Peaceful Pets created this section to share news and links with our friends. In time, we will also add valuable online resources pertaining to pet health and nutrition and other topics to help make all of us better informed pet owners.

The Kindness of Strangers

We weren't necessarily looking for another dog so soon, but I couldn't help but look on-line for other border collies in need of homes. "Joker" was posted on a couple different sites so James and I decided to go visit him at the county shelter. At the shelter, James spotted Joker off in the distance in the quarantined section. He stuck his front foot through the cage to get our attention. I was hooked. After inquiring, we found out that day, was his last day. Joker was deemed unadoptable due to an injured leg. After a quick phone conversation to border collie rescue, we agreed to pull Joker from the shelter on their behalf and a rescue rep would collect him from us the following weekend.

While Joker was in our care, we took him to the vet who concluded that Joker had a fractured tibia, an old injury. While he got around fine, every once in a while he would hold his leg up. I reported this to BC rescue and they said they did not have the funds to repair Joker's leg. Our options were to hand him over to BC rescue to locate a foster, foster him ourselves, or we could keep him. During our short time together, we had bonded with Joker. James and I decided to keep him.

Out of curiosity, a friend and UCD vet student decided to take Joker to the school for a full exam and x-rays. The x-rays showed that along with his tibia being fractured and fused in several areas, his spine was also curved in a way that suggested Joker had been hit by a car and never treated. It was also found that his femur was dislocated from his hip. All this left everyone amazed that Joker could walk let alone run, jump, wrestle, and carry on like nothing was wrong. The surgeon at UCD determined that Joker's femur being dislocated from his hip needed fixing as it was causing him pain. Joker needed an FHO, a surgery that runs $1500-1800. But how were we going to pay for that? Our friend's discount would help, but would still only cover about half. We knew we could finance the rest of it if need be. So we signed him up for surgery.

Two days later he got to come home. I asked my friend what I owed, and to my amazement she said nothing and explained to me that another fellow student had started Animals Need Doctors Too Initiative (ANDTI), a fund for animals in need of surgery that their owners could not afford. When she heard about Joker, she donated what she had in the fund to cover the balance of the surgery. My eyes filled up with tears. Joker, who had been through so much, can now live pain-free due to the kindness of strangers.

Peaceful Pets strongly believes in giving back to our community. Joker, and Peaceful Pets would be very grateful if other animals in need were given the same opportunity he was through ANDTI. Currently, all donations made to ANDTI are being routed to the Friends of the Yolo County Animal Shelter, a registered non-profit organization. If you can make a donation to the Friends of the Yolo County Animal Shelter, another animal in need may get a second chance at a wonderful life. If you still want to donate directly to ANDTI please contact Kristen, the ANTDI representative, via the ANTDI website.

Friends of Peaceful Pets

Dog training: ALL Dog Training with Laura Tijan-Segura, voted "best dog trainer" KCRA's A-list in '08 and '09
Pet portraits: Meg Sodano, original pastel and charcoal portraits of your pet
Pet supplies: Wagger Pet Spa & Market in Natomas