URGENT - OHS's longest term resident... A VERY special dog that desperately needs a loving home.

Dear OHS volunteers and supporters:

We are writing on behalf of one of our most beloved shelter dogs named Walt, whom many of you may be familiar with. He was rescued from severe neglect by our Humane Officers back in April 2007. We are writing to you because we need your immediate help. Walt is in dire need of finding a new home, rescue or sanctuary to call home within the next couple of weeks. Walt has an extraordinary story and we ask that you please take a brief moment to read his story below. We have also attached pictures of Walt taken by his foster mom for you to enjoy.

Walt arrived at OHS in April 2007 and quickly went into foster care with one of our most dedicated and loving foster parents for ten months. In hopes of giving Walt more exposure and better chance to find his new home, Walt was returned to the shelter for adoption in February. He adjusted to shelter life as best he could, but over the past several weeks has declined rapidly in the stress of the shelter environment. We are not only concerned about Walt's physical needs being met but his emotional and mental well being as well. That is why we are reaching out to you for urgent help.

Walt holds a special and dear place in all of our hearts at OHS, both staff and volunteers. We have exhausted every avenue to try and find placement for Walt, and are reaching out to you for help. Can you please help us craft a happy ending to Walt’s story? Every dog has an amazing tale to tell, and for Walt, we are all hoping for his miracle, so he can live out the rest of his life with love, peace and comfort.

Please feel free to distribute copies of Walt’s story below (and also as an attachment to this email) to any friends or family who might possibly be able to help. We welcome any and all of your ideas and suggestions on how we can help Walt find his forever home.

Kristin M. Bigler, CVA

Volunteer Resources Manager

Oregon Humane Society

1067 NE Columbia Blvd.

PO Box 11364

Portland, OR 97211

kristinb@oregonhumane.org

Direct Dial: 503-416-2995

Office Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 9AM-6PM


We are desperately looking for rescue for our shelter’s longest resident dog, Walt. Walt is a four year old American Pit Bull/Sharpei mix. He was rescued from severe neglect by our Humane Officers back in April 2007. Walt’s former owner was sentenced to 10 days in jail and a $2,000 fine for the horrific lack of care she provided Walt. Walt has been the focus of many departments at the Oregon Humane Society in the past year, starting with investigations, and the medical care team, on to foster care, behavior and kennels, and even marketing as his sad story became a published success story. Through these combined efforts we’ve learned a lot about Walt—he is a devoted canine companion to his people, is fun-loving but head strong and would require a special and experienced home with a person or persons who will be understanding and sensitive to his needs. Walt will also require ongoing treatment for his allergies and dry eyes which right now averages about $140.00 a month. Equally as important as Walt’s physical needs being taken care of, is his mental well being. He is sensitive and loving dog and it is our fondest hope to place Walt in the care of rescue or home that will be dedicated to Walt’s overall welfare, mind, body and spirit.

Walt’s story is tail of triumph over tragedy. Despite the miserable shape Walt was in when he arrived at OHS, it never dampened his indomitable spirit, enthusiasm or his love of people. He put up with daily baths and medications without complaint and always had a joyous greeting and kiss for anyone who stopped to say “hello”. However, as much Walt loved the staff at OHS and we loved him, it was not enough. What he needed was a miracle. The miracle came in the form of a loving and doting foster mom named Miriam Moore. Under her tender love and guidance Walt blossomed. For ten months, Walt had been in her loving care and embrace. She was not only his caretaker, but his best friend, defender and advocate. She loved him unconditionally and had seen him through months of rehabilitation as he slowly recovered from severe mange, ulcerated eyes and entropion (a condition that caused his eyelids to roll inward and aggravating his eyes causing the ulcers and eye infections), horrible skin allergies and would had to have been unimaginable pain and discomfort.

Miriam describes Walt as a sweet heart and real love bug. He wants nothing more than to love and be loved. He thrives on attention, snuggling, giving kisses and being the beneficiary of compliments and kind words. He also loves a warm soft bed and toys, including his favorites, tennis balls and Kongs. Miriam feels Walt is still a puppy at heart. She theorizes he probably never had puppy playtime when he was young so he still has bundles of fun energy stored up inside him (“keep away” is his favorite game). While in foster care with Miriam, Walt took great joy in going for walks, car rides and strolling through the neighborhood making new friends. Walt always tried his best to be well behaved and put his best paw forward. In his quest to always please and do the right thing he quickly learned new commands and was always very agreeable and gentle when he took food from your hand or when you gave him pills or took a prized toy away from him. He was also very proud of himself for being housebroken. However, only on a few occasions he had accidents in the house, which were due in part to the medications he was taking at the time. Miriam tells us Walt felt awful when the occasional accident happened, and he cowered and begged for forgiveness. Walt got along well with Miriam’s resident cats. He liked to try and play with them. He was not taught how to play gently with his feline friends, so he needed the gentle reminder “no cats” when he gets a little too enthusiastic. Walt is not dog aggressive, he does however, startle easy around other dogs due to his limited vision. Walt can be around other dogs supervised, such as walking and being kenneled. With the proper introduction and supervision we believe Walt can eventually co-habitat peacefully with other dogs.

As much as Miriam loved Walt, she made the extremely difficult decision four months ago to return Walt to the shelter to better his chances for adoption. The bond between woman and dog had grown incredibly strong and she felt it would be best that Walt not grow more dependent or bonded to her than he already was. The transition for Walt from a stable and loving home environment to the shelter was obviously difficult for him. But again, his indomitable spirit and enthusiasm took over and he quickly adjusted to the routine of kennel life as best he could.

However, over the past several weeks Walt has begun to experience extreme stress in the kennels and his behavior has become more unpredictable and has necessitated that we come to the hard decision that continuing to house him here at OHS long term would be to his detriment. Although we feel he is place able due to his success in foster with a very committed and caring foster parent, we have not been able to find a home, rescue or sanctuary for him despite exhaustive efforts by everyone involved. For these reasons the difficult decision was made to place a deadline of May 15th on our efforts to find placement for Walt.

Walt needs your help now! Please, please can you be the saving grace for our Walt? If you were to welcome Walt to your home or facility our staff of veterinarians would be more than happy to discuss at length Walt’s complete medical history and needs with you. His demodex mange is now completely resolved. To control his ongoing skin allergies and thyroid condition he is currently on several oral medications daily, eye ointment, a bi-weekly medicated bath and a special allergy diet. It may sound like a lot of work, but Walt will more than repay you in devotion and companionship.

Walt has been through so much and it is our biggest hope that Walt can find placement in a rescue or home where he can live out the remainder of his days in love, peace and comfort. OHS is a large shelter with many resources, but we have exhausted those resources in Walt’s case and are reaching out to you for help. If you can help Walt in anyway we urge you to please contact us as soon as possible, as time for Walt is running out.

Thank you so much we and Walt look forward to hearing from you!

Love and kisses from Walt!



Denise and Kelly

Foster Care Coordinators

foster@oregonhumane.org

503.416.2980 or 503.416.5025