Pallet Kitties and Burned Hounds

Today was quite a day in animal rescue. Apart from the usual assortment of animal tasks at hand today, two surprises lay in wait.

First, a volunteer called to say that while moving pallets at the Lowe's store where she works, a worker discovered a litter of tiny kittens and a mother who fled the scene. It was sheer luck that the kittens were discovered before the pallets were lifted high in the air and dropped in another location, but there was a problem at hand. The babies were far too tiny to be away from mom, but she was too scared to reappear. The staff at Lowes rallied to the cause and installed kitties in a cardboard box near a heater and sent someone out for kitten milk and a bottle. The Lost Dog & Cat Rescue "machinery" went into motion and by noon a trap was set at the store to capture Momma Cat and a foster was lined up to take the kittens and even bottle-feed around the clock if necessary.

The good news is that the trap worked its magic (kitten-scented towels drew momma cat in) and the little family is reunited and safe in an LDCRF foster home. In another 8 weeks or so, they'll be on our website looking for homes. Maybe we will name them Hammer, Nail, Wrench and Screwdriver!

On a much more subdued note, the second surprise today involved a tragic fire at a Leesburg area hunt club. Our vet alerted us to the fact that there were a number of injured dogs en route to their office and that some of them would need rescue placement. I agreed to make a trip out there to see if we could help and it will surely be a long time before I forget that scene.

Some of the dogs have 3rd degree burns on nearly half of their bodies. Some were having trouble breathing due to smoke inhalation. A few were in much better shape than the others.

On behalf of Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation, I committed to taking at least 3 of the dogs and possibly two more depending on their prognosis as of tomorrow. Some of the dogs were wagging their tails in spite of the burns and all were so patient with the staff smearing salves on their bodies, injecting them with pain meds and examing their injuries.

I am eager to get the hounds out of the hospital and into homes where they can be lovingly rehabilitated and start looking for loving, forever homes.