the power of dog rescues

This is Rosie and she is the 65th beagle that Big on Beagles has rescued over the past five years. Rosie wasn't in very good shape when the shelter she found herself in called us. In fact, the shelter was pretty sure that she was a lost cause given her extreme skinniness, an obvious skin condition, and the lack of resources at the shelter to further investigate what could be the issue.

But we took one look at little Rosie's face and we saw a sad little girl who'd had a pretty shitty life...and we knew in our hearts that she deserved a second chance. So we made the arrangements to get her to Toronto, and our vet's spared no expense giving her the tests and surgery required to properly treat her.

Rosie had blood tests, exploratory surgery to take samples from her various organs, and a spay procedure. And, most importantly, we found her an amazingly loving foster home where she is receiving a high quality diet, love and affection galore, and companionship with another doggie.

I just about fell over when I saw the photos her foster mom sent us yesterday...because look at the difference in a few short weeks!!!!



Her skin is clearing up, she has a sparkle in her eye...and now she has her second chance at a great life!!!

It gives me nightmares when I think about all of the dogs that aren't as lucky as Rosie.

woofstock was amazing!

We had such a blast at Woofstock this weekend!! So many people stopped by the Big on Beagles booth on Saturday, and on Sunday we had the biggest group of dogs and their humans in front of our tent! More than any other breed! We're pretty sure the other dogs were super jealous that so many beagles made it out to walk in the K9 Rescue Me Walk...even if it was 32 degrees out at 11am!

A HUGE thank you to all of our supporters who came out and helped raise money for us. Our friends at K9 Rescue Me are still counting the donations, but we've heard that our supporters stepped up and that we've raised a good amount of money to help our howlers in need. And just in the nick of time too...we've drained the bank account over the past couple of months helping out so many dogs in need. Clark, Nicholas, Cooper, Hazel, Maggie P...the list goes on. And the calls don't stop. Thanks to our amazing supporters, we're in a position to continue saving beagle lives.

Being in the rescue village all weekend I had some time to think. I'm all about the beagles of course, but looking around at all of the other rescues it really hit home that there are thousands of dogs that need help. All of the breed specific rescues are doing exactly what we are doing...trying to save the lives of dogs that have been cast aside, abused, neglected, abandoned...

So a huge thank you to ALL of the rescue supporters that came out to help out their rescue of choice. Because of you so many dogs will be helped.

woofstock tomorrow!!

we're putting the final touches on the big on beagles booth for woofstock tomorrow! erica and i will be at the big on beagles tent all day, so stop by with your howler and say hi!

sunday is the k9 rescue me walk-a-thon where we'll all leash up our dogs in the name of raising money for a very worthy cause...our dog rescue of choice!

can't make the walk? you can make a tax deductible donation by clicking here (make sure that you designate big on beagles as the rescue so the funds are directed to us!).

i'll leave you with a picture of albert and his dad. they're awfully exhausted from all of the woofstock excitement!!!

life takes over!!

we have been so busy at big on beagles rescuing dogs in need that i haven't had much time to devote to my beagle blog! that and the fact that i have put together a new website for big on beagles which was a tad time consuming.

anyway - we've launched so go check us out!!

beagle meetup this saturday!!!

When
Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM 20080510T180000Z
Where
Ashbridges Bay Park
1681 Lakeshore Blvd. E.
Toronto , ON M4L 3W6

We're gearing up for one of our most important fundraising events of the year --- The K9 Rescue Me Walk-a-thon at WOOFSTOCK on Sunday, June 8th! So, let's get our beagles limbered up for the BIG WALK with a pre-Woofstock Workout on May 10th!

Why?
For the Love of Beagles, Baby!!! Not only will YOUR beagle have fun at every meetup, but you'll have an opportunity to help other not-so-fortunate beagles at the same time! What could be better than that?!!

How to find the organizer(s)
"We'll be meeting beside the parking lot next to the Burger Joint & Pub off Lakeshore in the Beaches! As always, we'll be wearing our signature RED!!! And if that's not enough for you to find us, we'll make sure the beagles HOWL you in our direction!"
--Marna Gale of BIG ON BEAGLES

we're back!

Albert, Arthur and Stella are all alive and well!! Despite the lack of posting here due to an insane work schedule, the beagles are doing really well and continue to make our lives far richer and significantly funnier than if we were beagle free.

I am also getting back into my work with Big on Beagles. We'll be participating in the K9 Rescue Me walk during Woofstock in June, I'm going to start working on a Bowling for Beagles fundraiser, and have loads of other ideas up my sleeve. We've rescued 5 beagles in the last month and a bit, and the medical costs for those dogs really adds up! But that's why we exist and the beagles we have saved are all amazing dogs who deserve a second chance!!!

I'll be updating regularly again, but for now I will leave you with this little snapshot of our Sunday afternoon...Albert at our favorite local patio (and Arthurs wiggly bum off to the side!)