Welcome to Rough Life. It has been such a crazy
week down here. First of all, I'm like barely
alive. That's a little overdramatic, but really
I am struggling. Justin and I are hosting a huge
4th of July party. Jessica, if you're listening
to this, this is your invitation to come, but
it's gonna be a lot of people you don't know
and a lot of food that you can't eat. So, no
hard feelings if you don't wanna come, but. Anyways,
we're getting our new house ready for this big
party and I have been pressure washing absolutely
everything if my Pressure washer hose will reach
it. It's getting pressure wash. I don't care
if it's not supposed to be I'm doing it. I have
been Truly obsessed with pressure washing we
tallied it all up yesterday. I have spent over
12 hours pressure washing throughout the last
few days And because of that, I now have carbon
monoxide poisoning. Obviously not like full blown
poisoning because I'm not dead. But apparently
being that close to like gas powered machines
and breathing it in for so long is not good for
you. I first started complaining about a headache,
which I don't ever have headaches. I have had
maybe three headaches my whole life. So that
in and of itself was really weird. But then I
got extremely nauseous and now I am just so crazy
dizzy, like I have to move in slow motion or
I might just topple right over. Justin said he
is taking my pressure washer privileges away
and I have to spread mulch this weekend now instead.
So that is a super bummer for me. He also doesn't
want me to drive Mary Sue, our baby, to transport
today. So is he volunteering to drive me and
the baby? No. He's just going to keep her at
home instead and just wish me good luck. This
week was also Melissa's first transport as foster
coordinator, so it has been very nice for me
not having to do all the foster and transport
coordinating, but we had over 40 people signed
up to foster puppies at the beginning of the
week and more than 30 of them canceled or ghosted.
So because of that we ended up having to cut
a litter of puppies and their mom as well as
multiple kittens. So this was always supposed
to be a kitten heavy transport and less puppies
than usual, but I don't know that we've ever
done a transport with this few puppies on it.
So we only have 16 puppies and 42 kittens on
the van today. The goal was more like 20 to 25
puppies and 50 kittens, so we got close at least.
And we have transport in literally one week,
so the ones that got caught they won't have to
wait long to get to Virginia. Let's jump into
the stories, though. The theme is Hamilton, one,
because it's the 10 -year anniversary of Hamilton,
two, because it's 4th of July and who doesn't
think about Hamilton around the 4th of July,
and three, because Jessica and I are utterly
obsessed with Hamilton and we could not believe
that we've never done this theme before. Things
you find in Lowe's, done. Way to cook potatoes,
did it. How do you say dog in other language?
Did it years ago. types of cheeses twice. But
our favorite play of all time and a massive massive
national hit didn't even cross our minds. So
yes, I have been listening to the album on repeat
for the last 14 days and rewatched it on Disney
Plus twice while working on these names. And
I somehow got on like Hamilton TikTok, which
I apparently have never been on that side before.
So my feed is constantly just telling me like
all the like inside facts, you know, like things
that you don't just pick up on while watching
it, you know, like like So -and -so stops rapping
because she's about to die or something. So like,
I don't know. It's just it's so interesting all
the facts and all the things that go into it.
So if you haven't seen it, if you haven't listened
to the album, if you haven't watched the movie,
if you haven't gone and seen the play, do yourself
a favor and start listening to the album at least
because it is truly incredible. And I'm obsessed
with these names. So cabinet battle. Uh, he has
a crazy story. I'm sure most of you have had
the pleasure of meeting Ariel. If you haven't
yet, you will soon. She is one of the main puppy
therapy helpers and intake workers for Wolf Trap.
Well, fun fact, she's actually from Mississippi
too. She's from several hours away from me and
where I pull animals from, but we're both in
the same Facebook group that gives dogs away
for free just throughout the state of Mississippi.
So she actually saw this puppy being given away
and sent me a screenshot asking me to pull him
because, and I quote, it's so fluffy. Well, the
post had been deleted, but I messaged the girl
who posted it and I asked her if she still needed
help rehoming him. She said that she was giving
him to a friend of hers and I told her just,
you know, reach out if things don't work out
with a friend. So the day before transport yesterday.
She messages me and she says the friend is giving
him back to her because he's chasing her chickens
and she's hoping I'll still take him. So I asked
her for the background story and she said he's
from a breeder in another town and she got him
from a friend of hers who was friends with the
breeder and then gave him to the other friend
who then gave him back and then she finally gave
him to me. To say this little guy has been bounced
around in his short life is definitely an understatement.
Dear Theodosia came from a family that had taken
her in as a puppy. She belonged to their neighbor
and he kept her tied up in the backyard and would
stay gone for days at a time without giving her
food and water. So the the owner finally the
neighbor finally convinced the owner that the
dog was sick and she offered to pay him $40 and
he finally let her have the puppy turned out
she was right she had parvo so the lady took
her to the vet paid to have her treated this
was last august and the vet said she was about
five months old in august of last year They have
taken excellent care of her but they have two
other dogs and one of them was never really crazy
about the new addition to the family so they
asked us if we would take her. She spent the
last week at doggie daycare down here and they
said she is absolutely awesome. Philip Hamilton
was found alone on a back road in the middle
of the night by an off -duty animal control officer.
John Adams as an owner surrender if you happen
to have listened to the formula one episode there
were two J puppies on that transport This is
their litter mate. Don't go listen to it. I'll
just tell you what I said So for you newbies,
I used to be an elementary school teacher many
moons ago when So Dr. Burton then offered to
match my teaching salary and I quit and I came
on full -time with Wolf Trap. But I still get
contacted fairly often by former coworkers and
students' families to take animals for them.
The original two J puppies were part of a litter
of six that belonged to one of my former students.
They were supposed to give me three puppies but
decided at the very last minute while we were
there to keep the other one in addition to the
other one they were already keeping. So they
at the time had those two puppies, the mom who
is a miniature Australian shepherd slash Pomeranian
mix and the dad that's a purebred. Great Pyrenees
and then a random stray that just looks like
a rotting mix So we were really hoping that they
would come to their senses and surrender at least
one of the other puppies to me They gave the
other two puppies away to their friends But I
told her that if she surrendered at least one
more puppy to me that I would give her a spay
voucher for the mom So she ended up taking me
up on that She finally gave me the third puppy.
She still has the one that they were planning
to keep all along, so I don't have high hopes
that she'll give me that one, but we'll see.
One last time was dropped off on a back road.
She wandered into the yard of a kind woman who
scooped her up and put her in a small fenced
-in area and kept her safe until transport. The
finders two kids have been playing with her daily,
so she is very well socialized. The bee litter
of two were spotted while someone was out riding
four -wheelers in a creek with her kids. No one
knows how they got to that spot because the creek
is not accessible by car, so whoever dumped them
knew that these puppies were likely to die because
there was no one nearby, and it was by complete
accident that they were found. The age litter
of four we got a text a couple weeks ago about
four puppies that had been dumped at someone's
house She was gonna put them in her kennel and
keep them until transport She sent us pictures
and then like we just kind of forgot about them
Well then a week later We got a call one night
about four puppies that were dumped at an old
lady's house and the puppies were just bouncing
all over the place The lady couldn't even walk
outside to take her dog out to go to the bathroom
because the puppies were just everywhere So they
found someone to foster the puppies and when
they sent us the pictures we realized those were
the same exact puppies from just a few days earlier.
The T litter of five are owner surrenders. The
owners have six dogs total. The father was a
German shepherd. He got two of the females pregnant.
All of the puppies from the other litter died
and then the German shepherd just wandered off,
disappeared. We don't know what happened to him.
They still have two six -month -old puppies from
a previous litter, from this mom's litter. They
would like us to take one of them, so we're gonna
try to get her on transport in a few weeks. Everyone
in that family is a dog lover, but things are
just getting out of control over there. So that's
all of the dogs on this transport. All the rest
of these will be our cats and kittens. loyal
royal subject is our pregnant mama. She was left
behind after the family's house burnt to the
ground and they had to move into a rental. There's
also a litter of kittens at that house from another
cat that were supposed to go on transport today
too, but they can't catch them because they keep
running under all the rubble and hiding. So hopefully
they'll catch them in a few days. Non -stop wandered
up to someone's house when he was only like three
or four weeks old like could barely even walk
They tried to take him in but they realized he
wasn't even old enough to eat on his own yet
So they reached out to one of our fosters who
they knew would bottle feed him and find him
a good home King George the third is an owner
surrender There's actually two more kittens in
this litter, but the family couldn't catch them
So I'm doubtful that they will even bring them
to transport today Hopefully they'll catch them
soon and we can get them and send them next week.
The family's actually really good friends of
ours and they have three adult cats and they
told us this is literally what they told us.
Two of them are spayed and I have no idea how
the third one got pregnant. Okay well if you
don't spay it, it's gonna get pregnant. These
are actually really intelligent people. The mom
was my high school teacher so... I'm not sure
how they don't understand how this works. The
M litter too are not litter mates, but I had
too many litters and I didn't have enough letters
for all of these animals, so these two singles
turned into one litter since they were both being
fostered at Jessica's house and they've been
with each other for weeks anyways. The brown
tabby was found bloody and sitting in the middle
of the road. The guy who found him called Jessica
and said he would take it to the vet and pay
to have it treated if we would take it. The vet
thinks it probably just had fallen out of the
car when this guy found it. It was very hissy
and feral at first, but it only took him a day
or two to start feeling better and enjoy being
loved on. The brown and white tabby was found
at someone's house. Jessica was just planning
to stop by and see him and take a picture and
then try to find a foster for him. But when she
walked around to the carport and called him,
he came running out from under the lawnmower
and jumped in her lap and started purring. So
he left with Jessica that day. He ended up having
a nasty bacterial infection in his belly and
he was pretty pitiful for the first few days.
He's all better now though and he is running
wild through the house with his new brother.
The eye litter of two are owner surrenders from
friends of ours Supposedly these are the only
two that survived But I also think I remember
seeing her post something on Facebook about giving
some away So I don't even know I meant to investigate
that a little bit more But I just don't have
the brain cells to do it now She does at least
have the sense to know that she needs to get
her mom a cat spayed and I think her two little
girls have probably terrorized these kittens,
so they may have a little PTSD. The Y litter
of four were strays. A mama and her kittens wandered
up to a factory in town and one of the security
guards took them home. He reached out to a family
that fosters for us and he has been worried to
death about finding good homes for these kittens,
so he is very glad that we'll take them and that
we will spay the mama who he loves and wants
to keep. The S litter of four are not actual
litter mates either, but they have all been bottle
fed together since before their eyes were open
So I don't know if they even know they're not
litter mates. The two white ones were found in
someone's barn They had been without a mama for
two days before they found our bottle feeder
foster that took them in The tortie was tossed
out from a truck. A FedEx driver saw it, saw
it happen and picked her up and took her to our
bottle feeder foster. They are our bottle feeder
fosters FedEx delivery driver too and they just
knew that she bottle fed animals and was like
I'll just take it to her she'll know what to
do. The tabby was just found somewhere as a teeny
tiny baby with his eyes not even open yet. The
our litter of four our owner surrenders The mama
cat got bit by a snake when the kittens were
three weeks old and she had to be euthanized
They immediately started asking us to take them
but we had no space for them. So they bottle
-fed them and have Tried to take really good
care of them. They have been living outside these
last few weeks though. So they have had a solid
week of literal flooding, like build an ark,
we've had so much rain, and then a week of triple
degree heat index. So they are going to be very
glad to be indoors again. The eight litter of
six are from one of our fosters. A friend of
hers got word about some kittens that had been
hanging around somebody's house and they were
going to shoot them. So the friend went and got
them at 11 o 'clock that night because she couldn't
stop thinking about them. They had really nasty
eyes and one of them had an infected looking
tail. The lady's daughter is in vet school and
works at a veterinary clinic so they have been
treating them. They've all been on antibiotics
and then the one had to have the tail amputated
because the vet didn't think that it could be
saved. The W family of eight, so this is two
moms and six kittens. They are owner surrenders
from one of my friends that works at our vet.
He posted the kittens on Facebook looking for
homes because he was leaving in a few days to
go to veterinary school himself and his dad wouldn't
take care of them. I just happened to be at the
vet the next morning and saw him and told him
that I would take them if he still had them.
He was thrilled and he messaged me that night
asking if I take the two moms too because he
knew his dad just was gonna make them barn cats
and wouldn't take good care of them. He is such
a sweet, sweet kid who I have loved for years
because his equally sweet mom was one of my coworkers
when I was teaching and she passed away super
suddenly and super tragically just a couple years
ago. He said he was really relieved that we were
taking all these kitties for him because he is
super stressed out about what would happen to
them when he had to leave for vet school that
weekend. Honestly, he could have asked me to
take like a wild stallion or like a super venomous
snake and I would have agreed just to help him
out a little bit because I've been so, so sad
for him since his mom died. Quiet Uptown actually
has a brother that will be on transport later.
These guys were found wandering alone. The mom
was never found and no other kittens were found
with them. Eliza Schuyler is an owner -surrender.
Her mama was just another stray that had kittens
at a house where nobody cared. The siblings were
all killed one by one by a dog, a car, anything.
This little girl is very friendly and very talkative
though. 1776. This kitten has two siblings that
are too little to make it on this transport too,
so they'll both be coming soon. The three kittens
were born on rural property. Once they were old
enough to start wandering around, they caught
the attention of the resident dogs. The dogs
killed one of the kittens before we swooped in
and grabbed the remaining three. The F litter
of three are just a classical oops litter. The
couple knew that there was a cat on their property
but never bothered with spaying it. The kittens
were left outside with the mom to fend for themselves
and now they'll finally get the attention that
they need. The G litter of three, a gentleman
found kittens living inside the wall of his trailer.
It was an older trailer and the mom was a neighborhood
cat who entered the space through the bottom
of the trailer. He pulled them out and put them
in a box but could not coax the mom inside. The
kittens were about four weeks old at the time.
We were never able to catch the mom and that
really worries me. That is all for this week.
I'm actually done with this several hours earlier
than I usually am. I'm usually like five minutes
late from the time I'm supposed to be leaving
for transport when I'm just finishing this. So
I'm going to go take a quick nap and hope that
this dizziness goes away before I head over to
the doghouse for transport. Thank you for listening.
Thank you for fostering. We are already super
short on fosters for next week because of the
holiday. So if you have any friends or family
or strangers that you see on your way to the
grocery store, please. Please, please, please
ask them if they're interested in fostering.
We cannot save these animals without help of
our fosters. It is a rough life, but someone's
gotta do it.