Hello friends! Welcome to Ruff Life. Well, despite
there being 44 animals on board today, this was
actually a really light load and we had to cut
about 15 puppies because we didn't get enough
fosters. but even still this was a great transport
because 15 of the animals that are on it today
were scheduled for at least one other transport
in the past and ended up getting cut for one
reason or another. So 15 of the 29 dogs on board
are finally finally getting their freedom ride
and I am so happy. today's theme is hannah montana
and i'm gonna be honest with you i did not watch
hannah montana she came out after my time i guess
but i do know some of the more famous songs like
the climb actually in high school after that
song had already been out for a little while
our baseball coach was giving the team a pep
talk before the state championship so he got
up in front of all of them and he told them he
had read a poem that was so inspiring he wanted
to share it with them and then dead serious he
goes i can almost see it that dream I'm dreaming.
He got quite a ways into it before the boys completely
lost it, were just like falling all over each
other dying laughing, and they told him that
he was actually quoting a Hannah Montana song
from a movie that had come out like a year or
two ago. So the entire school found out, of course,
and to this day we haven't let him live it down.
This has been like almost 15 years now. He is
the principal now and people still say stuff
to him like, hey coach, heard any more good Hannah
Montana songs lately? It is so funny to me and
I love that like it's like this inside joke with
our whole school that we won't let him live down.
Anyways, I don't know much about Hannah Montana.
but when Melissa said that she would do the names
if we did this theme, I said, heck yeah, I will
be Hannah Montana's biggest fan. Hannah Montana
was posted on Facebook for free. She was supposed
to go on one of the previous transports but had
been exposed to Parvo, thank you, oh litter of
two, and had to be held back. Thankfully she
never broke with it though. Need a Little Love
or Mikey as he is known down here. I shared his
story on the Foster's page, but it is such a
good, terrible story that I'm gonna, I'm gonna
say it on the podcast again, just in case anyone
missed it. So a call was put into 9 -1 -1 when
someone We think it's the neighbor saw a man
hitting and kicking a puppy at the city park.
Apparently the puppy wasn't walking well on the
leash and the man eventually started picking
him up and slamming him onto the concrete. So
animal control was dispatched and by the time
they arrived the man was picking up the puppy
and throwing him off of a bridge into the creek
on the side of the park. So animal control took
the puppy immediately to the vet. He had several
broken bones in his face, a broken eye socket,
a broken vertebrae in his neck, scrapes and bruises,
cuts, broken teeth. I mean, like he looked like
he had been beat almost to death. He was very
depressed. He barely even lifted his head the
first few days at the vet. His face was so swollen.
It was twice the size. as it is now, and one
of his eyes was almost swollen completely shut.
The owner of the puppy was arrested a few days
later. We were told it was just going to be a
misdemeanor because the puppy didn't die. However,
the guy was already out on bond for a previous
felony charge. The bond was revoked and he was
taken back to the Department of Corrections.
And when the DA looked at this case of abuse,
he ended up filing or charging him with a felony.
So yay, very happy. He is supposedly still at
the DOC and waiting for his hearing. So I will
definitely be keeping everyone updated on that.
And then last transport, we sent possibly a litter
mate, maybe not actually related, but from the
same house and the same owner. One of the puppies
on that transport. So this puppy, he ended up
coming home with Jessica after a few days at
the vet. I wanted him so bad. I almost fought
her for him. But I decided that a two year old
and a puppy with a broken neck. Probably not
a good mix. So I let her have him. She said he
was skittish at first, but started finding his
place with her family. He did beautifully the
first two weeks and was feeling better and gaining
confidence and getting ready to go on transport.
And the day before transport, she went to let
him out of his pen that morning and he didn't
move. at all, which is very unlike him. So she
took him to the vet. We were all thinking that
he had just like re -injured something or went
off of his pain meds too soon. But no, of course,
he was parvo positive immediately. So We just
left him there. We were like, do everything,
spend all of the money, whatever it takes, save
the stock. So he spent the weekend at the vet
in the ICU. He ended up doing great in just like
a day or two, thanks to the new fancy super,
super expensive monoclonal antibody shot. He
spent the next week in isolation in Jessica's
shed so as to not contaminate her house and yard
any further. This was a very long week for all
of them. He has finally been back up at her house
this past week causing all the usual puppy havoc.
Her old dogs and her chickens shed no tears when
he left today. He's definitely going to be nervous
in a new environment. Sudden movements still
send him running and make him look at you like
you've just crushed his whole world, but he definitely
comes out of his shell quickly and he is such
a good boy. Y 'all are going to love him so much.
The O litter of two was found in a ditch. They
were supposed to go on a February transport but
ended up breaking with parvo. The male was actually
so sick that the foster wanted to euthanize him
just to end his suffering. Thankfully we were
able to raise enough money to send him to the
ICU at the vet and just leave him there for around
the clock care and he was able to pull through
and he's doing fantastic now. The R litter of
three are from another rescue. I don't know how
the other rescue got them. I don't know their
story but they did not have room for them and
they asked if we would take them. the c letter
of five a stray came up and gave birth they are
keeping her and we're spaying her but i am very
mad about it because she is gorgeous and i wanted
her so bad the m letter of nine An elderly lady
went to the city's animal shelter looking for
help, but they couldn't help her because she
was from the county, not the city. The director
that runs the place asked if we could help though,
and the lady was so thankful that we were taking
them that she donated $500. I don't know where
they came from. I don't know if she had the mom.
I don't know if she just found a box of puppies.
I don't know, but... They were supposed to go
last transport and they got bumped because they
were the youngest. So very happy that they're
getting to go. The J family is the main litter
that I am so, so, so happy got to go today. Long
story short, which this is not going to be any
shorter than if I just told the long story. The
mom came into the Alabama shelter pregnant in
December. I was going to send her with her newborns
back in January on like the very first transport
of the year but I decided to hold them back and
send them on the mommy and me transport in February.
Then I realized they were already weaned by then
so they weren't able to go so I bumped them from
that one to the next transport and then I cut
them from that transport because they were the
youngest and the smallest and we needed to send
older and bigger ones first because they needed
out. Cut them from the next one because they
ended up getting sick at the shelter. Sent five
of the nine puppies on the February 28th transport
because they were all recovered and doing great,
but the four runts were still struggling. So
I held the mom back with the babies because she
didn't have a foster. Two of the puppies died
from pneumonia down here. The other ones got
cut from the March 7th transport because they
still didn't have a foster. And finally, finally,
here we are. staying near four months later and
the whole family is going to be in Virginia tomorrow
morning. I would love to see a family reunion
in a few weeks with all of them together again.
This day has been such a long time coming for
that mom and she is so, so, so deserving. She
was brought into the shelter as a stray with
two other dogs that had been dumped in the county
and they realized she was pregnant a few weeks
later. The T litter of five, this is actually
in owner surrender. We have taken multiple stray
dogs from this lady's neighbor, so he contacted
us when these puppies were just about two weeks
old and another litter that's coming next year
in support had just been born. So being responsible,
getting on the list early, things people rarely
do that we love. Then when these puppies were
about six weeks old, he texted back and said,
oh, sorry, she's actually just decided she's
going to give them away. Whatever. Ten less puppies
to think about. Fine. Then two months later,
he texted again and said, actually, she did need
help after all. with all 10 puppies because as
it turns out she wasn't able to find anyone to
take even one puppy. It's taken a month to be
able to get them on a transport. They've just
been on the waiting list and only the older litter
is actually going on this transport because we
didn't have enough fosters for the other five.
Fortunately for the sake of crates on the van
they are pretty skinny and malnourished for their
age. They have been living in a nasty freezing
cold and now burning up because it's so hot down
here. Horse trailer, we all smell like manure.
It killed us having to leave the other five there
and only take half the puppies but thankfully
we have a foster down here that's going to take
the remaining five in a few days. As for the
cats, Uncle Earl was brought in as a stray to
the Alabama shelter. Oh also I forgot about him
he was supposed to go last transport so there's
actually 16 animals. He was supposed to go last
transport and got cut because he was sneezing
and we were afraid he might be sick but he's
fine. The S family was brought into the Alabama
shelter as strays but they're pretty certain
that the people who were claiming that they were
strays are actually the owners. The woman was
super attached to them and was pretty upset to
be leaving them there. The L family, the mama
showed up at a lady's house during the ice storm
a few weeks ago. She took her in and a few weeks
later she took her to be spayed and they told
her she was already pregnant. So she kept that.
She kept her in her tiny closet and she gave
birth to them in that closet and she was able
to keep them safe until we were able to get them
this week. They are all gorgeous. They are going
to be the cutest kittens and the mom is one of
the sweetest cats ever. That is all the stories
for today. Thank you so much to everyone who
signed up to foster This is only a two week foster
period. Usually it's three weeks this time. It's
only two so Technically you will all be available
to foster again for the next Transport if you
get these critters adopted in time. So go ahead
and sign up for the next one. It's April 4th
It's a ruff life, but someone's got to do it