Sampson Before ( while in the shelter) & After Photo ( after being pulled,vetted and transported to his new family.

Do you REALLY need another reason to adopt or foster?????? Just look at the change in his body language.  From defeated and afraid to confident and self assured. Stories like this…..are why we rescue~

This from Sampson’s adoptive family:

Many of our old friends will remember Mikey the emacieted boxer that was beaten so badly  that his eye  came out of its socket. He was picked up as a stray on Chestnut Ridge Road in  Chilhowie Virginia in Feb 2010.

Sadly despite overcoming the initial odds of sugery, being trained by our friend Amy Powell  and ultimately adopted  in May ‘10 by Andrea Counts. Mikey, in the end will still loose his life  due to the beating he received back in Feb ‘10. For the last few months Mikey has steadily  declined, loosing vision in his remaining eye as well as suffering from neurological  symptoms. Andrea has had him to Va Tech for evaluations which revealed scar tissue/lesions  on his brain. It has now impaired his mobility to a point where there is no quality of life. Dr  Garrett will  humanely put Mikey to sleep tomorrow at his home to make it  as least tramatic as possible for him.

I want to thank all who helped Mikey, whether you donated or helped transport him. I would especially like to thank Amy Powell for training him so that he could get over his food aggression and be adopted.

And last but not least, in fact first, I would like to thank Andrea Counts for taking him into her home, for loving  him, for giving him one on one attention, for teaching him that not all people are mean and for allowing him to  know peace after facing such brutality. I know you will miss him Andrea, I know that there are no words to  comfort you but I would like to thank you personally for loving him  these last 16 months.

Saving Furry Friends 1st Annual Howl-Ween Bash;
Featuring the local band ALTER’D STATE

Come on out and support a great cause by having a great time! Live music,dancing,door prizes,pet costume contest and more!!!
at Conley’s Overlook Dam Bar 130 VFW Road Kingsport,Tn

* YOU DO NOT NEED TO PRESENT TO WIN ONE OF THE DOOR PRIZES

1ST PRIZE IS A NEW LAPTOP COMPUTER

2ND PRIZE IS A 19″ FLAT SCREEN TV

3rd Prize $50.00 fuel card

4th Prize $25.00 Gift certificate to the Olive Garden

**MUST BE 21 OR OVER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT ID’S WILL BE CHECKED AT THE DOOR

**TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR

****Bar and restaurant on the deck but drinks and meals are not covered in the price of tickets

*****pets allowed on the deck area but not inside of the bar

I am please to announce that, Brad and myself have purchased 25.57 acres of unrestricted land in Tn. We closed 8/13. We ( the entire board, by unanimous vote, agreed this was the best option for not only us as a family but for SFF as well) It was decided that in light of the recent events at the shelter,the restrictions imposed on the rescue due to having only four acres this was the best way to be able to expand and enable SFF to not only continue operations but to be able to take in approx 12-20 more dogs ( with the possibility of more in the future dependent on the progress of building and the availability of funds to retain paid employees) than we are currently able to accommodate.
Once the home we reside in is sold ( it is paid for in full now those funds will be used to purchase/build a new home on the property) Brad and I expect that even after the family home is sold and another built on the new property that we will have funds remaining from the sale of our personal fund to at least start building two additional shelters on the property. LOOK FOR EXTENSIVE FUND RAISERS/GRANT WRITING IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE LOL

It is our plan to have ultimately three buildings for the animals 2- 35 x 55 ft building 1 for dogs and 1 for cats and eventually an additional barn for rescued horses/goats/donkeys

Future Home Of Saving Furry Friends,Inc.

Gabby is a 1- 2 year old female whippet/greyhound mix that is in search of her forever home. Gabby  has now been spayed, brought up to date on her vaccinations, is micro-chipped and is heartworm negative.

She gets along well with other dogs as well as cats and is housebroken.

For more information on Gabby or to inquire about adopting her please email savingfurryfriends@yahoo.com

On Friday August 26th from open to close Uno’s will be generously donating 10% of the days sales to Saving Furry Friends for Stacy’s heart worm treatment. All you have to do is enjoy a wonderful meal and when you are done present the coupon to the cashier at the time of payment and Unos will donate 10% of the check to Saving furry Friends, up to $1,000.00 in the event there are more than $1,000.00 in sales Saving Furry Friends will received 20% its that simple.

PLACE: Uno’s Chicago Grill 5990 Audubon Drive Sandston Va

TIME: Friday, August 26 at 11:00am – August 27 at 2:30am

* IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING & WOULD LIKE A COUPON PLEASE EMAIL SAVINGFURRYFRIENDS@YAHOO.COM WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEND YOU ONE VIA EMAIL, YOU SIMPLY PRINT IT OUT, ENJOY YOUR DINER &  PRESENT THE COUPON TO CASHIER AT THE TIME OF PAYMENT

Come on Virginia we can do better than this!!! I KNOW we can!!! For the year ending 2009 Virginia’s city & county shelters killed 93,285 dogs and cats. If the shelters were open 365 days a year that number would translate into 255 animals killed per day in the state of Virginia. Nationwide, it is estimated that 800 companion animals are killed in our nations shelters every HOUR.

Why should man expect his prayer for mercy to be heard by What is above him when he shows no mercy to what is under him?
~Pierre Troubetzkoy

Many,if not most, were killed simply because there was nowhere for them to go. We CAN change this by following Nathan Winograds no kill equation:

I. Feral Cat TNR Program

II. High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter

III. Rescue Groups

IV. Foster Care

V. Comprehensive Adoption Programs

VI. Pet Retention

VII. Medical and Behavior Rehabilitation

VIII. Public Relations/Community Involvement

IX. Volunteers

X. Proactive Redemptions

XI. A Compassionate Director

for more on the no-kill equation please visit:  http://www.thenokillnation.com/

In our local shelters case, it wouldn’t hurt to open to the public for more than 13.5 hours a week for adoptions, the shelter could be posting animals on Pet finder. WE CAN AND MUST DO BETTER!
*** Stats courtesy of the Va Dept of Agriculture

As many of you know by now an EF-3  tornado touched down in Glade Spring, Damascus,Kingsport we are ok as are all of our foster homes.

Any local people with companion animals who were injured as a DIRECT result of the storm who are in need of assistance with vet bills for emergency care  or who are in need of temporary shelter for their animal(s) may contact us at 2767066477 * We have already made Washington and Smyth County Animal Shelter aware that we are willing to help and to please let us know if any injured animals are picked or turned in by owners due to lack of funds to treat injuries that are treatable ( lacerations,broken bones, eye injuries, ect) * We have made Dr Garrett with Fisher Hollow Veterinary Clinic, VCA Highlands Animal Hospital, Smyth County Animal Hospital, Lee Highway Animal Hospital, Washington County Verterinary Services aware of the same  as well as several other area veterinarians, PLEASE DO NOT TURN TREATABLE ANIMALS AWAY OR EUTHANIZE DUE TO FAMILIES INABILITY TO PAY WE WILL HELP, THESE FAMILIES HAVE LOST ENOUGH. * We are hoping to get this info out via radio and tv form today. * We are asking AC to make us aware if there is ,which we expect, an influx of strays. If there is we have offers of emergency kennels to hold animals as our shelter is only capable of holding 30 dogs. * We also have dog and cat food available for those who need it.

To donate to animals that were victims of the tornados, kindly use the link below. Funds will be used for emergency veterinary bills,cat/dog food and boarding of found animals.

http://savingfurryfriends.chipin.com/funding-for-emergency-suppliesvet-careshelter

*In the event more funds come in than what was needed for this disaster excess funds will be used to pull,vet and transport other shelter pets in need.

** Credit for this video goes to Daniel Ohlman, a student at Emory & Henry College. Thank you Daniel!

*** We have set up a page on facebook for people to post pets that were lost or found after the tornado in the areas of Glade/Chilhowie/Damascus/Greene County Tn:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Animals-Lostfound-During-the-Tornado-in-GladeDamascusChilhowie/Greene/170022996387144

From beaten and bloodied dogs, to tumors, to transports, to emmbedded collars, to hoarders, to neglect cases, to pleas for donations and drivers and beyond a HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO YOU ALL!!! ITS BEEN A HECK OF A YEAR

A world of thanks to all of our volunteers,fosters,sponsors and cross posters, without you all these babies would have been lost. A very special thank you to the following people for going above and way, way beyond…. thank you to:

Lisa Compton, Lindsey Cooper, Ashley Magaha, Jill Boyle,Matt Magaha, Ed Connelly, Ron Dandrea, Ben Martin, Cathleen Reynolds, Annette Leary, Linda Kelly, Carrie Loholdt, Nancy Goolsby,Linda Wickham, Lynda Plummer, Chrisitine Sandberg, Sandy Myers, Lou Akers, Renee Moss, Rose Morrison, Amy Powell, Adam Gomes, Kayla Keist, Eric Russell, Lisa Howell, Andrea Myers, Sheila Ball, Mary Montgomery, Jen Horan, Mahala Mittal, Allen and Sharon Bradley, Deanna Fleenor, Mollie McCurdy, Lorannie Price,Holly Ratcliffe, Heather Buchannan, Ashley Mae, Dr Mathew Garrett, Punkie Ball and everyone at The Richmond Animal League, HART, Hickory Hill k-9 Rescue, Va Rusell Rescue,Golden Retriever Rescue, Education and Training (GRREAT), Mid Atlantic Boarder Collie Rescue, New Jersey Boxer Rescue, Tri State Weimerimer Rescue, Doberman Assistance Network ( DAN), Pilots and Paws, Karen Bakken with the DC Weimerimer Rescue, Lori Willey with Basset Hound Rescue Of Old Dominion ( BROOD), Pat Miller with the

Schnauzer Rescue of Cincinnati and Florida, Pam Lucas with In His Hands Rescue, Emily Gear with In Our hands Rescue, Kay Stewart with Happy Tails Rescue, Victoria Marshman with Appalachian Great Pyr Rescue, Lori Abbott, with Give A Dog A Chance Rescue and Kathleen Benson, with Home at Last Dog Rescue!!!!!!

HERE’S TO AN EVEN BETTER 2011 FOR THE ANIMALS

Meet Heather a beautiful 2 year old female great pyr whose “time was up” at the local shelter this week. She had been taken in as a stray but sadly her owners never came looking for her, with the shelter filling up her time was getting short. Fate, however had other plans for her. A mass plea went out through email to save her and volunteers heard the call. Saving Furry Friends was able to get her out of the shelter but  was unable to keep her due to limits as to how many animals we may have here coupled with the fact that all available foster homes were also full. Victoria Marshman with the Appalachian Great Pyr Rescue in Richmond,VA heard the plea and answered the call… she had room to take Heather!! The only thing left to do was figure out just how to get this sweet gal to Peterson WVa. where AGPR had a veterinarian on standby. In steps Sandy Myers who  happily offered to give this lovable girl a ride to safety, from Marion, Virginia to Peterstown, West Virginia. Talk about a team effort!!!! If you dont think Heather was grateful to be out of the shelter  and harms way just take a look at the photo ,snapped just as she was leaving the shelter.

You have just got to love a happy ending ~