Walter Rescue

One of the weirder aspects of cat rescue is realizing people often have a vision of what they want to adopt. Even the biggest cat lovers among us have preferences: Justin and I tend to gravitate toward big tabbies, while Stephanie has a soft spot for shy calicos. We know that there will always be takers for kittens and there will also be a subset of people who want to adopt the 11-year-old hissy cat that will never make it out of a shelter otherwise. Thank goodness all those groups (especially the latter) exist.

The Feline Rescue Association does great work: They've adopted out close to 2,000 cats since 2007. They often take hard cases, including cats with severe injuries or older cats with no where else to turn.

As part of wrapping up 2013, we're going to do multiple parts of what would traditionally be our holiday newsletter. There's just so much great stuff to share, and we're kicking it off with this testimony from Karen, who adopted Ella and Cadbury, now Ramona and Zod.
-Elizabeth

The Tails of Romona and Zod
By Karen

Thanks to reporter Sara Blumberg and the Maryland Gazette for writing a wonderful story about custodian Al and his cats who need a home. The photo of Aslan is fantastic, and she did a great job in explaining how the Anne Arundel County librarians have rallied around to help.

You can read the story here:
http://www.capitalgazette.com/maryland_gazette/featured/severn-librarian...

Walter Rescue has been hard at work: we were able to help reimburse a portion of the vet bill to an adopter who worked with Animal Welfare League of Frederick County to rescue an abused kitten. While the kitten's leg needed to be amputated, the reports are that he's doing great.

It's been a busy spring and summer at Walter Rescue. After Coraline was placed with a wonderful adopter, we worked with a family who had found a black cat in their yard. Black kitty, unfortunately, had come to the end of the her journey, as tests revealed she was not only geriatric, but had kidney failure and numerous other problems. The tough part of rescue is when you have to make the decision to euthanize, but we take comfort in knowing that Stephanie and Teresa worked hard to make black cat's last days filled with love, kindness and dignity.

As many of you know, our annual Valentine's fundraiser is coming up on Feb. 11 at Mahaffey's Pub. We're thrilled to announce that we will be helping the Caroline County Humane Society with a special dog named Diesel.

Diesel, a 5- to 6-year-old Doberman, was found as a stray and was bleeding from the mouth. He was rushed to the local veterinarian to have a growth removed from his mouth.

Hi Walter Rescue fans! Meaghan (Walter’s mom) here to introduce you to Walter’s new foster brother, Carl. Carl is having a great time pestering his foster brothers, Walter and Chase, but what he really needs is a forever home.

Carl had 24 hours before being euthanized at my local animal control for no reason other than overcrowding. We pulled him out of the shelter in the nick of time and brought him home. He has had a tough life so far, but you would never guess because he is the sweetest dog.

At Walter Rescue, Justin gets about a call a day, generally from someone who wants us to take their cat or dog in for foster and adoption.

Today's call, however, was a different case. A woman from West Baltimore called - her dog was dying. He was 11 years old, and there was blood in his urine, and it was time. She, however, had no way to get to the Maryland SPCA to have him put down - and they had to get there before 4 p.m. She had no transportation, and she said "I just don't want to put him outside, or in a dumpster, or next to a dumpster."

Kitten Katya will be adopted by foster parent Lisa, who couldn't bear to give her up. But never fear, kitten fans.

Meet Matilda!