Hi all you fellow dog lovers! This is Janet White, a Camp Cocker foster parent and former adopter. I feel compelled to write this plea because for the past five years I have watched Camp Cocker Rescue go from a one woman show, with a handful of dogs to a rescue that saves close to 200 hundred cockers a year, with the help of many of you who have been kind enough to volunteer in all kinds of ways. This has been possible solely due to donations, which were made by many of you reading this. As you probably know, Cathy Stanley has started to lease a boarding facility so that Camp Cocker can now save more cockers. This is such a promising development but sadly, donations are way down and Camp Cocker simply cannot continue to rescue as many dogs unless we all find a way to get more donations. The sad reality is that on any given day, ten new cockers come into Los Angeles area shelters and only about half make it out. Every day lives are lost due to the sad fact that rescues do not get enough funding and foster parents. Their deaths are entirely preventable.
When I reflect on the lives saved by Camp Cocker, I get teary because so many of the dogs were the ones that animal lovers beg for a rescue to save but most rescues pass them by because they require expensive medical treatment. You have all seen the pictures of the particularly down and out cockers and people begging Camp Cocker to save them. Camp Cocker has become the go-to rescue when a situation seem hopeless. We all cheer for the lives saved but rescuing these precious souls cost money - a lot of money.
I think of Timmie, a dog that had been hit by a car, shattering his pelvis. He was in pain, in the Bakersfield shelter with little hope of being rescued. A volunteer for Camp Cocker drove from Los Angeles to Bakersfield on Christmas Eve to rescue him. It turned out it was an old injury and by the look of how emaciated he was, he had been out on the street trying to fend for himself while on three legs. He fully recuperated and I have enclosed a video of him shortly after his surgery, with Jenny, another cocker who probably would have died in a shelter because she had cataracts and could not see well. Jenny got cataract surgery and her then foster mom said she reacted by pressing her face against her foster mom's face and just staring at her. Jenny was subsequently adopted by her foster mom. What a tragic waste it would have been had they both died in a crowded scary shelter. Timmie went on to be a regular visitor at a local nursing home and would get in bed with the residents and allow them to pull, hug, and tug on him. He was an absolute shining light. I am currently fostering a dog named Stevie and a dog named Alvin, both who would have surely died had it not been for Camp Cocker. Alvin had bad knees and that one, correctable problem would have surely cost him his life had Camp Cocker not stepped in. Then there is Stevie who was older, black, blind, and deaf. The usually hardened shelter staff just didn't have the heart to put her to sleep and so she remained there for two months. After Camp Cocker rescued Stevie, she was able to get cataract surgery and see again. It turned out that she was younger than she appeared and is a happy, very humorous little being who is full of life and love. I also think of Stuart, a beautiful, young cocker spaniel who had been hit by a car and the owner turned him into the shelter stating that he couldn't pay for her care because he was remodeling his house. Camp Cocker went right down, rescued Stuart, and got him to a vet where he could get pain medication because he was in a great deal of pain. He had his surgery and also fully recovered. What became of Stuart? His mom did a lot of training with Stuart and he was so good that he was a star on an episode the television show, Saved, on Animal Planet. Not only did he fully heal but he now does agility!
There are countless stories like the ones I just shared and right now, today, there are many Timmie's, Stevie's, Alvin's, and Stuart's sitting in scary, dirty shelters waiting to be saved. Sadly, Camp Cocker cannot go get them and take them out of what can only be described as hell because there is no more money to do so. Please, do consider making a donation to Camp Cocker, whether big or small, every cent goes directly for the care of the dogs. Please also consider reaching out to people you know who might be willing to donate, and spread the plea far and wide. Camp Cocker's actual donor base is quite small and so the standard donations are not enough and the dogs in shelters awaiting euthanizing need us all to reach out, dig a little deeper, and help them. Some of you have become monthly donors and if you haven't done so yet, please consider being one. Also, for those you who are monthly donors, could you possibly up your monthly donation amount, even by just a few dollars? It is too sad to see so many beautiful dogs die in shelters simply due to lack of money. Camp Cocker has the time, the facility, the love to help many more dogs if we can just start raising more money. This is truly a matter of life or death! Thank you for your consideration! Here is a link to a new chipin and all donations will go directly to Camp Cocker and the dogs!
http://wigglebutthelp.chipin.com/camp-cocker-rescue
Below is a link to one of the most beautiful rescue stories I have ever known, and it was only possible because Camp Cocker rescued Stanley. Your eyes do not decieve you, he is not a cocker, but rather, a pitbull who simply had to be saved. I have also posted a few other videos of the dogs mentioned above.
Stanley video - Just One Dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvZrQZAinMQ
Timmie and Jenny video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyyIrFglLws
Stevie in the shelter
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=418852401047&set=vb.666296047&type=2&theater
Stevie seeing for the first time right after her surgery. She kept looking out the window
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Im-RDKYfJ0
Alvin the bumblebee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTbIisRDDQE
Stuart helping out with home checks
http://blip.tv/camp-cocker/stuart-does-a-home-check-in-alameda-calif-5250964
Stevie the love bug
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