It was -31 last night and everything was frozen this morning! Thank goodness Dave had filled water bottles so I could make my pot of coffee – thank you so very much Teresa and Cynda and Sheila and Burns Lake Veterinary Clinic and Simba’s family for my favorite brand of coffee and goodies. The Christmas parcels have made us all smile. Your generosity has made this a Merry Christmas.  Thank you so very much.

Then we needed to call our easy button – Stan!!! First on the agenda was getting the firewood ready for the kennels – Kelsey and I will be in charge this weekend – it is TG Bus time!! There has been lots of snow this week so the first stop was chains for the old four by four truck. Then Stan had to put them on all four tires. He needs to bring the firewood close to the kennel especially for Kelsey and I and split the blocks too. The dogs have a hungry stove for them and Kelsey does too – they are warm as toast – I often wish I were a dog to be so comfy.

  The woodstoves are a-chugging

Once the chains were on Stan and Dave went up to the beetle kill to cut some dry pine.

  Chains went on all four tires.

 
Felling the beetle killed pine.

Dragging it out of the bush for easier bucking.

Bucking into lengths for the stoves.

This is enough for the weekend while they are away with what was leftover from last wood cutting trip.

 

The truck goes right into the kennel yard now - note empty doghouses.

The recovery room is finished and more empty doghouses.

Then he showed Kelsey how to feed the dogs – each dog is fed separately moistened food. He had to buy metal buckets as two of the boys chew the plastic buckets eventhough they are screwed into the wall.

Then it was thawing out the water so we could have running water again and finally all the chores are done and the dogs were loaded up.

First was Robbie - her new mom is very excited! She will be living in Delta.
I will miss you  - always nearby me!

Then it was her buddy Finn:
He is going to live with Kate and Lucy who could be his twin.

Shadow is going to Cloverdale.
Loyal pretty little Shadow. She will be living the "good life"

Muskwa is heading for Nanaimo:

Gentle Muskwa - all 74 pounds of him!

Sheela went in with no problems - she has come a long way. She was one of the thinnest of the Sherrif dogs!

She has a lot of personality now!

Mya was the first one in the van - she had already gone to Houston!! She loves to ride.

She is going to West Vancouver!

And last but not least - Makenna, the gentle little girl is going to Vancouver.

Sweet gentle Makenna - enjoy your new life girl.

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

We met a very special person today. I feel like I have known her for a very long time – she healed my soul. Carol you are one very unique and wonderful lady. Sheila was no slouch either – I really, really enjoyed your visit today and I would very much like to know you better, Thank you for taking my little poundling that you met at the Burns Lake Veterinary office today. She will have the best chance ever to find her forever family. What a great surprise that was!

I knew I was meeting special people as soon as my Sweetpea rushed up the driveway to meet the visitors – her chunky body wriggling as if she were greeting old friends!! Dogs know goodness when they see it. As we were having tea and cookies, Sweetpea crawled into Carols’s lap – and folks; that is a first!! Sweetpea is not all that friendly with people, it is rare she will allow anyone to touch her but to actually climb onto a stranger’s lap – that is unheard of. Sweetpea knew good people when she saw her. All of the dogs liked Carol and Sheila too – Nicky and Nala and Shadow, especially Robbie. The boys Poncho and his brother Stanley wary at first were soon trying to be lap dogs – their innocent faces capturing Carol and Sheila’s hearts. These boys know how to work hugs, and love out of anyone but they know real people too. They were content to just lie close by or sit leaning against legs so their heads could be rubbed. Both boys have the same gentle, soulful eyes. Soon they will have their own servants.

  Carol meeting Shadow. Sheila did Shadow’s homevisit so Shadow can be home for the holidays.

Sheila meeting Poncho’s brother Stanley, Robbie and her mom Nala.

After tea was the tour of the kennels to visit with all the sheriff dogs. Then Stan drove them to Burns Lake to visit our veterinarians and Char – the animal control officer of Burns Lake. Char was bringing in her newest pound pup for her check up, worming and vaccinations. Sheila fell in love and offered to foster the baby – Stan will deliver her next trip with the TG Bus.

Thank you Carol and Sheila for coming to our humble home. Our dogs and family really really enjoyed you visit.

And you can read what Carol and Sheila had to say about their visit. Click here.

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

Stress does weird things to our bodies. And the older you get - the harder it hits. I haven’t had to use my puffer for asthma in quite a while but the coughing is stress related. It wears you down.

Stan checked the mail this afternoon and lo and behold another Christmas parcel! What a wondrous surprise in these cloudy times. Our dogs have tuned in that parcels contain goodies for them too and they gather around waiting to see what is inside. They were not disappointed either. Gooberlicious dog Treats - made with real peanut butter or real liver!! Not one dog refused to taste. Even the puppies went nuts for treats - they are only 9 weeks old!! It must be genetic.

Then the goodies for the people who take care of the dogs - stuff we can rarely afford to buy but enjoy so much. Thank you so much Cynda - you bring a ray of sunshine to this cloudy day.

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

I was the first one up this morning and after cleaning puppy deposits, filling food and water dishes I ground my special coffee (one of the special gifts from Santa’s elves was a Starbucks coffee grinder - how cool is that!!!) The aroma is ecstatic, the flavor - what an incentive to get up and start the day!!

Speuter days this week after rolling our change for gas money to get the guys to the veterinarians have culminated in all three finding their families. Chico the little cocker spaniel was the first to go home on Friday evening. He cuddled in his new mom’s arms and laid his head on her shoulder - he was home!

Chico went to the groomers on Saturday!!

Next to find her Mom is tiny Myra - her health check including her heart and patellas was stellar!! Myra will be going to a long time supporter of TG and one of our Vancouver directors. How wonderful for our little Princess.
All 7 pounds of cuteness!

And yesterday was Crayola’s turn!! His new family includes a senior for daily walks, to follow around doing chores on a ranch and a comfortable bed indoors at the end of the day. Harold was drawn to his "Buddy" and loved his gentleness and friendliness after coming here three times looking  for his furry friend. .

Gentle eyes on a colorful dog! Be a good "buddy"  boy!

And more wonderful news! Carol of Saints is coming all the way up here to visit TG on Thursday! She and Sheila are flying in the morning. Stan and Dave will meet them at the airport and guide them to TG - in case the weather is  snowy.  The first stop will be in Houston to visit with our veterinarian Dr Lois Martin (Thursday is Houston day for the Burns Lake Clinic) Dr Martin sees everyone of our dogs sometimes 3 times - when they arrive from the pound, speuter day and sometimes before they leave for new homes. Then onward to TG. Carol has been my inspiration for the Group Foster Program. I am so excited to finally meet her. And she calls it a holiday. How wonderful is that!!! Carol will visit with all our dogs, see our renovations and home. She says that it is important for rescuers to meet ’cause we need to spend time with each other just so we don’t go crazy and feel so utterly alone. I am so looking forward to her visit.

And now an update from Bowen Island:

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

Last night in my most hopeless moments Dave and Stan brought in a package from Santa’s elves bringing a smile to our faces. The treats were totally awesome!! What a wonderful gift for the people who care for the animals. We sincerely thank you. I am enjoying superb coffee and biscuits as I write this. Thank you again.

Morning has brought more negativity to TG. I am sorry to have to write about it so instead I will post the link so you can see what she has promised to bring to TG
She said:
I have already gone to the appropriate channels, and I will continue to work through that. I didn’t bring it to brindle.
The unedited posting is here: www.brindleweb.com/rescuebb/viewtopic.php

If you wonder why we are so negative on our blog it is that we and our animals have suffered before from this same group of people. The devil’s advocate was here and 59 cats and 1 dog died - they went through the appropriate channels. We are not being spiteful, egotistical or negative - we are downright terrified for our animals. We refuse to live in this terror and stress anymore. We cannot meet the Code of Practice for Canadian Kennel Operations. The devil’s advocate was already here and dropped off a copy. How many rescues/shelters meet this standard?

This morning I received a phone call from a fellow rescuer that I work with in the Hazeltons. She went to pick up puppies and their mother from Gitsgeluka - she found two dead puppies frozen on the front step - the mother and other 3 pups were nowhere to be found. Did they freeze too? They were supposed to come here.  There is also another litter living outside. Tearfully I had to explain we are closed to new dogs but we will call the appropriate channels the Prince George SPCA to take these puppies and dogs that need help. They are the only ones in this area now -  a 1000 km return trip to these dogs. We will be sending all enquiries and calls to PG SPCA  until we meet the standards.

By next week most of the dogs will be in their own homes leaving us with a handful of temperamentally challenged dogs to rehabilitate and rehome.

And now to return to what TG does best - a Happy Endings:

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

It is with sadness in my heart that this blog is written. After a full week of no money and collecting change to get the dogs to vet on Tuesday and again on Thursday, the horrific stress of the constant conflict; we as a small family  decided tonight that we will close our doors to needy dogs everywhere until we have the finances to finish a home that will meet and exceed the Code of Practice for Canadian Kennel Operation. The straw that broke the turtle’s back is this comment posted on the TG blog.

Yvette. stan……. you keep wanting to drag me into this, whether I want to be or not.
ok fine. I am now in. Please stay tuned to our website for the REAL truth about Turtle gardens. Stan….. I didn’t show you all the pictures I took. There were more on another card. You can see them on our website, coming soon……..

And for the record. The email above from me, is added to, and parts are deleted. It was also sent back in October after your first blog posting. “A dark day for tg” Which I have saved if anyone would like to read that bit of filth. It was deleted pretty quickly, but I have it. It will also be available on our website.

I know you will delete my comment as soon as you see it. So for those that want to know the truth, here is an email from one of TG’s supports that was there that day:

“Hi Kelly,
This is a very belated thank you from the Canines North dog club for everything you and Bev did, and tried to do, for the Sheriff rescue dogs.
We are a small club, about 8 people, most of us have rescues or 2nd hand dogs, most of us are also members of the Northwest Animal Shelter Society and support Turtle Gardens.
None of us have ever been involved in anything like the sheer number of dogs taken in on the Thanksgiving weekend and as president of the club I am very proud of how so many people pulled together and gave up their holiday on very short notice to help these dogs.
We are shocked and upset by Yvette’s blog, and can’t imagine how you and Bev must be feeling.
We are continuing to help with the dogs as much as we can, they are starting to go to other rescues and hopefully from there will find good homes.
We would just ask that you do not judge all rescues or organizations in the “north” by the way Turtle Gardens has treated you.
Thank you again for your support.
Lorna ”

You will never get me to believe you have these dogs best interest at heart.
The only one that is egotistical is Stan himself. Get the chip off your shoulder and put those dogs first.
Shame on the both of you and shame on Turtle Gardens!

Kelly

The truly disheartening fact contained in this post is the lack of financial and general support from surrounding communities from which we rescue their dogs.

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

This comment arrived a short time ago mama22kids is their name - so basically it is anonymous. You did not sign your name - why - who are you? What do you have to hide?

Your own living conditions are your own business. The issue is the quality of lives for the animals you are rescuing. There is no doubt that you have done good work & saved lives. But the conditions that the animals are in at  your property are apparently only marginally adequate. The people who drove up (on their own time & money) did not do so with any intention of maligning you. They did so with the honorable intent to offer a helping hand to a rescue which took on an unexpected large influx of dogs. They were rebuffed. They reported back what they observed and they have shown photos of what the situation is like. Your intentions are good, and the rescue community wants to help you. Please accept the offer of help in the shape of home-based foster homes which would ease your population and your work load. Sometimes you need to know and accept when you’ve taken on too much. The only help you apparently want to accept is money/food and permanent homes but in the meantime, the dogs are not thriving on your property. Is that in the best interests of the animals? Please Yvette, accept the help of foster homes  other reputable rescues taking some of the animals over. And then let’s get on with helping animals  rebuilding the trust and community in our rescue network.

This comment finally drove Stan to speak out about our side of this horrible ugliness. First off one very important fact has been overlooked. Stan was promised broad spectrum worm medication which is very expensive upon the arrival of this rescue. So Stan trusted them and waited the 5 days for their arrival. The decision to wait was a very large decision because the dogs had been eating their own feces from starvation and had a tremendous parasite load. To feed the dogs good quality food allows the parasites an opportunity to thrive and multiply creating a grave situation placing the dogs at great risk of infections, bowel obstructions or intestinal illnesses. Kelly totally ignored Stan’s knowledge and understanding of the importance of the wormer. To add to the frustration the Burns Lake Vet Clinic called us very upset after a visit from Kelly and Bev thus cutting off Stan’s only source of credit to obtain the wormer. Once again Stan’s pleas to understand and help the dogs fell on deaf ears and his dogs continued to suffer.

15 minutes into the visit, Stan caught Kelly taking pictures of our debris pile from the spring flooding which we had been cleaning up before Dave broke his leg. Stan confronted Kelly and asked her to what she was doing and why she needed pictures of of our debris pile. This one act of secret pictures of things that could be misunderstood made Stan confront Bev about who this person was and why she had come here and whether she vowed for her character.
Because of his trust with Bev, he let the visit continue being reassured by Bev that their intentions were honorable. Stan wondered why if their intentions were true,  they took pictures of our dump pile instead of the dogs.

Their visit ended when Kelly needing a potty break refused to use our outhouse. Our home was undergoing renovations and had no working bathroom. at the time of the visit we had a large work party which they totally ignored - members of Northwest Animal Shelter Society and Canines North as well as our board of directors.

Stan had also been promised they were going to take 6 of the harder to handle dogs. After a week to plan, they still arrived here with no plan on how to take the dogs ie no crates or room in the Cadillac Esplanade. Yes, 6 dogs seems insignificant when there are 50 but the right 6 dogs can really change the dynamics of the entire group. Once again, Stan had been mislead creating another situation where the dogs were to suffer. Once again Kelly and Bev didn’t understand or care about the importance.

Now we need to get something straight. These dogs were  hours away from death. The neighbor at the property came to speak to Stan and Dave when they were rescuing the dogs. His answer was to take his backhoe, dig a hole, shoot all  the dogs on the chains, and then bury them in the hole. Stan and Dave who still had his cast on, assured the neighbor that was not necessary and we would deal with the dogs. This is the same neighbor that upon the arrival of the landlord; took his backhoe crushed the trailer and buildings and burnt them. This was the dogs’ fate. Now no matter what TG looks like - their fate was certainly changed from bad to good.

Bev and Kelly have no clue what that would look like. They need to see those things having been done once in their lifetimes like we have. Their perspective of how and what TG really does might finally be understood. That’s what motivates Stan to do what he does.

Now not to continue to be negative but Kelly and Bev arrived home and still no money or wormer or apology to our vet and Stan’s dogs continue to suffer. Now they start to harrass,  threaten Stan to send 1 of the remaining 45 dogs that they were unable to transport with the two sherrif dogs they did take.

It needs to be mentioned that Stan unloaded the bullmastiff from their Esplanade - an intact, dog aggressive dog and explained that the dog would have to be tied up in the yard in front when he attacked the resident dogs. They never gave one thought to surrendering him to the chain. And they left him here on his chain when they left. Kelly did many things to make Stan uncomfortable and paranoid with their actions. he is not surprised there are uncomfortable pictures about our out of bounds areas. Was it to help or was it to just satisfy their own egos?

The threats continue. The threatening emails continue.  Here is an example of one of these emails
 

I am completely in shock. At this moment, I do not know whether to break down in tears, scream at you, or retaliate. What a horrible and ugly thing to do. Truly.

Whatever happened today with Stan and Bev, is between them, and I am HORRIFIED that you would drag GSRBC through the mud over it.

I am not sure where to go from here. I see it is all over brindle now too. Of course there can be no mistake which ‘rescue’ this is. Thank you for that. I did not deserve this from you.

I’m also now told that Stan is extremely upset that the dewormer did not come up with us, and he does not want our help. 1400.00 later, it is sitting here on my desk, in a box addressed to TurtleGardens. Shall I not bother then?

shall I tell the Kensington foundation, and Big Heart also to not bother sending any funding? I am not sure what this all means, and am just totally out of the loop. Please let me know what it is that you want.

Please let me know what flight he will be on, or if Stan is bringing him down with Chantelle’s dogs.

Kelly
German Shepherd Rescue of BC

www.gsrbc.com

Now - Stan is very much his mother’s son and is all about the dogs. To allow all the dogs to suffer by holding ransom the wormer for her own self serving egoistical satisfaction of obtaining Stanley the dog fully proved to Stan thta they never cared about the dogs. He would never trust them to fully care for the dogs. And fully regreted sending them the mom and pup. Bev proved her total and complete disregard for the health and welfare of the dogs when she sent the dogfood away from Bandstra for shipping to TG.

Now do you really think, that Stan is going to work with the rescue community that condones this behaviour to continue in the name of "caring for the animals" Do you understand his reluctance to let any of these very complicated dogs to that community?

And now for the first time ever Stan who has been a staunch supporter behind his mom and pushed for years to keep TG opened is finally saying"Shut the place down" The human inflicted suffering has become unbearable to watch his mother go through.

Just to be sure that the true story is told Stan has decided to post the letter from the Burns Lake Veterinarian to GSR here:

To truly understand what we have done just have a look at these updates and Happy endings only from August 2006 to now and ask yourself do any of the dogs look like they regretted their stay at TG versus the alternative.
Just Click here    and here.

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

The intercom rang to wake us up – was it 7am already? It is speuter day at Turtle Gardens for Chico the cocker spaniel and Myra the little Chihuahua who will also have her knees and heart checked – these are problems that are affiliated with Chihuahuas. Stan had his quick cup of coffee and asked me several times if I would call the bank to check if money had been transferred – he has only enough gas to get to Burns Lake but not to come back. Each speuter day averages $30 in gas. Never mind the time it takes for the one hour trip in then out then in today with Muskwa for his vet check and vaccinations and than out again with the recovering dogs. Does it sound like I am upset about something? Well yes I am.

Chico has a home on Houston.

Myra has a tentative home in Kits pending her vet visit.

You may remember we had an unfortunate encounter with a rescue and our veterinarians about a stray dog. That altercation resulted in the veterinarians returning their $2000 cheque for the sheriff dogs with a letter.  This resulted in our veterinarians refusing to take any money directly from any rescue for any dogs – they requested the money go to TG and we give it to them for general account. None of the rescues involved did so.

Without the supporters of Turtle Gardens it would have been a very bleak future for the sheriff dogs. We received a larger than normal donation of which well over half went directly to the veterinarians in Burns Lake and Smithers for the Sheriff dogs. We also received a donation from the Kensington Foundation in Smithers and Burns Lake for the Sheriff dogs. All monies donated through canadahelps and paypal for the sheriff dogs went to the sherrif dogs. The speuters, vet checks and vaccinations so far has totaled $6923. There is now a bill starting for the sheriff dogs – we are up to $235 with 3 last spays to go – Makenna who was nursing, Trip who was nursing her pup and Sheba who was too sick to spay until next week.

But most disconcerting is the personal attack on the rescue forums we use to facilitate our homevisits and transport from these same rescues. They are trying to discredit TG by questions and innuendos and quotes and people are believing the mistruths and exaggerations. We are not a pretty facility – we have never had any direct funding. We have devoted our lives and our home to the care of the dogs. Their needs come first. Stan is becoming so very discouraged with all the backbiting, slander and defamation of a 20 year reputation. He is doing most if not all the work of the sheriff dogs – the 25 in the kennels – the special feeding, the water hauled twice a day, getting up at 3 am to fill the hungry wood stove that heats up their home (we have had -20 weather). The cleaning of the feces is his job too – what goes in must come out.  Plus how many hours does it take to drive 11,000 kilometers? He does all this for no wages – his reward is the happy endings and this negativity is trying to take even that away from all of us.

These dogs don’t need another rescue – they need homes. And badmouthing TG is stopping people from spreading the word about these wonderful dogs. What they need are families for their very own to love, nurture and respect forever. That is what true rescue is all about – the dogs.  This is the only way to make a bad to bad situation to a happy ending.

With the recent happenings on the internet – a bc rescue forum, it brings to mind that I have been the only person in the past that tells Yvette to shut the place down. I get tired of no money, I get tired of dogs always underfoot, I get tired of all the work – the drives in bad weather to the veterinarians. I just get tired of the whole thing after 20 years and 4000 dogs that I took to the vet before they could be adopted. We haven’t had a holiday or even a day away together in over 10 years. So in retrospect I was instrumental in TG retiring in 2005 – no money, 250 dogs, a big vet bill, beat up cargo van with 700,000 kms, no community support. I could go to work on a real job, with real money and benefits. I had enough. TG retired April 8^th. And dogs died. The hope was that someone would step up to the plate and take over. But no one did – and dogs kept dying. In March of 2006 Burns Lake set up a Dog Task Force to look at the problem of  stray dogs needing a safe place. After several meetings TG was asked to reopen and the pound dogs would be vetted at their expense before sending them to TG. That way tax dollars stayed in the community and tho TG didn’t receive any $$$ - the animals were vet checked/vaccinated and speutered if needed.  Although we were closed we still adopted out 169 dogs that year – dogs that people left in the van when I went shopping, dogs thrown over the fence, a pail of unweaned puppies, dogs that the vets would tearfully ask us to take them. I have to mention that our home based business is pet cremation and dogs that were dying were coming in for communal cremations – how sad is that – they were worth more dead than alive! What a contradiction! So Yvette and I decided to reopen TG and set up a 3 to 5 year program so TG would be self – funded and can continue to help unwanted dogs when we do retire as we aren’t getting any younger. TG will be subdivided and will own the property it sits on and have a home for the caretakers.

The simple way out is to close our doors. I don’t need it, Yvette doesn’t need it and Stan definitely doesn’t need it. We live in poverty and it is our choice – the dogs come first. The renovations of our house are for the dogs – so they will have a comfortable place to live. We will live with the dogs not the other way around. But it has made me more determined especially as I look around and see the dog faces around me who would have died otherwise, that we will persevere so that when we do leave here the dogs will have a comfortable place to survive, be rehabilitated and find forever homes. Most of the dogs that come in here are feral dogs, stray dogs who have never had a home. We rarely take in family pets. Instead of using so much energy to disgrace TG – why not find homes for the 100 dogs that we can’t take in? We have a question for you –

“What do you hope to accomplish here?” Things are tough enough out here – now we are stressing about the negativity that will deter these dogs from real homes. The average stay is 6 weeks from arrival to new family homes. The sheriff dogs have already been here 8 weeks. A lot of them are ready for new homes. The harder to adopt ones need one on one rehabilitation inside with us. To do that homes for those ready to go are needed.

My most personal insult was when the rescue person refused to use our clean, well built outhouse with a real toilet seat – not even cracked – with lots of soft toilet paper and a door that locks! I am sure glad that the ladies working at our work bee that day had no issues about using the outhouse.

Thank you so very much for the special treats that have been arriving in gift paks for dogs and us. It may seem insignificant to many but it sure brightens our day.

If you have some answers for this problem of the 300 per year homeless dogs please tell us as we have been doing TG for most of our adult lives and have been trying to address this enormous undertaking without dogs dying, without wages and without funding. Now is the time to put your money where your mouth is.  In our experience this continued negativity will result in death.

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