Welcome to Ruff Life. It is the first transport
of 2026 and I wasn't even there for it. Can you
believe that? And it's also Jessica's birthday.
So not only did I miss transport, I missed Jessica's
birthday. Super sorry about that. Everyone tell
Jessica happy birthday in the comments. But I'm
actually really upset. This was really upsetting
for me because I genuinely love coming to transport
and I love my job so, so much. But every single
year we go to Opry land in Nashville and we see
their ice exhibit, which is the coolest thing
ever. If you guys have one local to you, make
sure you go to it. It is so cool. We go every
single year. This year we got Mary Sue the tickets
for Christmas and we were supposed to go earlier
in the week but one of Justin's co -workers got
sick on New Year's Day and so then Justin had
to take over treating all of the co -workers
patients on top of his own patients so he was
working crazy late hours and then it's a two
and a half drive for us just one way so we weren't
able to go during the week like we had planned.
and today was the last day for it and then you
know it's just over anyways i really tore up
about missing transport but in my defense in
the last 10 years that i've been doing this i
have only missed three other transports One was
when I had COVID and I still wanted to come,
but my mom and Jessica wouldn't let me come,
but I was fine. I could have come. One was when
I was in the hospital having Mary Sue and one,
which shouldn't even count, but I'll throw it
in there. I missed it because I was at the beach
on vacation and we added the transport last minute.
So anyways, we had a great time. We just actually
got back a few minutes ago. But I'm really sad
that I missed transport. It was a good load,
too. 32 puppies and 16 kittens, but, you know,
adults thrown in the mix, too. I know I said
last episode that I was going to jump on here
and do a 2025 recap, and I still plan on doing
that. It may take me so long that it gets lumped
into a 2026 recap, too, but it really is on my
to -do list. Who knew that having a toddler over
the holidays would keep you so busy? not me,
I had big plans to deep clean my closets over
the break which definitely did not happen. I'm
also thinking about doing like an intro episode
so like I have the three longer ones that give
the whole backstory of everything and how I got
started and all that which you should definitely
go check out if you haven't listened to those
yet or even if you have just to get a refresher
because they're great episodes, but I was thinking
of doing like a quick five to ten minute one
about how the podcast itself works so like all
first -time fosters could just jump on and listen
to that super quick before they listen to their
episode just to like tell everyone who the key
players are why I don't say every animal's name
every episode just I don't know things like that
but for now we'll just keep winging it the theme
for today's transport is sitcoms because i needed
to use the name friend for one of the animals
and i couldn't think of anything else and we
had already done a friends theme so like it couldn't
just be friends but anyways let's get into it
it's always sunny in philadelphia was dumped
several weeks ago and he's already been through
two homes two different families have quote unquote
adopted him but No adoption took place. Before
our rescue partner Tasha finally took him in
and was like y 'all gotta stop bouncing this
dog around. So she got him and then asked us
to take him. All in the Family was found in the
middle of the road by Tasha's daughter when she
was on her way back from picking up the two pee
puppies. So they are not related, they have nothing
to do with each other, but she was picking up
the pee puppies and then on her way home saw
All in the Family in the middle of the road and
was like, all right, get in the car too. How
I Met Your Mother came up to a house and no owners
came forward after it was posted. New Girl was
found at a school along with Kate McAlister that
was found and sent on last transport. So if you
listen to that episode, they were seen together
and then one rescue took New Girl and some other
people took Kate and then we ended up with her.
So I asked the other rescue if we could have
New Girl too. And they were like, yes, please.
So I'm super glad that we got both of them. Friend.
OK, but. her actual wolf trap name is now Friends.
She is my bestie girl and the whole reason for
this theme. I was also gonna do Hopper because
she hops like an actual bunny when she runs and
it is the literal cutest thing I've ever seen
in my whole life. And then I was gonna do a Stranger
Things theme with that because who else can't
stop thinking about Stranger Things right now.
But we've already done two Stranger Things transports
and it was my 20 -month -old baby. who named
her friend anyway so we went with it. We just
recently bought our house and moved in. We only
know a couple like literally two of our neighbors
but trust that I know every single dog on our
road and all the dogs names. So when friend wandered
up at the house next door to us I knew she was
new. So she hung around for a few days before
she eventually made her way over to my house.
And then she started going between my house,
my next door neighbor's house, and then the neighbor
next to her. So three houses that she would run
between. And like these are not neighborhood
houses. Like there is quite a bit of distance
between these houses. so the people directly
next to us we've never seen or spoken to but
they were really nice to friend and they let
her like hide out in their carport her first
few days so i like them the people next to them
so one house away from me are super nice and
they would keep friend in their house every night
and let her like sleep in their bed sleep on
their couch and then they would let her out when
they would leave for work in the morning. And
so then she would spend all day at my house.
She'd sleep on my couch, sleep in my bed, play
with my animals. And then she would head back
to them sometime during the night. It was a great
little system and they knew that I was planning
to send her to Virginia on my next transport.
So like, well, we were both fine, you know, just
let her bebop around and she's such a good dog.
We were like, yeah, this is a breeze. Well. apparently
we have a Karen on our road and I can say that
because I found out that her actual name is Karen
otherwise I wouldn't have said that but She called
animal control and they came and picked friend
up one day, which was devastating for me when
I couldn't find her. But the joke was on them,
though, because I had put one of my Wolf Trap
Foster air tag collars on friend. So literally
as soon as they got her to the shelter, they
called me and they were like, hey, we have your
dog. And I went and got her. They hadn't even
done an intake on her yet. so they asked me what
they were calling her and what we were calling
her and I said well Mary Sue named her friend
because when we were seeing her at first I would
go oh look at that sweet friend hi friend and
Mary Sue would look for her if she wanted if
she wasn't at our house when we would be outside
and she would go oh no where friend go so friend
is her actual legal legal name on all of her
paperwork right now we don't know where she came
from or how she ended up on our street we're
pretty much out in the middle of nowhere so i'm
sure she was dumped she did have a purple collar
on her though but no tag no microchip i posted
her the shelter looked for an owner too it's
been Almost three weeks now and no one has come
forward. So after the stray hold was up, which
is only five days And she was officially mine.
I sent her to the doghouse to stay until transport
just so Karen, when you have her sent back to
doggie jail. But she has been so bored and so
lonely over there. So whoever is fostering her,
please promise me that you will not judge her
by her first like 48 to 72 hours with you. She
has got a lot of energy to get out of her system
and a lot of snuggling to make up for. She is
super sweet. She's a great dog when she calms
down. She's great with all other animals. she
was fantastic with Mary Sue. So she just needs
a minute to get all of this out of her system
and realize she has people that are gonna pet
her for the rest of her life. I did make the
joke to my mom though before animal control picked
her up. that she is probably one of the few if
not the only dog that was gonna be sad to be
rescued and go to wolf trap because she had the
best life going from home to home sleeping on
their couch sleeping on my couch eating my food
eating their food until she got taken to jail
then then i think she was ready for me to come
get her the p litter of two a pregnant mama dog
was dumped and had babies they are keeping the
mom That is all the information I was given.
I think there were more puppies and they gave
them away, but we gave them a spay voucher so
hopefully they will use it. The E letter of two
were found roaming in a nearby town. A lady picked
them up and then called one of our fosters. She
went and got them, but supposedly there were
two more that someone else had seen close by
that we are assuming are siblings. No one has
seen the other two since though, so I'm not sure
if it was the same two and they were just confused
or if there really are two more out there, but
hopefully we get those other two. The T litter
of three are owner surrenders, the mom is already
scheduled for her spay. Modern family was found
pregnant and in active labor when a family went
to clean their uncle's house after he had passed
away. They surrendered her and her four M puppies.
The S litter of six, the story goes that The
mama started attacking the puppies when the puppies
were about four weeks old so the family put the
puppies out on the porch in the middle of a freezing
spell that we were having so their neighbors
called somebody and somehow they ended up with
our bottle feeder foster. The bee litter of nine
were dumped in the rain at the Alabama shelter.
We love our Alabama shelter friends so very much
but they don't always have a lot of information
for their stories which is a bummer. as for the
cats. So the majority of the single cats are
all from our Alabama shelter friends too. Dick
Van Dyke Show was picked up as a stray by Animal
Control, that's all we know. Young Sheldon was
picked up as a stray by Animal Control, that's
all we know. King of Queens was brought into
the shelter with kittens, all of her kittens
were adopted, and then she was actually adopted
herself a few weeks ago, but they brought her
back and they said, we chose the wrong cat. And
that was it, that was all the information. um
letter kenny was picked up by animal control
and brought to the shelter and he was skin and
bones he was already neutered but no one ever
came forward for him um the guy brought him because
his friend trapped him and was about to shoot
him for being on his property so his friend was
like uh no you're not gonna shoot this cat i'll
take him to the shelter Rules of Engagement was
found in a Walmart parking lot right before Thanksgiving.
The finder took her home, kept her until a foster
spot opened up, and by foster spot I mean Jessica
convinced her husband to let her bring a kitten
home for the holidays. Veep was, I think Veep
is the only, is the only one that I haven't seen
that show of all the names that I picked. But
it was on all the lists of like best sitcoms
to watch. Veep was always on there, so I guess
I need to watch it. Veep was an owner surrender
along with several other kittens. Veep was one
of two kittens left from a previous older litter.
I think we have him estimated to be around eight
months old. They were supposed to be surrendering
both of the older ones to us, but when they showed
up they only brought one, just Veep. But then
there were four in the younger litter. When she
asked us to take these kittens way back before
Thanksgiving Jessica told her that it would be
after the first of the year because I was on
that kitten ban, you know, because I had sent
so many kittens and then none got adopted until
you guys got literally all of them adopted for
me. But Jessica told her it would be after the
first of the year. And she said, OK, they have
a cold. But then they talked about how well she
was taking care of them. And, you know, she seemed
like she was doing a great job. So we didn't
think much about them for a while. But when we
got them this week, the little ones are super,
super sick. They were also like as hungry as
any kittens we've ever seen in our lives. Jessica
thought they were going to tear the bag of food
apart before she could even open it and pour
it out for them. The healthy kitten, though,
Veep, is on transport today. but we held the
sick kittens back just to get them fully well
before they go. The C litter of two. This is
the same lady that we were supposed to take a
pregnant cat from last year but she couldn't
get her hands on the cat the day of transport.
We ended up taking the kittens when she had them
because the mom wasn't feeding them. All the
cats belong at an abandoned house across the
street from this lady but they're basically hers
at this point. She asked us to take this last
litter before Thanksgiving but again we didn't
have room some of them are too skittish and feral
for her to get a hold of so we're going to try
to work on them as soon as we clear out a foster
spot they we were actually supposed to do that
this coming week after this transport leaves
but now we have those sick kittens that we're
working on um these two kittens the sea kittens
are super friendly though we have everybody scheduled
for spay next month so fingers crossed she can
get them there before they get pregnant again
The W litter of three, someone heard them under
a house. They left them there for about 24 hours
hoping the mom would come back and then they
finally crawled under there and got them. They
weren't eating because they were so teeny tiny
so they reached out to our local cat rescue,
a 501c3 rescue, who supposedly told them that
they didn't have room and they couldn't take
them and so if the finder couldn't bottle feed
them then they just needed to euthanize the kittens.
So they didn't. They talked to our local crazy
cat lady, not to be confused with an actual rescue,
and they talked her into taking them. But when
she got them and she realized that they were
going to need to be bottle fed, she was not up
for that. So she convinced our bottle feeder
foster into taking them. So when she got them,
she kept them for a little while, but they had
trouble putting on any weight. So Then Jessica
took them quite a few weeks ago and they're still
small for their age but they're healthy and they're
playful and they are sick of being bounced around.
The G litter of five were owner surrenders. The
lady has apparently been trying to re -home these
for a while. Her mom account has had multiple
litters. She had her scheduled first by a few
weeks ago. and when she got her there she was
already pregnant again and too far along for
a spay abort. That litter ended up dying when
they were just a few days old though and then
over the holidays we had room to take this older
litter. They have been very socialized and her
grandkids love them so much but this lady knows
that she cannot take care of that many cats and
that many cats becomes many many more cats very
very quickly. So we are working on getting the
mom scheduled for a spay for real this time.
That is all for today's episode. I hope that
everyone is super cute and adorable when you
get them tomorrow. Tell them that I love them
and I'm super sorry that I wasn't here to see
them off but I'm so happy that they have gotten
their freedom ride. We have three weeks until
our next transport so you all have enough time
to foster these and then sign up for the next
group coming on the 25th. I love when that happens.
It's a Ruff life, but someone has to do it.