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1/02/03 (Thu) - No new sightings.
We'd like to share another holiday season photo of our boy with you
(please see Rumble's Scrapbook).
This one was taken at Rumble's first Christmas in 2000 when he was
only four months old. You can see that he's still wearing his
puppy color of green for his collar and his ears hadn't quite come up
yet. Rumble was thoroughly enjoying his new Christmas presents
(visible in the background), but did pause long enough for us to snap
this photo. It is our sincere hope that we'll soon be posting
photos of Rumble with his belated gifts from Christmas 2002.
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1/03/03 (Fri) - No new sightings. As a follow-on to yesterday's
posting, we'd like to share with you a photo of one of the special
Christmas 2002 gifts to Rumble. It's from wonderful Friends of
Rumble, Maxine and Larry, who visited us on October 16th (see
update of 10/17/02).
A super photo of them with Rumble's dad, Raider, can be seen on
Page 2 of Rumble's Scrapbook.
Maxine and Larry sent a Christmas Bone for every single one of our
guys! Rumble's bone is being kept in a safe place and will be given to him upon
his return, along with his other Christmas gifts. We were going to take a
photo of all the dogs getting their bones, but they got the bones and
took off into the woods before we could push the button on the camera.
They absolutely loved the bones! A picture of Rumble's Christmas
Bone from Maxine and Larry is below and in
Rumble's Scrapbook.
P.S. On a more serious note, if you know of anyone who can rescue
sweet Missy (see Rumble's "Just in Case"
page) in Delaware, please ask them to call
Heather at (302) 856-6361 as soon as possible. Her situation is
extremely urgent, and it would be wonderful if we could work together
to rescue her!
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1/04/03 (Sat) - No new sightings. We have other wonderful news
though! A very special Friend of Rumble's (a veterinarian) in
Winchendon, Massachusetts is part of
North Star
German Shepherd Rescue. She read Rumble's report on Missy
(see update of 1/01/03), and
North Star
German Shepherd Rescue has now rescued Missy! We are deeply
touched by such loving generosity. Extra special thanks go to
the foster parents who will provide loving care to Missy until she can
find her forever home. Thanks too to the angels in Delaware who
pulled her from the shelter and are preparing her for her journey
north. Also warm thanks to Jude in Canada for alerting us to
Missy's plight in the first place. We would like to share with
you below the heartwarming email we just received from our new friend
at North Star
German Shepherd Rescue.
I read your update where you mentioned Missy in DE. I want you to
know that she was rescued today. Very soon she will be joining
North Star German Shepherd Dog Rescue, Inc., in Massachusetts,
in her new foster home! We are so excited to be able to help her!
Her story is so heartbreaking and one can see even from that one
photo that she is a sweet sweet girl. We have our new volunteer
foster parents to thank for giving Missy the opportunity to find the
perfect forever home! And also great thanks to the people involved
in pulling her from the shelter, cleaning her up in a warm bath, and
loving her till she goes to her new foster home. Anyone interested
in adopting Missy may write to
northstargsdr@earthlink.net for an application. She will not
be ready for adoption for several weeks, or as long as she needs
to be ready, but we will start accepting applications immediately.
Her temporary foster mom took more photos of her and sent them to
us. Missy is a beautiful true bi-color purebred GSD! Rumble,
be well, and come home!
We will continue to
feature Missy on Rumble's "Just in Case"
page until someone can give this beautiful, sweet girl her forever
home.
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1/05/03 (Sun) - No new sightings. A few days ago we were in
Arvonia since we had received a report that Rumble might be in that
area along Rt 15. We looked all around but didn't see any sign
of our boy. While there, we also passed out flyers.
We stopped at a business to give them some flyers. The man in the
office said that he had been following Rumble's saga. He told us
such an inspirational story, that we'd like to share it with you.
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A few years ago, the man's mother and father lost their beloved German
Shepherd, "Pluto," near their home in Arvonia. They looked and looked
but found no sign of Pluto. Then one day they received a call from
West Virginia. The caller said that they had Pluto and read off all of
the information on Pluto's collar. There was no doubt that the dog was
Pluto. Before the owners could get to West Virginia, Pluto took off
and they didn't hear anything else for a long time. Then they received
a call from a woman in the Bent Creek area (Rt. 60 bridge crossing the
James River). The woman had Pluto. Unfortunately, Pluto got away from
the woman before the owners could get there. They drove up and down
Bent Creek Rd. for hours calling to Pluto. Finally, he emerged from
the forest. Pluto was very skinny and his foot pads were bruised and
covered with sores, but he finally got to go home! Pluto lived
to a ripe old age with his "mom" and "dad." The man who told us
this story said, "Don't give up, you will find your boy."
Pluto's saga extended over many months (at least as
many as Rumble's).
It has been an incredible source of comfort and encouragement for us.
Maybe, it's not Rumble who was in Arvonia but instead Arvonia is where
we had to go to get this wonderful story of hope, love, and
persistence. To this day, nobody knows how Pluto got to West Virginia
or how he got back except by walking. We will add this story
permanently to Rumble's "Inspirational
Stories" page.
Something else we'd like to share with you is a lovely photo of
Cheyenne in Virginia wearing green for Rumble. She selected a
green tag as a permanent reminder of Rumble. Although Cheyenne
is not directly related to Rumble, she's also a Shiloh Shepherd and
shares some similarities. Cheyenne's picture is below and on the
"Green Ribbon Rumble Photos"
page.
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1/06/03 (Mon) - No new sightings. Today we'd like to share with
you what we consider to be quite a striking "Green Ribbon for Rumble"
photo. "Ty," a white Shiloh Shepherd in New York, is wearing a
green ribbon, complete with tassel, for Rumble. (See photo of Ty on the "Green Ribbon Photos
for Rumble" page. On a different subject, we've received
word from a Friend of Rumble's in Texas that she has found a dog that
she believes to be a Shiloh Shepherd. Unfortunately, it's not
our boy. She's working on getting us a photo, but in the
meantime, the description she sent us can be viewed on Rumble's
"Found Friends" page in case you
know of anyone else whose dog it might be. Finally, we have two
more "Just in Case" dogs
that are in a terribly urgent situation. They're brothers and
are in the Memphis Animal Shelter. (The same shelter that
"Mistletoe" was in at
Christmastime.) Their "due out" date is Tuesday, January 7th
(translation: they must be rescued by close of business
on the 7th). To view these guys and read the information we have
on them, please click here.
It would be wonderful if someone could save them! So many
"angels" have stepped forward already, but maybe, just maybe there's
someone out there who can give these fellows a chance. Thank
you.
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1/07/03 (Tue) - No new sightings. Today we received two new
photos of lovely "Missy" who was rescued by
North Star
German Shepherd Rescue in Massachusetts. The pictures were
sent to us by Missy's wonderful new Foster Mom in Massachusetts and
were taken by the nice folks who pulled her from the shelter in
Delaware. We are so grateful Missy was rescued, but she still
needs to find her forever home. The report we received says
she's a sweet girl, good with children, housebroken, spayed, and is a
beautiful bi-color, purebred German Shepherd. For more
information on Missy, please visit her update on Rumble's
"Just in Case" page.
Missy's new photos are on Rumble's
"Just in Case" page.
Missy was very fortunate to be rescued. We're dearly hoping for
the same for the Two Brothers
from Memphis. Today is their "due out" day. They
must be rescued before 5pm today. (The Shelter's hours
today are posted as 10am-5pm.) If any rescue organization can
rescue them, we'll gladly feature them on Rumble's page until they find
their forever homes. Their photos are on Rumble's
"Just in Case" page.
Thank you.
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1/08/03 (Wed) - No new sightings. We have wonderful news about
the Two Brothers from Memphis!
They were adopted!! We are overjoyed. Somehow another
angel stepped forward to help them. You are truly wonderful.
Even some of you who weren't in a position to adopt them did what you
could. We heard from a loving, generous family from Idaho who
called the Memphis Shelter today and offered to make a financial
contribution to extend the time for these two guys, but instead they
were greeted with the excellent news that the Two Brothers had been
adopted! Our latest "Just-in-Case" dog's write-up is very special and we invite you to read it and view her
photo (click here).
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1/09/03 (Thu) - No new sightings. We have lots of wonderful news
today about Rumble's "Just in Case"
friends! "Akita," the
lovely girl from the
Memphis Shelter that we featured yesterday, has been adopted!
(She was the "miracle" girl on borrowed time.) We also received
a nice note from Amanda at
The
Humane Society for Seattle/King County telling us
that "Gentle Ben" has been
adopted! And still more good news - - We received a lovely email
from Judy of the
Animal Trustees of Alleghany in Sparta, SC telling us three of
"Gretta's" seven pups have been
spoken for. They're just 7 weeks old now, so maybe the other
four pups will find loving homes soon too. This is like
Christmas in January! We are truly hoping the good luck
continues, because we've just added
"Butterscotch," a
stunning German Shepherd boy, to Rumble's
"Just in Case" page. Butterscotch's "due out" day is
today. If any rescue organization can save him, we'll gladly
feature him on Rumble's site until he finds his forever home.
Thank you.
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1/10/03 (Fri) - No new sightings. More great news! An
angel arrived just in time for
"Butterscotch,"
and he's been adopted! We feel so incredibly happy that so far
every single one of Rumble's "Just in Case" friends has been saved!
Several still need to find their forever homes, but all are safe.
Today we'd like to share with you a lovely
Green Ribbon photo of a very special girl. This girl is a
true beauty! She's Rumble's sister and littermate "Gini" who
lives in New York. Gini (short for "Virginia") was named in
honor of the state where she, Rumble, and their other brothers and
sisters were born. To see photos of all Rumble's brothers and
sisters (born September 5, 2000), please
click here. Gini's picture is on the
"Green Ribbons for Rumble" page.
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1/11/03 (Sat) - No new sightings. We had something happen at
home yesterday that illustrated to us just how easy it would be for
Rumble to camouflage himself in the woods. Rumble's dad, Raider,
was outside thoroughly enjoying the lovely day. When we called
for him to come in, he didn't want to come. (Who could blame
him?!) We have a small embankment next to our house, and Raider
proceeded to run around behind it to "hide." We knew exactly
where he had to be, yet we had totally lost sight of him - - or so we
thought. After carefully studying the ridge line of the
embankment, we realized Raider was peeking at us over the top!
If the ridge line weren't so short and we hadn't known right where to
look, we never would have seen him. Because we wanted to share
with you how easily a dog can appear hidden in the woods, we ran
inside and grabbed our camera. The first picture in
Rumble's Scrapbook shows Raider
just peeking over the ridge line. The second photo was snapped
immediately after we called to him, and he popped his head up to let
us see him. What this illustrated to us
was how easy it is for a dog to camouflage himself by staying very
still, yet be aware of everything going on around him.
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1/12/03 (Sun) - No new sightings. More good news! We
learned Rumble's "Just in Case"
friend "Grizz" has been adopted! Yesterday we came across a
photo of a very handsome White Shepherd in a shelter in New Jersey.
Since he's wearing a green collar (almost as if for Rumble!), we
couldn't pass him up! Also, Rumble has White Shepherds in his
background, so we felt an affinity for this fellow. "Ernie" may
be seen on Rumble's "Just in Case"
page. We've been doing a lot of thinking, as have many of you,
about how we can help reduce the root causes for homeless pets.
Certainly spaying and neutering are important. However, it seems
there are lots of intentionally-bred dogs that end up in shelters too.
For example, "Kobe's" sire won
"Best of Breed" at Westminster in 1997, yet he was abandoned. He
seems like a wonderful dog and is purebred, but he still needs a
forever home. (Please give him a
look!) A recent article in
Prevention1
magazine recommended three sources for getting a puppy: (1)
Responsible breeders, who, among other things, are "willing to take
the puppy back if you are no longer able to keep it," (2) Rescue
groups, and (3) Animal shelters. Sounds like advice worth
considering.
1Prevention, "Pick the Perfect Puppy," February
2003, pp. 173-177.
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1/13/03 (Mon) - No new sightings. We've got good news again!
"Ernie," the White Shepherd we posted yesterday, has been adopted!
If Rumble were here, he'd jump for joy. Instead, as you can see
in the photo, his brother
Ranger is preparing to jump for him. In the second picture,
Ranger seems to be peering into the distance, as if he's looking for
his brother. (Photos of Ranger are in
Rumble's Scrapbook.) We'd
also like to mention that we've added
"Wilton" (Border Collie mix) and
"Emily" (Lab mix) to Rumble's
"Lost Friends" page.
They've been missing since June 2000 and their human mom has been a
supporter of Rumble's. They disappeared from their yard in the
Varina area east of Richmond. They're both 9 years old now.
Please visit their page,
study their photos, post their flyer, and contact their human family if you have any
information at all on this "brother and sister" pair. Their
human mom is an excellent example of never giving up. As Pam, a
Friend of Rumble's once said to us,
"One should never stop searching for a lost pet, because it will never stop
searching for you."
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1/14/03 (Tue) - No new sightings. We're still getting glimpses
of "those large somethings" that visit our property regularly (see
update report of 12/14/02).
Rumble's human dad got a glimpse of them about a week ago, but we just
can't get a really good look at them! They certainly are being
wily and wary. We know they're too big to be coyotes.
Whatever they are, they seem to be here a lot. Our guys are
paying particular attention to the back of the fenced compound, so
we'll focus our efforts there. We've been talking with our lost
dog expert, Debbie Hall to get advice. We'll keep you posted!
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1/15/03 (Wed) - No new sightings. We've increased the
"Tip Reward" to $500. The tip
reward will be
awarded to anyone who provides a tip to us that leads
directly
to the safe recovery of Rumble.
No questions asked.
A Friend of
Rumble's from New York recently wrote us and commented that money
isn't everything - - perhaps someone has taken Rumble in and they have
become attached to him themselves. We absolutely agree money
isn't everything! In
fact it counts for nothing compared to love. The reward in no way is
intended to put a value on Rumble or a value on our love for him, both
of which are priceless. If someone has him and wants to keep him
because they love him, we just wish they would contact us. Right
now our hearts are breaking. Any suggestions anyone might have
related to alternatives to a monetary reward for information about
Rumble would be most appreciated. At difficult times we take
great comfort from the wonderful Friends of Rumble we've "met" over
the past six months and their heartwarming support. For example,
"Cabo" (the Golden) and "Lucas" (the Shiloh) in Idaho are wearing
lovely translucent green ribbons for Rumble! (See photo below
and on the "Green Ribbon Photos for
Rumble" page.)
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1/16/03 (Thu) - No new sightings.
We've now set up the humane trap behind the back of our fenced
compound, but no sign of the "large critters" yet
(see
update report of 12/14/02).
We're leaving both ends open in hopes of getting them used to it
first. Tuesday night we put out a whole plucked chicken from
the grocery store, but it was still there yesterday morning.
Whatever is out there is very cautious. We put the chicken out
of sight of our guys but close enough that we could see it from the
house. We may need to move it further away (top of the ridge
maybe). We had snow Wednesday night (about an inch), but
we didn't see any tracks. Our guys were calm most of the day,
but early yesterday evening they started acting as if there were
something outside. Their keen senses amaze us!
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1/17/03 (Fri) - No new sightings.
We've got a tall order today! A Friend of Rumble's from Virginia
asked us to post three Shepherds from the Memphis Animal Shelter.
We've never posted three unrelated dogs in a single day before, but
these three all have a "due out" day of Saturday, so there's no time
to wait. We've given them all names, since the shelter only
assigns them numbers. Their photos are below and on Rumble's
"Just in Case" page.
"Riley" is an extremely handsome
fellow! "Snowshoe" has
coloring that melts our hearts since it has some similarity to Rumble.
"Taffy" is a truly beautiful
girl. We just know that together we can somehow manage to get
these three adopted or rescued! We haven't failed yet, and we
don't want to let these three down. Together we may be their
best hope. Thank you for whatever you can do.
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1/18/03 (Sat) - No new sightings.
The other day a true Friend of Rumble's emailed us such a heartwarming
story, we'd like to share it with you. One night recently, the
family's puppy bolted out of their vehicle when the car door was
opened briefly. The family searched for hours in the dark, but
without luck. They felt especially discouraged because they live
near woods which made searching extra difficult. They were also
concerned because the pup is extremely shy and that made the challenge
all the greater. Finally, just before going to bed, the mom went
outside one last time. Miraculously she caught a glimpse of the
puppy at the edge of the woods! As the mom approached the pup,
he retreated. In the mom's words, "I remembered what you said
and what is written on the website about how to approach a "found"
dog. I crouched down and didn't look at him and tried to sweet-talk
him into coming near me. He wouldn't.....but he didn't leave either."
The mom then had the great idea to run into the house.
Another dog ran in with her - - and the puppy followed! The
puppy was safely home!! The mom then tried to locate a collar
for the pup since he no longer had his. She went through her
stash of things saved from past years. She wrote
us, "Guess
what I found? A GREEN collar. I felt like the miracle of finding our
puppy was a gift from Rumble." It makes our hearts sing to
know that Rumble is helping others. It's especially wonderful
when he can help someone who has been helping him.
On another note, the three Shepherds we mentioned yesterday that are
in the Memphis Animal Shelter have not yet been adopted. Their
"due out" day is today, and the time for adoptions ends at
2:45pm since it's Saturday. If you can alert any rescue
group who might be able to save them, that would be so good.
We'll gladly feature them on Rumble's
"Just in Case" page until they find their forever homes if any
rescue group can save them. Thank you!
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1/18/03 (Sat) MID-DAY UPDATE - We have mixed news on the "Just
in Case" dogs below. Sadly, only four dogs were adopted totally
from the Memphis Animal Shelter "strays" area (where these three are).
Two of the four were "Just in Case"
dogs. We're so glad to report that both
"Riley" and
"Snowshoe" have been adopted.
It is with great sadness that we must report
"Taffy" was not.
She will be retained in the "due out" area until prior to the
beginning of their next work day, which we believe is 1/21/03.
One of the four strays adopted today was a Lab with a "due out" date
of 1/17/03, so we suppose it's possible that someone could still
contact the Memphis Animal Shelter
(901-362-5310) with
word that they'd rescue Taffy, but we don't know.
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1/19/03 (Sun) - No new sightings. Today we'd like to recognize a
brand-new Friend of Rumble's in Massachusetts. She found
Rumble's site just the other day when she was doing a web search
because she had found a lost dog (a Chow) and was making every effort
to reunite it with its family. This wonderful lady is so special
to us, even though we've never met her, because she routinely picks up
unleashed dogs she sees wandering the streets "doing the lost dog
shuffle" and makes every effort to return them home. She wrote,
"After looking at your site today I am reminded that there are
heartbroken people and homesick pets." On behalf of every
owner who has lost their beloved pet and longs to find it, thank you!
And thanks to the many others of you who do the same - - We could have
substituted you in this story just as well (for example, Joann in
Virginia (see update of
12/31/01) or Rumble's new friend in the Hill Country of Texas (see
update of 1/06/03)). In the love of
animals, none of us can save every animal, but if we each do little,
together we can make a real difference.
We've added one more "Just in Case"
dog,
"Buttercup," a German Shepherd or Shepherd mix. Sylvia Cox
(the saint who maintains the
WebShots site in an effort to save the Memphis Animal Shelter
pets) rarely comments on a dog, but she describes Buttercup as
"nice-looking and sweet." She sees hundreds of dogs every
week, so Buttercup must be pretty special for her to be singled out by
Sylvia. Let's try to save Buttercup! (Her "due out" date
is 1/23/03.)
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1/20/03 (Mon) - No new sightings. Since we don't know where
Rumble is, we recognize that he could be living out in the woods
somewhere. As cold as it has been here in Virginia recently, we
wanted to assure you that Rumble should be fine in the cold (at least at
these temperatures). He has a long, thick, soft coat, and the
colder it gets, the thicker his coat will get. Rumble's brothers
and sisters are basically "inside" dogs (except for walks, playing
outside, etc.), yet they love to be out in the cold for hours and hours.
They really seem to thrive on the cold! It makes them frisky and
energetic. Whenever we start to worry about Rumble being out on a
cold night, we try to remind ourselves how much our Shilohs love the cold
and the outdoors. Rumble grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Virginia so he is more accustomed to cooler weather. (He can withstand the heat too
when necessary, as he
demonstrated last summer when it got over 100o F, but
Rumble prefers cold to heat.) Rumble will be just fine!
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1/21/03 (Tue) - No new sightings. Several of you have written
with some great suggestions on various types of (smelly) bait that
might work well in our
humane trap. We received some antelope meat and have cooked
that and put it out. It was most "aromatic" while it was
cooking. We're worried about any scent carrying because of how
cold it is where we live (single digits for several days). We
did find critter tracks (very large) in the snow, but they weren't
near our food bait site. We put some bait near the tracks Sunday
afternoon, but the food was still there late yesterday. These
"large somethings" are very careful, but we're determined to get a
good look at them yet!
On a more serious note, we don't know if there's still any chance for
"Taffy." Her
only hope is probably if someone contacts the shelter
(901-362-5310 - Reference Holding Cage: 538-90975) right
away so there will be a message waiting for the employees when they
arrive Tuesday morning. We may not be able to save every
"Just in Case" dog, but we'll try our
best as long as there's a shred of hope. Thank you.
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1/22/03 (Wed) - No new sightings. We have neither good news nor
bad news on
"Taffy." She
hasn't been adopted and her due out date was the 18th, but she and all
the other dogs that weren't adopted on the 18th are still being held
in the "past due out" area. It would really take a miracle to
save her now, but miracles can happen. We are supporters of Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary "No More Homeless Pets" campaign and believe
each one of us can make a difference. To see how,
click here.
One advantage of sharing our plans with you is that so many of you
come up with great ideas that we never even considered! The
other day a Friend of Rumble's described to us how her son would
sometimes sit in their screened porch late at night and play his
guitar. She said that resulted in
him "being visited by deer, dogs, cats, and heaven only knows what
else." She went on to say, "I
wish you would try a LONG recording near your trap. It just might
draw whatever to you. I think that music soothes animals as well."
What a great idea! We'll try the meat first - - then the music.
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1/23/03 (Thu) - No new sightings. We have amazingly good news on
"Taffy" - - she's been
given a second chance for adoption! Miraculously she was moved
into the "Adoption" area at the shelter yesterday. That buys her a
little more time since dogs in the Adoption area usually have about
two weeks, but there are no guarantees. We're convinced you're
the reason for her small miracle! We know some of you called the
Memphis Shelter, and we're guessing that made all the difference.
Thank you! Now we just need to get her adopted or into Rescue.
Of greater urgency right now is
"Buttercup," since her due out day is today. The
angel who maintains the WebShots page promoting the Memphis Animal
Shelter dogs doesn't usually comment on a dog, but she made a point to
say that Buttercup is "nice looking and sweet," and she sees
hundreds of dogs every week. That tells us Buttercup must be
pretty special! If you know of anyone who can help Buttercup,
today is the day she must be saved. Thank you.
P.S. We have some very exciting news to share with you tomorrow
- - We don't have all the information just yet! (No, we haven't
found Rumble, but this is very happy news for us of another kind.)
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1/23/03 (Thu) LATE-NIGHT UPDATE - We have sad new on
"Buttercup." No one saved this sweet girl. We've
emailed Sylvia Cox, the saint who voluntarily maintains the WebShots
page featuring all the Memphis Shelter Dogs, and she replied that
there isn't much hope now. She said that if anyone wants to know
if a particular dog is still OK, "You can call the shelter in the
morning after they open and ask for the adoption window (where all the
paperwork is, which is more important than the computer because they
still 'live' by the paperwork), and ask if this dog is still there."
(The Shelter's
number is
901-362-5310.) We
also learned that Memphis rescue folks belong to the Yahoo e-group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/raotrescue/. Email may
be sent to this group at
raotrescue@yahoogroups.com
On another topic, a Friend of Rumble's who is affiliated with
Golden Town
(Golden Retriever and Hospice) asked that we please post a
request for one leg needed to drive two rescues to their new home.
The leg is on Sunday 1/26: Wytheville, VA - Roanoke, VA (78 miles).
This will be an early run as the folks who are overnighting the 2 boys
in Bristol, TN and are bringing the dogs to Wytheville, want to be in
Wytheville by 7:00 or 7:30 AM. According
to the post, both dogs ride well, are up-to-date on shots/neutered, get along
with other dogs, and will easily fit in the back seat of a Honda
Civic. For information or to volunteer, please contact Jenny
O'Brien at
grk9resq@goldentown.org.
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1/24/03 (Fri) - No new sightings. We have such exciting news to
share with you! Rumble has just become an uncle for the very
first time! Rumble's beloved sister Chili has just had puppies!
In the midst of discouraging news, this is a true ray of sunshine for
us. Chili has already shown herself to be a wonderful mom and
we're so proud of her. Chili and all the pups (6 handsome little
boys and 5 beautiful little girls) are wearing green for Rumble.
Mom and pups are doing great! Photos are on
the Green Ribbon Photos for Rumble
page.
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1/25/03 (Sat) - No new sightings. We're still on Cloud 9 over
the arrival of Rumble's little nieces and nephews! They are just
the cutest little bundles of joy and Chili is such a great mom!!
On a more serious note, we are deeply touched that two Friends of
Rumble posted yesterday on the Yahoo Group that rescue folks in
Memphis belong to (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/raotrescue/
) offering to save/foster
"Buttercup." Friends of Rumble are such an amazing
group of wonderful, wonderful people linked by our love of animals.
We've been spending hours trying to get someone in Memphis to pull
Buttercup and help to arrange for transport to Virginia, but so far we
haven't had much luck. We also pledged to pay her adoption fee.
Buttercup is past her "due date," so it may not even be possible to
save her now, but we are so touched that Faye and Pettis both offered
to save her. You are true angels!
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1/26/03 (Sun) - No new sightings. We've been hoping against all
odds that today's news is a report we would never have to make - - we
weren't able to save Buttercup. Together we did everything
possible. Two Friends of Rumble in Virginia volunteered on
1/24/03 to save/foster Buttercup! Several other friends of
Rumble volunteered to help drive her from Memphis to Virginia.
One angel from New Jersey even volunteered to drive her the entire
distance! We (Rumble's family) pledged to pay her adoption fee.
Together, we truly did all we could do to save her, but no one in
Memphis pulled her from the shelter in time, and that shelter requires
adoptions in person. On Saturday, a wonderful woman in Memphis
physically went to the shelter and looked everywhere for Buttercup,
but she was gone by then. We've created a
"Gone But Not Forgotten" page to
remember Buttercup, and the link to that page will remain permanently
at the bottom of Rumble's "Just in Case" page. Not to raise
false hopes, but there is the faintest hope that someone else may have
adopted Buttercup on Friday. The shelter's paperwork was so
confused that they said Buttercup's holding cage number belonged to
either a cat or an Akita (they weren't sure!). We personally
called the shelter Saturday morning and the lady at the Adoptions
Window said someone had said they were going to adopt her on Friday,
but she couldn't find any record if that happened. So there's
just the tiniest chance someone else has given her a home.
On a more hopeful note, we still have several
"Just in Case" dogs that dearly need
homes. "Taffy" in
Tennessee and "Trooper" (a
beautiful new possible Shiloh or Shiloh mix) in Florida are in most
urgent need. Trooper, a brand-new "Just in Case" dog, sounds
like a gem! His photo is on Rumble's "Just in Case"
page.
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1/27/03 (Mon) - No new sightings. We'd like to share with you a
photo of "Cutter," one of the "uncles" of Chili's puppies. The
night the puppies were born, we were late
feeding the dogs and they were so tired of waiting. Cutter's posture
and demeanor reminded us of a relative waiting outside the delivery
room for the new baby's arrival. It's the same chair that Rumble
liked to curl up in. We'll never figure out how these huge guys
can make themselves into such tiny little balls!
(Cutter's picture is below and in
Rumble's Scrapbook.) On a more serious note, we received a
touching email from the Broward County Animal Control Shelter worker
who's doing her very best to try to save
"Trooper" who is featured on
Rumble's "Just in Case" page.
She says he is truly a "great dog" and deserves a loving home.
The fact that she's going to this length for him says a lot. The
shelter says he's a Shiloh Shepherd or Shiloh mix, so he may even be
distantly related to Rumble. If anyone can rescue this gorgeous
fellow, now would be a really good time. Thank you.
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1/28/03 (Tue) - No new sightings. Today we'd like to share a
photo of another wonderful dog wearing his green ribbon for Rumble.
The photo below and on the "Green
Ribbon Photos for Rumble" page is of "Bear," a very handsome
Shiloh Shepherd in New York. We'd also like to take a moment to
explain how the "Search" feature
works on Rumble's site. Just like the "big guys" (e.g., Google,
Yahoo, etc.), we've got to "crawl" the site to re-index and update
what the search feature can find. We try to re-index at least
once a week (usually Sundays). If you've ever tried to search
and haven't found what you're looking for, it's probably because the
term was added after our last re-index. In case you're curious,
the most frequently searched term on Rumble's site is the word
"sighting." Second most popular is "Rumble." Other popular
terms have been "Yogaville," "slurry," and "green ribbon." There
have also been quite a few searches on the names of the
"Just in Case" dogs. Speaking of
them, please, please give a careful and thoughtful look at both
"Trooper" and
"Clancy." We don't have a
known date by which Trooper must be adopted, but we know it's very
soon. Clancy must be adopted by today. Please,
can anyone help these fellows? Thank you.
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1/29/03 (Wed) - No new sightings. We've had our first promising
sighting report in a long time though! We don't have enough
information to actually consider it a "sighting" (but it could be!).
It occurred about three weeks ago in the Arvonia area, near the bridge
that crosses the James River. We've always
thought that if someone doesn't have Rumble, then he probably is
moving up and down the James River trying to find a place to cross and
is likely hanging around the areas where there are bridges across the
river. Arvonia would be one of those places.
This is encouraging news indeed! To celebrate, we'd like
to share some more photos of Rumble's brand new little nieces and
nephews on their 6th day. Rumble's sis and
best-friend-in-the-whole-world, Chili, is being such a great mom!
These pups are truly a ray of sunshine for us. (Photos are below
and in Rumble's Scrapbook.)
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1/30/03 (Thu) - No new sightings. Today is the kind of day we
love - - filled with happy news! We are thrilled to report 10
(yes 10!) "Just in Case" dogs have
found their forever homes.
"Trooper" in Fort Lauderdale, FL was adopted by Friends of Rumble
in the Carolinas. This family is truly wonderful!
"Clancy," whose "due out" date
at the Memphis Shelter was actually Tuesday, was adopted yesterday.
Finally, "Gretta and 7 Pups" in
South Carolina have all been adopted! Actually, Gretta's foster
mom has become so attached to Gretta, she's either going to keep her
herself or place her with only a very special person! Gretta's
pups have all gone to wonderful new homes. Yay! To
celebrate, we're going to share with you two super Green Ribbon photos
of "Misty," a beautiful German Shepherd in Pennsylvania. The
photos are below and on the "Green
Ribbons for Rumble" page.
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1/31/03 (Fri) - No new sightings. More good news - -
"Travis" was adopted! He
makes the 38th "Just in Case"
dog to find a forever home. (That number doesn't include dogs that
have made it out of shelters into rescue, but are still in need of a
forever home.) Now we really need to focus on two girls.
"Taffy" has just about used up
her 2-week reprieve, so please, can someone help her? We've also
added "Daisy," whom Sylvia Cox
(the saint who photographs the Memphis dogs every day) is pleading
with someone to save because Daisy is so wonderful. Surely
someone can give this adorable, sweet girl a chance! On a
different subject, we have a special heartwarming treat for you today.
Kimba's human mom has
written up the wonderful story of how Kimba was found. It will
tug at your heartstrings in a good way - - it's got a joyously happy
ending! It also includes a special message for probably everyone
who visited Rumble's site while Kimba was lost. (Click
here to read the story and the message.) Every
lost-dog-found story gives us even more hope for finding our Rumble!
And finally, we'd like to put in a plug for the great folks at "RAOT"
(Responsible Animal Owners of Tennessee) that do so much to save
the dogs in the Memphis shelter. (Sylvia Cox is a RAOT
volunteer.) Tomorrow they're having
an off-site adoption day for dogs from the Memphis Animal Shelter from
11am to 3pm at the Petco on Winchester in Memphis. For details,
please
click here. If you're within driving distance, how wonderful
it would be for Friends of Rumble to turn out to support them!
Thank you.
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LATEST SIGHTING: October 16th
(report of 10/19/02)
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