Beware: This post is going to make you angry.

STORY #1

You may remember this guy from our Show me St. Louis segment. We have been feeding him for a few months now. The photos are a snapshot from the Show Me piece (I did not have any pictures of him). Anyway, this morning, while riding with PJ she informed me that he had been shot. I immediately went into rescue mode, "Well we are taking him then. The guy will let us take him if he has been shot." PJ didn't seem so sure.

So we pulled up to the house and he was lying in front. He got up and sure enough, there was a hole on the inside of his leg. He could not set his leg down and it looked swollen. PJ fed him some soft enticing food. We were planning to just take him, but he won't come near us unless his owner is around.

PJ knocked on the door, the guy came out and we explained that his dog had been shot and that we would like to take him for veterinary care. The guy argued with us, saying that he had not been shot and that he had just been in a fight. PJ assured him that she had seen a bullet wound before and that is what it was. He asked us why we cared about his dog. I explained that we just don't like to see him suffer. He said, "Don't worry about my dog. He's my dog, I'll take care of him." Which we all know will not happen.

I left with tears in my eyes. Feeling helpless I decided to call Animal Control, thinking that at least they could go out there and help the dog. The lady said, "Is he on the guys property, ma'am?" My answer was yes, but not all of the time. She said, "Well, there is nothing we can do then." What? I said, "Do you go out to help dogs that are starving and chained if they are on someone's property? I would assume a bullet wound to the leg is just as pressing as starvation." She took my name and I think just appeased me saying they would check it out.


STORY #2

Next stop, our beloved Maggie. Maggie was laying by the garage out back today, which is unusual for her. We had to whistle quite a few time before she came. This is a dog who is normally waiting on the sidewalk for us, sitting patiently, before our car even pulls onto her street.

Maggie came slowly moving from the back area, limping and looking very somber. My heart sank. Not Maggie. She can't be hurt. "PJ, we're taking her." PJ said that we could not take her because the man inside the house will see us and he will be very angry.

"But what are we supposed to do, just leave her here?"

She had some fairly large punctures on her legs, I am sure due to a fight and she seemed quite sore. She has so much hair that it is hard to tell if there was anything else wrong. Although I have seen injuries much worse than these, it was heartbreaking to see Maggie injured.

I don't really know what my point is in writing about all of this. Most days with PJ are fairly easy and on the up side. We feed the dogs, they do their thing and we are on our merry way. Of course we would like to rescue all of them, but at least we know they are getting fed.

Here we have two animals that we cannot rescue because they are "owned" by someone. I wish we could change laws. I wish that animals were not considered property. There is something wrong with a people who disregard the pain, hunger and needs of those who are unable to help themselves. The problem that exists with the stray population in communities like this is a direct reflection on all of the other negative things that happen there.

What can be done?

UPDATE: I just spoke to the Humane Society of Belleville and they went out to look at Yeller (I think that's what the guy calls him). Anyway, they confirmed that it is definitely a gunshot wound and that there are flies all around it and it is very swollen. The rate of infection for these types of wounds is very high. He said they are going to go out there every day to feed him and hopefully be able to rescue him. I am hoping that they will be able to talk some sense into this guy. He wants to meet us out there this week. Unfortunately time is not on our side with this one, so send some good vibes.

Pet of the Week: Chi Chi

The response we received from the Show-Me St. Louis segment was so overwhelming, thanks to everyone who donated, adopted, or got involved from seeing the segment. Even more exciting is that they have agreed to continue featuring us on their show with a "Pet of the Week" segment! So without further adieu, Chi Chi is ready for his close-up! 

Chi Chi is a 4 year old chihuahua/rat terrier mix. He loves his sweater. He also loves to be on anyone's lap. He is a sweet boy who does well with children. He is kennel trained, house trained, neutered, up to date on shots, does well on a leash, and loves to play fetch. He will drop the ball right in front of you every time. His adoption fee is $150. To adopt Chi Chi or find out more information head to www.GatewayPets.com.

Fundraiser

Here's another great way to help raise money for Gateway Pet Guardians. Click the photo for a larger view. Click here to get the order form

Contact Jodie Galyon @ 314-420-1178

or jojorockstar@yahoo.com

Text Santa!

Hi there!  I'm Ashley, the new public relations specialist with Gateway, and this is my first blog post.  I wanted to tell everyone about the new partnership that Gateway Pet Guardians has with TextSanta.net this Christmas.

Text Santa allows you have personalized text messages sent to the mobile phone of anyone you wish, and they will recieve a custom message from Santa! For every order placed through Text Santa with the promotional code PAWS, one dollar will be donated to Gateway Pet Guardians.  Just visit the site, fill the order form, and don't forget to enter PAWS.  Send messages to your kids, husband, boyfriend/girlfriend, mom, dad, anyone you want.  If you can't think of anything to write, they have pre-written messages available as well.

So place your order, tell your friends, and help us raise some money for a good cause!

SHOW ME ST. LOUIS TOMORROW!

I know I mentioned in the last blog that we would be on Show Me St. Louis sometime in the near future. Little did I know that it would be tomorrow! We filmed this morning and it will air at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 4th. Above is one of the dogs we saw this morning. This poor little girl is one that PJ has seen for quite a while now, but anytime we even pull the car on the street she disappears. Believe it or not she is looking better now than she did a few months ago. Her skin is still quite raw, but there is fur growing back in. She has trouble walking because her skin is so bad. I am ordering a kennel today. We need someone to foster her, so please let us know if you are interested. She will be a very rewarding pup to watch heal.

I took some pictures of Argyle and Tweed (below) at PJ's today. They are ADORABLE. Seriously, look at that little face. And look at the wiry hair on Tweed. We know who the dad is of Tweed and he is a VERY handsome fella. These two were the starving, dehydrated pups that were on the second floor of the falling in on itself building. I'll have to get some pictures of the building to show you what PJ goes into to do these rescues.

INSANITY.

These two need fosters as well. That was our major plea on Show Me St. Louis. FOSTERS! There are about 20 pups on the street right now that need rescuing. We knew where eight of them were and had made the decision beforehand that we were not going to rescue them today due to the fact that we have no where for them to go. But then the news lady said that she wanted to adopt one and said she would also foster another. After that we decided we could not leave the other six just in case the mom got a bright idea to move them, or in case one of the locals saw us and might want a new puppy. These guys are safe now, but we desperately need fosters for them.
Camera broke as I was taking pictures of them, so I will have to get back to you on pictures of them.

Thanks everyone, and don't forget to watch tomorrow at 3!

Argyle & Tweed

Few quick notes...Tomorrow we will be filming to be on Show Me St. Louis. They will be riding along with us as well as filming our little designer pups. Super excited about this and we will notify you of the air date. We have a TON of events coming up. Please go to our website calendar to check everything out and if you are not signed up for our newsletter, please sign up while you are there, so you will be automatically notified of all of the Gateway happenings.

On another note, we rescued two little sickly puppies named Argyle and Tweed from the second story of a building in East St. Louis. We went in looking for these pups a little over a month ago with no luck. The building is completely dilapidated, so I stayed outside with a camera (since I am pregnant) and PJ went in to do the searching. She was in there for about 45 minutes with no luck. We knew the mom was running out of milk, so we continued to leave food and treats thinking they would come out and get them. They never did, but the mom would bring the treats in, so we knew she must have been feeding her babies with them. It finally dawned on PJ that they were probably on the second floor and could not get down. We were unsure how sturdy the steps were since the entire building is collapsing on itself, but our brave PJ, along with our wonderful cinematographer Rebecca Ormond went in and were able to rescue these starving, dehydrated puppies. They have been given fluids and are recuperating at PJ's. They are tiny for 13 weeks due to malnutrition, but will surely catch up with themselves now that they are getting regular food and water. We need you to foster these puppies. Please let us know if you are able to.