was found half-starved on a street where nobody took him in and was instead brought to a city shelter where he was slated to be killed.

A Friends for Pets volunteer rescued him there.

Gabe.

Gabe.

Any amount of a donation is a help. Thirty dollars, for example, will underwrite a month of food for one dog. Fifty dollars will save a dog from being killed in a shelter and given a home at FFP. The mortgage there is $2000 a month. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Not everybody can rescue dogs from city pounds. Not everyone can adopt a dog. Not everybody can foster a dog.

But if everyone who regularly reads the articles on this website or makes use of the images which are often purchased by me from historical archives and then scanned can, I hope, make some type of donation.

If you are unable to do so, please share this article on Facebook or message and email it to your friends, family, and everyone you know who cares about dogs.

Again, you can make a contribution to help immediately by PayPal at http://www.friendsforpets.org/monetarydonations.php#yeager or by sending a check to: Friends For Pets Foundation, 11117 Fleetwood Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352.

Thank you.

Yeager caught after retrieving a trashed bottle of Marshmallow Fluff,  2009

Yeager caught after retrieving a trashed bottle of Marshmallow Fluff, 2009.


Categories: Dogs

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6 replies »

  1. So great that you’ve written and published this piece, Carl. I’ll make my contribution. Now that my own little Tibetan Terrier Bika has been gone for almost a year and a half, I increasingly marvel–through the tears–at how her totally humble and traumatic beginnings led to such a sweet and beautiful life–for both of us. Adopted trembling from a cage, where she crouched clinging to her little brother who had been saved along with her, she gave me far more than I could ever have given her. May many generous donors come forth to help your kind friends at FFP. We need lots more like them.

    • Thank you so much not only for the contribution but your own recollections of Bika. I remember reading your website story about the loss of Bika – and its what got me subscribed. It will be interesting to see how many readers actually do respond. How much FFP and other rescues do for these beings is so extraordinary it leaves me stunned sometimes. And thank you again for your contribution and writing about Bika.

  2. Aww, great story and a great cause. I made a donation both to support the cause and to say thanks to you for one of the best websites on the internet!

  3. OMG! A brilliant historian, a wonderful writer, and dog lover too!!! I’ve never met a dog I didn’t love. If I weren’t happily married, I would propose to you. Instead, I’ll just happily support you and your generous cause. Thank you for all you do and please keep writing.

    • Unbelievably generous of you – wow – thank you. And not just the incredibly kind (and flattering) remarks but also making the effort to help out the dogs at Friends for Pets. Nothing means more to me, personally and I strive never to use this website for such personal purposes but as I said in the article, assessing what I expend and sacrifice in maintaining it, I decided to ask for help for them. And you and I are absolutely entirely bound by that credo: I never met a dog I didn’t love. I think there is really something to explore and discover in each one of them. Ever since losing Yeager, in some way, I have found something of him in all his brothers and sisters. Thank you again Jacqueline, very very much.

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