by Wendy Hunter
May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.—Arnold H. Glasow
For those of you too busy watching the Hallmark
Channel, or still in a Thanksgiving food coma, this tired year is almost over. I
don’t know how 2021 treated you, but I feel like it booted me in the bum, threw
me down twelve flights of stairs, and then laughed in my face. Let’s face
it, this year sucked. It seemed like something earth shattering happened
to my family every five minutes. It’s a good thing we’re down to the wire
because I don’t know how much more I could take before my brain
explodes. This was supposed to be MY year, I was turning sixty, and great
things were going to happen. It was time to turn over a new leaf, reach
for the stars, and carpe diem! However, the leaves turned brown, the stars
fizzled out, and instead of seizing the day, I dreaded most days. I went
from Wonderful Wendy to Debbie Downer in a split second. I seemed to have
a little black cloud raining over my head. We Hunters battled diabetes,
dementia, cancer, cataracts, and one lousy car accident. We tented for
termites, replaced a refrigerator, and paid to silence pesky pipes that rumbled
in the walls. Oh, and we bought a new garbage disposal because it sounded
like the Tasmanian devil had taken up residence in our old one...AARRGH!
Cookie
This year, the world continued to battle this crappy
virus that doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Seriously, GO AWAY
already. We’re tired of rubbing our hands raw with sanitizer and wearing
stifling face masks. I’m even beginning to forget what my co-workers look
like, which in some cases isn’t a particularly bad thing. We’ve
had weird news and wacky stories. History was made when protestors
stormed the Capitol, Tiger Woods crashed his car, Captain Kirk finally went
into space, and Dolly Parton donated a million smackers to help end the COVID
crisis. Her mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You,” speaks volumes. Unfortunately,
we lost many celebrities, including Hank Aaron, Cicely Tyson, Larry King, and
Christopher Plummer; The Sound of Music wouldn’t be the
same without him. We also said goodbye to Cloris Leachman and Ed Asner,
stars of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Our
next door neighbors were friends of the Asners, and they had a cabin at Shaver
Lake. My family was lucky enough to spend a few days with them one summer,
and we still reminisce about it. You’ll also remember Asner from Pixar’s
movie, Up, as the balloon salesman who defiantly sails away
in his house. And let’s not forget Dug the Golden
Retriever…SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL!
Frenchie
After surviving the whole Free Britney explosion,
the end of the Kardashian family saga, and the much anticipated reunion of
Bennifer, we managed to soldier on as those of us in the real world do. Animal
Rescue of Fresno had a lot of things to celebrate this year, despite all the
craziness. We began 2021 the same way it ended, with an overflowing puppy
yard. We had a puppy palooza almost every month, starting in January, with
four fluffy shepherd pups. As you can probably imagine, they were adopted in a
heartbeat after over 300 inquiries from the public. 
Shepherd pup
Shortly thereafter, we adopted out four more snuggly pups, and their mama Roxanne found a home later on. In February, we were blessed with the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Boards and their Construction Trades Pre-Apprentice groups. They provided some much needed tree trimming and fence mending. Go team! When March blew in, ARF was able to hold a yard sale and online fundraiser for our cute little Cookie, who desperately needed heart surgery. Our wonderful supporters answered our plea for help, and Cookie is now living the good life.
Just recently, a very shy ARF resident was adopted
and now has a forever home for the holidays. Gracie arrived with a litter
of puppies, and they were quickly adopted. And even though Gracie was
shown many times to potential adopters, she just didn’t warm up to them. But
after patiently waiting, a small miracle happened. Just after
Thanksgiving, she was adopted by a family with a sweet young girl, who picked
out Gracie herself from our Facebook page. Now that’s a reason to give
thanks! At the Home and Garden Show this year, we were lucky to have so many of
our dogs adopted. This event is always draining on the ARF volunteers, and
takes its toll on sore backs and feet. But it’s all worth it when one of
our fur babies goes home. Now where’s that Advil? When one of the dogs
I’ve written about gets adopted, I am just ecstatic, especially for a senior.
Zach is definitely one of those special dogs. ARF took him in after a
domestic issue landed him at a local kill-shelter. He found his family and
now has a little boy as his new best friend. Go Zach! Another dog I
wrote about was our fearless Frenchie, who went from rags to riches, after
starting life out abandoned in a dumpster. Frenchie had five surgeries for
a prolapsed rectum, and after a full recovery, he was adopted by a wonderful
couple. We shall miss his squishy face, but we wish him the best. And
to those of you who pitched in and donated for Frenchie’s surgeries, we say
Merci!
Gracie
This was the first year since COVID snuck into our
lives that ARF was able to hold many events, including Celebrate a Senior.
These are the most overlooked dogs in shelters, and are rarely adopted. Most
of these fantastic dogs still have many years ahead of them, and are very
active. Of course, there are those who just want to take up space on your
sofa, but, hey, that works too. In addition, many seniors are already
housebroken, and have better manners than younger dogs. Now that’s a bonus
for you. One senior who went home this year was Cassie, an adorable
terrier who arrived with several mammary tumors. After raising $1900 for
her surgery, ARF found her a loving home. Shimmer and Molly are older dogs
that found homes, too, and now they’ll be waiting up all night for
Santa. Hey, is that a package of Pupperonis in my stocking?
Molly
In the fall, we held our second annual Make a Dog’s Day event sponsored by Lithia Subaru of Fresno. These good folks are true dog lovers, and for each pet adopted, Subaru donates $100 to ARF. That will certainly buy a few Milk Bones. Just in time for the witching season, Fresno Mopars threw a Trunk or Treat Pawty, and it was a great success. ARF adored all the costumed critters, and scored $900 in donations. Now that’s a treat! One of our biggest events took place twice this year, with the ever popular yard sales. If you can’t find something you need in this ARF grab bag, then they don’t make it. These sales are a huge amount of work, and physically exhausting, but they are always worth it. Thanks to everyone who came by to purchase a book or a beer stein.
Speaking of which, our new friends at
Machine Head Brewery sponsored two events for us, and people raved about the
evenings. The New Year will be a new start for a couple more senior dogs
that formerly lived in the ARF office. Bo is a white poodle who recovered
from a case of vertigo, and Caisson is a blind black poodle. We couldn’t
contain our excitement when both were adopted into great families. Good
boys!
Bo
Another good boy who got adopted is Amazon, who had surgery for a broken leg. On the streets for weeks, he was found in the Amazon parking lot after being hit by a car. Overwhelming financial assistance from the public made his operation possible, and he made a complete recovery. He now has a home and his very own Prime account. Once again, the Saving Train hit the road to SoHumane in Oregon, for hundreds of dogs with winning golden tickets. To those volunteers who help with the trip, and put in the long hours, I salute you.
I would be remiss if I didn’t
mention all the love we received in 2021, even from total strangers. Like
the great kids at 5HelpFresno who raised funds for a month and donated it to
ARF, the three siblings who earned $192 with their lemonade stand and bought
goodies for the dogs, and the brave women who rescued a terrified dog from a
canal…then came back to adopt him. A personal thanks from myself to all the
volunteers who’ve picked up the slack while I’ve been out with my bum
eyeballs. I shall see you very soon. 
Shimmer
Oh, and don’t forget to come see Santa on December 4 for the ARF Annual Open House! Are you on the naughty or nice list?
Animal Rescue of Fresno
4545 E Dakota
Ave.
Fresno, CA 93726
Website: arf-fresno.com
Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section on Kings River Life, and the Pets section here on KRL News & Reviews. Check back every month for another animal rescue adventure from ARF. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to a local animal rescue. Learn more about ARF on their website.
Wendy Hunter has been volunteering with ARF for four years. She grew up in Fresno and recently became an Office Assistant with Fresno County. She has been writing all of her life, though never professionally, and currently writes personalized poetry for birthdays, weddings, pet remembrances, etc.
Comments
Post a Comment