My Favorite Animal Non-Profit Organizations and Why You Should Donate to Them TODAY!

Local Rescue Groups

Whether human, environmental, or animal-based - you should support local! My favorite local groups are (I have included their web links):

• The Way Home, Inc. - A cat rescue group that works with foster homes to help find homes for many cats and kittens who find themselves dumped, homeless, or at Orange County Animal Services. You can visit their adoptable cats and kittens every Saturday at Pookie's Pet Nutrition and Bow Wow Bakery in Winter Park, or visit their website.
• Polka Dogz Pet Rescue - A small dog rescue dedicated to pulling Chihuahuas, Min Pins, Rat Terriers, Dachsunds, Shih Tzus, and others from kill shelters throughout Florida. You can meet their adoptable dogs every Sunday morning at the West Orange Dog Park, located in Winter Garden off of Marshall Farms Road.
• Candy's Cats - A no-kill cat rescue based in Central Florida with foster homes across four counties. You can visit their adoptable cats and kittens on Saturdays at the Winter Garden PetSmart or visit their website.
• A Forever Home Animal Rescue - A place for homeless dogs to go and be loved, cared for, and trained in hopes of finding their forever homes. Their dogs come from shelters, stray situations, or owners who can no longer care for them.
• Rooterville A Sanctuary, Inc. - Provides a safe and compassionate refuge to hundreds of rescued farm animals. Located in Melrose, FL and founded in 2004, Rooterville is home to over 300 rescued animals, which include: pot-bellied pigs, farm pigs, cows, turkeys, chickens, goats, horses, and honey bees. You should drop what you are doing immediately and call them to set up a date to visit - you will not be disappointed!!

Non-Local, Larger Rescue Groups

If you decide to donate to a larger cause, these are my three, all-time faves:

Paws and Stripes - Paws and Stripes is a non-profit organization providing service dogs for wounded military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury through integrating service dog training and education with mental health support. And the BEST part...their dogs come only from local rescues and teaches the dogs and veterans as a team! How amazing is that?

2nd Chance 4 Pets - If anything happened to you, what would happen to your pets? Did you know that thousands of companion animals are surrendered to shelters and euthanized each year because their human caregivers died or became too ill to care for them? These animals became homeless because their caregivers made no plans for their continued care. 2nd Chance 4 Pets is a unique organization that provides the tools to help you plan for the lifetime care for your pets as well estate planning as a means to effectively plan for your pets' future. They also work with a meals on wheels program called "We All Love Our Pets" that distributes free pet food in all 50 states to elderly pet owners. Pretty cool, right?!

And now....my happy place - the place that changed my life when I visited. It even made me want to move just to be closer - my family wouldn't allow it. :)

Best Friends - I will try not to gush too much about this place, but if you are an animal lover and ever went, you would understand how I feel. 

Thirty years ago, a group of friends decided to take a leap of faith and created a sanctuary for abandoned and abused animals of all kinds. Little did they know that this endeavor would put them at the forefront of what is now known as the "Save Them All" movement to end the killing of 17 million dogs and cats who were dying in our nation's shelters at that time.

To date, Best Friends is the LARGEST no-kill animal sanctuary IN THE WORLD! With their help, the number of animals killed in our shelters is down to about 4 million. WOW! 

While the main sanctuary is located in Kanab, UT in a magical place known as Angel Canyon, Best Friends has several pet adoption centers, spay/neuter clinics and no-kill initiatives in Los Angeles, New York City, and Salt Lake City, as well as a No More Homeless Pets Network of animal rescue groups in every corner of the nation.

Their main focus groups are: 

• Puppy mill initiatives
• Pit Bull Terrier initiatives
• Cat initiatives
• Spay and neuter education
• Promoting adoption vs. buying
• Animal advocacy

Best Friends is, perhaps, most known for taking in 22 of the 47 dogs rescued from Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting ring. You can't walk into the main building of Dog Town without being reminded of the horrors these innocent beings suffered at his hands...more, you can't help but be reminded of how resilient, forgiving, and trusting these dogs are after reading their stories and meeting them. 

I had the life-changing opportunity to visit Best Friends Sanctuary in Kanab two years ago with my good friends, Kelli and Carolyn (fellow animal-obsessed peeps). We rented a cottage right on the property, next to a cliff where we were greeted each morning and evening by deer, coyotes, and other wildlife. Our cottage overlooked Horse Haven and Marshall's Piggy Paradise. We spent the week volunteering in different areas of the sanctuary including: Dog Town (the filming location of Animal Planet's "DogTown" TV show), Cat World, Piggy Paradise, Bunny House, Parrot Garden, and Wild Friends. 

I learned so much and got to do things I never thought I would do like: 

• Take a cat for a walk on a leash and in a stroller
• Prepared lunch for 20 or so hungry piggies
• Cleaned parrot enclosures
• Strolled through the beautiful Angel's Rest cemetery where many of the sanctuary's residents as well as volunteer's pets are buried
• Played with bunnies
• Learned about the local, wild animals who call Angel Canyon their home - crows (known as ravens in UT), minks who escaped a local mink fur farm and now safely live at the sanctuary, a tortoise, a guinea foul, and countless others
• Observe and even help in the socialization of extremely terrified and aggressive dogs who are trying to overcome their insecurities
• Participated in a puppy socialization class
• Rolled around in the mud with pigs
• Hiked up the rock formation where the Lone Ranger exclaimed, "Hi Ho, Silver!" (this is just outside the Welcome Center at the sanctuary)
• Saw original hieroglyphics left behind on the rocks
• Saw where Jackson Galaxy got married
• Hiked Zion National Park (which is just a short drive from Best Friends)
• Had lunch and froze my booty off on the edge of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (on our drive back to Vegas, which is where you fly in/out of to get to Best Friends)
• Explored Las Vegas for one night
• Had slumber parties with dogs who are waiting for their forever family to adopt them and cats who were rescued after being left in a suitcase to die - they are now known as the "Suitcase Kids." 
• Drove the sanctuary at night and saw the Milky Way lights and so many stars that we were speechless
• Had happy hour every night with wine and lavish cheese plates...ok, mostly I had the wine...

It was absolutely incredible and I plan to go back next year and continue to donate money and sponsor different animals at the sanctuary. In fact, Mom's birthday gift this year was the gift of sponsoring Chauncy - a special needs kitty who lives in one of the cat houses at Best Friends.

Ok, ok, so maybe I should have dedicated an entirely separate post to Best Friends, but my point is...pick a cause that is important to you - find groups of like-minded people and volunteer, donate, learn, advocate! You may start out doing it to help others, but you will quickly find that you get WAY more out of it than you could have ever imagined.

If you would like to learn more about any of the organizations I have included in this post, please feel free to contact me via my website below or comment. I hope you enjoy the included photos from my trip - they are some of my favorites!

 Our Cottage and home for the week!

Angel's Rest Cemetary

 Lucas' grave stone - Lucas was the last dog of Michael Vick's dogs who passed away while living at Best Friends

 Morning dog walks

 Dog Town resident

 Bruno - a Dog Town resident who got to have a slumber party with us!

 Slumber party time!

 Blackjack enjoying a walk around the sanctuary - he had to stop to enjoy the view

 Zion

 Parrot Garden resident

 The Suitcase Kids all settled in for their slumber party with us

 Meow - the resident kitty at Piggy Paradise

 Piggy lovin'

 Bounced Bruno out of Dog Town for a slumber party

 Sweet Bruno all tucked in for the night!

 Vegas, baby! This is me ordering a $24 martini at the Monte Carlo

 Kelli and Bruno

 Puppy socialization class

 Hieroglyphs

 Time for a hike with this buddy!

 Me, Carolyn and Kelli at Angel's Rest

 One of the many beautiful views at the sanctuary

 Zion

 Piggy lunch prep

Post by: Allison Otero, owner of AlleyCat's Pet Service

alleycatspetservice.com

Nip Slip!

One hundred bucks says this post gets the most views because of the title :)

So, this happened...today...about an hour ago...I want to die!

We look after a super cute black lab, who is about seven months old. Being the puppy that he is, his manners are not totally up to par yet and my nickname for him is the "Jumping Bean." Important to this story is the fact that (Manny, look away here) this dog's dad is quite handsome. The other sitter who helps take care of this pup and I have had conversations about how handsome he is. I am happily married to an even more handsome man, but I can appreciate another nice looking man or woman when I see one.

Now then, after a brutal winter here in Florida with a few weeks of temperatures consistently dipping into the 60's, the heat has returned. I believe today's high is around 89 degrees. Yesterday, I finally broke out my first pair of shorts of the season and today was the same. I paired my shorts with a tank top...one of those tops that are tight and stretchy at the top and then flowy around the mid-section. It has thin straps, so I didn't even wear a bra, but rather those handy nipple covers to provide some sort of barrier and discretion. 

Can you see where this is going???

This dog's dad works for a construction company and often works jobs very close to his house and will stop by to let the dog out. He still wants us to visit, though, just in case he can't stop by during the day. So, we have run in to him a few times at the house as he's leaving. Super nice guy. 

Today was one of those days; I pulled up and his work truck was there. I see not only him, but three other men (co-workers, I presume) playing with the dog in the garage. Fine. I get out of my car, walk to the garage. The dog sees me, makes a bee-line for me, full on sprint and jumps right up on to my chest. 

Yep, you guessed it...paws/claws get hooked onto my tank top and down it goes. Full-on boob flash for all to see. Awesome. Perfect. Swell. Lovely.

Silence befalls the garage and then some throat clearing and the guys tried to carry on like nothing had happened, no one acknowledged the show. I quickly got the leash and off I went with the dog...as soon as I get out of ear shot (so they thought), the laughing ensued. I mean, roaring. I'm mortified.

Perhaps it's a good thing? Maybe I'll get some new clients out of this. I mean, I DO say that we provide, "dog walking, pet sitting, and other services."

Post by: Allison Otero, owner of AlleyCat's Pet Service

alleycatspetservice.com

  

Locked Out!

And now...let me tell you all a story...

I'm having my busiest day in a very long time due to three of my sitters being on vacation today. Usually, I would pout like a baby since it's Saturday and I want to get my Saturday on with my husband, but husband had a busy weekend with his company (he owns an adventure racing company that puts on days-long races) so it was a good time to do some visits myself...besides, I get to see many furry faces that I miss!

So, I got up at 5:30AM to get my monsters taken care of so that I could be at my first visit by 6:30AM. Get to first visit around 6:45AM, take sweet pibble, Candy, out in to fenced-in backyard, crack door from house to back yard so she can run in and out whilst I prepare breakfast and tend to indoor/outdoor kitties. I go outside to feed kitties and Candy jumped up on the door and slammed it shut. Well, fart...keys to car and client's house are on pool table inside house. I thought, "Perhaps I left the front door unlocked." I go around to front door...locked. My sister is always hounding me about locking the door behind me, lest a serial killer follow me in to a client's house. Curse caring sister!

Ok, now what...ah, yes...call other sitter who has back-up key. FAIL...she's about 2 hours away with 13-year-old son who is taking SAT's (darn you smart, little overachiever!!!). Next step...get next visit covered, b/c this is surely going to take a while. Got next visit covered (love you, Kate!). Call client to see if there is a key hidden somewhere...there is not. Client calls neighbor to see if they have a key...they do not. Call other pet sitting company who I referred once to client when I was solo and too busy to take her last-minute requests...no answer.

Ok, looks like I have to call a locksmith. Call locksmith...will be $20 and then tech will assess sitch and let me know other, additional costs. Locksmith tech comes...large, nice, Russian lad. I actually couldn't understand if he said he'd be there in 15 or 50 mins because of his accent, which vacillated between endearing and annoying throughout this entire fiasco.

I tell him the door in the back will be the easy lock to pick as front door is deadbolt only. Lead him around back and open gate, he see's Candy and says (in endearing accent), "No, no...no Pit Bull...two weeks ago...bit...no...I do front door for $250." Um....how about NO!

I tell him Candy is nice. Nope. He won't budge. I told him to send another tech because I can't do $250. He says I have to pay for his visit out there to the house (endearing accent is quickly turning to annoying). I explain that car keys are inside the locked house, wallet inside car. He says the locksmith company will call me to discuss. Oh, did I mention that every time I leave the back yard, the dog tries to dig out? She dug up the cable line AND a sprinkler head during this whole process. About 10 mins later, he comes around to the back gate...says he will do the back door (I'm assuming the company told him to suck it up and go back there) for $140. I told him fine. I was working on two hours by this time, so I was desperate.

On a side note, I did feel sorry for this guy...being bitten by a dog does do a number on you and leaves quite a mark, physically and mentally. So, he says (accent is returning to endearing), "You sure dog nice? I afraid." I assured him that Candy is sweet, although she lacks some manners and jumps. So, I open the gate, holding on to Candy's collar (no leash in backyard) and let her slowly go to him to sniff him. Her tail was wagging, no threat, she's a good dog, but the dude was visibly scared. Don't cha know...Candy pulls back suddenly and gets out of her flipping collar. Zooooom! Out the gate and proceeds to run about the neighborhood like a crazy dog. I, of course run and as soon as I get near her, she plays "keep away." Ugh...I look up to the sky and audibly say, "REALLY?!"

Meanwhile, large Russian is standing just outside gate and Candy decides she now wants to meet him properly. With a full-on GALLOP, she runs to him and he was, most likely, about to soil his pants. She jumped on him and he gently pushed her away. I yelled, "She's super friendly, don't worry!!"

After large Russian (LR from here on) gathers himself and Candy has lost interest and gone back in to her yard, I managed to find a rope in the yard that I tied to her collar (not safe, I know). I took Candy for a walk while LR does his thing and picks the lock.

BOOM! Not even five minutes and he was in. Great! Good! I get Candy inside and settled, gather my things and I'm out. LR is there waiting to settle up and says (accent now SUPER endearing since he just gained me access to this house), "Will this be cash or credit?" I said, "Credit." He says (endearing-ness is fading here), "6.5% interest with credit, no interest with cash." I say, "Well, sir, I wasn't planning on locking myself out of this house today, so I don't have a cool $150 on me, so credit." Get credit run and have to wait another 20 mins for the company to call him back to say it went through and he can leave.

GOOOOOOD GRIEF!!! Oh, and I know many of you are wondering about the locksmiths needing proof that I had authorization to get into the house. They gave me an e-mail address to have my client send a message stating that I was authorized, but the e-mail didn't work after four failed attempts. So, basically, LR let me in unauthorized. In this case, it was good...I must thank Candy for freaking LR out enough for him to forget this nugget of required info.

Moral of the VERY long story - ALWAYS keep the key ON your person even if in a yard, ALWAYS keep your phone on you...I would have really been up a creek if I didn't have it.

I post this message sitting at a local bar....

CHEERS, everyone!

Post by: Allison Otero, owner of AlleyCat's Pet Service

alleycatspetservice.com

Dog Poo In My Trash?!

Thanks to a good friend and regular bar buddy, Jim, I recently read a hilarious article in the Orlando Sentinel entitled, "Wait, you put your dog poo in my trash?" (click here to read the entire article...and I highly recommend it!). Scott Maxwell, the writer of this article, even cited another story in a fairly fru-fru publication entitled, "The ethics of poop disposal." Wait...there are ethics regarding dog shit? Who knew?

This article discusses one of the "hottest debates raging in America" - while you are walking your dog(s), is it ok to put a bag of poop into someone else's trash can? As a professional dog walker, I have wrestled with this conundrum several times and when I saw the article it made me giggle.

On one hand - why not? Trash is trash, right? But on the other hand - the image of poor Kenneth screaming, "YOU SHIT ON MY HOUSE!" in the movie "Can't Buy Me Love," made me think twice. Granted in the movie, the drama ensued because the feces was actually thrown at Kenneth's front door causing it to splatter everywhere. Gross.

But, nevertheless, a poll of over 400 people concluded that two-thirds of those thought it was OK to drop tied bags of doggie doo-doo in other people's trash cans. I believe the key word in my previous sentence was "tied." I would never just drop a raw, exposed, un-bagged doggie butt goblin into someone's can. How rude!! 

Other variables that come in to play are:

• Whether the garbage can is empty - when dropped into an empty garbage can, even a tied up colon cupcake will splatter when something heavy (such as a bag of garbage from your kitchen garbage can) is thrown on top of it. I think I speak for everyone when I say that even in a garbage can, no one wants smeared sewer serpents on anything!! Only use another's can ON trash day BEFORE the trash crew comes.
• The time of day - we live in Florida, people! I once forgot a tied-up bag of ca-ca in my car, which slid under my seat and baked in the hot, Summer sun for days. Finally, after days of searching for the source of the smell, I found it and....HOLY SHIT BALLS! Did that stink!! Don't put a steaming bag of toxic turds into someone's garbage can...the heat only magnifies the stench.
• The size of the dog - have any of you ever walked a 190 lb Great Dane? I have. You can't imagine the size, I'm talking three bags. And not the poop bags that you see constantly hanging out of my pockets, tied around the stick shift in my car, and occasionally falling out of my husband's work pant leg as he walks down his office hallway...sorry, Babe. I'm talking Publix-size bags. If your dog's logs require more than one bag, better take it home and deposit in your own can.

So, yes...this is truly a first world problem, but I just finished my taxes, my brain is dead, and I needed something light-hearted to think about. What better topic than poop!!

In addition to reading Scott Maxwell's original article from which this blog spawned, I urge you to click here to see all of the hilarious words that people have used for poop...I'm literally crying over here...ass goblin, keester cakes, sea pickle, produce of Uranus - LOLOLOL!!!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!

Post by: Allison Otero, owner of AlleyCat's Pet Service

alleycatspetservice.com