Now we need to help these handsome boys find loving forever homes, hopefully together. If you or anyone you know lives in or near Rowlett, TX please spread the word! In case you don’t know, it is near Dallas & Fort Worth. If you are interested in these babies, please either let us know or contact Loretta directly. Below is what Loretta has to say about Rick & Duke:

These two dogs need FOREVER homes as soon as possible. They are brothers and were dropped off to my husband and myself by an aunt to babysit for a week. It has been several months and this aunt is not coming back for these babies. We have two dogs and two cats of our own and cannot keep these precious dogs. We have exhausted all of our funds trying to keep these babies fed and healthy and it has been a struggle. They have gotten out of a hole in our fence a couple weeks ago, got picked up by the Rowlett, TX Animal Services and we did not have the funds to free them. The animal rescue community came together to raise the money to save their lives and help us get them out of doggy jail. Now, they need loving, FOREVER homes. Rick and Duke would prefer to go to a home together, but can be separated if absolutely necessary. They are very close with each other. The information for both dogs is included. I hope we can find them a loving home fast where they can play, relax and become your new best friend! I have attached a few photos also.

Name: Rick
Sex: Male
Age: Approx. 1 year
Breed: Pit Bull/ American Eskimo
Color: Blonde
Medical History: Had a puncture wound a month ago and was treated with anti-biotics, no current health problems, may have a few fleas from being in the shelter
Vaccinations: Current on rabies, previous owner states he is current on all shots, but there is no way for me to be sure, not neutered
Likes: Lots of attention, playing with other dogs, belly scratches, kisses, kids, chew toys, walks, laying in your lap, running, sleeping indoors, laying in the sun
Dislikes: Smoke, loud noises
Behavioral Issues: Likes to dig a little, not 100% potty trained (will not use the bathroom indoors while you are there, but will if left alone for too long)

Name: Duke
Sex: Male
Age: Approx. 1 year
Breed: Pit Bull/ American Eskimo
Color: Tan/Red
Medical History: Did fight parvo several months back and won the battle, no current health problems, may have a few fleas from being in the shelter
Vaccinations: Current on rabies, previous owner states he is current on all shots, but there is no way for me to be sure, not neutered
Likes: Playing with other dogs, chew toys, belly scratches, likes to be the leader, chasing lasers, kids, laying in the sun, sleeping indoors, running
Dislikes: Loud noises, being alone for long periods of time
Behavioral Issues: Kind of shy at first, likes to dig a little, not 100% potty trained (will not use the bathroom indoors while you are there, but will if left alone for too long)

Please contact me at luchini21@msn.com if you are interested in setting up a time to meet either dog and see if they are a match for you!

All we want from you is a guest post. That’s right, all we want is to share your thoughts with the rest of the animal loving world. Send us a few paragraphs (or more!) on some animal subject you care about. It can be about anything related to animal welfare, a review on an animal related news article you really like, a certain animal cause happening at the moment that you want to make sure people know about, ANYTHING like that. We’re doing this because we really want to get you involved in ILRA. When Nikki & I started this website, we never wanted it to always be just us talking at you. We want everyone in the animal community to not only feel welcome here but to participate! We want everyone involved in growing ILRA & spreading our message. We want this site to be a dynamic, flowing network of animal lovers sharing their knowledge, passion & stories.

Obviously, we can’t do this alone. We NEED you! We need comments, we need people sending us ideas for what they want to see from us and most of all WE NEED YOU TO JOIN US! Even if you just want to write one post for us & then never do it again, at least you got your voice out there. What we’re hoping, of course, is that you’ll find you like it & will become a regular writer for us. No pressure, though. For now, we just want to hear from you! The great thing about writing guest posts is that it can bring a new audience to your own website or blog. But wait – that’s not all! As an added bonus to help encourage you to overcome your shyness, we are offering 5 FREE ILRA postcards each to the first 5 people to send us their guest post! How neat is that? So put your thinking cap on, get those creative juices flowing & send those posts in and you’ll be the coolest kids on the block with your very own, yet-to-be-released ILRA postcards!

Brand New Postcards!

Just email your super awesome guest post to guestposts@iloverescueanimals.org and we’ll get back to you ASAP. We look forward to hearing from you and helping your voice get heard!

Website: www.petsforpatriots.org
Twitter: @PetsforPatriots
Facebook: Pets for Patriots, Inc. Fan Page

To donate to them, you can find a link to their donate page on our home page under Featured Organization. Also, please tell your local rescue groups and any vets you know to sign up with them! I know it’ll be a great partnership! Let’s help them grow!

What is the name of your organization?
Pets for Patriots

Where is your group located?
Long Beach, New York – though we plan to operate nationally

When was your organization established?
October 2009; one month later we received our 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

What is the mission of your organization?
Our mission is to consistently give the gifts of fidelity, joy and companionship to both pet and person.

To be more specific, we:
• Facilitate hard-to-place shelter pet adoptions by military personnel
• Improve the well-being of service members through companion pet adoption, a humane way of easing the stresses associated with military life and military transitions
• Foster education and awareness about the state of animal abandonment and neglect
• Educate the military and the public at large about the many physical and emotional health benefits of adult pet adoption

What prompted the creation of Pets for Patriots?
I’ve had a longstanding passion for the plight of homeless animals. Growing up, my family adopted shelter pets only and when I was twelve years old I started a neighborhood dog walking service. Mind you, this was long before these things were such big business: I charged a dollar a day, which included three walks and dinner. Needless to say, this was quite a while ago! But the idea of helping to reduce animal homelessness never left me, and I knew that someday I’d return to it again.

At the same time, my siblings and I were raised to respect and admire the military – not just the institution, but the men and women who sacrificed so much in order to protect our freedom and way of life. Many of our family vacations, which were almost always camping trips, included visits to military museums or historical sites.

I had the idea that I could do something positive for both of these populations – shelter pets and service members – in a way that would benefit each. And I decided that the “someday” of helping homeless animals was going to happen sooner than later. I wrote a business plan to help me figure out how it would all work, and set about putting together a board. The end result is Pets for Patriots.

How is your organization run? Will you actively help patriots find pets to adopt?
Absolutely. We’re just starting to build our shelter and veterinary network. We encourage any patriot in the U.S. to register on our site. If we don’t yet have a participating shelter or veterinarian in their area, we’ll do the legwork to get those in place and direct that member patriot to those facilities. We leave the actual adoption pairing and decision up to the shelter, since they’re the experts in matching pets and people.

How do you get your funding?
Like most charities, we rely on the generosity of the public for donations. Once we’re more established, we’ll seek corporate sponsors and grant opportunities if we think they’re relevant to our mission.

What are some of the challenges you face?
Is it still hard to convince people to adopt rather than buy? Because we just launched in January 2007, one of our biggest challenges is just getting people to know about us. Once they do, we find people really love what we’re about. But converting that enthusiasm into a contribution remains a challenge. We know the economy is tough; our founder is a small business owner and she deals with it, too. We appreciate all donations, no matter how small – or how large!

As for the buy versus adopt debate, we’re seeing new laws proposed around the country to shut down or severely restrict the activities of puppy mills. Over time we think these events will diminish the supply of animals for sale and make adoption a more attractive choice for more people.

Tell us more about your group. What makes it unique?
We are one of the only organizations in the U.S. to focus on adult shelter pets and members of the military, at any stage of their careers and from any branch of service.

These two things truly set us apart. First, we promote the extraordinary value of the ordinary shelter pet; that adult dog or cat that isn’t destined to become a service animal, but still has lots of love and life to give. Second, we accept patriots at any stage of their military careers – active, reserve, inactive reserve, veteran, retired and national guard – and from all branches of the U.S. military.

Do you have a favorite story you’d like to share?
Not yet, but we hope to soon! We’re actively seeking patriots who are interested in adult shelter pet adoption to be among our first great success stories. We know they’re out there; we just need to find each other.

What is the accomplishment your organization is most proud of?
Going from business plan to launch in six months. That tells us that we have the right stuff to make this new not-for-profit successful: determination, persistence and heart.

What are your goals as you expand your organization?
We wish we could single-handedly end animal abuse and homelessness, but we can’t. But we can do our part to elevate the value many people place in companion pets, and we will.

We plan to be national. We envision Pets for Patriots member shelters and veterinarians across the country, each sharing our commitment to permanently rehome needy shelter pets with military personnel. In doing so, we hope to make our military more open and friendly to families with pets – one dog and cat at a time.

What is the one thing that people could do to help your organization the most?
Make a tax-deductible donation, either on our secure site or by check. We can’t do any of our good works without contributions from good folks who love pets and love our patriots. Right now, this is our greatest need.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
Small acts can make a difference. Do you have a military neighbor, coworker or friend who needs some emotional support? Tell them about us and about how pets have enormous healing potential. Short on cash, but want to help? Even $10 gets us that much closer to our mission. Love animals, but can’t have one of your own? Consider volunteering at your local shelter, or becoming a foster parent to a pet whose parent is either sick or being deployed. As individuals, we have a great deal of power to make positive change, one small act at a time.

What’s the name of your rescue?
Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue

Where is your group located?
Central Texas, Servicing an area of approximately 150 miles around Austin. Thus we cover Austin to San Antonio up to Waco West towards Fredericksburg and East to Bryan/College Station. And of course all points in between.

When was your rescue established?
1998

What types of animals does your rescue help?
Labrador Retrievers

What is the mission of your rescue?
The Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue is a non-profit 501(c)(3), all-volunteer organization based in Central, TX. Our mission is to rescue Labrador Retrievers and place them in loving forever homes.

How is your rescue run? Is it all volunteers?
Heart of Texas Labrador Rescue is an all volunteer and all foster organization.

Do you have a building or is your rescue work done all through foster homes?
HOTLab Rescue works primarily through foster homes, with dogs placed in local kennels should foster home not be available when a Lab is taken into the program.

Where do you get your funding?
Funding comes from donations to our organization. Being a 501c(3) organization all donations are Tax Deductable.

Tell us more about your group. What makes it unique?
HOTLab Rescue has been characterized as more of an eHarmoney style of matching families with their forever Labs. During our application and interview process we learn more about what a family is looking for. That information combined with the information that we know about the Labs in our program from the foster families allows us to present better matches when a family comes to a private meet and greet. At the meet and greet the family will meet 3-5 Labs that match what they are looking for.

Often times HOTLab is brought in to rescue Labs that shelters would have a hard time placing in their current state. Such as dogs that need heartworm treatments, surgeries and other special needs. Prior to any adoption each Lab is treated for whatever ailments they may have and brought current on their shots.

Do you have a favorite adoption story you’d like to share?
Sophie a young female Labrador whose rescue prompted the formation of Heart of Texas Lab Rescue. Sophie was part of a puppy mill, and as a result, was comfortable around other dogs, but at-tempted to escape all human contact. After several months of slow pro-gress, Sophie encountered a setback and became even more fearful of hu-mans. Seemingly there were no options left for Sophie to live a content, peaceful life and euthanasia was considered. However, before good-byes could be said, we received a call from the person who adopted her “cell-mate” from the puppy mill, Rusty. The adoptive family opened their homes to Sophie as well. Sophie and Rusty were reunited. Sophie and Rusty have both since passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
You can learn more about Heart of Texas Lab Rescue at our website www.hotlabrescue.org additionally you can follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/HOTLAB and on Twitter as @HotLabRescue where we are the most followed Labrador site on Twitter.

So are you ready to run out to your nearest feral cat group and sign up? I hope so! Feral cats and strays in general are so misunderstood. If more people would realize that managing feral & stray populations in a humane way such as TNR is not only the right thing to do but also more effective than just killing them, the world would be a better place. If you can ever spare a few nights a month to go trap or take an extra 5 minutes on your way to work to make sure cats don’t go hungry that day, then please contact your local TNR group today! I promise you, the first time you look into the eyes of those appreciative cats, you’ll be hooked for life!

Also, if you would like to help these particular kitties, please help us to win $1000 from the Maddie’s Corner contest. All you have to do is either follow @MaddiesCorner on twitter & then tell them that @RescueAnimals sent you or you can fan Maddie’s Corner on Facebook and post on their wall that Ashley Niels from @RescueAnimals sent you. Super easy, right? We’re such a small group that the money would go a LONG way! Right now, all the food that feeds the over 300 cats we manage, is bought purely by the volunteers, most of all from our group’s founder. We would be incredibly blessed to win this money and would be forever grateful to you! You can find more information about the contest in our last post as well.