Woof!

PAWS, Animal Welfare Society of Norwalk, CT., is having a benefit, July 28th ( THIS WEDNESDAY!) Drinks and appetizers at BUtterfield 8, at 112 Bedford Street, Stamford, CT.  The restaurant telephone number is 203-504-8123. The party is from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm, and tickets are $40 each, $15 of which will benefit PAWS.   Sounds like fun, and it will help the animals.  For more information click on PAWS.

Later in September is Adopt-A-Dogs’ benefit, the Puttin’ on the Dog show.  The dates are Saturday, September 25, rain date September 26,  10:00 am to 5:00 pm.  It will be held at the Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, Greenwich, CT.  This event is a lot of fun. I have covered it many times.  They have contests (biggest lap dog, well dressed dog, and others), food, lots of booths of dogs related things, a silent auction, and you can meet many of the dogs and cats who are up for adoption.  Here are some pictures of other years of Puttin’ on the Dog:

In Adopt-A-Dog's Puttin' on the Dog show, a contest for the biggest lap dog, Adam Cooper holds Chilli.

Elizabeth Brown holds Stella dressed as Britney Spiers, in the contest of the best dressed dog.

Chery Guinta and Skyy, at Puttin' on the Dog show, having a quiet moment together.

For more information for this wonderful event, click Adopt-A-Dog

Kristen Alousia, Adopt-A-Dog kennel manager holds one of the beagles rescued from Aniclin testing facility.

What a wonderful liberation! On the fourth of July weekend, 120 beagles were rescued from a pharmaceutical testing facility, Aniclin Preclinical Service, in New Jersey, which had gone into bankruptcy.  Even better news is that Adopt-A-Dog has taken 10 of the beagles.

Kristen tends the beagles.

Kristen Alousia, Adopt-A-Dog’s kennel manager said that the plant went bankrupt in April, locking up the dogs, leaving them to die. Fortunately, she said, the caretakers from the plant scaled the fence and kept the dogs alive. Finally, she said, a judge ruled that the dogs would be handed over to animal rescuers.  Best Friends Society, in Kanab, Utah, Pets Alive Animals Sanctuary, of Middle town, N.Y. and Elmsford, N.Y,  and W.A.R. Win Animal Rescue worked together to get the dogs out of the plant.  When Allyson Halm, Adopt-A-Dog’s president, got the request for help from Best Friends, she immediately agreed to take 10 of the beagles.

Kirsten gets a wag.

Allyson Halm says "Aren't they wonderful?"

“It started with Best Friends,” said Halm.  “We had recently helped Best Friends with some puppy mill dogs in the mid-West and that went pretty smoothly.  I think that because we were close to New Jersey that we were one of the first groups they called to assist with the beagles.”

The dogs were bred in the facility.  “Everything is new to them,” Kristen said.  “They’ve never been outside; they’ve never seen another dog, or touched grass.   We are trying toys on them, but most of the dogs don’t seem to know what to do with them.”  Kristen was delighted when one beagle tried out a ball.

The first ball.

Allyson said that beagles were used to test fentanyl patches.  The  patches were placed on them, then blood was drawn to see how much of the drug was absorbed.  “We didn’t see any problems with their health, the dogs are happy, ” she said.  “They  all have wonderful temperaments, ” added Allyson, “Some are a bit more timid, others are more outgoing.  On the whole, they are a very sweet group of dogs.”

Irresistible.

Quincy

“This is Quincy,” said Kristen.  “We decided to try something patriotic for the Fourth of July.  This one was named after the president Quincy Adams.” The crew at Adopt-A-Dog gave the dogs American names:  Eleanor (Roosevelt), Liberty Bell, Quincy, Betsy (Ross), Inde (for Independence), Gover (Cleveland), Clara (Clara Barton) Louisa (Louisa May Alcott), Georgia (George Washington) and Star. There must have been quite a celebration at the shelter that day!

“This is the ultimate rescue, ” Allyson said.  “This is when you really feel that you’ve done something that is for the greater cause.  These 120 dogs were confined all their lives, and we were able to help on the spot. That was very rewarding.”

Finding a new home, making a new life.

Kirsten Alousia and Allyson Halm with 3 of the of the beagles.

Adopt-A-Dog is starting to accept applications, see their web site. (see above)

This video below was made by Pets Alive.  It is terrific.

One of five eight-week-old Mexican Gray wolf pups gets a quick check-up at the Endangered Wolf Center, Thursday, July 1, 2010 in Eureka, Mo. The pups will eventually be re-introduced into the wild in the southwest United States. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Here is a uplifting story about wolf puppies from the Associated Press:

JIM SALTER,Associated Press Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) — They looked just like five well-behaved puppies, barely squirming, when a veterinarian gave them their eight-week inoculations. In reality, experts believe the tiny animals offer hope for a nearly extinct breed of wolf.

The Mexican gray wolf pups — four light gray males and one female — had a coming-out party of sorts Thursday. Members of the media were given a first glimpse of the pups born May 2 at the Endangered Wolf Center in suburban St. Louis.

Volunteer vet Randy Junge, director of animal health at the St. Louis Zoo, vaccinated the pups and injected tracking microchips under their skin. The pups took it in stride with hardly a yelp or a fidget.

“They’re all very healthy,” Junge said. “No surprises.”

One of five eight-week-old Mexican Gray wolf pups is held by a keeper to be weighed before getting a check-up at the Endangered Wolf Center, Thursday, July 1, 2010 in Eureka, Mo. The pups will eventually be re-introduced into the wild in the southwest United States. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

That’s good news for advocates of the Mexican gray, a wolf species indigenous to an area that includes Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico. The expansion of the American West has not been kind to the once thriving breed known by some as “El Lobos.

Officials at the Endangered Wolf Center say the Mexican grays were hunted, trapped and poisoned for more than a century by ranchers and others. It was designated an endangered species in 1976, and was considered extinct in the wild until reintroduction into Arizona and New Mexico in 1998.

Today, 42 Mexican grays live outside of captivity. That’s why advocates are so excited about the new pups, who will be introduced into the wild when they are old enough, in 18 months to three years.

“It may surprise some that five newly born wolf pups can make such a dramatic impact on the recovery of a threatened ecosystem in the western United States,” said Mac Sebald, executive director of the center. “But when you start with essentially zero in the wild, these five lives make an immeasurable difference.”

Dr. Randy Junge, Director of Animal Health at the St. Louis Zoo, checks the teeth of one of five eight-week-old Mexican Gray wolf pups recently born at the Endangered Wolf Center, Thursday, July 1, 2010 in Eureka, Mo. The pups will eventually be re-introduced into the wild in the southwest United States. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

The pups were born to two residents of the center, Perkins and Abby. Thursday marked the first time the pups were separated from their parents, curator Jackie Fallon said. The pups seemed OK with the separation — and the intrusion of people and cameras — but Perkins and Abby seemed nervous, howling occasionally.

The center, situated on 63 isolated acres in southwest St. Louis County, plays a pivotal role in efforts to replenish the Mexican gray wolf population. Officials say 162 Mexican grays have been born there. Officials say at least one alpha member of every existing pack in the wild can trace its ancestry to the center.

All told, more than 40 wolves of four different species are currently at the center, which was founded in 1971 by zoologist Marlin Perkins, a St. Louis native best known as the host of TV’s “Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom.” Perkins died in 1986. His daughter, Marguerite Perkins Garrick, is on the center’s board of directors.

An adult Mexican Gray wolf keeps watch at the Endangered Wolf Center, Thursday, July 1, 2010 in Eureka, Mo. Five Mexican Gray pups, recently born at the center, will eventually be re-introduced into the wild in the southwest United States. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)