AZ Animal Hospice, Retirement & Rehoming

07/01/2024

06/02/2024

04/21/2024

When we started this rescue 8 years ago, our mission was to help the abused, neglected and discarded dogs, ( and other animals) in our area and beyond.

Our mission has never been to relieve you of the commitment YOU made to your dog when you took them in.

People have babies and keep their dogs.

People change careers and keep their dogs.

Peoples schedules get hectic and they keep their dogs.

People move and find a way to keep their dog.

People run into issues with manageable/trainable behavior AND THEY KEEP THEIR DOGS.

These situations are not unique.

We didn't start this rescue to bail you out. I'm sorry, I know that may sound harsh-- and yes, we know that there are absolutely situations in which people can truly no longer care for their dog- and we help with those as much as we can. We also help with food, vet care, and other situations and resources.

But for the love of Dog-- step up for your dog. Show up for your dog. Show your dog the same love and commitment today that you showed them the day you brought them home.

Dogs are being euthanized every single day because the shelters do not have space. FRIENDLY. HEALTHY. HAPPY. ADOPTABLE. DOGS.

Your dog is no different than any of the dogs who have been losing their lives every day and if you give up on your dog-- they could be next.

04/04/2024

So very true.

When I hear of local Rescue say they Don't WANT the competition of other rehabbers, it makes me wonder... why are they rescuing.

It's not like we are all opening up pizza shops and we want to bring in more customers. If we were a retail shop then we are in competition with each other. Because if nobody eats our pizza or buys our products we will go out of business.

When rescuing we are doing the same exact thing , and we all want the same end result. When you are only rescuing to bring your numbers up to get Grants or donations, what does that say about you?

Teamwork is our motto. We help each other, we triage, we get advice, we give advice, we lean on each other, lend an ear when you need to vent, cry, or want to share exciting news. I'm thrilled when another rehabber steps forward and says " I can take that baby, or I will pick up that inured animal."
I love meeting new rehabbers and learning from them. I've met some amazing ladies since moving . And above all I've made some amazing friends, both locally and through Facebook and Instagram.

My volunteers are amazing and if they want to go out and become permitted rehabbers I'm thrilled. I encourage them because I know we will continue to rehab together ❤️.

So that being said...I'm proud of all of you, proud to say you are my friend, proud to refer people to bring wildlife to you. You are Amazing!!

03/26/2024

WRITTEN BY A VET:
“I have been writing this post in my head for nearly 3 years and until today I've never been brave enough to post it. But recently some people doing similar work and facing much the same reality have used social media to speak up about a topic that for so long has not been discussed. Their bravery has given me the courage to finally share my thoughts and experiences about something that I’ve needed to for so long.

Today I euthanized 5 dogs. This is not an uncommon task for a vet to perform and getting into the profession you are well aware of the fact that this is something you will have to do in your chosen career. However, the dogs I put down today were not sick, they were not injured, they were not old and they were not unhealthy in any way. They were not untamed and they were not aggressive. They were perfect, healthy and normal dogs. There was no reason for them to lose their lives today other than that they were failed by humans because of the current overpopulation crisis of domestic animals particularly dogs that so few people are prepared to accept and try to understand.

The euthanasia of healthy animals by animal welfare organisations and shelters across the world is something that we need to start talking about but it is not an easy topic for someone who is in this line of work to discuss. One, because how can you possibly put into words something that is so deeply personal and difficult to come to terms with in your own mind and two, how can you risk the possibility of losing such important funding that keeps welfare organisations and shelters alive by drawing attention to something that the public at large simply know very little about and so few people understand.

The dogs that I put down today were so excited to see me. How lucky they were to have someone in their kennel giving them attention and maybe just maybe they'd even be so lucky as to be taken out for a walk - their tails were wagging and everyone was jumping for joy. One of them was nervous and scared of me. This was a dog that had likely never had much in the way of attention or love from a human being. I have tried everything possible to make the task easier for myself and for those who assist me. I have tried doing it in their kennels, I’ve tried doing it on the grass outside so that the dogs can walk for a bit to experience one last bit of freedom and fresh air. I’ve fed them last meals, I’ve done it in the clinic and nothing makes it easier. The only thing that makes it bearable for me is to sedate them first so that they are sleeping when their lives end and not wagging their tails looking at me – I know this is a luxury that many other people doing this work do not have access to.

Today I chose to put them down in their kennels after I’d sedated them. Letting them leave on a bed and blanket that they have used for comfort for the past few weeks or sometimes even months. I take care to make sure that no other dog or animal is a witness but still the others around them must know. Usually the dogs bark endlessly at any small movement or sound but there is nothing more deafening than the silence of nearly one hundred dogs while ending the life of one of their neighbours or friends. They must know and I so often wonder if they are thinking if they are next or when their time will come.

In their final moments I tell each of them that I am sorry and for those who leave behind friends, puppies or siblings I promise them that I will take care of them and do my very best to find them homes or see that they are cared for properly. These are trivial words compared to what I should be saying to them but it’s hard to give them the apology they so deserve in the short time it takes for the life to leave their little bodies. What I should be saying to them is that I’m sorry you never got the opportunity to experience what it’s like to sleep on a couch and I’m sorry that those who did get to sleep on a couch once have ended up being unwanted and failed by the humans who took them into their homes in the first place. I’m so sorry that they were born into a world that didn’t have space for them and so many others. I’m sorry that they weren’t pretty enough or the right breed to be one of the chosen ones and I’m sorry that for months or for some of them nearly a year countless people walked past their cage and decided not to choose them or to leave and rather choose to buy a puppy somewhere else instead.

I have tried my best to cope with it as I know many others do too - by doing what I believe is everything humanly possible to find unwanted dogs and cats homes. I spend hours of my time holding them while they pose for photos, writing posts for Facebook, advertising them and putting their stories and personalities into words as best I can all in the hopes of someone deciding to choose them. I talk to people and encourage them to adopt but this does not always work. I have spayed until 10pm at night before because if I can just do one more spay it might help. Like so many others in this line of work, I have done hours of work behind the scenes and out of the public eye for no benefit other than hopefully having to euthanize one less healthy animal. I have done my fair share of adopting too having adopted 8 dogs and regularly contemplate whether I could take on another one or two despite my home already being near overrun.

But it is still not enough and the burden of this crisis and war that we are fighting against over population is not to be borne by only a small group of people across the world who are prepared to sacrifice so much because they are not ignorant to the reality of what is going on around them. It is something that everyone who has ever loved an animal has to accept as their fight too. Which is one of the reasons I am writing this post and have been trying to write it for so long.

Everyone has a way in which they can contribute to this fight and many are simple.
- Volunteer - spend time at a local animal shelter or organisation so you have a better understanding of what is happening out there. The animals in shelters love attention and walks even if it is only to make their time there more comfortable until it must come to an end.
- Donate if you can and especially towards sterilisation programs. We must stop these animals at their source – the more puppies and kittens we can prevent, the fewer healthy dogs need to be put down.
- Adopt if you are in a position to get a new pet. There is no reason to go out and buy a dog or cat when there are such perfect ones looking for homes. If everyone who could did choose to adopt, the world would be a much better place for it.

Thank you to those who continue to support me and my work especially through donations towards my sterilisation programs. Every donation that helps me do a spay gives me the strength to face another day and I have a lot of hope that we can change the world one spay at a time. I only wish to create more awareness about the crisis we are facing and I hope that those working in this line of work feel that my words here have done this important topic justice.

I do hope that in my lifetime I could live in a world where no healthy animal is euthanized due to lack of space, lack of homes or lack of resources available. I’m not sure if I will ever get to see that be a reality but I think we all know by now that I will never give up trying! “

📷 : Photo by Kate Jackson-Moss

The dog featured here was a dog I euthanased last year. I was very fond of him but sadly had to let him go. I still think of him often and wish things were different for him and so many others.

03/22/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/UYGJyFjr4N3LyQGw/?mibextid=WC7FNe

*** PLEASE DO NOT GIVE AWAY/SELL YOUR OLD and/or UNRIDEABLE HORSES ***

Today I did one of the saddest euthanasias I have done in a long time. This wasn’t a client of mine, and to be fair, it actually wasn’t this person’s fault. I don’t normally go out to non-clients, but I wasn’t going to say no when I was told the horse had collapsed and couldn’t get up.

I arrived to find an emaciated 20+ year old, riddled with lice. The client had been sold the mare 7 weeks ago, and told she was a 7 year old. The old mare was gobbling away at feed, so she genuinely was just too weak and emaciated to stand. With some really good, strong help, we tried twice to get her up, but she just didn’t want to. So I made the quick decision to let her go.

No horse should end his or her life like that. She was scared, and whickered at me when I came back with the catheter and Somulose. She went with no dignity, in a place she had been for just a couple of months.

I want to cry when I see these awful posts on social media, offering a 20 year old horse for sale “as a companion”, for £50, or “free to good home”. I want to cry even more when I see posts on social media, with people in complete and utter shock and disbelief that the “beloved/much loved etc” horse, that they gave away just two months ago, was now being sold as a ridden horse.

I’m sorry, but wake up. Not many people really want to take on an old horse and the associated vet bills. I do appreciate there are exceptions, but if you are going to give your old or unrideable horse away, do NOT expect to then be able to take the moral high ground when he’s advertised two weeks later. He’s not your property at that point, and, unless your circumstances drastically changed, you didn’t care enough about him to now be “devastated” and “appalled” that he’s being moved on again. I do understand that circumstances can change, but the kindest thing in most (not all) cases at this point, is to let your horse be put to sleep with you, at the home he has known for many years.

A horse is as expensive to keep as a companion as it is a riding horse, so not many people want to take on old or unrideable horses. Or if they do, they don’t have the money to be able to look after the horse properly.

It is obviously completely different if you have known that person for many years, and know the home the horse will be going to, and I know several old horses who have been successfully rehomed to friends, or at least acquaintances.

You could also try a reputable rescue centre, if your financial circumstances changed, but many of these are full to bursting. Rescue centres normally ensure that if the home doesn’t work out, the horse is returned to them again, and therefore won’t be passed around.

If you can’t look after your old and/or unrideable horse, then do the responsible thing, and if you can’t rehome to a person you know extremely well, have them put to sleep at home, with you by their side. Don’t let someone you don’t know, have the horse for free, and sell him two weeks later as a lot younger, or ‘buted up as a ridden horse. Your horse deserves better.

Photo of my old man, Harold, who is rising 22 this year! He hasn’t been ridden for a few years now, and is just an expensive field/stable ornament….as is Molly….as is Mojo….as is William 🤦‍♀️😂

03/21/2024

“I’m moving I can’t take my dog with me”
“The baby is allergic”
“I am too busy for him”
”My landlord doesn’t want dogs”
This. ….
This is where your dog ends up. I’m tired of peoples excuses I’m tired of dogs ending up dead in shelter floor I’m tired.
A dog is a lifetime responsibility.
A commitment of 10+ years. That dog that you sent to the dog pound for whatever excuse ,trusted you and loved you. No excuses I don’t want to hear it.
Think about this twice before you give a small insignificant excuse as to why you have to give up your dog."

Be better Do better!

https://au.news.yahoo.com/heartbreaking-photo-shows-how-many-dogs-are-euthanised-at-one-shelter-a-day-105814190.html

02/19/2024