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| I would like to tell you the story of “Jake” one of two canine members of our family. Jake was with us for eleven years. Jake was a strikingly handsome all white German Shepard. He had dark brown eyes with ears that stood upright. His facial expression was always that of a happy dog with a constant smile on his face. Things were not always good for him. His entire first year of life was tragic at the hands of abusive owners. My first meeting with Jake almost ended tragically. While driving my car on a busy road in Greece, he almost ended up being struck by me. A neighbor told me where he lived and said that the owners were indifferent about his welfare. At the house a teenager confirmed that the dog was theirs and that his name was Jake. I left my card and told him I would buy the dog and to have his parents call. They never did. A month later a dog answering his description turned up in the found column of the Democrat and Chronicle. It turns out he was picked up by Greece Animal Control. I had to know. I met the dog warden at the kennel and sure enough, it was the same dog I had almost hit a month earlier. The mandatory holding period was about to expire and Jake faced an uncertain future so I bailed him out. I had no intention of keeping this dog. I planned to get him in shape and find him a good home. This would turn out to be tougher than I figured. At this point Jake was a 57 lb., undernourished bag of bones. He was overly defensive as he bore the marks of cruel treatment. He was a sad, scared and confused dog who did not trust anyone. However, sometime during his first year, a woman had shown him some kindness as he liked my wife and took to her, although at the time all she wanted was to have him gone. He was a real brat During the healing process we noticed that Jake had an unnatural thirst and need for water and voided quite frequently. He was diagnosed with a rare form of diabetes, diabetes insipidous. Although the disease was treatable, it was very expensive, $3.00 per pill, and he needed two a day. Jake was now a special needs dog and was not adoptable. He would remain with us. We decided to treat the problem and it would be worth it. It took a year to re-program Jake into the loving, gentle dog he became. His was a unique personality and loved everyone, especially my grandchildren and, of course, his companion for life, Bailey, our female Golden Retriever. Jake was a success story. No dogs are born bad. They are all what their owners make them. All it took on our part was lots of love and a lot of patience. Jake was meant to be with us as things turned out. We had no regrets. Jake passed away in January of this year at the age of 12. He is sadly missed by our family. In Jake’s memory, my wife and I have set up a charitable foundation in his name to help other dogs. - Joe Moscato The Jake Foundation will assist in pet relocation. We work with the Shepard breeds only on a case-by-case situation in order to find good homes for dogs whose owners cannot provide for them anymore. We recently placed a dog named Sophie. We were asked to find a good home for this two year old unsprayed female white Shepard. Since the owner could not afford the cost of spaying we would have to find an owner who would take her “as is”, free of charge. Within three weeks Sophie found a great new home. Her new owner is a vet tech who used to work at our vet hospital. However, she had recently moved to the State of Washington and already owned a rescued white Shepard. We contacted her in Washington in September and she wanted Sophie as is. In October she flew to Rochester, made all the arrangements for Sophie’s adoption and a week later they took off for Washington State and Sophie’s new home where she joined her new owner’s other dogs and a happy new life 3,000 mile away. This is a classic success story and we in the Jake Foundation were so happy to be part of it. Hello. My name is Jessica and I am a 21 year cancer survivor. I was diagnosed when I was three years old (I am now 24) with Neuroblastoma Cancer. I had tumors wrapped around my spinal cord and my organs and was given a very small chance of even surviving the chemotherapy and radiation. I beat the odds although today, I am not without medical problems as a result from the chemo and radiation. I have a very hard time walking, sitting, standing, and getting up because of the pain in my hips, back and legs. About 6 years ago, my family and I adopted our labrador/retriever, Blue. Since then, I have grown up and moved out on my own and Blue has come with me. She is the most intuitive, loving, wonderful dog that I have ever known. She helps me get up when I'm having a hard time, listens when I have to talk, and loves me unconditionally! Blue recently started scratching her ear causing an infection and a hematoma on the inside of her ear. While the vet and I had hoped that antibiotics and steroids would help everything to heal, I was told there might be a possibility that Blue would need surgery to drain the hematoma and suture her ear back together. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders knowing that my puppy would be able to finally get what she needed to get better and be free of the pain. Blue was doing so well after her surgery and I was optimistic that the problem had been solved. However, Blue took a turn for the worse when I woke up one morning and found that she had knawed the fur and skin off of her legs and was bleeding on the living room floor. My heart dropped. After taking her back to the vet, we decided to go ahead with allergy testing to help determine what might be bothering her so much that she can't help doing this to herself. She has been on steroids for almost two months now to try and stop the itching and inflammation. There is only so much more of that kind of therapy that we can do without it affecting her internally. When Joe called to tell me that the Jake Memorial k9 Organization would help me pay for her first year of medical treatment, I was overwhelmed with love and joy. My poor puppy has been suffering for so long and I'm really hoping that the when the allergy test comes back we can start treating her immediately. She is already almost back to her regular puppy self chasing her brother and sister cats just by knowing that she is being taken care of! Thank You for this amazing gift of being able to help my dog feel better and for giving me my beautiful girl the help she needed so that we can take care of each other! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support, kind words, and help towards Blue's bright future! Love Always, Jessica and Blue |
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