Today, I'd like to thank those of you who sent such kind words about my dog Cami after the last NAPRP newsletter.
For those of you who are new, in the last newsletter I mentioned Cami (the dog on the covers of my books Happy Hound and Funds to the Rescue) was sick. As it turned out, the cancer had spread to her lungs. She declined extremely quickly and we had to call the vet to set her spirit free on February 18. Cami was a special dog in ways that are difficult to explain and we have been missing her terribly. Although we know we'll adopt another fuzzy white dog again, no one can ever replace that Cami Bear in our hearts. She was one of a kind.
Amidst all the tears and grief, I learned a lot about canine cancer and found an amazing support network that exists online. If you ever have a dog affected by bone cancer, I encourage you to visit the Bone Cancer Dogs site. It is an amazing resource of helpful information. The associated Yahoo discussion group is filled with caring, knowledgeable people, and I am grateful to them for their advice and feedback as we went through this difficult experience. We know we did the best we could for Cami and that means a lot.
In less sad news, this week I read about a Web site that is looking for animal welfare events to list on a blog called Pet News and Views. If you are hosting a fundraiser or other special event that helps animals, it's another way to help get the word out.
I also saw a note Rebecca of the SPCA of Franklin County posted about a promotion from MarthaStewart.com and Purina One. Go to http://www.marthastewart.com/pet-adoption and do a search to find a pet that needs a home. Then click the Facebook link to share the animal on your profile. It says, "For every pet shared between January 15 and March 31, 2010, Purina ONE will donate $1 worth of pet food to food banks across the country to help feed pets in need (up to $50,000 worth of pet food)."
And finally, I hope those of you on Petfinder noticed that it's time for the Animal Rescue Site $100K Shelter Challenge 2010. Check it out here:
http://www.petfinder.com/promotions/shelterchallenge
Finally, in addition to all the kind words about Cami, I also got nice notes from people saying it's okay to switch the newsletter to twice/month instead of weekly. I confess that the timing couldn't have been better, since it's been such a rough month for me. I hope your February has been better than mine!
As always, thank you for all you do to help the animals!