Found 5/11/09 in a Dumpster in Kansas City

Dolly has a new name -- Takara -- and a new life as she is forever home in Seattle WA -- "Takara" is Japanese for "treasure"

Where do they all come from?

Most orphans come from shelters like this one -- take a good look; my sweet Sunny started life as someone's puppy and in less than a year this is where she ended up -- hurt, emaciated and starving, filled with parasites, traumatized and scheduled to die

Where do the orphans come from?  The easier question would be "Is there anywhere orphans don't come from?"  The short answer is that they come from all over the United States and most of the time it feels like the world is raining Akita orphans.  The downturn in the economy has done nothing to alleviate this problem and backyard breeders continue to churn out litter after litter of puppies but won't help their buyers once the check clears the bank.  

Most of our Akita orphans come from kill shelters where they are "pulled" by members of various Akita rescue groups on the last day.  "Last day" means their time is up at that kill shelter; they have not been adopted and it is now their turn to die because the sad fact is that there are more dogs than there are people who want them and thousands die in shelters every day across the country.  So, their time is up.  If the dog has not been adopted and is not pulled by a rescue, the dog will be euthanized at the end of that day or early the morning (generally before the shelter opens) of the next day.   Personally I cannot go to the shelters because I can't bring everybody home and I can't sleep remembering all the dogs I couldn't save.  It's awful.

Some Akita orphans come from people who have found themselves, for one reason or another, no longer able to care for their Akita; and those are the lucky orphans because generally they have not been abused, neglected, injured and untreated nor have they become ill and left untreated during their stay in a shelter.  It is not uncommon for a rescue to have to carry a dog from a kill shelter because the Akita has become too weak to stand, much less walk.  In so many cities, towns and small communities across the country, the local "animal shelter" is no more than a warehouse where animals go to wait to die.  Most of the people who work in these places are not uncaring; they just have an overwhelming task with too little time, personnel, training and/or financial resources.....animal welfare is not a priority in the average municipal budget and the people who make the decisions about cutting funds typically are not the ones who have to decide who dies tomorrow. 

The sad truth is that if you put all the rescues in the United States together and add up all the animals that need rescue ... we are able to save only a small percentage.  The saddest days are the days when I have to say "I cannot take him/her because I have no space and no money to board him elsewhere until I have a place."  I am not being dramatic when I tell you that rescues like Blue Moon are very often a "last resort" and when we say "there is no room" we know we are closing the last door of opporunity for that Akita to find a loving home, and it does haunt me every night. 

What I cannot do is often overwhelming, but I try to focus on what I can do.  Twenty or so dogs adopted in about 18 months -- looking at the total of unwanted orphans, that's not much.  But for each of the dogs who were adopted into a loving forever home, I take comfort in knowing Blue Moon was quite literally the difference between life and death.

So, now you know "where they all come from" -- when you are interested in a particular dog I can tell you exactly where he came from and what the steps of his journey were between his arriving in the shelter and arriving at Blue Moon.  Some folks have called it the trail of tears ... but we like to think that the tears stop when they leave the shelter.

Cheri Kelly put together this YouTube video, which features a number of Blue Moon Akita orphans.  Their journey to Blue Moon truly was a Trail of Tears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c5tDbAW7vQ

Abandoned 5/11/09 in Kansas City

Where do they come from? Tigger was abandoned at a business in Kansas City

Where do they all come from?

Tigger is from Kansas City.  We think maybe he and Dolly are litter mates but we'll never really know for sure.  Tigger is safe now but Monday morning didn't start very well for him.   Early the morning on May 11, when kennel folks came to Winding River Boarding Kennel, they found little Tigger alone and shivering in the fenced yard. 
 

Tigger arrived at Blue Moon mid-May and is busy supervising all the adult Akitas.  He's now a very healthy fellow, about 4. months old.  He's definitely mostly cattle dog and now has a lovely set of upright ears that give him a really alert look.  He's a busy busy boy, crate trained, (mostly) house trained, great with other dogs.  Tigger loves people and children.  He's full of energy and would be an excellent agility dog or a terrific second dog for someone with an adult dog to help him.  Tigger is highly intelligent and would do well with folks who would like to give a fella a job.  Currently he believes it's his job to update all of us on the activities in the yard and he is quite a talker.  He's a great little dog.   

Tigger is microchipped and UTD on his vaccinations.  He will be neutered prior to adoption.   
 

Is he all Akita?  Probably not.   Do we care?  Nope.  Does he deserve a forever family?  Yep and we’re going to help him find them.  If you think you might be Tigger’s forever family, please fill out and application and e-mail it to me – karena@bluemoonakitarescue.com. 

Does this young fella have any Akita in him -- certainly he does!  He ate a picture of an Akita just last week ...

Updated 6/24/09

Mason's Story

5/5/2009  Today began a race to save Mason the Akita at the Campbell County Humane Society in Rustburg, VA.  

Sadly there is no happy ending.  Rescuers  were too late and he had already been euthanized at the time rescue contacted the shelter with a foster home and funding for Mason’s bail and medical expenses. 

You see, Mason was a victim of the system.  It was nothing personal; there are thousands of dogs like Mason who die every day because there is no room in the shelter and they are considered unadoptable.  Mason’s number was 72;  today his number was up and so he was euthanized.  He died the same way he lived -- alone and in pain.  How can we say it was “nothing personal”?   

Once Mason was undoubtedly a cute, cuddly puppy and somebody laughed as they watched him play.  Somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong for Mason – either he lost his people or they didn’t care enough to help him (a lot of folks don’t).  His life became hell on earth as his body was wracked by pain from scarcoptic mange and malnutrition.  

We will never know how or why Mason was allowed to get into this condition.  He probably spent the majority of his life unloved, uncared for and in constant pain.  

Many Akita people shed tears for Mason today.  We had more questions than answers.  Why do people take a dog and then let them get into such a condition?  You know he didn’t get this way overnight.  I don’t understand.  How do they sleep at night?  I don’t know. 

I know that Mason is now whole and at peace for the first time in a very long time.  I’m sure he’s waiting on the Rainbow Bridge to tell the person who volunteered to foster him “I understand; I know you tried but you were too late … but I don’t hurt anymore and I know you were going to love me.”  

Life is so unfair.