Dear Friends,
 
     Autumn is turning colder, and like every autumn, adoptions slow, donations wane-- but animals still need rescue.  As you read in our last newsletter, IOHR took a leading role in helping to alleviate the pressure on the shelter system and has taken in many, many animals in need of immediate homes after a recent cruelty case bust.  The animals in our care continue to require food, medical care and other supplies to keep them clean, healthy and adoptable.

     Our dogs need your help too.  A double ureter transplant for Madeline shocked our financial stores-- medical treatment of nearly $5,000 saved her, but who will save us? One month earlier, our Violet was hit by a car. She was saved, but for another $5,000.  As a result we halted all rescues for a time, until funds were raised, and some of you rose to the challenge. Not nearly enough was recovered, and with the strain of winter's dryspell beginning, we must appeal to you for further support of our operations.
 
      How could we say no, when little Dixie came to us, and 3 days later, broke with deadly Parvo? We simply couldn't. If an animal can saved, we do everything we can to save it. Sadly, her brother Banjo did not make it, but Dixie is now healthy, active, vibrant and nearly ready for adoption-- after hospitalization and special care, costing nearly $1,000. What is a life worth? Far more than that. Just ask our adopters:
 
"Buford is doing great!  It is great to see him learning to play with the other dogs.  He sleeps under the covers between Jim and I.  He is such a love!!!!  Jimmy loves him so much.  He loves the car so he goes everywhere with us. We really love him.
What you do for these furry kids is amazing!!!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
                    -- Dianne, Interlaken, NJ

 
    Buford was saved, with your help, from a southern gassing shelter, and then treated, with your help, for heartworm disease. There are so many more like him in our care from New York City Animal Care and Control and across the country.

   Take five month-old Sweet Lily, for instance. She was found in Brooklyn Animal Care and Control with a ruptured eye, a very painful condition.  IOHR fought for her surgery and took her into rescue. Now, her other eye shows signs of deterioration, most likely a genetic desease.  She will probably require surgery to remove the other painful eye. Her life will be changed, but it will have quality.  We will need your help to give her that chance.

    Perhaps our readers tire of our pleas-- perhaps they themselves have financial issues, or have many choices about which groups to support.  For our part, we tire of sickness and ignorance, yet our work never ceases.  We tire of begging, but if we do not ask, we canot receive.  Today we ask of you another favor done not for us, but for the animals we save.  Please open your heart to one of these needy animals.  A donation of $50 or more goes a long way toward giving them a second chance at life.

• $25 buys food for 15 cats for 1 week
• $50 sponsors 5 days of boarding for a dog on the euthanasia list, to buy time for placement
• $60 allows us to send a trainer to work with difficult animals to make them more adoptable
• $100 covers a standard vet visit
• $500 sincerely helps to alleviate medical debt from past cases, which makes taking more animals difficul

If you cannot make a monetary donation now, please consider donating any of the following items:
dog and cat food, wet and dry • cat litter • collars and leashes • crates • dog and cat beds • blankets, sheets and towels • pop up tent • printing services (banners, brocures) • folding tables • pre-paid gas cards

 Please consider making a donation of any amount.  Their lives depend on it.

 Sincerely,
 
Jennifer Lamb and Emily Gear