We're helping Noble find his Forever Family. Is it you?

My friend just recently did an amazing thing and rescued a dog from an abusive situation! Woo hoo! Now we're on a mission to help find this super handsome guy his forever home.  And trust me, this guy is HANDSOME,  she gets stopped on the street all the time so people can tell her that. :)  Please help us out by sharing his story. PS - transport can always be arranged, so if you're interest just email or call and we will get it all figured out. So without further delay, here's Noble!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Noble. I am a neutered, two and half year old Rottweiler mix. I am up-to-date on all my shots, I have a microchip and I have my whole tail! I love to give kisses galore and have lots of fun (except when I’m modeling, I’m very serious about my modeling career). Right now I think snow is about the greatest toy ever invented. I am also pretty small for my age and only weigh 66 lbs. Most importantly, though, is that I am quite a handsome chap. I know self - praise is no form of recommendation but my rescue mommy says this all the time, so it must be true! I am a very active dog and I enjoy structure; it keeps me balanced.
Boy do I love the outdoors! So many smells and new experiences, it keeps a guy like me wanting more! I really wish I had a yard, it must be amazing to just be able to run freely for a long as I wanted. I do have a fascination with these little furry black things that scurry up trees. Foster mom calls them squirrels but never lets me play with them – what a party pooper! My foster mom says I’m really smart and in a few short days I learned how to walk nicely on the lead. I occasionally will get a tug but that’s only because she doesn’t seem to understand I just want to leave my scent everywhere – sheesh.
Right now I am totally living the good life but I have not always had it this good. I was in a shelter and when I thought I found my forever home I was passed off to someone else. I have been severely neglected and when my foster mom found me I was not being properly fed, I hadn’t been to a vet in a couple of years, and my foster mom and the vet figured out that I was beaten. I am not a fan of other dogs – I feel really insecure and guarded but only because I have never been exposed to them so I get scared. I was never properly socialized which my rescue mom calls a “tragedy” – wonder what that means.
All I know is that I have to have hope. I dream of the day I find a dog savvy pup parent who can build my confidence and show me how to be respectful because truthfully I really do want to have friends. I really want to trust but I am scared. Since I spent a lot of time in fear during my old life and I am insecure because I do not know what to expect. I am not sure if I will get a next meal or be hit – I just am not sure how to act sometimes but I'm learning super fast. My foster mom says the funniest thing I do is that I hide my treats. Getting treats is something so new to me that I like to hide them under shoes and between the couch cushions. I’ve never gotten such amazing snacks like this before – what if I want one next Thursday! I do have some manners that I am very proud of – I can sit, lay down, stay, up, shake paw and I can take treats you hold in your teeth! Typical to my breed I am highly intelligent and aim to please. I am very, very loyal and want more than anything to find a special someone to appreciate me. I have huge crate but am a bit of a Houdini – can’t hold a guy like me down! I want to feel the wind in my ears! I would be great in agility and am always eager to learn I just need the right person to show me the way. I may not be perfect but I can promise you this – I will ALWAYS try my best and do whatever it takes to show you I am devoted to you – please give me a chance. Just remember, to the world you may be one person but to me you would be my whole world.

With lots of sloppy kisses and a whole heaping bunch of love,

Noble xox

If you would like to be Noble's family, please email zeroggirl@gmail.com or call 613.709.6025.

Speak Up of the Week: Palm Springs Animal Shelter

While I sign hundreds of petitions each week including animal testing, endangered species, animal welfare laws and court case sentencings the ones that truly hit me the hardest though are the ones focusing on animal shelters that are substandard (to put it politely). Despite the fact that I could have just read articles about horrible abuse of family pets or dogs who were used in painful research at universities my anger really gets going when I have to read about shelters (and I use this word loosely) that mistreat, starve, and abuse animals; withhold proper veterinary care, have horrid kennels and even more inhumane people that work there. Shelters, by definition are places where animals are supposed to be safe from the horrors of the street and people who might hurt them. They supposed to be treated with respect and care and given as much comfort as possible in what is already a stressful situation for them.

Today's Speak Up! deals with a shelter accused of failing to uphold state and local animal protection laws in addition to several other charges (and please don't think that they are the only ones....unfortunately there are many, many more out there that are just as bad and often much worse). Animal Legal Defense Fund and the citizens of Palm Springs, CA have filed a lawsuit against the City of Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Police and animal control officers and the Friends of Palm Springs Animal Shelter for "an ongoing pattern of abuses and failure to follow state and local laws protecting animals at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, resulting in the extremely high euthanasia rates of adoptable animals, despite the shelter’s publicizing itself as a “no-kill” facility. In addition to the unnecessary and wrongful killing of scores of dogs and cats impounded annually, the shelter has failed to provide routine veterinary care to Palm Springs’ sick and injured homeless animals.

Photo credited to Animal Legal Defense Fund

The Palm Springs shelter is advertised as “the only municipal no-kill shelter in [California's] Coachella Valley.” However, a substantial proportion of the cats and dogs impounded there are in fact euthanized—more than 50% for live unclaimed dogs and over 80% for live unclaimed cats during certain periods for which requested records were made available. In addition to disseminating misleading statements about the “no-kill” nature of their shelter to the public, the shelter and other defendants in the case routinely violate local law with respect to euthanasia of shelter animals impounded at their shelter. The Palm Springs Municipal Code prescribes a 5-day mandatory holding period for animals impounded at its Shelter, but homeless animals are routinely killed prior to the expiration of the holding period. The shelter has also been violating the law by failing to keep accurate records and by discriminating against certain breeds of dogs, like chows and pit bulls, who are euthanized at an above-average rate."

Please join me this week in Speaking Up! for those animals at the shelter (past, present and future) who cannot speak up for themselves and urge Palm Springs to ensure proper protection of their shelter animals.
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5154/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6529