Recently an acquaintance of ours announced that her purebred Golden had given birth to 13 pups....a complete JOY in her mind...a complete DISASTER in mine. We were invited over to an open house to view and goo-goo, gaa-gaa over the pups. I could barely be civil. Instead my eyes

We adopted Maizie on March 11, 2003. Almost one month to the day, I called Mary at the shelter to tell her how wonderful our Maizie was. During our conversation, she told me that the shelter had just taken in an old (possibly 12 or 13 year old) emaciated Lab, starved by her former guardian down to 32 lbs., brought in nearly frozen, covered in her own feces. Mary told us that she had promised this wonderful little dog that she would help her, even if that help needed to be to send her off to heaven to relieve her of her pain and suffering.

The very next morning, we drove the three hours to the shelter and brought "Granny" home. A court case ensued whereby the former owner/guardian lost custody of Granny and was fined and ordered to have no future pets.

Granny is the true epitomy of heart and soul. A new life has been given to her and she has blossomed and thrived and continues to amaze us daily. She and Maizie walk with my husband for over an hour every morning on our 86-acre property. Granny actually does not walk -- she flies with a graceful gait unlike anything I have ever seen -- nose to the ground, tail going 90 miles an hour. Granny is deaf, but the fact that her world is quiet is never a deterrent to her joy.

Mary at the shelter has seen Granny several times since we adopted her on April 9, 2003. Mary told us that she had promised Granny she would send her to heaven. That heaven just happened to be a canyon in Montana with Maizie as a sibling, two cats for entertainment and two folks who are inspired daily by both of our senior dogs.

Thanks for letting me share this story.

Susan Schroedel
Director, Project Pet Food
Senior Lab Lover
All in memory of Auggie, our first Lab, adopted at age 9 and for Kizzie our friend, our love, our inspiration for 12 years until her passing in December of 2002

A few days ago we received an E-mail message from a good friend. The photo attached to the message was of eight Golden Retriever puppies in two laundry baskets. The note was cheery -- "Thought you would enjoy this cute photo of the puppies my cousin's sister-in-law's dog just had! Boys in one basket, girls in the other!"

We were not cheered. In fact, we were rather depressed. We found it hard to believe that our friend didn't have a clue! Seeing more puppies coming into the world (no matter how cute) is not our idea of cheeriness when over five million companion animals (equally as cute, in our eyes) are euthanized in shelters every year. In replying to our friend, we agreed that the puppies were cute and hoped that good homes would be found for all of them. We also advised that the cousin and sister-in-law each take eight dogs out of their local shelters and find homes for them, as well. We're now on a campaign to make sure all our friends know our position on breeding companion animals. We hope you'll do the same.