2009: A Year of Hope and Healing

A.D.O.P.T.`s mission is two fold, not only to find permanent, loving homes for dogs and cats but to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation of abandoned, abused and neglected animals. Here are some of the challenges and accomplishments the shelter has faced in the last year.

Lucky

The call came in and the volunteer sprung into action, developed a plan, and rallied her forces to respond to the emergency rescue situation. The call was received from Gary, Indiana Animal Control. The dog, a Terrier/Cattle Dog mix, was in dire need of urgent medical attention. The volunteer arranged for transport of the dog to a nearby emergency clinic for immediate care until she and her co-pilot could drive down to Gary to bring the dog back to Naperville for long-term care and eventual adoption.

What the volunteer found was a horrific sight even for a seasoned animal rescuer. Lucky had a terrible, potentially fatal leg injury. We will never really know what happened, or how long ago it had happened, but we do know that his leg was severed and decaying, the wound filled with a colony of live maggots. A severe infection was rapidly spreading up his leg.

When the volunteers picked up Lucky, he was taken directly to one of A.D.O.P.T.’s veterinarians, his leg was amputated, and he began his recovery......and his new life. Throughout his whole ordeal, and despite the horrible pain he must have endured prior to surgery, Lucky proved himself to be a sweet, friendly, and loving dog, wagging his tail even when the A.D.O.P.T. volunteers picked him up at the ER vet in Gary. No question, A.D.O.P.T. was Lucky’s only hope for survival, the only organization that would help such a truly special boy. It was not long before Lucky found his forever home, where he is learning to be a carefree dog, catching up on all those doggie experiences that he has never known!

As in the case of Lucky, many dogs and cats with treatable medical issues, capable of full recovery and normal lives have been accepted into A.D.O.P.T.’s program. In every case, most shelters would euthanize these voiceless creatures rather than invest the time and diagnostic/treatment expenses to give them a chance for a happy home and loving family.

Dutchess

Dutchess is one such cat who required very minimal attention, but had A.D.O.P.T. not responded she would have been euthanized. She had a very large abscess on her shoulder that required cleaning, antibiotics, and time to heal. But the animal control facility holding her was unable to handle such basic care, so euthanasia was Dutchess’ only option prior to A.D.O.P.T.’s intervention.

Jake and Mellow

Many shelters would never dream of accepting three-legged animals into their programs, or a dog or cat requiring extensive surgery and rehabilitation. But this is not unusual for A.D.O.P.T. In fact this year we have had a record number of such animals! We have battled two bouts of parvovirus, and nursed these sick puppies back to health rather than euthanize them....the most common course of action in shelters dealing with parvo puppies. We have treated over two dozen cases of heartworm, and many orthopedic and internal medical issues, all of which resulted in full recovery of our animal patients.

Jake and Mellow are both yellow labs who entered our program with orthopedic issues. Jake’s leg injury occurred before his arrival at A.D.O.P.T.; his break was left to heal on its own resulting in severe orthopedic problems. By the time he entered our program, his injury required specialized care. As such, Jake’s case was handled by one of our veterinary-partners who broke and re-set the injured leg. It has been a lengthy recovery for Jake but a foster family has been working with him and helping him to catch up on time lost due to his injury. He is currently residing at our shelter, dreaming of a permanent loving home of his own. Could you help Jake make his dream come true?

Mellow experienced an accident that left him missing a leg as well as several of his teeth. Mellow has found his forever home with an A.D.O.P.T. volunteer who is working with him to become a therapy dog, helping to provide joy and compassion to humans, as those volunteers at A.D.O.P.T. provided to him.

Cherokee

Many of you may remember Cherokee, a Husky/Shepherd mix, who was with us for quite some time. He had been hit by a car and no other organization would step up to accept him and the extensive surgery and aftercare that he needed. He suffered trauma not only to his leg, but to his clavicle, to the side of his body and to his eardrum. His care was costly and lengthy, but we could not leave Cherokee to die, and we know you would not want us to do so either. With your support, we are able to give these animals a new lease on life as they pass through our lives and onto their forever homes.

Molly

When dogs like Cherokee stay with us for a long period of time, it is difficult for us not to become personally invested and bonded to them. While she was not with us for as long as Cherokee was, Molly was a special girl who made us all realize the invaluable lifeline that we provide to such special animals. Molly certainly made me realize how fortunate A.D.O.P.T. is to have so many extraordinarily compassionate and committed volunteers doing whatever it takes to provide the best possible care, and the best forever homes for the many animals who come through our doors.

Molly came to A.D.O.P.T. after being shuttled among three different owners during the course of her short life. A German Wired Hair Pointer, she was used as a hunting dog and lived in a garage with limited contact with humans....only when needed for hunting purposes. When her last owner moved, he left Molly behind.

Soon after her arrival, it was discovered that Molly was suffering from megaesophagus, a disease that impeded food from traveling down her esophagus and into her stomach. With adjustments to her diet and feeding regime, Molly fared well at the shelter. While we knew it would take a special family to care for this special girl, Molly’s life was turning around and she had gotten to the point of being ready to find a wonderful home and a family to call her own. Meanwhile, during her stay at A.D.O.P.T. she had made many new canine and human friends who loved and supported her. Finally, everything was going her way!

Then one day, Molly developed complications due to the megaesophagus and there was nothing that could be done for her. After all that Molly had suffered in her short life and having finally reached the point of being ready for a family who could love her and adopt her as a member, her life came screeching to a halt.

Her friends at A.D.O.P.T. gathered around her as she was released from her ailing body and passed over the Rainbow Bridge, finally able to run and play, free of past hardships and the body that impaired her ability to enjoy the life that every dog and cat deserves. Molly was one of those dogs who has left pawprints on our hearts and her story and her spirit have given us the strength to continue our mission.

Feline Program Improvements

We have also experienced some veterinary challenges with our resident cats, but the greatest challenge relates to the sheer number of cats that are homeless through no fault of their own. It is unfortunate that so many people consider cats to be disposable commodities and just drop them at animal control facilities. It is impossible for us to keep up with the endless requests to accept cats into our program as well as with the number of kittens seeking homes. We have expanded our foster home network to be able to handle the huge number of kittens that we now have available for adoption, and have implemented programs to help promote the adoption of our cats, particularly those who have been with us for quite some time. Yet the numbers remain overwhelming. If you are able to give the gift of a new home and family to one of our feline residents, please stop by the shelter to meet the many wonderful kitties who need you!

This year we have undertaken an extensive makeover of the cat living areas of the shelter to make the stay as pleasant as possible for our feline residents. We have increased open spaces and play areas, added attractive cat trees that are popular with the cats, and created a homier environment for our temporary residents. These changes have reduced stress and illness among our feline residents, and significantly reduced our vet bills.

Polly

While the majority of the cats accepted into our program are wonderful, healthy animals, as is the case with our dogs, we have been called upon to accept cats whose medical needs could not be handled by smaller rescue organizations or local animal control facilities. How could we turn down those desperate pleas for help?

Polly was one such youngster, a shy one-year-old tiger who was in a desperate situation. At her young age, she was diagnosed with severe gingivitis, most likely related to autoimmune issues. Polly needed to have nearly all of her teeth removed. Now that she is no longer in severe pain she is doing well and is waiting for her new family to come to A.D.O.P.T.’s shelter and take her home. Are you able to provide a home for this wonderful, timid girl?

Luna

Luna came to A.D.O.P.T. as a kitten with her brothers, sisters, and feral-cat mother. While her littermates thrived, she struggled to survive, suffering from terrible diarrhea and weight loss, and not offering much hope of survival to her rescuers. When it seemed that she was improving, she began to have recurrent respiratory attacks causing heavy breathing and odd purring. She was taken to one of our specialists and diagnosed with swollen cartilage surrounding her larynx, along with two difficult bacterial infections. Although her road to recovery was lengthy, with proper medications she recovered fully and is now catching up on kitten activities in her new home.

Call for Help

While we are able to rescue and provide extraordinary and compassionate care to significantly more special-needs animals than most other area facilities, we of course strive to balance this mission with that of rescuing and re-homing as many animals as we possibly can. It is a fine balance. But we cannot help the hundreds of animals who enter our program every year, special-needs or not, without your help. Whether through adoption, volunteering at the shelter, and/or providing financial support to allow us to continue the extraordinary care that we provide these many voiceless creatures, we need your help.

If you are a regular supporter of A.D.O.P.T, you know that we do whatever it takes to rescue and re-home as many dogs, cats, kittens and puppies as we possibly can while providing such opportunities to special-needs and other animals who would be overlooked by most other rescue organizations. Our desire to give those less fortunate, more difficult-to-adopt animals the chance they deserve is what sets us apart from most rescue organizations. It is because of your support, financial and otherwise that we are able to do so and continue to do so .....Until Every Pet Has A Home.

As we have worked hard to balance the intake of special-needs animals with those needing only basic care, we have also worked hard to balance our expenses with our income.....which is not an easy feat during these very challenging economic times.

Our greatest accomplishments this year relate to streamlining the medical care provided to our animals and instituting programs and protocols that now allow us to handle the majority of routine medical care in-house, including surgeries as well as costly dental procedures. The result is a significant containment of costs, reduced stress on the animal patients, and an increase in the overall quality of care and attention received by each animal in our program.

In an effort to expand upon our veterinary care program as well as extend extraordinary animal care beyond A.D.O.P.T., earlier this year we began offering a spay/neuter program to area animal control facilities and other local rescue groups, providing their animals with the same level of care as our own animals, at very affordable prices. This program has allowed these groups to stretch their dollars in these challenging times and has provided us with an additional income stream, which we of course invest back into the care of our animals.

We have experienced many challenges this year, with many special-needs animals in dire need of our help, a record number of owner surrenders, more cats and kittens needing rescue than could possibly be accommodated, unanticipated building repairs and much-needed operational improvements. It would be so simple to just cut back and make things easier on ourselves, but that is not the A.D.O.P.T. way.

While no one knows what next year will bring in terms of economic challenges, rescue needs, and the need for our services, particularly for special-needs animals, one thing is clear: We need your help and support to continue to carry out our mission.

Our volunteers work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of our animals but without your support, we cannot help all the many animals who need us. As we begin our 20th year in operation, we hope we can count on you to stand with us in support of the animals and ask you to open your heart to provide for the voiceless creatures of A.D.O.P.T. the most generous gift you can afford. It is only with your support, that we can make a difference in the lives of animals today and tomorrow.

Donation Options

We now offer two options for donating, either by mail or online.

• Click the Download button to download a PDF form that you can fill out and send with your payment to: A.D.O.P.T., 420 Industrial Drive, Naperville, Il 60563.
• Click the Donate button to donate online via PayPal.

Can you help us provide the needed veterinary care for dogs like Lucky, Jake and Cherokee and cats like Dutchess, Polly and Luna along with the many other animals in need with a donation of $25, $50, $100, $200 or another dollar amount?