Christmas is near...

and finally: Christmas Cookies are HERE!

Greetings dog friends, friends of dogs and cats,

My tail is going into over drive with the arrival of Christmas cookies, our house smells delicious. Every once in a while, a cookie drops and I get to have that one, only if it's within some kind of 3 second rule. But I don't usually care about how long it's been on the floor, the cookie is still delicious after 5 seconds even! And sometimes, I "accidentally" bump my mom while she's working at the cookie table. She gets a little mad but then I give her my best puppy eyes and well...works like a charm and I get cookie!

If you would like to purchase an "Oh Tannenbone!" Cookie or "The Barking Around the Christmas Tree" Cookie package, go to our site: www.rosiesbarkery.com A portion of the proceeds go to Karma Rescue this month. And speaking of Karma Rescue...

The second interview in our "Greet N' Sniff a local Animal Do-Gooder" is with Marnae of Karma Rescue! Read on...

What areas of Los Angeles are you a helper to?
Karma Rescue saves at-risk dogs from the high kill Los Angeles area shelters. Karma provides each dog a new beginning and finds them safe and suitable permanent homes through adoption, advocacy and education.

How did Karma Rescue get started?
Karma Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 2003 by Rande Levine in hopes to combat the steadily growing number of animals euthanized in Los Angeles area shelters. Karma Rescue runs solely off of charitable donations and charitable donations are 100% tax deductible. To date, Karma has saved over 1800 dogs and counting!

Describe a typical day at work for you?
A typical day begins with checking our email and voicemail – this can take HOURS. We answer EVERY phone call and email inquiry. Even if we are unable to help callers by taking in an animal, we help by offering courtesy listings for animals on our site for potential adopters to see, we help match dogs with prospective adopters, and we are always willing and available to give advice. We then spend the rest of the day tending to matters having to do with our Karma Rescue dogs (we currently have 63 large breed dogs and 2 small breed dogs in our care). This can be anything from trying to network a dog for adoption, trying to find the dog a foster home, visiting a classroom to educate students on important issues surrounding animals today, or even coordinating volunteers to take a dog to the vet. Each day is different, but each day is equally important. During a given day we make and return hundreds of phone calls, send and reply to countless emails, conduct conference calls, walk dogs, train dogs, and the list goes on. It’s ALL for the dogs!

These are hard times for animal friends and human friends, what are some of the challenges facing your organization today?

This world is not a great place for homeless animals, period. Due to the down-trending economy, we are faced with two issues: More and more animals need our help, and overall we have seen a decrease in donations compared to previous years. Now more than ever, we are working very hard to network our adoptable dogs in order to find each one a forever home. When one dog is adopted, we are able to save another life. It is a beautiful cycle.

On your website there are some cool programs that you offer, one that caught my eye was Project Coco, how does that work and can you pay a visit to my neighbors with the yippy dogs down the street?
Project Coco was created to teach people how to be responsible pet guardians. Project Coco enables us to go into neighborhoods and communities and educate people about proper pet guardianship, spay/neuter, vaccinations, and the responsibility that it takes to provide a great life for our furry family members.

In January of this year, Project Coco took us to the Mojave Desert to help over 100 dogs and 25 cats that were living in the desert as a result of a human’s hoarding tendencies. The animals lived outside in uncovered runs where they braved the elements; in the day it could reach 120 degrees, and at night, it could be snowing. The first day we went to the property, it was snowing, and there the animals sat, nervous, but tails wagging, knowing that help was on its way. Weekend after weekend, Karma Rescue (along with our friends at numerous local LA rescues), headed to the site that imprisoned these animals. After much hard work, all of the animals were taken out of this living hell; they were rescued. Each animal was spayed or neutered, vaccinated, given a bath, a blanket, a collar, a leash, and for the first time, a name. Karma Rescue took in 10 dogs from the Mojave Desert, and although we still have a few that are patiently awaiting their forever homes (such as Felicity, Kelly, and Scarlet), we have placed quite a few into loving forever homes.

We were fortunate enough to catch some of our hard work from the Mojave Desert on film – please watch our video here: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/krdogs#p/c/5C3B0B6B2D126C8E/1/BNOY0_IDGUg

I like happy tails, do you have a favorite success story?
Besides the Mojave dogs, my favorite story belongs to a dog appropriately named Abigail Angel.

Abigail was a homeless pit bull living on the streets of Lancaster. She was only 7 months old when someone poured liter fluid on her and lit her on fire. A good Samaritan saw this happen and literally used the shirt off of her back to douse the flames. Miss Abigail instantly became a news story and was pictured kissing her rescuers on the news each night along with her most recent update.

After a long, hard day at work, our founder Rande Levine was watching the evening news at home and saw Abigail’s story. She instantly thought, “I want to help that dog!” and Abigail Angel was welcomed into the Karma Rescue family.

Abigail’s injuries were extensive with third degree burns over 80% of her body. She needed medical care around the clock and ended up having numerous skin grafts in order to help her heal and lead a normal, healthy life. Thanks to our generous donors and an outpouring of support from the public, Karma Rescue raised tens of thousands of dollars to pay for Abigail’s extraordinary vet bills, and I am happy to report that Abbie found an incredible home that treats her like the true angel she is.

Do you serve treats at your dogs and if so, what flavors? I like peanut butter but I know there are other flavors out there.
We love to give our dogs Bully Sticks, Nylabones and Kongs!

What are the best ways humans can help their animal friends be safe and happy? Humans can help their furry family members be safe and happy by making sure they are spayed or neutered, up to date on vaccinations, eating nutritious food, and wearing a collar, leash and ID tags at all times.

How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
There are MANY ways to contact us! Our website, www.KarmaRescue.org, is a fantastic tool. We have information regarding volunteering, donating, adopting…you name it! If you have any questions, we are more than happy to answer if you send an email to info@karmarescue.org or volunteer@karmarescue.org

Of course, adoptions are our favorite thing! You can view our adoptable dogs at: http://www.adoptapet.com/shelter70353-pets.html

…and fill out an adoption application for one of our dogs at: http://www.karmarescue.org/dog_adoption/dog_adoption_application.php