Tragic Loss Close to Home

When I returned home from my trip on Sunday I became aware of something very heartbreaking-the loss of two wonderful members of the animal community, their unborn child, and five dogs.

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Kel Halterman and her fiance Garrett were on their way to their jobs at a local vet clinic last week when they hit ice, flipped over the guard rail and fell 30 feet.  The impact killed them and their 5 dogs instantly, and though rescuers fought to save their unborn son Sage, he also died shortly after the emergency C-section.

Kel and Garrett volunteered for the same rescue as I do, Cause for Paws Utah, and were very very active in the animal rescue community.  They fostered for us, worked at a vet clinic, and did everything they could to love everyone and give everything.  I met them at the Howl-O-Ween benefit in October and they were so extremely sweet that the few minutes I had spoken with them stuck with me.  I did not know them well, but this loss has been in my mind all week.  We were lucky to have people such as this in our community, and it is incredibly sad to have lost them.

"I finally found someone who's love is bigger than the fear I have of being loved." 

- Kel Halterman in reference to her fiance, Garrett.
Quote from the memorial blog for Kel & Garrett.

Their poor families have gone from planning a wedding and the birth of a child to planning three funerals, and could really use some help with the funeral expenses.  If you go to the memorial blog set up for them you can read their stories, obituary, and donate.  All funds go to funeral expenses, and anything left over will go to the We Care Fund which helps rescue animals.  Kel and Garrett were very dedicated to that cause.

RIP Kel, Garrett, Sage, and the 5 fur-babies lost.

Please Help Save Senior Dogs

As many of you know already, I volunteer for a rescue organization called Cause for Paws Utah.  We are a non-profit publicly recognized 501(c) organization dedicated to saving the lives of dogs from shelters where they are on death row.  We are entirely a volunteer run organization and do not receive any government grants or public funds to do the work we do, we rely entirely on donated hours and funds.

We do what we can to raise money by hosting events like the Howl-O-Ween benefit I helped host back in October, and other events, but sometimes it's just not enough.  Sometimes the $145 adoption fee doesn't even begin to cover the vet bills for spay/neuters, shots, and other things that may come up-but we do our best to help these animals in need anyway-because everyone dog deserves a second chance.

Stancy is a 9 year old male German Shepherd who is coming to us from Baldwin Park, CA.  Like any Senior dog, he will need a full veterinary evaluation which includes a blood panel to make sure he spends the rest of his years healthy.

For some reason some of the most often found dogs in shelters are elderly dogs.  Their owners (yuck, don't get me started on these people!) decide they can't take care of the dog anymore because it's old and slow, or because it's sick, or because they're starting to need extra care due to the aging process.  These dogs are often the hardest to adopt out as well, due to the fact that people tend to not want to invest in these dogs for much of the same reasons.

This plush female German Shepherd is also being brought to us from Baldwin Park, CA and will need the works done to make sure she is safe and healthy.  She is only 28lbs and very loving and sweet!  She was discarded simply for having Arthritis, and her owners didn't want to help her.

That being said, we have an extra soft spot for these loving seniors who have been left to die.  We believe that each and every one of these elderly dogs deserves a warm, safe, and loving home to spend the rest of their days in.  So we pull them and try to help them find just that-whether it's the foster home they're placed in or the permanent home we can get them adopted into.  Before adopting them out we do everything in our power to make sure they're healthy-and even working with great vets this can rack up quite a bill.

This 3lb senior chihuahua was brought to us due to having a really rough past.  His previous owner was homeless and could not afford to give him the care or medical he needs as an aging dog.  He makes friends easily and loves very much to be held.

This past week or so we pulled three senior dogs from the kill list at shelters (all three photos in this post are those dogs) both here in Utah and in California.  We have set up a Chip-In requesting help with the vet bills and their care.  If you are able to help at all, even just a few dollars, please please do! You would be doing so much more than I can even express to help these babies be happy and healthy for the rest of their days!  Please go HERE to chip-in for their care!

THANK YOU!