What's going on with the Labs....

Currently we are working our hardest and doing our best to get these dogs adopted! So far we have adopted out 31 of the 257 labs and mixes that we recently took in.

Information on some of our dogs:
Cocoa (story on blog below) gets her sutures out from her eyes this weekend! Which she is very excited about! Her eyes seem to be recovering well, but she still has a little ways to go before they are at their best.

Simon

Simon, the 8 year old yellow lab I am fostering, turns out to be the sweetest dog I've ever met! He has been suffering with a severe ear infection that we are trying to heal. I am taking him back to the vet for a recheck this weekend.

Sugar and Honey, 9 month old sisters, were adopted out together to a wonderful couple. The couple takes both the dogs to training classes at PetSmart and really gives them more love and attention than any dog could ask for. We are very happy when these dogs get happy endings!

Please come visit our adoptable labs and other dogs at PetSmart in Altamonte Springs every Saturday and Sunday from 11am-4pm. Also, please find it in your heart to make a donation, however great or small, to help these dogs that are relying on us! Thank you!

Update on Cocoa

Cocoa came out of her eye surgery great on Monday! She is home with me, her foster mom, and acting like she never even had surgery. The vet used hot pink sutures on her eyes so I tell her how beautiful her pink eye lashes are. She will go back to the vet in 10-14 days to have her sutures removed and hopefully her eyes will have healed well. Her eyes are swollen now but should go down in the next week. The only thing she is not to happy about is her e-collar. She has not quite figured out how to get around gracefully with it on! Please consider making a donation to ANB to help cover costs such as Cocoa's eye surgery. Thank you!! "I Can See!!"... First time I've seen her actual eyes!

Why are our Adoptable Dogs NOT Free??

A lot of people have complained about adoption fees for rescued dogs. Please read below to try and understand why rescues such as ANB must charge an adoption fee...

1. Rescues have learned that people do not value something that is free and/or easy to get and consider it more easily disposable.
2. Ethical rescues spay or neuter, give shots, heartworm test, and provide a loving home for these dogs while they wait for their forever family. Keep in mind that rescues are not funded with tax dollars to pay these expenses but are private organizations operated by volunteers and from donations. Adoption donations do not cover all expenses with many of the dogs but do help to defray the cost. Consider if you were to take a dog to the vet to be altered, health checked, heartworm tested, brought up to date on shots, etc. What would this cost you?
3. There are always people looking to take "free" dogs to be used for laboratory research, fight bait for larger dogs or even the next meal on their table. Hopefully our process helps to keep this from happening.

Cocoa

I will try and post a story about one dog as often as I can so you all can get to know some of these wonderful dogs that are looking for homes.

I have already taken one yellow lab, Simon, to foster. However, yesterday while I was volunteering to transport some dogs from Polk County Animal Hospital to a foster home in St. Cloud, I ended up taking a 2nd dog to foster. As soon as I saw Cocoa I was immediately drawn to her.

Cocoa is a shepherd/lab mix that is about 5 years old and was born with entropion to both of her eyes. Entropion is the inward folding of the eyelid. Which means, everytime Cocoa opens her eyes it feels like her eyeballs are being scratched. When I first saw her I thought she didn't have any eyes because she had them completely closed and they looked sealed shut. I couldn't believe this poor little girl had to live with this pain. I immediately started calling some vets to see how much it would cost if I paid out of my pocket to get her the surgery needed to fix her eyelids as soon as possible. Altamonte Veterinary Hospital, which works closely with A New Beginning, was able to give me the best price.

Cocoa is such a sweet dog that just wants love and attention. Please consider making a monetary donation to help offset some of the costs of Cocoa's surgery as well as many of the other dogs that have medical needs that need to be taken care of. Cocoa is still looking for a forever home. If you are interested email savepolklabs@aol.com.

Busy Week for Polk County Labs

This week has been filled with a lot of hard work and great reward as 231 dogs have been being pulled from Polk County animal services. The labs and lab mixes have been placed in foster homes, pet resorts, and some have even found forever homes. A New Beginning's Director, Debbie Bruno, has been working all day everyday this week to get these dogs out of animal services, vetted, and on their way to a safe living environment. Today the last 63 labs that animal services is allowing us to take, will be out and in A New Beginning's care. Polk County is still holding 26 of the dogs until the pending legal investigation is dealt with.

Polk County Animal Hospital has been AMAZING in helping these dogs. They have opened their doors to us to use the facility to bring the dogs straight from animal services, update all their vaccines, help keep the operation organized, and of course have been more than friendly and helpful to the volunteers and the dogs.

I spent the afternoon out at the Polk County Animal Hospital yesterday and it was just incredible the amount of time, work, and volunteers it takes to make sure these animals are receiving the best care. A New Beginning would like to thank everyone who has given up their time to lend a hand for these great dogs. Your work has not gone unnoticed, just look in the faces of these dogs who are thrilled to be out of animal services and running around and playing.

A New Beginning is in need of copy paper and XL sheet protectors, as well as, monetary donations, crates, cleaning supplies, towels, rugs, dog food, flea and heartworm preventatives, bowls, foster homes, loving forever homes, and much much more!

Labs in the Orlando Area Need Homes...

A New Beginning Pet Care and Rescue, Inc. (ANB) is a 501(c)3, no-kill, not-for-profit animal rescue group in the Orlando, FL area. Recently, ANB was awarded custody of over 250 labs and lab mixes from Polk County. These dogs were part of a seizure of 261 dogs from a rescue home in Polk County back in May 2010. While the seizure was not entirely justified and it was ruled that the dogs were not supposed to be taken by animal control, they still had to sit in confined spaces at animal services for 4+ months while awaiting their release. Since there are aspects of the case still pending, ANB was allowed to take custody of the dogs so that they could get out of the shelter and find forever homes.

Please visit http://www.anewbeginning.petfinder.com/ to make a donation and see the labs available now. Check back often as more will be added in the coming days/weeks.
Right now ANB is in need of monetary donations for food, crates, bowls, towels, cleaning supplies, flea and heartworm preventatives, medical bills, and so much more that is needed to care for 250+ large dogs.

Furthermore, if you or anyone you know is interested in adopting or fostering a lab and/or lab mix please contact Debbie Bruno at savepolklabs@aol.com. We do not have a shelter, and all of our dogs are housed in foster homes. However, we do not have enough foster homes to house this many dogs. So, please consider fostering one or more of these precious labs.