No Kill Louisville

Success stories are all around! Congratulations, No Kill Louisville-ers, you have helped us make a tremendous difference in such a short amount of time. Here are some fine examples of caring people working to make Louisville a No Kill community. Want to see Hope Fund success stories? Click here! Have a No Kill Louisville-related success story you want to share? Send us an e-mail at info@nokill-louisville.com

We were sent this lovely note from Sabina's new mom. It's a great story all around:

"We adopted my little grey kitty (Sabina) from LMAS on October 31, 2010 and brought her home on November 1, 2010. She was at Petsmart, and she was about 6 or 7 months old at the time. I first saw her picture on Furry Features and fell in love with her little face!! So, after convincing my family that I needed another critter (!!), hubby and I went to Petsmart to see her. She was labeled as "fearful", and so I knew she was "special needs" and would be harder to adopt out. When we got her out of the cage, she growled, carried on and nipped a lot. We were told by Taylor (Lynn) that she had almost sent Sabina back to LMAS because of her issues, but she decided not to do that and wanted to try to work with her (thank God!!!). Even though she had "fear" issues, we decided to take her. She is still timid, and may never be totally "fear" free, but she is a sweetie, and so loving. Her personality is so funny: she came in and pretty much took over. She still nips and growls, but it's not out of fear now, it's because she is a nut!! Hahaha. We are in love with her, and so happy that we decided to rescue her and add her to our family."

Caddie is a favorite among our No Kill Louisville FaceBook supporters. He had been living on a Louisville golf course for a very long time when some NKL'ers noticed him. As temperatures turned colder and then frigid, they worried he might not live through the winter.  So, they came up with a plan to catch him, board him, train him, and then, ultimately, find him a permanent and loving home.  It took nearly two months, but the small group of animal lovers now have him at a vet.

No Kill Louisville offered to help cover the cost of vet care, training and boarding. People donated to help with his care and on March 18, 2011, it was officially announced that CADDIE HAD BEEN ADOPTED. He went to a loving family with two great kids! He's now happy and living the "high life." 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE January 20, 2011: Sarge has been adopted! Congratulations, Sarge!! Thanks again to EVERYONE involved in saving Sarge.

The photo to the left was on the day Sarge went to live with his new family. We're told he's doing great and is super happy!!

This is truly a wonderful ending to our time with Sarge and a great beginning to what we hope is a life filled with love, joy and appreciation.  

We all love you, Sarge, and wish the best for you with your new family!

~Your NKL family 

UPDATE December 23, 2010:  We just received the following from Sarge's foster who worked to save his life.

I have been receiving glowing reports from Bob on Sarge's training. He says he is doing really great with his crate training and has even taken quite a shine to Bob's adult male Doberman, they have been playing together in the house. He will be finishing his training soon and will be looking for a foster or better yet a "furever" home.

Sarge's Story:
A volunteer, with the help of Saving Sunny, saved Sarge from being killed at the city-run shelter. Sarge had been stolen and put in a bad situation where he was hurt. He returned with terrible scars - emotional and physical.  But, despite all he's gone through, this sweet dog readily gives love and craves attention.  Still, he needs rehabilitation work.

We asked No Kill Louisville supporters to raise $600 for Sarge's rehabilitation and kenneling about two months ago.  However, Sarge faced some set backs with issues at his kennel, an injury he suffered, and struggles with separation anxiety. It required using those funds for doggie daycare and other needs to guide him to the point where rehab would make a difference. Sarge showed signs of improvements with some one-on-one training paid for from the funds.  But, it has become clear that Sarge needs a specialized and intensive rehab program that will allow continuous training. 

Now, AKC Master Certified Trainer Bob Dover who has more 30 years of experience training dogs has agreed to take on Sarge's case. This will require more funds. A portion of what was raised before is still in available for Sarge.  We simply need to raise another $400 to $600 to cover the additional cost.

Thank you for helping us raise the funds needed. Sarge started his rehabilitation program in early December 2010.  We'll keep you updated on his progress.  

Thank you to every single person who gives to this worthy cause! 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hippo was a young Shar Pei/Lab mix who came to Metro Animal Services in June or July of 2010. She had a hard time finding a home. It took a team effort to help Hippo! Multiple people worked on finding her a rescue, and finally one said yes. The folks at Eleventh Hour Rescue in Rockaway, NJ were Hippo's heroes. A MAS staff member (and a Hippo fan) sponsored Hippo's rescue pull fee. Someone else found Hippo a transport up to NJ and sponsored the transport fee. Hippo was boarded at Eastpoint Pet Resort for 2 weeks before her transport to NJ so that she wouldn't have to stay at the shelter any longer, freeing up space and giving Hippo a change of scenery. No Kill Louisville paid for this boarding fee. The staff at Eastpoint were amazing and gave Hippo extra walks when they weren't busy, and even gave her a bath the day of her pick up. Hippo stayed overnight at the house of NKL'ers before they drove her all the way to Ashland, KY to meet her transport. Once there, Hippo was driven straight to NJ with other lucky dogs on their way to rescue. Hippo arrived in NJ on November 13, 2010 and went to her new foster home. On November 26, Hippo went to her forever home. 

Hippo in her new home 

The rescue was kind enough to share an update from Hippo's new mom with us. She says Hippo and her dog, Sam, are best friends and love to play in the yard and share their toys. They are 2 peas in a pod! She also says that Hippo loves the couch and bed, but she also knows where her own dog bed is and she loves to sleep there every night. She gets to go for a walk first thing every morning, and she always reminds her mom that it is breakfast, dinner, and cookie time! WAY TO GO, HIPPO!

The Catsnip-a-thon was a joint effort between local animal welfare groups, and it was  partially funded by No Kill Louisville. Alley Cat Advocates (ACA),  Kentucky Humane Society (KHS), and Louisville Metro Animal Services (LMAS) worked together to spay/neuter a large number of cats in an effort to supplement ACA's monthly Big Fixes. There's currently a long waiting list for unowned cats that need to be fixed through ACA's Big Fix program. 

   
Volunteers and staff help move the cats through surgery and recovery 
with compassion and gentle hands. This may be the only time in their lives that these 
unowned cats receive any medical attention.

As a result, 236 cats were spayed or neutered on Sunday, August 22. YOUR donations are helping to make real change in our city by funding the most effective way to lower the unowned/feral cat population - TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release or Trap-Neuter-Return). If you'd like to volunteer to help Alley Cat Advocates, head to their website for details at Alley Cat Advocates.

Pliney was a 10 year old cat from Metro Animal Services. We had featured her on our Adopt a SENIOR Pet page, so NKL'ers will probably recognize her and will be happy to hear that she is living the good life now! Pliney was adopted from the Petsmart on Hurstbourne, where MAS does satellite adoptions, and is now in a fabulous forever home! Here is what they have to say about Pliney, now named Abby:

"These photos show her sitting in her 2 favorite hangouts.  She is doing just wonderful.  She loves to stalk our big male cat and pounce on him.  She loves to eat and is just a happy cat.  We love her very much. We renamed her Abby and she comes running when called."  

This sweet girl is a 7 year old Treeing Walker Coonhound that was at Metro Animal Services. Staff worked to find her a rescue, and it was Homeward Bound Hounds, Inc in Hampton Bays, NY that stepped up to take her in. Getting a dog from Kentucky to New York takes some planning and some time, and it is beneficial to the dog (less stress), the shelter (eases overcrowding), and the rescue (ensures the dog is healthy before transport) if the dog goes into a foster home while all the details are worked out. Luckily for this girl, she quickly found a foster through No Kill Louisville, and will be on her way to rescue soon!

Honey is an older golden retriever mix whose mom was having to go live in a retirement center. Honey was having some trouble finding a rescue that had room for her. We spread the word about Honey's predicament on our Facebook page, and this is how she found her new home. Here are some pictures and an update:

 "Honey's new parents were looking for a companion for Katie, a 5-yr old golden retriever. Honey & Katie have 5 acres to run and play. Bob will take them for walks in the 26 acres of woods behind their house. They live in the country & neighbor dogs come by to visit. Bob & Barbara have lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren who live nearby. I feel very blessed to have found the perfect home for Honey. She has been so lonely & has had no one to play with since her best buddy Sasha died. They also have 2 cats--so Honey has a little adjustment to do, as she's never been around cats. Talked to Bob earlier today & he told me that she was very curious about a toad & chased it as it hopped away. Deer come into the yard to eat fruit from their fruit trees. She's never seen deer in Clarksville! New life--new experiences. Honey is going to be one happy girl! "

Sometimes getting a dog from a shelter in one state to a rescue in another is a process that involves ground-transport only, with many drivers along the way. Other times, the dogs get to fly on planes thanks to volunteer pilots! Here is one such instance. These two handsome collies were hitching a ride on a plane to get to their rescue. The only trouble was that they didn't have a ride to the airport. No worries! The driver who got these boys to the airport was found through No Kill Louisville. Ah, the power of networking! (Think you might want to help with transports? Click here!!)