The story of Tiny.

Seeing as most of us have worked at animal hospitals during our lives, it stands to reason wildlife is not the only thing we spend our time rescuing, and, seeing as I am an Animal Control Officer, it stands to reason there is no shortage of domestics in need crossing our paths.

 Case in point: October.... I get a call from a woman who states someone apparently left a dog in a carrier out in the street in her neighborhood. It was left out all night because she heard it barking the whole time. By the time she called me, the little dog was running loose in the area. 

My first thought, as it had been a very cold evening, was why did you wait all night to call while the poor little thing froze out there.....but I was concerned about the poor dog so I focused on that!

My second thought, as I arrived and noticed the carrier sitting there with the door open and a tiny white dog running loose, was why did someone just let the dog out to run around and possibly get hit by a car, instead of calling Animal Control!! Again, not helping matters!

 

 Of course the poor little thing was petrified and all it did was bark at me and run away if I approached. So I went over to the carrier instead, to check it out. Nothing but a little towel, a couple of empty bowls, and feces coating every inch! As I steamed over what some (forgive my language!!!) asshole did....a little luck came my way. The little dog took a step towards me. So I did what any normal, sane person would do.....I laid down on the ground and started talking in my sweetest little puppy dog voice! LOL!  I looked like a crazy person, but it worked! Her little tail started wagging and she very slowly crept toward me. As she got within a couple feet, she too crouched down to the ground and crawled the rest of the way into my arms! 

I brought her back to the station and set her up in a nice warm kennel with comfortable blankets, food and water. She was also covered in feces and covered in big, uncomfortable mats down to her skin.

 What a sweetie pie she was....all 6 pounds of her! So of course I sent a text out to the ladies and everyone stepped up to help this little lost soul.

 Laurie took her to work where she was shaved, washed and checked out by the vet, and Lisa offered to foster her until she found a home (after the required  hold period in case her owners claimed her, which , not surprisingly, they did not!).

 Voila! She looked like a new dog!

 She stayed with Lisa, and occasionally with me or Laurie for short visits and the whole gang loved her!

Fast forward to Christmas. Guess where Tiny is! Yup....Lisa's!! Can you say Foster Failure! LOL 

Tiny now has a permanent home with Lisa and has a big brother, 2 cats, and 2 human twin girls to call her own! As you can see she is loving life now!

 Fast forward to February and now that her fur is growing back in, she is just cuter than ever and loving it when they all head up to the lake house on weekends to go snowmobiling!

 Rags to riches for this lucky girl! Love a happy ending!!

After the blizzard.

Well, we survived the blizzard of 2013! It started so gently on Friday, and even the dogs were enjoying it!

 By the time it was over, I almost had to crawl out a window to get outside, and the dogs were less than thrilled about the deep snow! I had to have Dad snow-blow a path just to get them to go out to potty!

Pretty to begin with....

....until all hell broke loose!

 

It wasn't until Sunday that I managed to dig out with the help of Dad and his snow blower. The wild crew didn't start popping out again until mid-week, and to be honest, I'm surprised they even bothered then! It was still slow going for this one in the deep snow!

The overwinters were equally as reluctant to come out in this....well, with the exception of Odie of course! He couldn't resist coming out to play when I was digging them out! While the rest refused to leave the nice, warm den box....Odie dove right in, and loved it!

Luckily no more trees down and all the pens were unscathed! Getting ready for another small snow storm this weekend. Compared to this blizzard, a mere dusting.

Love to your wild neighbors!

Happy Valentine's Day to all! 

Share a little love and tolerance for your wild neighbors, trying to eke out a living in an ever shrinking habitat!

A not so exciting barred owl release.

When you hear about the release of a wild animal, many people have an image in their head of the majestic raptor leaping into the air and flying high into the sky.....or the cute furry animal darting out of the carrier and galloping off into the sunset. Well, more often than not, it can be the most anticlimactic of events! Don't get me wrong, releasing a wild animal back into the wild after it has been successfully rehabilitated is still the most glorious of feelings, regardless of anything! It's just that sometimes, well it's just not akin to an Oscar winning scene in a sweeping saga! LOL

 

 This barred owl is a perfect example of that! He was found injured by the front door of a business in Waltham. Tufts, once again, did a wonderful job getting him healthy and it was time to go back where he came from. When I released him, he didn't soar into the sky, but rather opted to scope things out from the ground. I had no intention of leaving him in such a vulnerable position, however, so I had to encourage him to seek higher ground. Once he finally settled on a little ledge on the "cliff", I was satisfied he could safely get his bearings and fly off in his own time.