Hi everybody it’s David, Yvette’s son, the one that looks after keeping this web site up and running.  Let me tell you it’s quite a busy site this one.  It’s amazing how many people visit here each day (much to Mom’s delight) and from how many different countries people come from (also much to Mom’s delight), and that gave me an idea for a way we can all help Turtle Gardens together.

We all know that feeding,  speutering and caring for the number of dogs Turtle Gardens gets is not easy, it’s actually quite a large undertaking.  But maybe if we all work together it’s not that large. There are a lot of us reading this page everyday and we can all do something today to help and it won’t cost us a thing other than a bit of our time.

First off, I’m sure you’ve all noticed the google ads on this site.  Let me tell you straight out that they don’t work.  Turtle Gardens has added a grand total of $22.48 to it’s speuter fund from them since they’ve been on the site.  I guess that helps a bit, that is after all a bag of dog food (not quite a speuter so when the check finally comes Yvette will have to buy dog food with it).  Every little bit helps though so we’ll leave them up.

We can’t encourage you to click on those ads since that just takes money out the advertisers pocket when you don’t buy anything (but if you do see something your interested in.. click away that’s 3c for Turtle Gardens).  What we can do is ask you  to take advantage of some of the other google programs that give Turtle Gardens 50 cents a click and that google specifically asks web sites to encourage their visitors to click.  Besides you will get some pretty nice google software for free.

We all have digital cameras, and we all have digital pictures that need organizing.  Well guess what? Google makes a photo organizer called picasa that they will give Turtle Gardens 50 cents if you download from our link.  It’s really quite good software (Yvette uses it to organize her Happy Endings already… and yes, we did get the 50 cents for her to install it.  Always thinking that mother of mine!).

So please, if you haven’t tried picasa yet take a minute to click on the below link and download it from google.  Not only will you get some pretty cool software, you’ll also put 50 cents into the Turtle Gardens speuter fund.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

As I lay in bed this morning wishing that Cindy would just shut up and go back to sleep, I reflected on the new day just barely starting. And the big job ahead of us today. You see, the snow has created havoc here. We have a six foot wooden fence around the one acre front yard. It is built like Fort Topley and it worked very well in keeping all our dogs safe and secure. But on October 27th it stormed and stormed and when it was done - we had four feet of snow!

November and December dumped more snow in fact it has been a horrible year for snow removal etc - the worst year since privatization of road maintenance according Houston Today  
even the Lakes District News (Burns Lake) is saying the same thing - we have had a very snowy, tough winter - and it isn’t over yet by a long shot!! Reports from Floodwatch say that there is 194% more snow in the high country - up to 48 feet or more on the mountains. This will melt in the spring. Depending on how warm it gets this spring there could be massive flooding in the lowlands. And yes, we live on a flood plain! But that’s another story - later - I will let you know as it happens.

The snow in the yard is now five feet of compressed snow all around the fence - the dogs enjoy running the fence line. The fence is now less than three feet high. And yes, the dogs can sail right over it and they do! Dave shovelled a ditch around the small yard connected to the doggie door so the jump was too wide for them to go over the fence. That fence is wire. That works well if the dogs would only use that yard. But they like the freedom of the big yard.

Can’t really blame them can we? The small yard is the size of a city lot but is much smaller than their playground.
  Sampson and Coco like the  back yard though!

So now that we have several teenagers that need to learn meet and greet  manners Dave and I decided we need to "beef" up the yard. Yesterday Dave bought two rolls of chicken wire, nails, mechanics wire. Today he has gone to Granisle to pick up his sister Bear and we will add the wire to the top of the fence. I will add new pictures tomorrow of the work in progress to keep the dogs  in. Snow is a necessary evil when you live in Beautiful northern British Columbia but doggone it I wish we has less of it! Or the dogs had shorter legs!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

HERO TRIUMPHS OVER DEMODEX - with a little help from Turtle Gardens

I am going to jump into Yvette’s blog because I know her modesty does not
allow her to write what needs to be written. I adopted a dog from TG about
4 years ago and since then have helped - from afar - with fundraising &
moral support.

She called me the day Hero arrived. Yvette has seen some very ugly examples
of human cruelty and neglect. But her voice was wavering as she described
Hero - he may be too far gone she feared - it looks like he has given up.

I asked her to email me pics - I braced myself before opening them. It was
as bad as she had prepared me for - he didn’t even really look like a living
dog. He was a mass of sores covering a skeleton - only the occasional patch
of fur gave away that he might be a dog.

Feeding and treatment began right away - antibiotics, ivermectin, and small
(but frequent) amounts of good food. I think Yvette’s hand was the first
kind touch he ever knew. For her he would fight for his life.

And today I read the story & update from his new family and I am overcome
with joy & pride for good has overcome evil - Hero is aptly named but I
think Yvette’s middle name is Hero as well. Thank you Hero’s family for
loving him - he has found love & peace and that is what we wish for all the
TG dogs out there.

For those of you reading this, please do one of two things… help find
homes for the remaining ‘demodex’ dogs and/or donate to their ongoing care.
They are worthy dogs and deserve the same happiness Hero has found. There is
a special fund for the Demodex dogs, please give generously.

Sharon, friend of TG

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Little Nora has been spayed on Tuesday and is recovering nicely. Our vets found her to be full of tapeworms - poor little soul - what was she eating?

I wonder if she is related to my Tachet puppies? She is too young to be their mother as she had just finished what appeared to be her first heat. And the pups are too young for her to be in heat so soon after their birth. This is little Sailor - what do you think?
Sailor - last week.

Tachet is only 5 miles from Granisle! It is near Topley Landing and is 39 miles from here - Topley. Topley Landing is an old Hudson Bay Trading Post on Babine Lake - the longest natural lake in British Columbia.

Here is a picture of Charles now know as Chuck - he looks like a Chuck, doesn’t he?
He is a gentle soul who looks mean! Char tells me that he was the leader of the pack of 4 or 5 month old pups. He came here with Wally - who has gone for a sleepover (foster to adopt!!) yesterday and Cindy our runaway girl.

Wally did everything he could to have Crystal pick him!! He chose them.

Cindy got away from Char the morning of her spay too! She is fine now and has settled into life her at Turtle Gardens.

And a very, very special Happy Endings!!! - HERO!!!

When I see pictures of Hero back when he was mostly "hairless" it is hard to believe he is the same animal who romps around our house today.  I will try to remember to send you pictures later this week.  I took a couple the night before last when he was laying in bed with my eldest son.  He really thinks he’s human.  He DEFINITELY thinks he is a lap dog, even though he now weighs 120 lbs!

I took Hero to the vet a couple of weeks ago to get his week and pick up another bottle of Ivomec.  (He had started acting like he might be having a relapse and I wanted to have the Ivomec (and an updated dosing regimen) at home just in case.  About a week ago I noticed that he had a couple of bare spots on his flanks and that his pink belly was developing some black spots.  I’ve started him on the Ivomec again with the intention of knocking the mites out before he loses his fur and it gets deep into his feet.)  The vets could not believe that Hero was the same dog.  Every time he visits the vet we draw people to the front.  Hero is a celebrity at the vet!

I brought him by my work again yesterday.  They were impressed with his improvement too (especially the absence of stench, lol!).

I discovered that if I put his Ivomec in his dish and poured a little bit of milk on top of it, he would lap up every drop.  This is SO much easier than wrestling with him and trying to squirt the medicine in the back of his mouth.  He’s too darn smart and always managed to shake part of the dose out of his mouth!

The attached photos are from around Christmas.  He has more fur now than in the photos.  I’ll send you some updated photos soon.

Thanks again for everything you did for Hero!

  Hero was one of my best success stories. He is very fortunate to have have Mike and his family in Juneau Alaska!!!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Little Drake the leader of the fluffy gang of puppies discovered bed when I got up at 5am Tuesday morning. He followed me back to my bed and stupid me - I picked him up and he cuddled happily under my chin under the duvet, Last night I quietly went to bed and settled for a good night’s sleep when I heard whining beside the bed. You guessed it - Little Drake had found his way into the bedroom - in the dark yet. What could I do? Ignore him? Get out of my warm cocoon of covers and take him back to his own bed? Or pick him up? I will just have to find him a mom and dad who sleep with their fur kids. He snuggled happily next to me all night long under  the covers - until 7.30 this morning when he decided it was time to get up. As soon as I spoke well - the rest decided I needed a face wash - Squire has that habit as soon as I wake up as does Chico. Then Squire plays with Grizzly - if Grizz peeks his little nose out of the covers. Bouncing on the foot of the bed. It is pretty hard to stay in bed with that performance. Sweetpea of course thought it was too early and just moved to put her head on my vacant pillow. She enjoys her comfort! The other dogs hear me moving about and rush to give me their morning greetings. Such is the love of dogs.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Am I a saint? Or am I a fool? My answer is neither! I am the somebody that everybody talks about. Somebody should do something about that dog running around town. Somebody should do something about that starving dog that those people who moved, left behind. Somebody should do something about the puppies that nobody wants. Somebody should do something about … etc.

                          I cannot do everything, but still I can do something

                          And, because I cannot do everything

                          I will continue to do the something that I can do” Edward Everrett

 On days when the sheer numbers of dogs in need overwhelm me and I feel I can’t go on - I remember these few words. One person can make a difference. And that is what You - Mr. And Ms. Public are counting on. That I will continue to do all that I can, to better the plight of unwanted animals. BUT without YOUR help for Turtle Gardens, I CANNOT do everything. And it is the animals that will suffer. Do you care? Does it matter to you if healthy puppies are killed, because there is no place to take them. Probably not. Mr. And Ms. Public will go their merry way until they encounter a problem with a stray animal or their own pet. What will you do if Turtle Gardens is no longer here to dump your problem? Think about it for a minute. Turtle Gardens has taken in and rehomed almost four thousand animals. 4,000 lost souls found their safe haven since 1988. Thank you to all the supporters of Turtle Gardens.

Turtle Gardens is a privately run group foster home for unwanted pets. We are funded by donations, adoption fees and surrender fees. All dogs are vaccinated, wormed, fed, spayed/neutered after age of 4 months and started in clicker training to help them be good canine citizens. We are the only facility in this area that takes in unwanted animals.

 Donate a loonie  to help a stray dog stay alive. Just one loonie ($1.00) from each person that views this page would go a long way to ensuring Turtle Gardens stays open to care for these dogs well. Don’t let death be the only option for unwanted animals. Help Turtle Gardens help these dogs.

And now the reason for too many unwanted dogs? Pet copulation, it’s that simple. Pets don’t know about birth control or maintain responsibility for the offspring. They are not human. They are driven by hormones to do what is natural. Turtle Gardens’s low cost spay neuter program is our solution to the age old problem. Don’t Litter – spay/neuter your critter.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

I am not sure if we all know where Granisle is, let alone the Noranda road the or the B.C Tel trailer (back before they called it Telus). I realized this after I had to explain to your granddaughter where is was so I thought  I might ask google and this is what they come up with. Granisle,
Gee Mom I thought google knew everything! I found Gransile but no Noranda road or B.C Tel trailer. hahahahah . Wow Mom, you sure live in the sticks, this is the best google could tell me where poor Dad had to drive to the Vet in Burns Lake  Well, It doesn’t look like that bad of a drive if you ask google. I guess google isn’t all that great at the sticks now is it!  Good thing you are around to keep asking him the tough questions that keep him on his toes. Love Son #1 and Grandaughter #1 From Vancouver.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.