This weekend we will hold adoptions at our Sanford Center only. And this weekend only, our adult dogs' adoption fees are discounted 10%. Don't forget about our July special on cats ~ adults $75, kittens $125. We hope that you and your family have a wonderful Independence Day!
How To Meet Our Pets ~ July Cat Special!!!
We are filled to the gills and unable to take in any more cats, so to make space, we have reduced our feline adoption fees for the month of July. Adopt a kitten for $125, an adult cat for $75!!! These cats are all spayed/neutered and up to date on shots. You can't beat this!!!
Want to know where we'll be each weekend? Check out our Events Calendar! On Saturdays we are usually at the Lake Mary Petsmart and the Oviedo Pet Supermarket. Plus we are often invited to additional events as well. You are welcome to visit our cats and dogs 6 days a week, noon 'til 4pm, at our Adoption Center in Sanford. Our Adoption Center is open everyday except for Wednesday. We are closed on Wednesday so that we can get caught up with our paperwork, cleaning, etc. Many, if not most, of our pets are in foster homes so if you are hoping to meet a specific one, it is best to first submit an online adoption application. We will then arrange a private meet for you and your family.
Remember, to meet our Cats, please come to our Sanford Adoption Center as we do not like to stress our cats out by bringing them to off-location adoption events. You'll just love our open cat room and our broad selection of cats. Right now we have just about every type of cat imaginable. Whether you are looking for the exotic appearance of a Chausie Jungle Cat,Korator Birman, or the simplicity of a Tabby, Tuxedo or Black Domestic Shorthaired, we can set you up! We have cats that are already the best of friends, and we'd love to see them adopted together! Meet Smokey and Sassie; Ebony and Landon; and Roe and Licorice! If you adopt a pair of adult cats, we will happily discount their fee.
If you are not in a position to adopt, won't you consider fostering? We are in great need of foster homes, especially for puppies and kittens. We are absolutely topped off with pets and are having to turn them away. This breaks our heart because many of these pets will end up at a kill shelter. When you foster, you save a life! As a foster, we'll provide the food and medical care; you provide the love. If you are interested, just complete the Foster Application.
Thanks To Our Supporters!
All of our cats (and our staff) are so grateful to RJ Nordstrom for constructing some AMAZING cat towers for our cat room as part of his goal of becoming an Eagle Scout. They are living the high life now!!!
The wonderful folks at Lamb's Eat Ivy Salon did a bang-up job with the Shampooch dog wash event. They washed over 150 dogs and raised just under $6,000! That's a lot of soap!
And thank you to the Vegetarians of Central Florida ~ in conjunction with the Worldwide Bake Sale Week, they raised almost $300 at the Audubon Market! Are we blessed or what!?!
Help Us Win $20,000!!!
The Animal Rescue Site, in conjunction with Petfinder is giving away $100,000 in grants to shelters between now and July, with $20,000 to the overall winner. Gosh, $20,000 could pay a month and a half of vet bills or four months of rent/utilities. Wouldn't that be wonderful!!! Winners are selected based on the number of votes that they receive, the most each week and the most overall. We won the week 10 prize of $1,000! Thank you!!! And, believe me, right now every dollar counts for us.... Everyone can vote once daily between now and July 26th. I think if we all really make an effort we can win this thing.
Click www.TheAnimalRescueSite.comto vote. Type in "Pet Rescue By Judy" for the shelter name, "FL" for state and we should pop up. Then click "Vote." And tell all your friends!!!
And while you're voting, Mookie and Jason's sunglass-photos have been entered in a contest by Bren. If they win, we will get a $25 gift certificate (hey! that's a couple of bags of litter!). Please go to Central Florida Pets and vote for them every day. And, as always, thank you!
Maisy Is Home At Last
Maisy was one of our saddest rescues. She was found living on the streets, severely malnourished, her ears cropped almost to her skull. It gave her an appearance that much belied her sweet temperment. We suspected that she'd spent most of her life tied up somewhere ~ she was hesitant to walk far and would often go "make a bed" in the dirt rather than on the grass or a pillow. Slowly she learned about love and trust, and eventually became the office greeter. Her best friend was Pot Pie, a little MinPin. But sadly, what ever had happened to Maisy before she came to us had lasting impact and she suffered from seizures. She would do great for a while and then ~ bam! ~ another seizure would hit her. Then one day, eight months after we'd taken her in, she suffered one seizure after another, each worse than the proceeding one. Heartbroken, Judy brought her to Dr. Wayne to be put to sleep. I don't know why people treat animals so poorly, but I am grateful for people like Judy who give them a second chance at life and love. Maisy may not have found her forever home, but she didn't know that ~ she thought her home was with Judy!
Art The Two-Legged Dog
All of our rescued pets are special but some are just specialier! That is Art. He and his seven littermates were found in a box on the side of the road just after Christmas. Just a couple of days old, they needed to be bottlefed every couple of hours. But Art (or Tanker as we called him) needed more. He didn't have any front legs. Well, our wonderful volunteer Judy (we have too many Judy's around here) took him home and cared for him until the magical day when he was adopted. Several months later Judy (the other Judy, you know, who started the rescue) was at a public event when lo and behold, who comes up by Art! You have to watch this video! It is wonderful. And it is why we all stick with Judy even on the days she makes us nuts. When push comes to shove, she has a heart bigger than a Montana sky, rescuing pets that no one else wants ~ old, sick, not so pretty. You can be the happy ending for a pet like this. Won't you consider adopting a senior or special needs pet, or fostering a litter of puppies or kittens?
Do You Blog, Tweet or use Facebook???
Do you enjoy blogging? Are you a Facebooker? Do you Tweet? We have some wonderful places you can go to gather information, exchange ideas, or just chat. Rebekah has set up aPet Rescue By Judy Facebook. You can follow us on Twitter at @PetRescuebyJudy. Teena of University of Doglandohas a great blog plus lots of other neat info on her website. Mike of Bark Busters has training tips and can answer your questions. I know there are others out there, but this will at least get you started!!!
Waiting For A Forever Home
As you may know, thanks to the support of people like you, we moved into our beautiful new adoption center at the end of 2008. We have seen a marked increase in adoptions since we have relocated however, we have a number of pets who have waited way too long to be adopted. Some of them have been with us a year, some even longer. There isn't anything wrong with them. They've just been overlooked time and time again, and it breaks our hearts. And I can't even begin to tell you the impact it has on them. Poor O'Jay the Cat all but attacks people trying to get them to adopt him. You can imagine it freaks them out. On the other hand, Lugger the Coonhound is so laid back people walk right past him. If you are considering adopting a pet, can I ask that you consider one of our long-timers? I've made this video highlighting some of them. I've included the dates that they entered our shelter. I'd love to soon be entering the date that they enter your home! You can also see look on our Must Adopt Listfor those who have been with us the longest. Take a look at all the cats and dogs on our website then hurry up and complete an online application or go to our Sanford Adoption Center between 12 and 4pm and meet them in person. Please see our Events Calendar for times and locations of additional scheduled events.
Fundraising Opportunities
We collect used Toner/Ink Cartridges and Cell Phonesthat we then sell to a recycling company. It is an easy way to help us raise money. If you or your company would like to turn in any of these items, please bring them to one of our Sanford Adoption Center or any of our adoption events.
One of the easiest ways to help us raise money is to use Good Search when you search on the internet. When someone uses http://www.goodsearch.com/ instead of google or yahoo, one penny is donated to Pet Rescue By Judy when selected as the designated charity. How simple is that? So far we have received over $700! So the next time you do an internet search, please use goodsearch.com, selecting Pet Rescue By Judy as "Who Do You Goodsearch For?" Thanks!
If you use Natural Balance Pet Food (and WE DO - it's our preferred food!), you can help by sending us your UPC labels and receipts! For every 50 we send in, the wonderful folks at Natural Balance will give us a donation! Natural Balance is available from Pet Supermarket and PETCO. In exchange for your kindness, you will get our sincere gratitude and as many wagging tails and purrs as you can stand!
Our new indoor runs are so big there is plenty of room for a bed, and our pets love to sleep on Kuranda beds, but we do not have enough for everyone. If you would like to donate a bed at discounted price, please click kuranda.com.
If you're doing a little shopping for your pet, you have to check out this website, Helping Udders. Gotta love the name! You can buy all kinds of cool stuff for your dog, things that aren't available through local stores. But here is the neatest part ~ when you designate Pet Rescue By Judy as your charity of choice, we will receive 10-25% of the proceeds from the sale! Wow! This is soooo cool!!! I think I'll use some more exclamation points! !!!!!!!!! There, that feels better. So go to Helping Udders, spend lots of money spoiling your dog and rationalize that you're only doing it to help the poor abandoned pets at Pet Rescue By Judy!
Won't you join our team and help rescue the abandoned cats and dogs of Central Florida? We have finally settled into our new shelter but we need your help to keep it going. As you can imagine, the uncertainty in the economy has affected our donations. Adoption fees don't even come close to covering our expenses, so donations are vital. Any amount is welcome, but a donation of $5,000 will make you a Top Dog and cover the "living expenses" of the kennel for a month! A donation of $2,000 will provide an indoor runlike the one Judy is sitting in with two of the dogs. Remember, any amount will help keep us going. If you would prefer to donate items, you can find a list of those that we most routinely need on our Donate page. As always, thank you for supporting the abandoned cats and dogs of Central Florida!
Why Adopt Instead of Buy?
Every day I have conversations with people about our dogs and cats. And every day I am suprised at the statements that I hear. One person actually said to me, "I don't want a used pet." Another said to me, "You just don't know what you are getting with a rescued pet. They always come with baggage." Such statements are difficult for me to hear but easy for me to respond to.
When it comes time to add a pet to your home, you pretty much have three choices: a pet store, a breeder or a rescue. 95% of pets in a pet store come from puppy mills. Dogs are considered a commodity in puppy mills, kept in small, often unsanitary, crates, bred continuously until worn out, with no regard to genetic problems. These puppies can have physical issues that present themselves later in life, or worse yet, overbreeding can result in the extreme display of undesirable personality traits ~ hyperactivity, territorial instincts, aggressiveness..... If you go the breeder route, you have to be extremely careful of the breeder. Some breeders are not a lot better than puppy mills is that they do not screen their dogs for genetic problems or personality issues. We call these backyard breeders. They may have a cute dog that they breed with a neighbors because they think it will be a fun experience for the family, or they may breed their dog for the extra income. If they have not had the dogs thoroughly screened first by a vet and researched its family tree, they do not really know what they are producing. My "favorite" ones are those who crossbreed and create names for them like "Golden Doodle," "Bully Bassett," or "Shihdoodle."
A quality breeder invests in genetic and personality screening, but you can expect to pay a significant amount for their puppies. They produce only dogs that are up to breed standards and they screen their potential families extensively. If you are determined to get a purebreed, a quality breeder is the only way we would recommend.
So why would you consider a rescue dog? Most of them come to us due to family difficulties ~ financial downturns, moving, divorce and such. They are wonderful pets with no issues who are as mystified as to their situation as we are. Some of them come out of abusive situations. These are the ones for which my heart breaks. They cower when a newspaper page is turned, a hand is raise, a person moves quickly toward them. They long to trust and be loved, and in a safe home they usually quickly turn into the exuberant pets they were meant to be. Some pets come to us because of unacceptable behavior ~ aggressiveness, not housebroken, hyperactivity. We clearly identify these issues to potential adopters. We work with the pets while they are in our care to help overcome them. We even have professional dog trainers who work with some of them and their adopting families to ensure that they behavior is modified. In other words, we strive for no returns due to suprises. Our goal is to match the right pet with the right family. Our screeners will frequently approve a family to adopt but direct them toward a more approriate animal than the one for which they applied.
No one can promise you that the dog or cat you take into your home will be perfect, whether from a pet store, a breeder or a rescue. But we can promise that we will do our utmost to match you with the right animal, that we will be honest in our assessment of the pets in our care, and that, when you adopt a rescued pet, you have saved a life. There is a certain joy in just that last statement ~ you have saved a life!
Sometimes in life you come along side someone and you enjoy their company, their interests, their sparkle, and you feel fortunate. That's how we felt about Sue Thomas Zalewski. Sue loved gardening, craft making and country music, but her passion was for rescued pets. She was always finding ways to help stray animals, often volunteering at rescue shelters as well as providing food and comfort to them wherever she lived. Is it any suprise that, after moving to Oviedo, she became a long-time avid supporter and volunteer with Pet Rescue By Judy? Despite several medical conditions that left her disabled and constantly exhausted, Sue gave her all to help our animals. She was always the one we could rely on to foster abandoned cats and dogs, drive them to vet appointments, to nurse and nurture them back to health, and then to lovingly say goodbye to them as they left for their forever home. Even when she was attacked by one of the cats and nearly lost her thumb due to the subsequent infection, she did not stop or slow down. Yes, she shared our vision and our passion, and we loved her. On February 15th, 2007, we were rocked to our core when Sue was shot and killed in her own home. She left behind her mother, siblings, four dogs, three cats and a huge hole in our hearts. We held onto her memory and hoped that would be enough. In September we found out it would not have to be. Her brother contacted us on behalf of her family and told us with pride and love that, "in an effort to honor Sue's memory and her life long love of animals, her family and friends have created the Sue Thomas Zalewski Endowment Fund to support Pet Rescue By Judy." They have already raised funds and made an initial contribution, and their hope is that this will help us continue the work that Sue so loved and of which she was such a huge part. They hope to continue to raise additional funds. What happened to Sue was a terrible and devastating tragedy and a tremendous loss for our organization, but her family wants us to remember the good things in her life, and celebrate her love of animals by helping us raise funds to continue our work with stray and abandoned pets. All of us, along with her family, friends and pets, will forever miss Sue, her happy nature, her infectious smile. She will always be in our hearts, thoughts and prayers, for she was taken much too early. If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sue, please send your check, payable to NOHO/Pet Rescue By Judy, to P.O. Box 745, Goldenrod, FL 32733.
Meet Our Favorite A/C and Heating Company!
You may remember a while back that I begged for help with transportation when all of our vans failed the same week. In fact, one day Judy was driving down I-4 when the thing just died. She barely got off onto the shoulder. Of course, there were 7 dogs and 5 cats in the van, so you can imagine how many people were anxious to stop and give her a lift! I've shared with you how we got a phone call from Brian Wrong, the owner of Crums Climate Control, Inc. , how he offered to lend us a van on the weekends since "we're not using it then." Wow! Is that not amazingly generous! I mean, what does he get in return? Well, I'm happy to say that some of you have called Brian for air conditioning service and gotten back to me to rave about the service. Across the board, I have heard how professional, competent and reasonably priced Crums Climate Control has been. If your a/c or heater needs a little loving care, call Brian at 407-644-6601. Thank you, Brian, for supporting us and thank you all for supporting Brian!
Meeting Our Pets....
If you are considering adopting one of our pets, please create a login and username, and fill out an Adoption Application. It will speed up the adoption process significantly! Once you are approved, we will set up a meet and greet at our Adoption Center or at one of our adoption events. Please check our Events for scheduled opportunities.
Have You Adopted A Pet From Us?
If so, please e-mail us a "family photo" and a few comments so we can post them on our Family Photo Gallery! It makes us so happy to see our pets settled in to homes that love them forever! Even if you can't e-mail a photo, we'd love to get an update from you to post on our Success Stories webpage. And thank you for giving a loving to to a rescued pet!
Would You Like To Get Involved?
Would you like to help? We are always in need of Foster Homes . Fostering for a week or a month can make a difference in an animal's life. Also, we welcome help with feeding, cleaning, adoptions, paperwork, photography - whenever you have the time to give, we appreciate you. Apply to be a Volunteer ! And, of course, we are always in need of donations - money, food, crates, towels,etc. You can even come to the aid of a specific animal through our Sponsorship Program . Thank you! And remember, always spay and neuter your pets!!! Here is a thoughtful photo journal to make the point.
Are You Associated With A Rescue Group?
If so, please take a few minutes to look over our website. If you like what you see and think such a website would benefit your rescue, please contact www.rescuegroups.org They are a volunteer organization that hosts websites for rescues throughout the country and they are unbelievable! Through them we are able to provide varying levels of website access to volunteers based on their needs, receive online applications, and list our pets once but have them automatically downloaded to the major rescue pet search sites. All of this for less than $150 a year! The services of Rescue Groups has allowed us to take our rescue to a whole new level, to be more efficient, more responsive, more capable of saving more lives. Please, contact them and see if they can help you. You can just click on the dog paw on the sidebar of this page. And let them know Judy sent you. You'll be glad you did!!! And even if you aren't a volunteer with a rescue, would you consider sending Rescue Groups a donation? They help numerous pets around the country to find new forever homes by offering their service at an incredibly low cost. Please help them continue to help us! Thanks!!!
Thanks To Our Supporters!
Sometimes in life you come along side someone and you enjoy their company, their interests, their sparkle, and you feel fortunate. That's how we felt about Sue Thomas Zalewski. Sue loved gardening, craft making and country music, but her passion was for rescued pets. She was always finding ways to help stray animals, often volunteering at rescue shelters as well as providing food and comfort to them wherever she lived. Is it any suprise that, after moving to Oviedo, she became a long-time avid supporter and volunteer with Pet Rescue By Judy? Despite several medical conditions that left her disabled and constantly exhausted, Sue gave her all to help our animals. She was always the one we could rely on to foster abandoned cats and dogs, drive them to vet appointments, to nurse and nurture them back to health, and then to lovingly say goodbye to them as they left for their forever home. Even when she was attacked by one of the cats and nearly lost her thumb due to the subsequent infection, she did not stop or slow down. Yes, she shared our vision and our passion, and we loved her. On February 15th, 2007, we were rocked to our core when Sue was shot and killed in her own home. She left behind her mother, siblings, four dogs, three cats and a huge hole in our hearts. We held onto her memory and hoped that would be enough. In September we found out it would not have to be. Her brother contacted us on behalf of her family and told us with pride and love that, "in an effort to honor Sue's memory and her life long love of animals, her family and friends have created the Sue Thomas Zalewski Endowment Fund to support Pet Rescue By Judy." They have already raised funds and made an initial contribution, and their hope is that this will help us continue the work that Sue so loved and of which she was such a huge part. They hope to continue to raise additional funds. What happened to Sue was a terrible and devastating tragedy and a tremendous loss for our organization, but her family wants us to remember the good things in her life, and celebrate her love of animals by helping us raise funds to continue our work with stray and abandoned pets. All of us, along with her family, friends and pets, will forever miss Sue, her happy nature, her infectious smile. She will always be in our hearts, thoughts and prayers, for she was taken much too early. If you would like to make a donation in honor of Sue, please send your check, payable to NOHO/Pet Rescue By Judy, to P.O. Box 745, Goldenrod, FL 32733. 
