When Phoenix rose from the ashes and I cried

Let me tell you about Phoneix.  She was rescued along with 20 other cats in a home with one litter box for all the cats.  There were holes in the floor, feces everywhere and it was no condition for cats to live in let alone people.   I brought home two of the 20.  Her roomate warmed up within a few days and has adjusted well in the year that they have been here.

Phoenix however spent an entire 4 MONTHS hiding in my master bath vanity.  I did NOT see her for 4 MONTHS.   I decided to take the two bottom drawers out after 3 months so she could see out and maybe start warming up to the environment.   I started seeing her peak her head out from time to time and on the 16th week of her being here she decided people and dogs weren't so bad. 

She came out and decided to jump on the bed and sleep at my feet all night.   I didn't move a wink even though I so wanted to see her laying there.  Baby steps with fearful cats and dogs for that matter.

After another month she started swiping at me when Id walk by....I would touch her head and she would purr but was still not excited about being touched for very long and ONLY on her head.   another month and she was purring and letting me rub her entire body and decided to claim her space in the house on top of a pillow by the biggest window on the south side.    She had become a family cat and started seeking attention.

Today is the part where I cry out of pure joy because Phoenix has found a home with the total understanding of Phoenix and how she is and its exactly what they want.  

And the best part is, its Ya Ya Kim's sister so I will stay in close touch and if Phoneix doens't work out I have more to offer her:)  But how you can you not fall in love with a cat with a story like that!  Love you Phoenix and Im so glad I got to be a part of your journey!!!

Should we REALLY be tagging some animals as unadoptable?

I guess everyones definition is different but I want you to meet Bi-Polar who I took in after a raid of an "animal rescue" owner left all the animals in danger and the owner no where to be found.  I was told by one of the volunteers who worked night and day to get this particular group to safety and she stated the "owner" wouldnt put him on the website because she has issues.  So Bi-Polar sat in "the shelter" and hung out.

Does this look like a cat that wouldn't be loved instantly?  Let me tell you that this cat is an amazing cat.  She is however Bi-Polar.  For example I did lots of loving on her yesterday and she loved every single second of it.    But then at 2:30 this morning I must have been snoring and she batted me with her paw (Shes declawed or that could have hurt).

But lets work harder as rescues and shelters to find the right homes and list these animals like Bi-Polar that CAN and WILL find the perfect home and will love her for all her quirks. 

She walked out of her kennel yesterday, greeted my pack of cats and dogs and headed straight for the favorite chair in the house......

So the moral of the story is that are AMAZING adopters just like most of us that would love to adopt a cat with special needs.  So lets find these sweet girl (with her own bi-polar attitude) a home!  She so deserves it like every other special needs cat or dog.

You can go to our website http://www.thebarkleyfoundation.net/ to read all about her and apply.

Tears turn to laughter just when we need it!

I woke up this morning remembering one year ago today.  I remember it like it was yesterday, I woke up like any other day the few days prior praying to god that Barkley had fallen asleep on my bed and not woken up.  9 months and the hopes that he would fight renal failure were no longer in my future.  I was preparing to say good bye .  Everyday I did his sub q fluids from large IV bags and gave him his medicine (he was on 12) and rubbed his belly and cried.  

I woke up a year ago today and had to make the call to my ever so compassionate friends and family and my wonderful vet.   Everyone came to help Barkley into the van so we could make the 25 minute trip to say good bye.

The whole in your heart never goes away but sometimes those we love send us messages from beyond just when we need them.

I drove home tonight thinking about Barkley I, the dozen or so dogs in Rome GA that are dying tomorrow,  and what I always think about, the fur kids and what kind of trouble they got into, how many piles of puke, pee, or even poop sometimes.  I have a nanny who lets the kids out half way through the day Mon-Fri in exchange for her using part of my 2 acres for her 2 horses (I dont do horses by the way - nothing against them but they are aliens to me and weigh 1200 lbs!) I turned off the highway to see Grandma Jo Jo and Marshall Edward standing on the gravel road looking at me like "you idiot this is our road" and I was NOT going to argue with them!! 

Jo Jo  Marshall Edward

All naughty animals have a middle name:)  So as I turn my lights and flashers on they decide they better head for the opposite direction.   I tell myself "only me"....  I keep hearing Kim (who owns the horses) saying "Ya Ya your going to be a cowgirl".  

So I round up the horses and get them to the trailer and open the "yummy food side" and throw it over the fence.  Do you think they would go in?  Oh NO - They pushed the gate OUT when they decided to go for a trot so they were afraid to go back in.   So I stepped in piles of horse poo and pee to get to the gate to pull it all the way open so they would go for the yummy hay.....Long story short I DONT DO HORSES but Im getting better at rounding them up.

The night only gets better....I walk into my house after rounding horses up and get hit with "that smell".  Wouldn't you know it Barkley left me not only one but two of the biggest piles of doo doo ever.  And my dogs are talented because they make art out of their doo.  Ill spare you the pictures this time but one of them looked like an arched caterpillar!!!  My Nanny was in IC all day so the kids didn't get out like normal.

Then I step into the house and slide across the floor flailing my arms as to not fall on my ass!  Thank you Barkley, Nanna, Albert and little Ema for contributing to the pile of pee that was now a pond.   So now my tennis shoes smell like horse shit AND dog shit...Just great!  The tension is crawling to my jaws and they are clenched (not a good thing for me)

At this moment I am about to crack....Thinking of Barkley, rough day at work, noone to give me flowers on a special day and I hear my dog Barkley I's bark.  I kid you not, he barked and he barked loud and it was at that moment that I realized that life was good and so worth living.   He was telling me from beyond to pull myself up by the boot straps and open my eyes to what I have done for animals since he passed.  And to remember that all of these things come with loving our fur kids...

My tears and frustrations became an uncontrollable laugh as I stood in a pond of pee...

Now who is coming over to scrub my white kitchen floor after 52 paws went outside and came back with mud on their feet! 

Life is good

When I cry so do they...

Its amazing to me how our four legged fur kids know exactly what we are feeling.   On the days of recent when my stress was higher than normal they were all growly and hyperactive, when I cried out of joy this weekend they licked my tears while wagging their tails.  Now that I am sick with the flu (Cold version) they are all giving me the best sleepy all day kind of day.  Everyone is just relaxed and sleeping. 

So what does that tell you?  Do animals FEEL?  Do they have EMOTION?  How do you explain dogs and cats with extraordinary ability to tell their owner when a seizure is coming, or lay on the foot of the bed when the owner is dying.  They are not just a living creature they are a feeling, emotional creature who have a 7th sense about them and their humans' needs.

This will be an entire chapter in "Through Barkleys Eyes, A Love Story with a Rural Animal Sanctuary",  A book I have been working on for the past several months.

There are so many good books about animals and emotions/how they indeed feel - I reccomend you start with Jeffrey Moussaieff Massons Books:

The Pig Who Sang to the Moon (the emotional lives of farm animals) & When Elephants Weep (the emotional lives of Animals)

Dogs and cats are no different, so remember the next time you see a stray cat or dog who is pleading with your for help dont turn your back, when you see an animal on death row at a kill shelter dont turn your back.  We are their voices when they have no choice.  Work harder, raise awareness, donate, transport, volunteer, foster and love our kids and the world would be a better place.

Payton on the left and Poppie on the right were rescued at only 4 and 5 ounces and bottle fed.  The entire litter is as emotional as we are!  They seek humans out, they are comforted when they are held, they purr when you talk to them, and they abolutley love each other. 

The end is only the beginning...

After much thought and consideration I resigned as the President and Director of Safe Haven of Iowa County today.  I started it 5 years ago on Dec 15th, 2005.   It was a difficult decision on the one hand but so easy on the other.   I wasn't meant to be a Director for the long haul, I am a home body who loves to work behind the scenes but was willing to be at the head of the last 5 years to get Iowa Counties first animal sanctuary going.  I am so proud of the people who have worked so hard along side of me to make a dream a reality.  I have big things planned to help even more animals in need as you will see in my resignation letter below:

12-12-10

            It has been my honor to serve the animals of Iowa County and beyond for the past 5 years.  A dream has become a reality.  Iowa County has its first ever animal rescue group that has saved over a thousand animals.  I am very proud of my role in making this happen.  However, I feel it is time to move away from the role of President and Director of Safe Haven and do what I enjoy the most which is being with the animals.  I will have so much more time to devote to one of my favorite activities…scooping poop at the havens…and even more importantly spending some time with my own family.

I will continue to foster, post animals in need of fostering, sponsors etc as I am able.  I will attend events and help with fundraisers whenever I can.  I have no intention of disappearing because the animals need each and every one of us.  This is an amazing time for new leadership as SHIC continues to grow and there are some incredible volunteers that make this the best group in Iowa County!

            I will do whatever I can to continue to support Safe Haven of Iowa County just not in the role I have held for the last 5 years, as long as the mission remains the same.

            I am looking forward to starting The Barkley Foundation and the Animal Rescue Help website www.animalrescuehelp.net which I have wanted to do for many months and never had time.  It will benefit many animals in need including animals at SHIC.  I look forward to continuing my work in rescue and helping animals in need.  I also look forward to the day that the permanent building is up and I can look at it and be proud of all that was done to make it happen.  

Rinthea Satterlee
Founder Safe Haven of Iowa County

So while one chapter changes a little a whole new one opens.  My mission in life is to help save the lives of animals one at a time and I will do it til my heart stops beating.  Merry Christmas and God Bless from Rinthea and The Island of Misfits

When you ask for supersized....this aint no french fry order

Where do you even start when you become a mom who loses their 4 legged kid (a St Bernard Mix at that) then after 9 months after searching you find a pure bred St Bernard and he seems super sized in every possible way...

Today is our 3rd as a family, Barkley II and the rest of the pack that is.  As most working moms do I had to go to work at my "day job" and had the house baby proofed and dogs separated accordingly.

Albert and Nanna stayed in the bedroom roaming free while Megan and Piper were their kennels  to join them.   The baby gate separated them from all the other dogs who were in kennels EXCEPT Barkley because they don't make crates big enough for my TALL SUPER SIZED FRY.

I thought all day about what I would find when I got home.  Ive NEVER  left a dog free roam with my cats until I really get to know them...No choice this time unless I could come up with enough cash that would buy a small used car to purchase a people size jail cell made of solid steal...

Well the results....

I opened the door and that smell hit me instantly. That larger than life super sized smell of pee!!! Yep right by the front door - I had left two pee pads there and he hit all of one and a part of another so we came up with this as a solution to try for tomorrow.

What used to be ONE pee pad now became 5....I'm going to make millions inventing the largest affordable pee pads made out of recycled cat litter...

Move on to the size of the food container...Imagine a 5 cup Tupperware container....that's what I used for my dogs before Barkley II came.   Now that's how much I feed him alone!  I use this for my new container...

This is a 32 gallon garbage can (Chuck let me borrow it with puppy chow in it to give Barkley more calories) He is so tall he puts his head down INTO in!!!

The cat food is now being guarded with my treadmill, since he took it upon himself to not only break down the baby gate to my bedroom but he also got on the counter to get the container off and eat it ALL!!!   Luckily Albert was probably sleeping and didn't hear it crash to the floor Albert is my deaf 14 yr old beagle) or we would have had a fight on our hands because Albert is the pack leader in this house and food aggressive towards dogs as is Barkley II...

Now on to the playtime SUPERSIZE SIZE AND BARK...Have you ever seen a 17lb Boston Terrier take on a 100 lb 12 foot tall St Bernard who will eventually be 120-140 lbs once hes at his ideal weight. .   Lily is holding her ground and backs him off when he wants to play and she doesn't.  He DEMANDS playtime though so for 30 minutes tonight I have listened to him bark almost non stop while waiting for Lily or Jack to play....I allow this tonight just to see what his longest stretch of playtime really is AND to ware his ass out so I can get some sleep tonight instead of listening to his huge feet going clomp clomp on the hard wood floor at 1, 3, and 5 in the morning:)

But the good news for the day is that everyone is safe, none of my furniture was eaten and the cats have seemed to put their ear plugs in and run for higher ground because when this supersized puppy barks it shakes the windows and when he runs in the house YOU BETTER RUN if your smaller than him....

We have some training to do and they have some pack order issues to sort out but all in all it was a pee induced coma that will get me through the rest of the ear shattering, vibrating night....

I LOVE BARKLEY II!!!!!!!   I'm so glad he's here!

They say you cant replace your pets

I was in love with for the 2nd time in my life (Tucker my corgi is my first love and hes been with me for 4 yrs Christmas Day) but Barkley stole my heart the minute he walked in the doors at Safe Haven.  I was in a relationship at the time and knew the only way he was coming home to stay was to use the old "I have to take him to the vet tomorrow morning so he's just staying the night" routine.   Yep Barkley walked in the door like he had been there forever.  And my partner at the time fell in love too...

I spent almost 3 years with this amazing soul who truly taught me about patience and unconditional love.  I separated from my long term relationship in 2008 and we moved on to start our new life.  Barkley and Tucker were there for everything.  They knew every single second I needed them and they were there.   Barkley was my "Pappa Umpa" or so I called him.  I used to read out loud to him at night while he laid there demanding the belly rubs.  We went on many walks together and I can remember each and every time he saw a rabbit or a deer.  I had to practically sit down while he pulled me trying to get to whichever animal he preferred at the time.  He would also do things that drove me crazy like take the longest drink then come put his head on my lap only to fill it with THE biggest slobber piles you can ever imagine, he would find the biggest pile of mud to rub into, bring those huge feet he had filled with mud or snow and cover my entire kitchen, living room, bedroom in under 30 seconds - you name it it was everywhere! 

He would let Tucker clean his ears, sleep cuddled next to the cats, take in and accept every single foster that ever came through the door as if to say "This is the right place for you to be". 

In April of 2009 something was wrong...He started peeing in the house, going outside and not being able to pee, and started losing his appetite...This all happened in a course of two days.  By the night of the 2nd day he threw up (Ever seen a Saint Bernard throw up????  OMG!)  So I rushed him to Bright Eyes and Bushy Tails and they did blood work and it showed he was in renal failure.   His kidneys were shutting down.   And I was in NO WAY ready to let him go so he was put in intensive care for 6 days while they got his BUN and CREA numbers to the point that he could come home.

The next 9 months we had another shorter hospitalization becase the bags of fluids I was giving him was not enough so we had to restart his kidneys again, once home we started all over again. I was giving him medications for everything you could imagine while also giving him bags of fluids every day - that dog let me poke him with a huge needle and laid there for 20-30 minutes as I rubbed his belly and told him how much I loved him.  He never grumbled or made a peep - he knew he was giving me more time and thats what he wanted too.  The vets told me the first hospitalization that he only had 2-3 months, they were right so that was the 2nd hospitalization, but he came home and they told me he only had a month left.  But I got another 5 months....

I wasn't ready the week before Valentines Day.  I wanted him to be with me forever but I knew as the days were going on and I had to manually get him to go outside to potty that the time was getting near.  I cried every single day and prayed every single night that he would go in his sleep.  I didn't want to be the one to make the choice - no one does.

Valentines Day was a Sunday.  I left for a few hours and by the time I got back he could barely lift his head.  His tail still wagged but I knew it was time.   His breathing had become deeper and I bawled hysterically as I called my closest friends and my dad who had to come and help us get him to the vet.   Barkley at one time had weighed 140 lbs.  He was down to 100.  I Called Dr Chenney who had been by our side every week for the past 9 months drawing blood and giving us the medication refills and giving us support.  He got very close with Barkley as well so when I made the emergency call that Sunday afternoon I kne he was just as devastated.  Dr Chenney cared for him for 9 months and let me go through every emotion over those 9 months and the entire time he supported Barkley and I during our mission to "Save my Pappa Umpa". 

You can imagine the 25 minute ride to the vet as the tears rolled down my cheeks and I talked to him in mumbled tones...He was so happy to be going for a ride - something we did often.  It was the most peaceful passing surrounded by my dad and my closest friends but I sobbed uncontrollably...  I was sure I couldn't live with out him......Devastated was the only word.  Dr Chenney came in on a Sunday to do the hardest job a vet can do not for the pets sake but for those that love them.  Not a single person in that room had a dry eye and my world stopped in time while I watched him take his last final breath and drifted off to the rainbow bridge to join the others who have passed. 

I spent the next 6 weeks crying every single night when I went to bed because he wasn't laying right next to me, he wasn't giving me his paw for a treat, he wasn't playing with the other dogs and making the loud play noises.

My house was absolutely bare once he was gone.  My heart was too.

I spent 3 months grieving then I decided I would fulfill my promise to Barkley that I would rescue another Saint in need someday.  I waited for one to come through Safe Haven but it never happened, I searched Petfinder periodically for 6 months and inquired about 10 Saint Bernard's over that period of time and none of them were the right fit....either dog aggressive, cat aggressive, kid aggressive.  I wanted an adult and began to wonder if it was meant to be.

Well 9 months TO THE DAY of Barkley's passing I received an email from one of my rescue colleagues who asked me to forward out an email about a 12 month old St Bernard who was literally starved to death.  I think she was shocked when I said "I will NOT forward this out". I saw his picture and description and I knew....

A few days later there he was - pulled from Cedar Rapids Animal Control Center by a temp foster who would find him a good home and then as you guessed it he came home with me for his forever home.  When he was first brought to CRACC he weighed 80 lbs!  He should have been a minimum of 120!

So Barkley the II (My 8 yr old niece Hailey named him) is here and his soul, his personality is EXACTLY like Barkley I.  They say you can never replace a dog and they are right BUT you can feel redemption when another dog walks into your life and fills those holes in your heart and soul because they are just like your other.  The look in their eyes that pierces your soul knowing how badly they need our help and wondering if they know how much you need them too.

I adopted Barkley II 9 months and 5 days after Barkley I passed over the rainbow bridge and I think Barkley I sent him to me so I could help another dog with needs and maybe just maybe be able to fill some of those voids after the loss of my soul mate (PS its already started!).  Now hes at 97.5 lbs and we have some weight to get on him and we will do it!  Thank you Barkley I for sending me Barkley II.