The Capture of "Casey The Cat"

Yeah!  Casey finally made it off of the streets but now he has yet another journey.  He tested FIV positive. While this is not a death sentence by any means, he is going to need to find parents that aren't freaked out by this.  Often someone won't know their cat is FIV until he is old and getting tested for something else.  This can affect their immune systems.  They can live 3 years or 20 years.  But the most important thing is that he is strictly an indoor cat where he won't be exposed to lots of parasites, viruses, colds, outside.


If he is given a holistic diet and lots of love he has a great shot at life.  FIV is spread between cats by bite wounds.  Not general play.  I actually ended up with an FIV+ kitty about a year ago and knew nothing about it so was pretty concerned.  The other disturbing fact I learned is that if a cat has been given a vaccination against FIV,  then he will ALWAYS test positive for the virus.  To date there is no reliable test to see whether a cat has FIV or only has been vaccinated against FIV.  Most likely Casey was not vaccinated against FIV, but just a "heads up" to people that is such a "gray" issue.  I joined an FIV yahoo group and found out that pretty much everyone there keeps their FIV cats with their other cats. You generally would not keep cats together that were actually biting each other anyhow.  Just things to think about.  Of course it is just an individual decision, but just wanted people to realize that a lot of people keep all of their cats together with no problems.

And of course if you have no cats now, then this isn't even an issue!  But we do want to leave Casey's options open.  Maybe some of you have FIV kids already and would be willing to welcome him in your home either temporarily or forever.  This guy is just a doll.  He has been begging PJ for his rescue day for months now and we just want to find someone great to welcome Casey to the Gateway family.
Can you help?

And don't forget PJ's Birthday Challenge.

Help Gateway Pet Guardians "win" $90,000!!

The "Gateway Girls" were with PJ last Thursday and we had just rescued "Casey the Cat".  After breathing huge sighs of relief, (which you will be able to hear on the audio in the next few days) we were gabbing.  We are girls after all.....Well, PJ's birthday came up and we discovered that it always gets "neglected".  She has one of those between Christmas and New Year's birthdays, December 28th to be exact.  And people are always doing their hustle and bustle during this time and PJ never really gets her 15 minutes.  Well, she is a major blessing to us and all of the animals and we don't want to see her get left out one more year.



We figured that she was worth at least $1.00 for every year of her life, right?  So she will be 56 this year and so we thought that would be a great number for a donation.  If everyone of our FaceBook fans gave $56.00 then we would have $92, 512 just like that.  But we only have a few weeks to do it!  We realize some of you may be out of work, etc...You can help too.  Please use your social media to pass this along to as many people as possible to help us reach our goal.  Some people could easily give more than the 56, maybe they want to give her 2 birthdays at once!  But we would like full participation so please give something.  Five dollars, ten dollars, whatever you can.  You see, you may think that such a small amount doesn't make any difference at all.  But it does.  If we all just do a little bit then we can move mountains, and that is just about the strength we need to help these homeless animals.  We CAN do this.  But we need you.  Why do we need $92, 512??  Our immediate goal is to build a shelter so we have a place to temporarily house animals.  Sometimes we have to pull a dog quickly because they need medical attention and we don't have anywhere to take them.  You can save their lives.  You can help us. Please make a donation.  Please SHARE!!

Click on the Paw on the left hand side of blog to donate via paypal
Email Here to get address or donate in another form (checks, cash, your trust fund :)
Click Here for our website and to see all available kids!

Nigel, Nina, & Nigella

Sunday morning listening to the howling wind and seeing there is a HIGH of 18 degrees tomorrow. We really don't know if Nigel, Nina, and Nigella will be able to survive another brutal winter.


Last Thursday the "Gateway Girls" went on the feeding route with P.J.
The video below is of Nigel and Nigella taken on that morning. Do you have a garage, a basement, or some room in your home to foster one of these kids until they find a forever home. The instant we have a foster home we can work on the rescue. GPG always pays the vet bills. Maybe you have a friend that keeps talking about needing some extra company? Please help us find fosters for these pups so they don't have to fight for their lives yet another winter.



Would you ever like to go out and feed the dogs with us? We love to have new people. Let us know if it is something that interests you. We go everyday of the week, 365 days a year. So you have plenty of days from which to choose. Please email us at gatewaypetguardians@yahoo.com or call 314.664.7398 to find out more.

Desi, Dribble, and Company.

Click on right hand side to view on You Tube if video appears clipped.
You can also adjust for HD.


Desi, Dribble, the "pack", Nigella, and Mama Dog. All creatures who desperately need foster homes before the harshest cold of winter. It is imperative that we try to rescue the weaker ones as well, as their will diminishes in time. The bitter cold takes a toll on these guys and there is no guarantee that they will survive. I really want to get Nina, Nigel, and Nigella before the end of the year. We had fosters over a year ago for them, but then got flooded with puppies. So they got a little left behind. But let's give them a chance for a real life this Christmas. Desi is a newer dog that has warmed up to P.J. immensely. She is a total sweetheart. Poor "Mama dog" has already had to give birth to 11 puppies, since she has no guardian to spay her. The stray dog world has no room for feminism. Maybe we have some feminists out there who believe that this girl has been through enough and will offer her hope. Dribble has been on the streets forever and it is great he has survived this long. Problem is, that one day we will go out there and he will have disappeared. Don't let him be another Floyd. Floyd was another guy who we adored and never made if off of the streets. This hits everyone really hard, but these are like P.J.'s kids, and it really kills her. So a happy holiday for the dogs is also the best present for which P.J. could ask. Let's try to give her a good holiday.

Please don't forget to enter the Big Apple Sweepstakes. Click here for the page, then you click on "Enter Sweepstakes". This is so our shelter could win 3000 dollars! Please share with friends. There are only a few weeks to vote so PLEASE do share.
Also, check out Keeley on TV, she is decked out for Christmas. Won't you take her home for the holidays and forever after? And this Saturday, December 11, 2010 we are having a "Breakfast with Santa" so if you are thinking your kids would look cute in reindeer ears, now is your chance! Click here for the flyer. We will have lots of our foster dogs and we know your kids would like to get their photo taken as well.

"Boise the Border Collie"

"Boise the Border Collie" is a couple of years old and a complete angel.
Don't you just want to take her home with you?? We found her in East St. Louis and she was more than thrilled to jump in the car with P.J. to seek a better life. This girl is GOOD! She is "the perfect child" and we all need at least one! You know, the child that doesn't chew your mattresses up, doesn't pick fights with the other kids, and doesn't make the principal call your house after being in daycare. Yep. Click here to find out more about us and fill an application out for Boise.

"Casey the Cat" and Gateway Gifting!

You all seem to love "Casey the cat". Please share and help us find an indoor foster and forever home for him (we think he is a him :) He gives us such desperate pleas in the mornings. He is just begging for someone to give him an open invitation into their home.

Another year has slipped by and the crowds are scrambling to buy the latest toys of the year. If you are looking for some meaningful gifts to share, please read further! Why not buy all of your friends and family our new calendar that showcases some of our rescues from the past year. Not only will the recipients be touched by the beautiful photography and captions, but they might even be inspired to expand their own families. And when the year is done, use it for artwork or recycle. It's feel good, it's green and it's made locally. Another fabulous find would be our Gateway Guardians DVD. Animal lovers or not, this film is truly a testament to the change that one person can initiate. It was PJ's incredible dedication that moved others around her to create Gateway Pet Guardians. This film has to potential to inspire any person to work toward their dreams. Maybe you would just like to make a donation in the honor of a person or one of their animal children. And then we have our tees and totes. Some really cute shirts with Gateway and rescue logos. All different styles, colors, and messages. A great way to spread the word. Quit wearing your marathon and "I ran a 5k shirts" to the gym! Go to the gym with a message! If someone comes up to you asking about such a hip shirt like that, well then they might actually be worth talking to. Who knows, the purchase of a pink ringer Gateway tee just might lead you to the person of your dreams! Also available are teddy bears, baby bibs and infant sizes, baseball caps, mugs and beer steins. Another amazing offering this year are dog prints by Kay Renner. All the proceeds from these prints will go GPG. Thank you Kay!

Our Soiree was a huge success. We couldn't have done it without all of our fans and volunteers and we are so grateful to each and every one of you! Of course our photographer, David Carlyon, took some great shots from the evening. Click here to see photos. And speaking of photos, we also stumbled upon some photos from our art auction from February! After the premiere, we also received word that HSUS would like a copy of our documentary so keep your fingers and paws crossed that they will help spread the word about the work we are doing. We are also mentioned here in the SLIFF 2010 Review.
SLIFF 2010 Review: GATEWAY GUARDIANS

We are continuously raising money for our shelter. Each gift is so appreciated. We would like to tell everyone that Ashley Bertschinger is collecting cans this month and will redeem them for their cash value at a the end of December. The funds will go to GPG and we would love for you to spread the word to your friends via all of your social media outlets. So don't toss out all of those cans from your holiday parties! Get in touch with us to find out where you can bring your cans.

We also would like to ask for your support in voting for us in the "Big Apple" Pet Supply contest to help us win $3000 for our shelter fund. Big Apple is sponsoring this and voting begins soon. We will post the voting link as soon as it goes live.
And Kudos to PJ for winning $1250 from the Rams! She was a top finalist for the Rams Community Quarterback Award. Another way we are raising money is throughout the e-scrip program. You simply sign up here and then any participating business will automatically donate a certain portion of your bill to your designated charity. You can see participating retailers here. American Airlines, Schnucks, Orvis, and Sierra Trading Post are some of the ones I noticed.

A huge thank you to Donna Hummert for donating over 1300 pounds of food last month! What, 1300 pounds?? Yep. Instead of being a Scrooge on her birthday and telling everyone not to celebrate it, she had a party and told her guests to bring dog food. What a great idea! No stress of "Is it the right size?", "Does she already have one?", " Will she ever wear it?", etc.... Nope. These gifts will go to feed our kids in East St. Louis. Thank you Donna! Maybe some of our other fans will also suggest to their guests that they don't really need another pot holder, vase, or plastic trinket. Maybe you can inspire your guests to bring dog food to your gathering too! Of course we will come pick it all up! No heavy lifting required.

Another SuperHero we would like to mention is Ledy VanKavage. She wrote a great article about the meaning of Thanksgiving here about our Gateway Guardians film. Her other blog posts on change.org are here. We aren't the only ones who recognize how special she is. Click here to read about Ledy and here to VOTE for her! Please vote NOW as voting will conclude December 5th, Sunday.

Since GPG has no physical home right now, we are storing our supplies at multiple homes and it's getting crazy! On our wish list is to be able to rent a storage unit that we are able to access day or night. This will cost 25.00 each month. Tracy Lammert already stepped up to take the first month. Would you be kind enough to offer to a pay for a month or two?? We will keep you posted on our progress.

Other links we would like to share are for our Gateway Pet Gazette, December Issue.
And an "elf movement". Jamie would love for all of you to send us you and your family (of course include the dogs!) getting "elfed". If you know a Scrooge or two, you guys need to get some "Jamie energy" as she exudes an infectious joy for life. She specializes in holidays and realizes that you must celebrate these moments to create a special life. We are so thankful to have her presence at Gateway. So rarely do highly organized/focused and artistic energy merge but that's just what happened when Jamie got made and we are very thankful for all of her dedication to our four-legged creatures.
Click here to see Jamie with Boise talking about the work we do in East St. Louis on Fox2.

P.J.'s Thanksgiving feeding

You can view the video in HD also, please just adjust on bottom right.Click on "You Tube" to the right if the video is cut off.

Many of our fans have never actually been able to go out on the feeding route with P.J. This video has basically everyone that we saw Thanksgiving morning. It was a Thanksgiving morning a few years back that was my first time out with P.J. And it was a dog named "Bomber" that I thought about every single day after my first ride along experience. If you have an interest in seeing what P.J. does on a daily basis, then please contact us. We would love to have more of our fans be able to share this experience.

I am thankful this Thanksgiving for people like P.J. who confront this suffering every single day. She does not turn her eyes away from these animals. Instead, she does everything in her power to diminish their sorrows.

"The capacity to give one's attention to a sufferer is a very rare and difficult thing. It is almost a miracle. It is a miracle.

Simone Weil

Thank you P.J. for being their miracle.

Karmic Treats and Abounding Spirits.

Tonight is your chance to meet P.J. and all the other stars of Gateway Pet Guardians.
Karmic Treats and Abounding Spirits.
Amazing Guitarist, John McClelland.

Drag your introverted friends out. Even your friends who insist they don't like people.
Eat, Drink, and hang with the dogs.
What else is there?

The Making Of "Gateway Guardians" II

Part II of chatting with Rebecca Ormond. Goddess of Film. I found it pretty interesting even though I know nothing about film.

Below, the finished product!



It was great to hear that the Gandhi quote "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated". Mahatma Gandhi practiced "ahimsa" which is the action of "non-harming". If you read up on him at all, you will probably be inspired by the simplicity of his life and also his love for all sentient beings. He is a real SuperHero to all of us animal lovers. Another Gandhi quote: "I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man". Sometimes when the situation for animals seems overwhelming, it's good to gain inspiration from the great souls that came before us. This work will not end in our lifetime, but it does not mean that there is any less of a reason to do it.

I leave you with a beautiful video about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. It is a collage of photos put together to the music of M.C. Yogi. It is great running music and kind of makes you feel like you are running toward something greater. It is easy to think you are just repeating the same steps over and over again. A good reminder that all of the steps that we take everyday eventually add up to an entire journey. Hopefully at the end of this journey, we have been able to create some positive changes.

"Welby the Wonderdog"

This sweet girl finally came inside after an hour. She was dropped off by Jamie and Shaun Case at 8:15 tonight after a gal in Imperial found her wandering around. She is a delight. Very sweet, and very nervous. She is fine with all of my other dogs. She barely noticed the cats. She would not come in the house - a clear sign that she was kept outside all the time. Of course the chain on her collar was another sign. After 3 hours and a feeding, she is now happy to accept me petting her. She will be a great and loving dog. No issues with other dogs at all - she is very submissive. Since I already have 8, yes 8 beasts at my house, she is going to boarding tomorrow - yuck! Any fosters out there who are ready to spread the love to this sweetheart who deserves a loving place to call home until she finds here forever home? Here is a picture of the collar and chain she was dragging around when she was found.

Questions with filmmaker Rebecca Ormond

In September I had the great opportunity of seeing "Gateway Guardians" at Winnie Moore Theatre in Webster and hearing the filmmaker, Rebecca Ormond, answer some questions from Mike Steinberg. This is Part 1. We are so grateful to Rebecca of Matriarch Motion Pictures for sharing her love with us! As you know, our big Soiree is THIS THURSDAY, November, 18, 2010 6:30-10:00 p.m. during the Webster Film Festival. The entire party, with movie included is 50.00. And of course all proceeds go towards helping the wonderful dogs in the movie and the current ones living on the streets of East St. Louis. We are continuing work on our mission of building a shelter with spay/neuter capabilities in this under served area. Click here for all the details. If you can't make it to the whole event, please just check out the movie!! But if you can make it to the party, we have yummy treats from MatchMeats and a great guitarist, John Mcclelland who is shown on the link with his duo. We might get lucky and hear him play some Piazzolla. I am putting in my request now!

And some of our other press!!!! Which we are so GRATEFUL for! First we have our beautiful Amie Simmons, who I recognized when I saw only her feet from her adorable Hunter Boots :) promoting the grand gala this Thursday on Fox2. Click here to see Amie, Amie's boots, and Cally, an adorable dog who needs a forever home.

And we got a write-up in the Riverfront Times. Click here to read!

Our lovely Jamie with Sonny, one of our favorite pups who has had a difficult start. Click here to see Sonny on Fox 2.

Another write-up on Sonny here from "The Examiner".

It's RAINING puppies!

Puppies galore! Get them fast!
Okay folks, we need fosters for these kids.
And, oh, FOREVER homes. So spread the word to all your friends that think they need to buy a puppy. To foster or arrange a meeting please email gatwaypetguardians@yahoo.com

Sonny

For Previous blog posts about Sonny click here.


Sonny is getting depressed. He has been in a kennel and 2 foster homes. Both of his foster homes ADORED him but his first foster mom had to move to the East Coast quickly and his second foster home is growing in the number of people VERY soon and they worry Sonny won't get the attention he deserves. Sonny & his foster sister Maddy are the best of friends. He wonders why a lot of his Gateway friends have already been adopted and why he often doesn't get a second look.

Okay pit lovers, you know who you are. PLEASE spread the word about this guy. He wonders if he isn't handsome enough or if people just won't even give him a chance because he was born a pit. He is really great with most dogs and he even walks well on a leash. I don't know if you could find a more loyal companion.

So if you want true unconditional love then ditch the computer dating sites. Come meet Sonny.
Go out to dinner with people, have a drink, conversation and some fun.
But if you want someone who won't let ya down and who will always greet you with love when you walk in the door-this is your man.

He doesn't leave the toilet seat up or throw his socks on the floor.
This guy is good.

Running with Kealy

Kealy is a wonderful kid with mountains of gratitude and good energy. While she has enough zest to get me to enjoy an hour run, she grants me much grace by her acceptance of my speed and unwillingness to run a daily marathon. No, I don't want to chase every squirrel up a tree and I am not a sprinter. Kealy takes all of this into consideration when she picks me up in the morning. While she is always awake and rearing to go, she also lets me have a little adjustment time to be groggy and adapt to the morning jogging world. A world which I truly thought would occur in an alternate lifetime. Usually I get my serotonin shots from lifting weights or an abundant amount of "breath of fire" in Kundalini yoga. But Kealy has forever changed that. Now I am appreciating the early morning sunlight and feeling the dew on the grass. After a thermos of yerba mate, slipping on my hip new KSO Vibrams, and hitting play on the ipod (Krishna Das helps as I am really in need of some powerful mantras to kick-start this process), we hit the ground running.

The first few days she was testing me to see if I was really suitable running material. After a few leash changes and myself just surrendering to the actual idea of running itself, we have both adjusted quite well to this invigorating routine. She is such a WONDERFUL girl and she really needs a foster home or to find her forever home. You see, her current foster home is more for "special needs" kids like Bea and Aaron and very shy pups who are still learning to adjust to us people. But Kealy is just a really normal dog who loves people and other dogs and we really need to find her a foster or forever home so we are able to pull another dog in dire need off the street.

Maybe you are flirting with the idea of becoming a newbie jogger.....maybe you just are pretty depressed when you walk in the door in the evening and could use a dose of Kealy's infinite joy of life. This kid will do her best to keep you out of the dumps. And if it's a skinny butt you are after, well she ensures that you will get that too. Please contact us if you would like to meet this girl in person. I really don't think you will be disappointed!

We also have two awesome events coming up. First we have a Trivia Night. Okay, we know....you don't remember any frivolous facts from years ago, heck, you can't even remember if or what you ate for breakfast. But honestly these events are about hanging out with other compassionate folk and bringing a picnic basket full of munchies. Buy the booze there but you can bring your own eats. Contact us if you want to participate but you don't already know 9 other people with whom you would like to spend a Saturday night. Maybe we can help fill out your table and you can meet new friends that give your dogs kisses when they stop by your house. These new friends won't always eagerly point out the excessive amounts of animal hair that always seem to be so prevalent on your black wardrobe.

Finally, we have what we hope to be our hugest event this year. Our DOCUMENTARY!!!! Yes, Rebecca Ormond teamed up with Jamie Case & Amie Simmons to bring Gateway Pet Guardian's movie to fruition. We all know Jamie & Amie are wonderful! And I just met Rebecca at the Tivoli film debut and discovered she is also wonderful and really brilliant. She is overly modest about her incredible talent and she really veered off from her usual style of movie by accepting this grassroots project. I got to hear her talk shop at the Webster debut and found her interview really engaging. This movie was not "easy" to shoot/produce by any stretch of the imagination. She had to rely on the PJ and the crew to use Sony ZI8 HD cams and pretty much relinquish control over what was shot and how it was shot. Scenes got to be pretty difficult to capture because a lot of the footage was during actual rescues where the people filming were also actually participating in the rescue. Add that to being in abandoned buildings with some floors some of the time, walking on rubble, and trying operate a camera in zero degree weather.....well we surely presented her with a challenge. All the girls did an amazing job of taking all of those hours of footage and telling GPG's story.

We want to pack the house for the Webster Film Festival showing on November 18, 2010. You are able to just buy a ticket for the film only but if you can we would love for you to buy a ticket to the "Soiree" afterwards. This is going to be a really great gathering of our fans & supporters. All the money made goes to helping the kids that you see in the movie and also making our other dream, the shelter, begin to materialize. Rumor has it that some stars from the film, four-legged and otherwise, will also be making appearances. We will also be serving animal friendly treats (food for the peeps that didn't harm the animals in the making). And apparently some good live music which we will announce shortly!

And one last note.....We are wanting to get Kenya/La Roja this week but need to find a foster home FAST!!!! She is adorable and also seems to be really well adjusted. All of our dogs are adorable of course, but some have obviously had a lot more social experience with us people. She doesn't seem to possess any fear of people and she should be an easy kid to foster. At least it appears that way from her behavior on the street. You can see for yourself. If you have a space anywhere, basement, warm garage or of course your house-please consider making a difference in her life. You can also see some other kids that are still waiting for a foster. It will be getting cold soon and it would be great to rescue some of the kids that just might not make it another winter. These include Lloyd, Malcolm, Nigel, Nigella, Nina, and countless others.

Documentary Free this Sunday!

Don't forget to tell your friends about our Sunday, September 26 showing of the documentary at Webster. It is a great opportunity to bring all the kids out since this is a FREE event. Please cross post! We love to have new fans and hopefully some new "fosters" as well. Click here or on our Documentary Page to know more about our screenings.

And our friends at at the dog park are hosting a really fun event tomorrow. Registration starts at noon and proceeds go to our great doggie playground in Soulard.

Frenchtown dog park (Soulard) Pup Crawl tomorrow Saturday, September 25.

A hundred and one million thanks to all of the kind souls that were trying to help us keep track of our little rescue rascals, Bea & Aaron. These two are going to take a little while to adjust. I just went to visit them yesterday at Hillside Animal Hospital, and they were in "resting" phase. They need to complete their heartworm treatment and get a little more used to socializing with human mammals. Their eyes conveyed so much history, surrender, and a sort of "peace" yesterday. They have struggled long and hard on the street for years, so it is going to take more than a few days for them to calm down and learn to trust people. Aaron let me pet him a lot, while Bea was pretty much knocked out and was napping during our visit. These dogs have a lot of depth to their personality. They may take awhile to socialize, but they seem to be forever loyal companions.

Salting the wound?

You can watch this in HD if you like, just click on the 720 on the right hand side.

I started "missing" Bea & Aaron so couldn't help but look at some old video footage. This video was taken in late August 2010, before P.J. rescued them. Of course, they were rescued Thursday, September the 16th, and then they decided to bolt from P.J.'s backyard the next day Friday, September 17th. I just wanted to post a little bit of video of Bea & Aaron in East St. Louis, on a day we were considering trying to rescue them. Unfortunately, that day there was a truck with a flat tire right next to us and Bea and Aaron didn't want to share their "special day" with any spectators. Look at how Aaron let's P.J. pet him. Please help us find them!
To find out the current situation with them (and everything else we are up to) be our friend on facebook.

Wine and tears...........

What a trying day.....have been up since 5:00 as I tried to drink some strong coffee prior to meeting P.J. to feed the kids. When I saw her, Aaron had only managed to jump her fence, into her neighbor's yard. Well 2 minutes later he was gone and just after that there was no sign of Bea either. So that incredibly happy rescue of yesterday, the joy of knowing these kids were safe now, all vanished. Just vanished into thin air. It was like being back at square one, except the kids weren't even on their own turf. Now Bea and Aaron are in a busy city, a city where there is a lot of traffic. We briefly look around before going to do the feeding on the East Side.

The rest of the day there are sightings of Bea. At one point 5 of us tried to corner her on Lafayette Street, just 1/2 a block east of Broadway. She was just laying there but once she knew what we were up to, she took off southeast. Apparently earlier in the day Bea made it to the Soulard Farmer's Market area and I think she might have even had a sandwich in her mouth at one point.

And I was SO happy to hear that Aaron had been seen. Our WONDERFUL fosters, Ann and her husband Greg, had seen the facebook posting and decided to "make a night of it". Miraculously they spotted Aaron and kept tabs on him until P.J. arrived. I got a phone call that Aaron was at 2nd street and Marion, only one block away from where Bea had been earlier. He and P.J. were just staring at each other. He was lying down and she was standing with her big gloves on, just in case an opportunity presented itself. He really wanted to go with P.J., but he was just too afraid. He was wagging his tail and almost playful. We tried to feed him some food with some "sleepy pills", but he just wouldn't eat enough of them to really make a difference. After that, the four of us were waiting and watching. P.J. and Greg made a move for it and Aaron split. He ran only a little bit before he thought he would like to toy with us again. He plopped down on the sidewalk and more of the same.

Eventually P.J. had him in a HUGE fenced in area, but he managed to escape the "temporary" fence part of it. I think we ended up on Choteau, but east of Broadway/7th. In a very industrial, overgrown area. It was getting really dark and we were going through the brush hoping.......We apparently weren't the only ones out in this kind of spooky area, P.J. was shining her light everywhere and it landed on a van with people smoking something. We decided to "wrap it up" for the night. P.J.'s gas tank was on empty the entire time.

So around 3:00 p.m. Bea was at Broadway and Lafayette (she was actually on Broadway), and then Aaron was all around the 2nd and Marion area (and north of there) in the night time. So please send us all of your good energy, prayers, meditations and mantras; we will take whatever we can get :) And I am really hoping that they will be down there this weekend since it will be very quiet there the next couple of days.

Such a long day of hope and now.....I realize it it night and we have no dogs. So that is where the wine comes in. And really I think a lot of tears for all of the hope that they would be with us again tonight and then the disappointment knowing that we have to wait another day. But I am grateful that they are both still with us and maybe they are staking out an area. So second and third streets and Broadway area.......

I just have to stay detached from them a little bit. If I even think about their personalities and how long P.J. has known them and been feeding them, it is just too painful to think they might not return. If you want to help look, please "like" our facebook page, where you can see the current situation with these kids.

So I am hoping this weekend. Keep your fingers & paws crossed.

"Cheyenne" and Match Madness!

Meet Cheyenne. She is a bundle of sweet little goodness and she really wants a home.

As you can see, she gets along with other dogs and with people. She is crate trained and proves it by exhibiting she knows how to do number 1 & 2 outside and not on your wooden floor. P.J. found her in an abandoned lot and couldn't leave her there to fend for herself. If you would like to meet Cheyenne in person please email gatewaypetguardians@yahoo.com

Next, I want to tell everyone about our documentary screening and Gala on November 18th.

All of the details later but save the date! Come out and see our movie and attend an awesome party afterwards. And a huge thank you to Allison Burgess. Allison, the founder of "Match", has graciously donated some great eats for this event. If you have never had Match, you are in for a treat. Match Meat (and the recent addition of Daiya cheese) has in my husband's words, "totally changed my repertoire". Yes, with Allison's incredible eats, our house is now like a 24/7 diner. We are talking biscuits and gravy, a mean chili, scrambled sausages, baked nachos loaded with the fixings, slingers, all this and more and ZERO cholesterol. My husband had a baked ziti addiction during our "Netflix" summer with "The Sopranos". It seemed that all that mafia activity and Italians cutting garlic prompted him to make his own version of "Baked Ziti" (sin animales). Ours consisted of Organic Brown Rice Pasta, Match Meat "Beef" style, a basic organic jarred tomato sauce, loads of garlic, and Daiya cheese. I think even the Sopranos could have "flipped" after indulging in such a delicious version of Baked Ziti. For holidays there is the "Match Meat Roast". You can do St. Louis's own "Slinger" with scrambled tofu, Match Meat "burger", hash browns, and chili. Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice and Match Meat of your choosing. Nachos with baked corn chips, Match Meat beef, Daiya cheese, sliced black olives, Eden canned Pinto Beans (Eden cans do not have BPA in their lining), and salsa. And no animals harmed in the process. A win for everyone. You can find her products at Whole Foods and Dierbergs in the frozen section. We have tried nearly every single type of "meaty" product since we ditched the meat, cheese, casein, etc....over a decade ago. Seriously, I remember my mom buying "Loma Linda" veggie hot dogs in a can, and that was a long time ago. I think I was 10 when those came out and we have come a LONG way! And I personally recommend Match Meat for the most "traditional", comfort food type of feel. When people tell me they have tried some other veggie meat, I always tell them to try Match. It's so real it even scares vegans! But we will get over it quickly and praise Allison for creating a wonderful product that is totally "mainstream" and I truly think everyone can love. Give it a try at home and her site has lots of recipes and pointers for newbies and old hats alike. This Chez Bettay blog also has Match Crab Cakes and other delicious eats. Or look for it at a restaurant. The Match website also has a list of places that serve Match products. And if "being green" is your thing, well there is a link on her website about how your diet and the environment are intertwined. In addition to recipes, she has videos also. Since Match doesn't have lard or saturated fat, we use a little olive or coconut oil and also usually use cast iron cookware. You can use non-stick cookware as well.

Oh, did I mention a fringe benefit of using Match instead "regular meat", is that you might accidentally melt those inches away. Yep, it seems that you might be able to totally binge on all of your favorite traditional foods (my favorite time is 1:00 a.m.) and you won't wake up a few pounds heavier.

Not only is the product great, but Allison is a great gal also. I had been hearing her name for years, for she is an incredibly gracious and compassionate soul. She is also our future foster for Bea & Aaron. Some of P.J.'s favorites who have been waiting for what seems like forever to be able to come home with P.J. I will post some video of those two kids and maybe you will decide that you might need Bea & Aaron in your home to make your world a little brighter.

So come out and see our awesome documentary and try Allison's treats for yourselves!

Match Meat "Pulled Pork Barbeque" recipe

Yield: 4 – 4oz. Portions

Ingredients
1 lb. MATCH Pork
2 cups your favorite BBQ sauce
1 Tbls. canola oil or pan coating spray

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Oil baking sheet with canola oil or spray. Spread Pork MATCH onto oiled baking sheet till 1 inch thick. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges start to get crisp. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle. Pull apart by hand, you may freeze at this time for use later. Add your favorite BBQ sauce. Serve warm or room temperature. Serve on Kaiser roll with fresh cole slaw.

La Roja, Malcolm, and Lovable Lloyd

Double click on post to view on you tube if you can't see full video. Let me know if videos do not appear correctly on your viewing device!! Thanks!

Rode along with P.J. today and here are some of the kids that REALLY need someone. Malcolm has been living on the streets forever. Usually he is in the same location so he is easy to find. We love him but we aren't necessarily a big fan of his unsnipped "baby" makers, as this means more & more children. He is the beautiful "masked man". Lloyd has also been around for a long time. We all adore him but there seems to always be someone in more "dire need" than him, so he waits. He has a lovely personality. And La Roja is just a doll, as you can tell. These guys are gems.

Any takers?? All of these guys would love to go home with P.J. You can make a difference by helping us find "foster" homes.

We were not able to get Nina, Aaron or Bea today. I was thrilled to hear that Bea & Aaron have a foster. Allison Burgess, the founder of MatchMeats, is their guardian angel. Much more on her and her incredible work in a post soon!

Gateway Guardians Promotion

The news release about Gateway Pet Guardians' documentary, Gateway Guardians, received a couple features in a national dog lover publication, Bark Magazine.

http://www.thebark.com/content/gateway-guardians-premieres-sunday

Our feature story will appear in the September, 2010 issue. 

Take your Dog to the Drive-In

Dogs at the Drive-In???? I was just thinking of how much fun it would be to go to a Drive-In when I saw that HALO is sponsoring a "Take Your Dog to the Drive-In" night September 5th, 2010. So quintessentially Midwestern, let's bask in our "open space" and take our furkids to the movies. And for those of you with younger dogs, yes we are playing "nice" movies so no bad language or naughty pictures that might corrupt your pooch. And all the plata goes to our own little street kids that need it the most.

Forte and Legato "The Dynamic Duo"

These puppies are adorable. Forte & Legato will be 4 months old on August 28th, 2010. They were part of a litter of 8 pups. P.J. searched daily, for 2 weeks, until she was sure that she had found all the babies. Their siblings were lucky enough to find fosters and permanent homes. Can you help us find some people for these dogs to love? They are just spilling over with joy and they need to be able to spread that joy to some loving people. They promise a lifetime of loyal love. Now how many people in your life can fulfill that? P.J. has given them a head start in life. And the usual story.....we can't take in any more kids off of the street until we find some homes for our current rescues.This "octet" of puppies was very lucky. P.J. knew when they would be born and made sure she found them all. Not all the kids on the streets are able to come home with their guardian angel. There is a lot of dog fighting in our area and an unfortunate number of dogs are either used as "bait" or used in fighting. They are exploited to make a buck. Or sometimes they have bullet wounds, etc............Please speak up for these animals. We are their voices www.gatewaypets.com

Emergency Rescue.......Fosters we need you!

Our lovely Julia has a heart of gold and today when she saw this starving pup on Cherokee Street she rushed the poor little guy to the vet. He weighs only 25 pounds and was wandering around, extremely malnourished. He was so emaciated that he was stumbling in the street, oblivious that there was traffic speeding by. A guardian angel rescued him and immediately took him to the hospital. Now he will begin to heal, but we are bursting at the seams with dogs and really need to find a foster. If you or anyone you know may be able to help, please contact us. GPG pays for the vet bills, etc....We ask that you provide food and lots of kisses and help take him to adoption events. We even have help with transport to events if your schedule conflicts with the adoption days.

He is a Shepard mix that is 2-3 years old.

Please help Show-Me!

Show-Me has been living on the streets her whole life. She is about 40 pounds and currently has a bone sticking out of her body. We want to pull her and get her the medical attention she desperately needs but we need to have a foster first. Show-Me is a wonderful gal. Do you have a home, basement, garage area, somewhere with a decent temperature to help Show-Me heal? She just needs some love & a little time and she will be a great companion. We are in dire need of a foster for this sweetheart. Can you help? GPG will pay for the medical bills. You provide the love & attention.

Aaron needs your help!!!!

Aaron is a star in the upcoming film Gateway Guardians. Aaron has always been one of PJ's favorites. He is such a friendly guy. She has been feeding him for several years along with his pack that you see below.

All of Aaron's pack has either been rescued, or has disappeared. He is the last dog left in the pack.

It is so sad, Aaron has been wondering the streets for the past few weeks looking so lost. As you can see from the pictures, Aaron is very friendly. He does well with other dogs and will make a great addition to your home as a foster or as a forever dog.

We are worried that Aaron is not going to make it much longer. We are desperate to get Aaron off of the streets. He would make such a lovely foster.

Will you consider fostering Aaron?

Please contact us at for more information on saving Aaron's life.

Aaron loves you!

Will you please help my brothers and sisters?

Hi, my name is Largo and I am writing you as the ambassador to my brothers and sisters.


Eight weeks ago we were born on the streets. My mom took as good of care of us as she could, but really she can only do so much. PJ knew we were born because my mom disappeared for a few days, but she was unsure if we were in a place she could rescue us. Luckily, my mom was smart and she had us in a place that PJ could find us.


Over the course of a few days, once we were located, PJ was able to rescue all of us! We were loving life, awaiting something PJ kept talking about...our foster homes. We couldn't wait! It sounded so wonderful.



Until, one day the sickness hit us. BLAM! All of my siblings were getting so sick. I didn't know what to do. We were rushed to the vet and they said that 4 of the seven of us had parvo. I didn't know what that meant, but I was pretty sure that it sounded expensive.


Gateway Pet Guardians is doing everything they can do to save my brothers' and sisters' lives. Parvo is a very serious virus.

I am here to ask you to please donate so that Gateway can continue to help my my brothers and sisters.

Whatever you can donate will be of use. Whether it is $1 or more they will be forever grateful for your generous gift. And so will I and my siblings.

We are some very lucky pups, rescued just in time.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Largo
Ambassador to my siblings
Gateway Pet Guardians

Come to our Documentary Premier!

To purchase tickets go here. Click the pull down menu to view the movies showing on the 18th.

A chance to make your life a little Sonny-er

We pulled Sonny close to a year ago when a local parishioners said they were going to call animal control to have him picked up.

We could tell he was a sweet boy, and we did not want to see him put down. When we sent out the plea for Sonny, we did not get any responses, except for one, from Paul Boyer who was generous enough to pay for Sonny's boarding.


Sonny was thankful to Paul for saving his life, but it was not the life for Sonny. I would go to visit him and he would seem so sad. One of our devoted volunteers would go to take him on walks periodically, and finally just could not allow him to be caged any longer. Although, she had never fostered before and her home was very small, she just could not bare to leave him. Unfortunately, she has to move away immediately. She can no longer keep Sonny.

Poor sonny will have to go to a kennel again if we do not find a foster. Please do not allow this deserving boy to be held captive again. He is such a sweetheart and will thrive in the right home. He needs to be walked regularly, and needs someone who is willing to work with his training. He will come to his new home with extensive training and needs a loving person to follow through.

Please help our sweet boy Sonny.

If you have the space in your heart and home and are ready to be Sonny's foster, please contact us at gatewaypetguardians@yahoo.com. If you are thinking about it and are unsure, please contact us and we can set up a time for you to meet Sonny.

Things Are Changing

Gateway is growing rapidly and with this growth comes more rescues and greater responsibility (I will talk more about that responsibility later).

Our movie Gateway Guardians will be making its debut on July 18th at the Tivoli. Lorrie Austin is working on our movie website to make it more interactive and informative. One ongoing feature we will be adding to the site is a section of current dogs we would like to pull if only we had a foster or adoptive home. We will be able to tell you the dog's personality and other pertinent information so that you will know what you will be getting yourself into if you are interested in helping out one of these poor adult dogs.

Aaron, above, has been on the streets for such a long time. He has gone from being friendly to becoming slightly more feral. This usually happens due to another human being cruel to the dog. Unfortunately, the work that PJ puts into making these dogs friendly is then set back. Don't worry though, that friendly dog is still in there. We will pull it out of him again.

Malcom and Show Me live on top of a hill. To the left of the hill there is large machinery that changes the structure of their home on a daily basis. We find them on different mounds of dirt everyday. They look over their city wondering when their time will come.

I have written about Blondie on other occasions. She just had another litter :( She too has been on the street for so long. She will not survive much longer. She is shy, but I can tell that she would be a fabulous dog.

Which brings me to our new found responsibility I spoke about earlier. As we were filming Gateway Guardians, the question kept being raised, "What are we doing about this problem?" Yes, we are feeding these dogs, and yes we rescue their puppies and the adults when we can, but what are we really doing about the problem.

We have decided that we are going to start a spay/neuter program in East St. Louis. It is illegal to spay/neuter and release, but at the very least we can alter dogs who are owned by people. Education and working with the locals will hopefully help to alleviate the suffering due to over population.

We will be working on the details of this program over the next few months. We will be making a plea for funds as well as people interested in contributing their brain power once we get more of a plan together. I am so excited to hopefully be able to start making a dent in the stray dogs in East St. Louis. We are hoping to be able to clear the streets once our movie premiers. The next step is spaying and neutering.

We thought the best way to reach people would be through the churches. Lo and behold, PJ was feeding the dogs the other day when a parishioner drove up to her. Before the woman could say anything, PJ began to explain to her what we do and who we are. She told her about our spay/neuter program and how we would like to get the local churches involved. She said she would take it to her pastor. The lady was very attentive and sweet. She took notes on who we are and said she would look at our rescue. This to me is very promising. It is so nice when we run into community members who are supportive of what we do and willing to listen to our ideas.

Poor Nigel is not looking so hot these days. His mom Nina has transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), which is something we could treat if we had someone to foster her. The other dog in the pack, Nigella is pregnant again. We would like to be able to rescue all three of these at the same time.

If you are interested in rescuing any of these dogs, or would like to be a part of helping to build our spay/neuter program, please contact us at gatewaypetguardian@yahoo.com

Yesterday's rescue

Here is the video from yesterday's puppy rescue.

PJ Doesn't Just Save Dogs

As we pulled into East St. Louis on Saturday, PJ said, "Oh, I thought that house was on fire, but I guess someone is just burning trash." Upon further inspection we both realized that the house was indeed on fire. As we pulled up to the house, PJ said that she thought that an older man lived there. I began to call 911 when we saw a fire truck a block away. "Oh thank goodness", we both exclaimed, as the fire truck went the wrong way. So, I called 911 and told them there was a house fire at 13th and Boismenue. She said that she already had fire trucks on the way. I told her that they made a wrong turn and the the fire was getting bigger.


We waited for about 10 minutes, all the while PJ was honking her horn to try to wake the man up if he was inside. The neighbor came out and told us that he definitely lives there still. PJ could not sit in the car any longer. At this point the fire had moved from the front and side porch to the inside of the house. We could feel the heat inside of the car. PJ ran out to knock on his window. She yelled, "Your house is on fire!", as an explosion sent her running back to the car. She could hear him making noise and yelling inside.

It had been 15 minutes since my initial phone call, and still no fire trucks. At this point, it has completely taken over the house. I frantically called 911 again. The same lady answered, nonchalantly, "911, what's your emergency." With panic I told her that the fire trucks had still not arrived and there is someone in the house and the entire house is on fire now. She asked me to spell the street. After doing so, I paused and said, "So someone will be coming?"

She hung up on me.

PJ and I pulled around to the other side of the house and thankfully the man somehow made it out. He was empty handed. Not able to grab any personal belongings. At this point the fire was so hot that we could not even stay parked in the street. I told the man he needed to move away from his house.

He turned to me and said with anger and fear, "I am homeless now!" His eyes were crazy with grief. I said, "I'm sorry." With all of that he actually turned to me and said, "That's okay." Almost as if he felt bad for yelling I'm homeless.

The fire trucks finally showed up about 20 minutes after my original phone call. They put the fire out in 3 minutes.



Had that 911 dispatcher listened to me in the first place this man would still have a home.

Had PJ not honked her horn incessantly and run up to the house to yell for the man, he may not have woken up to get out of his house.

It looked to us that since the fire was in two different spots on the house to begin with that someone had to of set it. If this man does not have home owners, I am sure there will be no investigation. He will be left with nothing.

I have a phone call into the fire station. I am going to try to find his information and see if we can't raise some money for this man. I don't want to put anything together unless I know for sure we will be able to find him.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: News Channel 4 was investigating this and just notified me of the man's name. They spoke to him and he asked them to thank us, but did not want to give any further contact info. He said that PJ's horn did wake him. The Red Cross put him up in a motel. I am going to see if we can figure out some way to donate through the Red Cross if anyone is interested in giving a helping hand. Stay tuned again.

Puppy Rescue

Today, Gateway Pet Guardians' volunteers ventured to East St. Louis to rescue a mama (Show Me) and puppies. We weren't sure exactly how many puppies there were. Show Me is the mom of the puppies that were rescued on last spring's Show Me St. Louis show. About 6 months ago, she started hanging out with Malcom across the street from AT&T. Shortly thereafter, Lloyd began hanging out with them as well. Sure enough, our little Show Me was pregnant AGAIN!

This morning, we loaded the trap and crate in the car and headed over with 2 other volunteers. We thought the rain may be an issue, but it cleared up just as we were ready to dive into the brush. After making our way through thick brush, around mounds of dumped tires and over barbed wire, we finally found what looked like beaver den, piles of strategically placed sticks and tree limbs. Show Me's bark showed us exactly where they were.

PJ finally found an opening in the limbs to investigate. After seaching on her hands and knees, she spotted a small white fluff ball.

I ran to the other side and was able to pull her out from under the sticks and limbs. One by one, we pulled the 6 puppies out from their wooden home. We were not 100% sure about how many puppies there were so we decided it would be best to leave Show Me behind today. PJ will track her for the next few days to be sure there are no more pups. If all clear, we will work on getting this little girl off the streets.

Now, on those puppies. There are 3 females and 3 males, and boy are they adorable. The more I look at the photos the more I see Mr. Lloyd in their little faces. (He has been checking on Show Me every day).

We are still working on naming each of them and still need fosters for all of them. They are approximately 4 weeks old.

Why do we rescue litters of puppies? Well, its simple really. Everyone wants a puppy! They are easier to foster and adopt out than adult dogs. We also want to rescue them while they are still (relatively) easy to catch. If they get too big, we have trouble catching them and then again, more females on the streets having more litters of puppies.

Please consider becoming a foster parent! Puppies get adopted quickly and are tons of fun to have around.

We still have volunteer spots open!

We still would love your help this weekend! Sunday, May 2nd, will be our inaugural golf tournament and wine tasting event at Clinton Hill Golf Course in Swansea, IL. Is anyone available to help out?

All volunteers will receive complimentary appetizers from 4-6pm and will have the option to purchase a wine tasting ticket (dinner included) at cost-$15. So for 2 hours of helping out, you get a great dinner for $15.00.

We would love to see you!

11:30am-1:30pm: Golf Registration

12pm-1pm: Marshmellow Driving Contest

3pm- 7:30pm: Sell Raffle and 50/50 tickets

4pm-6pm: Wine Serving

7:15pm-8pm: Silent Auction Check Out

Don't forget to rally your friends to attend the Wine & Wags event! It will be fun. $30 gets the wine tasting, appetizers and dinner! Rain or shine. We have the inside available if the weather is bad. However, the event will be under the pavillion!