Our dog and cat food drive

We are almost finished with our first week of our two week dog and cat food drive in support of Animal Haus, a Denver charity that gives away food to folks who are having financial difficulties so that they have a better chance of keeping their companion animal.

I have been blown away by y'alls response! I am super grateful to all of you who have dropped of food at one of our location or who have made a donation to Animal Haus on their website.

You can still support us as we move into week two.

If you live in Denver, you can drop off dog and cat food at:

Urban Peak, 730 21st Street, Denver Monday - Friday from 8am - 5pm.

Planet Pet, 4338 Tennyson Street, Denver Monday - Friday from 10am - 7pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 4pm.

You can purchase vegan dog and cat food at Nooch Vegan Market, 3360 Larimer Street, any day from 11am - 6pm.

Our Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/534208730001834/

You can make an online donation here: http://animalhaus.org/

Remember, any amount of a donation will make a difference in an animals life!

Thank you! Please help us to continue to rock it for those experiencing tougher times and for the companion animals they adore.

Thanks for reading!

Our first ever dog and cat food drive!

 
I am ecstatic to let you all know that The Gay Vegans are having our first ever dog and cat food drive! After a  lot of consideration around who we would support with a blog-wide effort and how, we have decided to collect dog and cat food as well as cash for Animal Haus, a local Denver non-profit that gives away dog and cat food to those who would otherwise not be able to fee their companion animals.

The great thing about this effort is that you do not need to live in Denver to support us. We will have collection spots for you and your friends to drop off the food, and those who want to support us who do not live n the Denver area can simply go to this website animalhaus.org and make a donation. A little goes a long way.

I know that through the support of our blog readers and supporters that we can make a HUGE difference for those struggling with finances to care for their companions. Imagine what a difference a donation of food makes to a guardian who is experiencing really tough financial times, and in some cases might even be considering bringing their beloved into a shelter!

WE can make the difference.

Please spread the word. I will post all of the current details here. This will be a two-week effort. We can change the lives of families who truly want to keep and care for their companions, they are just having really difficult times.

The Gay Vegans dog and cat food drive
November 16 - 30, 2013

Donations can be dropped off at Urban Peak Monday - Friday from 8am - 5pm.

Donations of vegan dog and cat food can be purchased at Nooch Vegan Market at 34th and Larimer and placed in the Animal Haus bin.

In the west metro area? You can drop off at our home in northeast Lakewood. Just email for directions.

More information to come and hopefully more drop off locations. If you know of a Denver area pet food store that would let us hang out one day and ask customers to donate food, please let me know.

Thank you all so much. Stay tuned for updates!

Dan
vegandude@msn.com

Soul mates - my sweet Moses

I don't think one has to have any type of belief to think of very special people or animals as a soul mate. I could be wrong, but even if you do not believe in a soul, I think you can still wrap your mind around what a soul mate is.

Most of the time when I hear the words soul mate it is in reference to a human, usually coming from a heterosexual woman in reference to her male partner. I seldom hear men talk about such things.

This post is about one of my soul mates, Moses, who happened to be a dog.

Moses passed away in July of 2007 at the age of 14. He had been part of my family since November of 1998 when I found him trudging along I-5 in San Clemente, California.

For me it was love at first sight.

Moses changed me. He was a dog that had been severely abused and neglected, yet the first night with me, with no shelter or vet open until the next day, he slept comfortably in my tent. When I would wake up to check on him I would hear this swooshing sound. Not sure of what it was, I soon realized that whenever I would speak to him he would wag his tail.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, this whole intense tail wagging thing would be come part of what people would think of when thinking of Moses. No matter who you were, no matter what Moses had been through and no matter what humans before us had done to him, he would wag his tail with huge effort upon seeing anyone.

Moses was part Coon hound, so combined with his amazing bark and his wagging tail, he was quite the sight.

Moses was pure love. He loved every being he came in contact with. He especially loved humans. He taught me so much about love, and forgiveness.

Sweet Moses! I still think of him all of the time, and every once in a while I look at the spot where his bed used to be, where I last saw him.

A true soul mate. A true love, filled with so many wonderful things.

Thank you for reading.

Rock is improving with acupuncture - Dr. Nancy Tharp

Rock, our schmeagle beagle, with Suga in the background.

I am happy to report that since my last post about Rock, he has had a couple weeks of continued acupuncture and cold laser therapy and he seems to be feeling better.

I have very seldom used our blog to recommend a person (I stick to restaurants!) but I just have to let you all know about Rock's acupuncturist, Dr. Nancy Tharp. For a couple of reasons. First, many of our readers asked. Also, she has totally changed Rock's direction from being close to euthanasia to walking around and in a lot less pain.

For those of you who are reading about Rock for the first time, he is the senior of our family, almost 18 years old. When we got back from vacation he was struggling to walk. Our vet highly recommended Dr. Tharp and a few days later she was in our living room giving Rock treatments.

She does house calls!

Yes, we are still living in the reality that Rock is an old guy. With Dr. Tharp's treatments, I honestly think we can keep Rock in a lot less pain, with the ability to walk, as he lives his last months or year (years would be wonderful of course!).

For those of you in the Denver area who asked, here is Dr. Tharp's information:

Nancy Tharp, DVM, CVA
720.244.2198
vethealingarts@gmail.com
veterinaryhealingarts.com

She does acupuncture and Class IV Laser Therapy. Rock is getting both.

We have really been grateful to Dr. Tharp, and we both very much like her. If you have a companion animal in a similar situation as our Rock is and are in the Denver area, give her a ring.

Thanks for reading, and thank you so much to all of you who have sent love to Rock!

Caring for a senior companion animal

Note: This is another one of those very personal posts.

Mike and I returned home from vacation to our senior companion animal Rock, a 16 1/2 year old Yorkie who in the time we were gone went from being old and not in great shape to being old and in bad shape and not being able to walk.

We all get to this point. Some more often than others. Mike and I certainly have been here before.

As Rock has gotten older he has lost a good portion of his sight and a lot of his hearing (although his hearing always returns when there is food or a treat involved!). He doesn't like going outside to pee as it's a long walk for an old dog with short legs, so he gets out of bed and pees in the hallway or the living room or the kitchen. He can't jump up on anything and gets uncomfortable easy. He never sleeps through the night and one or both of us are up two to three times during the night to take him out and love on him.

It can be exhausting. And we would do so much more.

His attitude and personality and appetite are all at 100%.

His back and legs are not. Upon return from vacation we took him to the vet and began the conversation around what we can do, and more distressingly for us, when nothing else can be done. After a long exam with our trusted vet and some x-rays, we decided to change the meds Rock is on and to invite another vet who does acupuncture and laser treatment for dogs and cats in a similar condition to our home. Yes, she does house visits!

More importantly, and very difficult for us but so critical for Rock, we decided that if the med change and acupuncture did not work within a week or so, and that Rock could still not walk or get up on his own, that we would do what we believe would be best for Rock and have him euthanized.

The emotions in just writing about this are huge and uncomfortable and in a sense tragic. Rock has been part of Mike's life for over 16 years and part of mine for almost 10. He is our family. He is my little schmeagle beagle.

The day after the vet visit and the change in meds the vet who does acupuncture and laser treatment came over. The treatments lasted an hour. She really impressed Mike and the treatments seemed to help Rock right away, at least in making him more comfortable in his own body.

Two days later Rock has been able to stand outside to do his thing, and has walked from the kitchen to the living room to the bedroom. He is definitely showing signs of being in less pain, and we are cautiously optimistic. Not for ten more years with him, but a life with him that is one day at a time and includes him being in little or no pain with the ability to walk and go to the bathroom on his own.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I will keep you all updated as we continue this process.

Action of the week - reach out

I am still unemployed (today is day 21) and have been able to take "me" time during my job search. By the way, I did receive an offer letter yesterday and am hoping to take this job after looking into the benefits.

Yesterday I went to the Max Fund, a local shelter here that Mike and I support and where I have been volunteering for 12 years. We have fostered a bunch of dogs from here and last Saturday swung by to check about fostering Chico, a one-eyed Pekingese mix who is 8 years old and they believe would be better off right now in foster.

I had time yesterday after a lunch appointment to go visit with Chico again. He is pretty snappy and I wanted to see if he acted any differently on a slower day at the shelter. His only interest in my was to try to bite me, not in a way to harm me as he doesn't bite down, he just snaps.

While visiting with Chico a gentleman came into the shelter asking if he could pick up some food for his dogs. I am not sure of his situation except that he is experiencing difficult times and was asking for dog food as he could not afford it.

I wanted to tell him that I would buy all the dog food he needed until his times got better, but the Max Fund employee said to him that he would go check to see what they had. The employee came back in less than five minutes with a couple of bags of dog food. I was ecstatic.

If you are still thinking about Chico, more to come on him. I am going back today to bring him home as a foster. And you know that means a Chico blog post soon!

Do you know anyone like the gentleman who came in to Max Fund? Would you reach out to them with some dog food or treats, or a pound of coffee? Perhaps a care package with some treats? Mike and I are financially good right now but the gifts people have given since I lost my job did more than give us something nice, they filled us with love and gratitude. That's the perfect gift!

I have been unemployed for 21 days and have been blown away by the love and support I have received from friends, family, colleagues and people I don't even know. My hope is that all of us can do this, reaching out to those who might be in need. When the economy went downhill I clearly remember shelters I volunteer at getting more and more filled with dogs and cats from families who could no longer afford their care because of loss of a job or home. What can all of us to to support those who aren't quite there yet, but are struggling to care for their beloved companion animals?

Today when I go to the Max Fund going to donate dog and cat food for families struggling. I don't know what else to do but will ask them. I'm not sure how many animal shelters or homeless shelters have options to support those struggling, but I am sure there is something all of us can do.

Will you join us and reach out to those in need?

Thank you for reading!

Protecting our companion animals

In the recent past two companion dogs have been killed by police officers in the metro-Denver area. One of these killings happened last week.

Mike and I share our lives and our home with six companion animals: Rock, Miguel, Suga and Monty the dogs and Chin and Cheng the chinchillas. As all of you do for your companion animals, I love each of them with all of my heart and do everything I can to make sure they are safe, loved and happy.

Both dogs that were shot by the police had families that loved them.

I can't even imagine what those families are going through. In one case the dog got out of the house. In the other, the police entered the wrong house.

I love letting our dogs out front. For the most part they stay with me. For the most part. I have to keep an eye on them. Mike has tried so many times to get me to stop letting them out front, and I assure you I am as close as ever. Except for Miguel. He'll stay with me and not leave the yard, even if another dog comes by.

Our dogs are up to date on their shots. They are all licensed. They have a huge fenced-in backyard where they are safe to roam, play and sniff. We take them around the block and to a local open space for walks. And of course they are loved on all the time!

After the first dog was shot and killed I considered writing a letter to our Chief of Police asking him to create a policy or strengthen a current policy on interaction with people's companion animals. Now I am for sure going to write the letter, and perhaps contact my two city council members. Many times I have written about encouraging our readers to be the voice for the voiceless. This is an example of doing just that.

I ask you to make a connecting with your local police department and to ask the person(s) who represents you on city council to make sure that companion animals are protected from police in any situation unless death or injury is imminent. The more we talk about this and the mroe we communicate our thoughts to those in power, the likelihood of another dog being killed by police decreases.

Will you join us?

Thank you for reading!

Tiny actions that change the world

I was thinking of writing a post about resolutions for the new year. Then I decided that there are plenty of those out there. I have a few things I want to look at in 2013, and one of them is asking our readers to take simple, small actions that can change the world.

In the 1 1/2 years since I started the blog I have honestly been blown away by the action our readers take when I write about an issue or ask them to do something. It started with Meatless Mondays when over 1000 people were touched by our readers in deciding to not eat meat on a Monday. I have also been beyond thrilled when someone writes to me and tells me that they discovered who their state representative is and that they made a connection. The list could go on and on.

So for 2013 I'd like you all to join Mike and I in doing, or continuing to do, small acts that are huge in their affect.

If you are in a relationship, go for a walk with your beloved. Hold hands. Just the two of you. No companion animals. Our actions for change should start in our own lives.

Check out your local shelter and ask if you can volunteer. Clean cages, walk dogs, cuddle with cats. In some shelters there is a specific room for cats with FIV, which is basically HIV for cats. They are tougher to adopt. All three of my cats had FIV. Hanging out in the FIV cat room rocks.

Find out who your state representative is and connect with them. They are your voice in your state capital. Whatever your big issues are, they might be voting on one of them in 2013. Make sure your voice is heard. Go here to find them: http://votesmart.org/

Have a vegan potluck at your home. A Sunday brunch would be awesome. We have done this, with mostly non-vegans attending, and the food is ALWAYS delish and everyone ALWAYS has a wonderful time. My favorite brunch item for potlucks is Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Banana Rabanada French Toast in her "Vegan Brunch" cookbook. Page 102! Mmmm.

While on the topic of making vegan food, make a vegan baked good and bring it to work to share. This can be huge. My whole office has a different concept around vegan food because of what Mike (and I at times!) have made for the office. It's great to see people go from "I don't think I'll like this" to "Holy cow!" in a matter of seconds.

Make a donation to a non-profit that is a voice for the animals. There are SO many to choose from. Some local, some national. I always like to start out by talking about making local change. There is an animal shelter close to everyone. $25.00 can go a long way. It's important for me to financially support those doing the work in being the voice for the voiceless. It's not always cheap.

I think this is a great start. Will you join us?

Thanks for reading! If you would like to communicate with me other than posting a comment my personal email is vegandude@msn.com

Another dead pit bull

If you live in the Denver area you might have heard of the part pit bull dog named Chloe who was shot five times by a Commerce City police person last week. A neighbor videotaped the shooting and from any aspect it looks like the shooting/killing was completely unnecessary.

The story was incredibly sad.

Pit bulls have a bad name in Colorado, not unlike many places around the country. In Denver, there is a ban on pit bulls. What this means is that hundreds of pit bulls have been killed in Denver and shelters outside of Denver are packed with pit bulls. And of course you can purchase pit bull puppies online on Craigs List.

In Lakewood, where Mike and I live, and just 1.5 miles from the Denver dead zone for pit bulls, they are safe. Our city council has talked about a ban and decided that the city and our citizens would be better off without a ban.

To be clear, I do not know a lot about BSL, or Breed Specific Legislation. I am not even sure if I have the correct words for BSL. I try to read what both sides have written regarding bans. For me, I get to see what happens because of a ban. I see many dogs killed for one reason only, that they are a pit bull, or one of the similar breeds. And then I see shelters around cities with a ban have many pit bulls for adoption, in some shelters pit bulls are more than half of available dogs for adoption. There is no way that all of them can survive in the shelter, so inevitably they are put down.

My history with pit bulls comes from Geronimo, our past next door neighbor. His head was bigger than all of our dogs except for Miguel. Geronimo LOVED playing with all of our dogs and would run the fence with them every day. He was a gentle lover. When our neighbor moved, I totally missed Geronimo.

I am one of those who believes that a companion dog acts a certain way because of how he or she is treated. I also believe that even if any companion dog is one who is uncomfortable around strangers, that their human companions can keep them and the strangers safe.

I look forward to the day when in Denver being a pit bull does not mean that their family has to move or a death sentence for the dog. How many more dogs will have to die before the powers that be realize that killing dogs is not the answer?

Meanwhile, I mourn with Chloe's family and anyone who loved her. Perhaps once she got out of her house that day she had no chance. And perhaps those of us who love pit bulls or who love dogs in general can change what is happening to a breed who gets a bad rap.

I don't have the answers. I'm just sick of seeing all of these beautiful dogs being killed.

Thanks for reading!

Make a plan for your companion animals

Reading an article this morning reminded me about a blog post I have been meaning to write. The article is about a woman who passed away suddenly and how the local animal shelter is taking care of her dog.

We have run into this a lot. I remember several years back when we met Linus and Lucy. I was at Maxfund cleaning cages. They were sharing a cage and I realized that they were petrified. I learned that their person had passed away suddenly and they had ended up in a shelter. In the couple of hours that I was there they pooped all over themselves three times. I called Mike and we took them in as fosters.

Linus and Lucy were both older, Maltese-mix dogs. Beautiful and loving. We could tell that they had been loved and adored. They were definitely freaked out about losing their person AND ending up in a noisy shelter.

They loved being with us. Whenever Mike was home they were on his lap. There was never enough cuddle time for them!

After a couple of weeks with us a wonderful woman adopted them.

Please make a plan for your companion animals. Yes, I mean including them in your will. If you don't have a will, you can still plan for your animals by making agreements with your friends or family. We have fostered and cared for so many beautiful dogs whose person did not have a plan. The ones we have cared for were the lucky ones.

We have a plan. And we are part of some of our friends' plans. We want to make sure that all of our family members will be taken care of and loved by people we know if anything tragic happens to us.

So go ahead. Do it today. Call a friend or favorite family member or someone who works at your vets office.  Make sure your family member(s) is/are going to be safe if something unforeseen happens.

Thanks for reading!

Overwhelming grief

On January 30th of this year our beloved Shadow passed away. I wrote about her life and had wonderful conversations with our readers about the loss I felt and the amazing gratitude I felt for having had the privilege of being part of her life.

Shadow lived a full 14 years before she met us. When we met her she had suffered neglect, but she was spry and loving. Our original deal was to foster her so I picked her up one day from a temporary situation and drove her to the vet for a checkup.

I will never forget her being in the passenger seat of my truck and once I stopped in the parking lot at the vets she walked onto my lap and gave me a big kiss. I said to her then not to do that as I was only fostering her.

She knew better than that.

Shadow was 18 when she passed away. The sadness was hardcore. I took a half-day off of work, shared with friends and family about my sadness and sense of loss, and moved on.

So I thought.

What I truly love about this blog and the relationship I have built with those who read this blog and support it is that I have always been honest about what I write about and how I truly feel about the topic or the situation.

The grief I have is still incredibly strong. Sure, I smile, I go to work and rock it, I volunteer, I love on our companion animals, I make sure my husband knows how much I love and adore him. Yet in the quiet of the drive home, the still morning in my office before others arrive, reading in bed at night or swinging on the backyard hammock, the grief I feel for the loss of my Shadow is strong and feels like it will never pass.

Some days I still think Shadow is physically here. I hear something in the bedroom and think it is her getting up to come join us. Or I turn the light on in the bedroom and immediately turn it off remembering that she is in there sleeping when in fact she's not. And so on.

I know the hardcore grief will pass. And I am way grateful to all of you for your love, support and stories of those you have lost.  I am also grateful to feel the love for another living being, and feel the pain that goes with not having them in my life anymore. The love I feel for this little 14 pound lovely is truly a gift.

Thank you for reading!

Will you support a FREE spay and neuter day?

I have been volunteering at one of our local animal shelters, Max Fund, for about 12 years. I started out walking dogs and hanging out with the cats. When I was in college, I would gather my books up on Sunday and sit in the cat room all day and study. Now I clean cages and Mike and I foster a lot.

This past weekend I swung by to meet a couple of dogs who really need help getting adopted and (one of them) getting healing so he is adoptable. The little one who needs help with becoming adoptable very much dislikes men and so I worked with him for a bit and got to the point where he let me hold him.

I love volunteering at shelters. One thing that stares you right in the face while volunteering at your local shelter is how important spay and neuter programs are. There are statistics all of the place in regards to the difference in just one female dog or female cat not being able to reproduce makes in the overall picture of animal overpopulation.

Mike and I have had this idea, and we are speaking with Max Fund about it. What if The Gay Vegans hosted a free spay and neuter day? Then we got to talking about two days, one specifically for cats and one for dogs. The more we spoke about it the more excited I got and the ideas just started flowing.

Before we can commit to this, we asked our friend sat Max Fund to look at what it might cost to do this. While they work on the cost, we wanted to check in with our readers and supporters to see if there was anyone who would want to financially support this idea. Mike and I would put a good chunk of the money needed out there, yet we would need some help. We would also need some volunteers that day to help with check-in, etc.

Let us know if you would be interested in supporting this idea. You can email us at vegandude@msn.com or respond via Facebook, Twitter, or here. A simple "I'm in" is fine for now and we'll create a list from that. If we move forward, we would most likely ask those who want to donate to make an online donation at The Max Fund's website just to make it easy and so we can keep track of funds.

We would love to do this and would be even more stoked about this idea if our blog community wanted to support the effort. Imagine what we could do if we could put on two totally free spay and neuter days!

As always, I would totally love your thoughts! Especially with this idea, your feedback is essential!

Thanks for reading!

Our beloved Shadow

Our 18 year old Shadow passed away yesterday. We are devastated.

I use this blog as a bridge-builder and to show everyone that we all have more in common than not. If you have ever had an animal companion pass away, you know our grief. It doesn't matter if you are vegan or not, gay or straight, what your political or religious/spiritual beliefs are, or whether you're an animal rights activist or not. It just doesn't matter. The pain is the same.

We adopted Shadow when she was 14. I think it's called a "failed foster". We were fostering her and realized that no one was interested in adopting a 14 year old dog. What a miracle for us. I picked her up at a boarding place where she was in the cat area due to being quarantined while they checked her out. She was thrilled to see me and I will always remember her in the truck while on our way home coming over to me and giving me big kisses.

Shadow couldn't see well so when approached her typical reaction was to snap. I loved snuggling her face to face and letting her realize that it was me, and the snap would turn to kisses. She loved having her head rubbed and her neck scratched. She would allow us some time right next to her in the TV room but usually she would have enough of close time and give the signal that she was ready to go to the bedroom.

Her piercing bark was a great welcome after a day at work. All the other dogs would bark and she would chime in from wherever she was. Sometimes she wouldn't even get up, just bark from the bedroom.

Feeding time will be a lot quicker now as she definitely took her time while eating. The other dogs would finish in a couple of minutes and she would take about 20. Mike and I were laughing last night that Monty, one of our Yorkies, would lose his major food source, which was Shadow's bowl as he snuck in bites while she was eating.

I will miss cuddling with her in the mornings and at night, while reading before bed, sharing time with her and watching her shake her head after a scratch session and looking into her beautiful eyes. The same beautiful eyes I looked into yesterday when she left this world.

Mike and I will always remember Shadow. She was a huge part of our family, of our lives, and we will forever be grateful for the time we had with her.

I couldn't write about Shadow without reminding everyone reading that our shelters are filled with senior dogs and cats and all they want is love and a comfy place to sleep.

Thanks for reading.

Ashton the (senior) dog needs a home

If you have been reading our blog you most likely have already read about Ashton. She is a nine year old cocker mix who was brought to a shelter with her "brother" after her family could not afford the two dogs any more. The brother was adopted. Ashton went into a deep depression (losing her brother, being in a cage in a noisy place)and the shelter called us asking if we would foster her just to get her out of the shelter. This was over two months ago.

And so goes the life for older dogs in shelters. Ashton has bad allergies and a chronic ear condition that requires daily cleaning. Add that to her age and her chances of finding a permanent home get even lower.

She is a love. A total love. When she looks at you she wags her tail, and just keeps wagging it. She loves to have her belly rubbed and loves to be right at your side.

Our home is filled with older dogs. We adopted Shadow when she was 14. At 18 she is plugging along and is such a huge part of our lives. Rock is 12 and Suga is 9.

Ashton needs a home. Older, senior dogs and cats just want a place to nap and a couple of good meals a day. And love. All really easy things to provide. They make wonderful companions and add so much to the home. In almost all cases they don't tear things up and are already trained to go to the bathroom outside. Yet shelters all over the country are filled with them. For many the cage at the shelter is their last stop.

If you live in the Denver area and would like to meet Ashton, just let us know. If you would like to help senior dogs or cats in your area, just swing by your local shelter and tell them you want to help. You will make their day and the animals' day. And you will be touched for sure!

Thanks for reading!

Ashton the dog needs a home

Ashton is a she (I know, I didn't name her).

She is 9 years old.

She came to the shelter with her littler mate brother. They had lived together with one family their entire lives. For some reason the family could not keep them, and brought them to the shelter.

As many older dogs who have had a good life react in the shelter, Ashton got depressed.

Then her brother was adopted out. (I am not sure why without her as the typical deal at the particular shelter is to keep mates together)

Then she became even more depressed. While at the shelter on Thursday I was told about her and about her being moved to the top of the list for foster care. I returned after work and she is now in our home.

She has allergies. She is VERY sweet. She is some type of spaniel and is somewhat overweight (or I am weak - see last blog post about me trying to get fit!).

She is comfy in the TV room, is great with all of our other furries, and is a little whiny.

And she is not alone in needing a new home. Today I met a woman at the shelter who was turning in her two dogs because her new place wouldn't allow them.

I am not about to ask the question even though I want to! I never want to assume I know a person's situation.

And then there are the hundreds of shelters all over the US seeking help for their overcrowded conditions, conditions that are even worse because so many people have lost their homes.

Ashton is safe until the new family comes along. She won't be euthanized. Thousands of others will this week.

I have blogged about shelters before. A little bit of your time can make a HUGE difference in an animal's life.

Thanks for reading. If you live in the Denver metro area and are interested in adopting Ashton, please let me know.