Southern Hope Humane Society

Cricket

I have fostered hundreds of dogs over the years, but Cricket was the first. Her owner ran a puppymill and was charged with 32 counts of animal cruelty, one for each dog that he had. I fostered Cricket for about 8 months until the trial was over and the owner was convicted on all counts.

Cricket got her name because when she first came to our home, she was completely unsocialized and jumped up on things, like a cricket, in order to get away from people. She had been kept only in a small outdoor pen and was scared of every little indoor noise -- she was scared of the phone ringing, a doorbell and even the sound of an envelope being opened. She would hide in the far back portion of a crate or under a table and would cringe, as if in pain, if anyone tried to touch her. We didn't know if she would ever get over her fear of all people and all things.

And so, because we thought that no one else would want to keep an unsocialized sheltie that was scared of everything and everyone, we decided to keep her ourselves. Dealing with Cricket's fearfulness no matter how much love we provided proved to be frustrating at times and there were even times when I questioned our decision to keep her. But about 6 months later, we finally saw some positive progress and she stopped trying to hide from us. After a year, she actually became friendly to the members of my family. And finally, after 2 more years, she became as friendly as any other "normal" dog.

She greeted me with enthusiasm every time she saw me, whether I had been at work a full day or just gone out to the grocery store. She was very affectionate and loved to be patted, loved to have her belly scratched and she even loved it when I sung to her (she was the only one in the family who appreciated my singing voice.) Among other things, she learned to "dance" and "speak" on command, she enjoyed prancing around the yard with her 2 sheltie brothers, she snorted with glee when happiest and she loved our 3 children. In her 10 years with our family she never once showed any aggression to any living thing, even the baby squirrels we bottlefed. She would bark with enthusiasm when the doorbell rang and then would act as friendly as a labrador when people came in. However, she never completely lost her fear of the outside world and didn't enjoy leaving the house. When taken for walks, even late in life, she would hold her head and tail down and look around nervously as if she was imagining her former owner might be lurking around any corner.

I found out Cricket had cancer while I was a guest speaker at an animal welfare conference. During a break from one of the seminars, I called my veterinarian to check on her test results. I burst out crying in the hotel hallway and my veterinarian cried on the phone along with me. My sweet little Cricket died at age 13 after a short battle with brain cancer. She gave us more love than we could have originally imagined. I have since realized that she also taught me many important life lessons including the the importance of patience, of perseverance and about the resiliency of a spirit. Cricket was much loved and will be greatly missed by our entire family.

-Susan Feingold

Oscar was adopted by a wonderful parent a year and half ago dispite so many disabilities. He had a grade 4 heart mummur, and partial parilization of his hind quarters. He was old and unwanted. Within 3 weeks of being rescue his soon to be parent feel in love with him. Oscar enjoyed a happy home with his parent and a playmate. Several hospitalations and a year and a half later Oscar’s little body could no longer function. SHHS would like to thank his parent for giving him all the love he ever wished for in his last years. We will all remember that sweet face and gentle soul who graced many lives. Now Oscar can run with the rest of the dogs in Rainbow Ridge.

We lost our beloved, Pepsi on June 3rd, 2005. Pepsi had the odds stacked against him when his previous guardian gave him up at the shelter. Pepsi's luck turned around when he was taken into foster care and loved on and his luck got even better when his guardian angels Michele and Michael fell in love and adopted Pepsi. Pepsi loved his new home and was thrilled watching the birds and butterflies but alas on June 3rd Pepsi was called to go over the Rainbow Bridge. Pepsi your soul touched so many hearts--you will be greatly missed and always loved.

March 27, 2004 -- Our beloved Clayton passed away today and went across the Rainbow Bridge. Clayton was adopted by Lindsey at the age of 21 after his owners no longer wanted him because he was diabetic and required special food and shots. Clayton came into Lindsey's life during a difficult time and I don't know who saved whom but a very special bond was formed between the two of them that could not be broken. They both faced medical issues together and she gave him his insulin shot every day along with his daily dose of love and snuggles. Clayton was the shining star in Lindsey's life and she was the light of his life. Together they were an inseparable pair and their spirits soared to the highest level. As long as they had each other--all was right in the world. Today, at the age of 23, Clayton lost his valiant battle and has crossed over to Heaven. In his absence, he has left a broken-hearted young lady who will forever hold Clayton close to her heart. She has vowed to some day rescue and foster another old, black and white cat to honor the memory of her beloved Clayton. Even old cats deserve a second chance and still have so much to offer. Our lives will forever be touched by Clayton's life and our loss of him. Clayton, we will miss you every day and someday will meet you at the wonderful Rainbow Bridge. Good-bye dear friend... Be happy in heaven with Nickie.

Annette and Lindsey

Herbert was one of my first foster dogs. He was an extraordinary dog who touched hearts where ever he went. Herbert was in the foster care program for close to 2 months and because he was an older fellow I thought he may have retired at my house. Steve Q, though, saw his picture on the website and fell in love with him and wanted to adopt him. Steve and his companion doxie Ginger adopted Herbert and enjoyed over 5 months of his love. Herbert has passed away of cardiac failure. I would like to thank Steve and everyone else who treated Herbert with such adoration. He was one of a kind...a KING among dachshunds. Our sympathy goes out to Steve and Ginger with the knowledge that they gave Herbert the second chance and love he deserved.

Amy J.
Southern Hope Volunteer and Herbert's foster Mom

Earth Angel to Heavenly Angel
August 7, 1995 to July 22, 2003

Angel, you came into my rescue in October of 1997. My Mother had just lost her companion of 16 years, Darling, a Yorkie. When she came to the vet with me to pick you up after your spay surgery, she took you in her loving arms and did not let you go until the 22nd of this year.

You were a precious soul and never met a stranger. You had a way of making everyone feel special with your eager and loving attention. You eased and filled mother’s heart after the loss of Darling. You were her constant companion and happy to go anywhere with her.

Your 2-legged sister, Juanita, called you a broach because you liked to be carried high near mother’s shoulder, so you could be near her face. That way you could get lots of kisses.

When you were diagnosed with congestive heart failure in February of 2001, we were told that you had less than 6 months to live. Whenever you had an ultrasound after that, we were told the same thing, but with your precious soul, zest for life and excellent care provided by mother, you out-lived predictions by almost two and one half years.

On July 22, 2003, your heart could no longer keep up with your strong will and precious soul, so you were put to sleep in the loving arms of mother.

We bid you good-bye with many tears and empty hearts, but we know you are running and playing at the Rainbow Bridge. You and Darling would have met by now and all the other little loves we have lost and now reside there. Arthur and Flash will help comfort and show you around. I know you have been supplied with lots of bath cloths to chew and have many frogs to watch.

Thank you for being the perfect little girl for my mother for the past 6 years.

Forever in my heart,
Sandra (foster mom and big sister)

IN MEMORY OF NELLIE

Nellie came to us the end of November of 2002. She was dumped at PetsMart by a man who found her and said he could not locate her owner. She was so scared that she piddled on the floor when he handed me the leash. I brought her home and gained her trust. It wasn't hard to do. She so desperately wanted someone to love. She never wanted to be alone. By my side was where she was happiest. She was such a sweet soul and had been dealt a bad hand of cards in this life. She was less than a year old, scared and homeless. But her luck was changing. A wonderful family found her and said they wanted make her a part of their family. Nellie had a home! She was adopted the Saturday after Christmas just two days after being spayed. They changed her name to Pebbles and showered her with love and kisses. She had finally found her place in this world. Less than a week later, the unthinkable happened. Pebbles came down with a virus. That sweet soul tried so hard to stay with us but she was just too sick. The virus was just too strong. She left us Monday night, January 6th at 11:30pm. We don't understand why she was taken from us so soon. She had finally found her place. It doesn't make any sense and it sure isn't fair. She leaves this earth leaving behind more than several broken hearts. Everyone who met her adored her. Her new family is devastated. I, her foster mom, am devastated. Godspeed sweet Nellie Nell. We miss you unbearably. Wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge. We love you and will never forget you.

Say a prayer for the Lange family that, with time, their hearts will mend.

Good bye to Pebbles -

Our time with you was cruelly cut short.
But you knew that we loved you because you trusted us
and you were so happy, finally to have a big yard, warm bed,
good food, and a family to hug and kiss and hold you all day long.

Thank you for being such a good girl.
Thank you for trying so hard to get better.
Thank you for your last kisses and your last paw movement to tell me you were waving goodbye and leaving us.

We'll see you at the Rainbow Bridge - please find Squeakers and Bubbles and give them our love too.
You'll love them too. I'll see the 3 of you again some day. We are heart broken to lose all three of you in one year.

We loved you so much and we always will.
In 9 short days you changed our lives.
How did you do that?
You mended our hearts after we lost Squeakers and Bubbles.
You cared for us.
You never asked for anything - yet we wanted to give you everything.
You were such a good girl and you loved being with us and sleeping with us and sitting on our laps chewing on your special bone.
We'll never forget you.
You were beautiful.
You were one in 100 million.

I'm so sorry you couldn't be with us longer.
Some things are so unfair.
Your life was so hard before and you only had a new home for
4 days before you got sick.

Good bye my dear Dalmatian girl.
Kisses on your unique "flock of geese" spotted nose
and on your "heart" spotted left eye. If I could I would be rubbing your ears right now, the way you loved it.

God be with you - because, oh so sadly, we cannot.

Love,
Your Mom Sue, Your Dad Andy, Your Boy Eric and your new little sister Roxi who adored you.

"RIGBY" a small dog with a big heart.

In September 1987 my wife wanted a small shorthaired dog because we were moving to Atlanta from Boca Raton and I was going to be traveling more in my new position with the company. Her allergist said "NO" more pets after two cats, two rabbits and a gerbil. But, he said, (you see he left the door open) "If you had to have one it must be small and almost hairless." Have you seen the hairless cat.... God awful strange to me. But then so was this damn-dog she went and picked out. The breeder hated it and abused it. It wouldn't even stand up near him. As he lay there on the concrete, back porch floor, down as flat as he could get, a yellow stream flowed out from under him. Man was this a pitiful sight. So naturally my wife had to save it from this fate. I don't understand women, haven't they heard of survival of the fittest? I was not a happy camper to say the least. On top of that I was going to pay this man hard earned money for that thing. This wasn't even a "REAL" dog. How could you call something that small and pitiful a dog? It was two weeks before we knew he could even bark. He would stand in the corner and fall asleep on all fours and his nose, as his head dropped slowly to the ground. He was afraid to lie down anywhere . If I were lucky enough to corner him to pick him up, he would act like he was going to bite me and scream like a child in fear. (In all his 15 years he never bit anybody, though some along the way really deserved it and I should have bit them for him) This was definitely not my kind of pet. Our cats would come to me and jump up into my arms on cue. Well that was then, and they have passed on, and this was now, with our new pet. When we fed him he would stretch his body all the way out and grab as much food as he could get into his mouth at one time. It was like he couldn't get too close to the dish for some reason He pulls away to swallow it and then try for more before the dish was taken away. Not that my wife would remove the food, but in his little mind it would soon disappear. He could not stand over the dish and eat like any other dog. This just re-enforced my position that this was not a "real" dog. Our best guess is that the "MAN" (and I question the use of the word man) would taunt this poor dog with food in his attempt to "train" him. My wife called him a few days later to ask about some of Rigby's actions and his comment was, "You just have to yell at him to get him to do what you want, besides he was just a little pig anyway about food." Shortly after that Rigby threw-up a tapeworm about 5 to 6 inches long. With a live tapeworm in a jar of water, it was off to show the vet what we had found living in our new pet. Remember all we were accustomed to was an occasional fur ball from our cats over the previous 13 years. You see I still called him a pet for it would take a while for me to accept him as a family member. This was one screwed up; pitiful, un-socialized pure breed Chihuahua, and I had the AKC papers to prove it.

It took years for Rigby and me to understand each other. You see I am one screwed up, pitiful, pure breed, dysfunctional Italian and my mother has the papers to prove it. Remember men are not supposed to show emotion and feelings, that's for the women folk. We men are tough, rock hard, and things are supposed to go the way we want, if not we suck it up and go on with life. I think Rigby knew I was an ex-marine and we marines weren't all there anyway. Rigby and I were more alike then we were different. He would always have to get the last word (bark) in, as he walked away from me he would turn his head and give a half hearted little woof as if to say, see I told you so. To show his disapproval or hurt feelings for something he would walk away from us and sit in the middle of the room with his back to us as if to say "Your not that great"...and then he would look back every now and then to check to make sure we were looking at him and got his point. One time my wife (of 34 years now) fed Rigby some new dry food. His reaction was priceless. He would pick up one piece at a time and walk over to Brenda and at her feet he would spit it out, go back for another single piece and do the same, until she got the message. Rigby knew what he wanted and that was definitely not it. So back to the other food it was. Brenda would cook some extra chicken on the nights we were having chicken for dinner to keep in the fridge and cut up in Rigby's Pedigree chicken and rice canned food. We all know the store bought food lies about having real chicken in it. And besides this was not a spoiled dog, this was one of the family and should be fed like one. I guess that is why we had more chicken dinners then most families I know. I could feed him plain rice or some cooked carrots or peas from my plate, but no more, we had to draw the line somewhere. Well, maybe just a little piece of chicken, white meat only remember. I would kid my wife and say Rigby only likes me when I have a pork chop hanging around my neck. It had taken years but we were beginning to know each other for what we were. He being a smarter than usual dog and me being a smarter...you get the picture. I don't think my wife has had a better friend then Rigby. That's not easy to say; because she has some dear friends that still call her from everywhere we have ever lived. He gave her unconditional love and devotion. He was glad to see her anytime she came home no matter how short the trip was and wanted to spend time with her either up on the couch next to her or in her arms. Sometimes he would just sit on the couch looking toward the kitchen waiting for her to finish what she was doing and come in and take her place next to him. He would sleep at her side of the bed in his little bed (one of four around the house) with his covers pulled over him. Did you know Chi's love old cotton baby blankets? When he didn't feel well he would sleep on the bed between us. Which became more frequent in his later years. He would sit in his bed on her lap as we drove across country to the many places we went through the years. I look back now and wish we took him with us on regular drives around town during those weekend chores. It's too late for that now. I'm not sure mankind, or maybe its just men, know what unconditional love is. "We" must always have strings attached or require something in return. Unconditional love...God, are you kidding? It's tit-for-tat in this world and don't you forget it. "What do I look like? A Chi?" There is a lesson to be learned from those little Chi's, but are we up to the task?

God bless you Rigby, we miss you. It's been just over two months now and I find I don't cry as much and the pain is not as bad, but it won't go away. I can only guess what it must be like for my wife, who must endure being home alone with her thoughts during the day now. I get up and leave before she gets up, so now there is no one for her to say good morning to and get that all important caress to start the day. No one to carry down the stairs and let outside to do their morning business. No preparing his breakfast. No need for the extra chicken that was always in front of something I wanted to get at in the fridge. We have given away all his food, treats, and supplies. The four beds are gone now. It was really hard taking up that last bed, it just seemed to belong there in the dining room with a clear view of the street. We buried him in our back yard in a spot he loved to run to, with his most favorite possession a big brown teddy bear that was larger then he was. I have never dug a hole in this yard to plant anything that it wasn't a major undertaking with rocks, roots, and buried debris from when the house was built. But his grave was not marred by rocks, roots, or anything that presented a hindrance to my efforts. It was deep and the perfect shape for his box. It was as if that was the spot he was meant to sleep in until we cross the "Rainbow Bridge" and pick him up on our way home. I wonder if he will come with me or will he want to wait for Brenda. At least now I can talk about him and laugh at some of the things he did, before I get something in my eye again. I know he will never be replaced but I hope sometime, when it's right, we will have another. You see "THEY" come with no strings attached, so you must hold on tightly while they are here. Ron Petrey