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.

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

Custard and Sorbet

First, thanks to everyone who stepped up to foster puppies this week for us. We are so happy to say that by tonight they will all be in their new foster homes.

Next, PJ found Nigella's puppies today! This means a few things...We are going to need a few more puppy fosters in the near future and we are going to be able to pull the remaining three of Nigel's pack! I will keep you posted.

Finally, the real reason for this post.

I went to Hillside today to take pictures of a couple of dogs that PJ pulled earlier in the week. Here is a little caption of their personalities and their stories.

We need foster homes for both of them.

Sorbet (blonde) is very calm and sweet. She approached me slowly and softly and seemed very loving. Hillside removed a collar that was embedded in her neck (see pictures). This poor baby has known a lifetime of suffering, so if you have a loving open home, please help this sweetie.




Custard: (black) We are not sure, but we think that Custard is a dog who has been tied on a short leash to a tree outside of this one house. We never fed her because the people did not want us to. Luckily she broke away and we PJ found her roaming. Again, we are not 100% that this is the same dog, but she sure does look like her. She has a lot of energy and just wants to lick you all over. She is very happy go lucky. She wanted to be on top of me while I was taking her picture, hence the bad photos.




We think both of them are about a year and a half to two years old. We have no where to go with these dogs and they cannot stay at the vet. They are going to end up in PJ's carport if we do not find a place for them today.

Donate a Kuranda Bed to Gateway!

We are in the process of working out a deal where we will have an area to house dogs that we do not have a foster home for. It is not a huge space, but it will give us a central location for us to do paper work and have volunteers come to help us out. We will be able house these dogs who desperately need to be pulled and give them a warm place to stay until we can find a foster home for them. We are really excited about this.

One thing off of the top of our heads that we could use for the space are these fabulous Kuranda beds. My dogs love theirs and it has lasted me through many, many foster dogs where the pillowy beds have been torn apart or peed on, and thrown out. If you would like to help us out, please consider donating a Kuranda dog bed. Thank you again for all that you do. I cannot tell you how amazing everyone has been in helping us to grow and rescue more dogs.

-2º on Friday. Please help us get some dogs off of the streets

We were able to rescue Chenille on Tuesday. Turns out she is not pregnant. Doesn't she look pregnant?

She is being treated for heartworm and is safe at the vet, but still needs a foster home.

Which brings me to why I am sending this newsletter. It is COLD outside and it is only getting colder. We will pull as many dogs as we have fosters for.

That's right! If YOU will foster, then we can save another dog from these bone chilling temperatures.

Some of the dogs we would still like to pull who we don't have fosters for are Malcom & Nigella (although we are still trying to confirm that Nigella does not have any puppies on the street). Nigel and Nina both have been spoken for, but we will not leave Nigella behind without them. There are MANY more dogs that we will pull if we only have a home to put them in.

If you have ever thought about fostering, now is the time. If you would need help with food we will help you. We pay for all veterinary care and typically find the dogs a home pretty quickly.

Please click the image below to fill out an online foster application now!

An Update and an EMERGENCY Rescue

Doesn't Chenille just look so cold?

Malcom is her very sweet buddy.

Do you see Chenille in the background here? She is usually all wiggles for us, but was too cold to move today.


Let me just start by saying that I just can't tell you how amazing everyone has been with helping to rescue Nigel's pack. In the past few days we were able to rescue Hooper's Girl, Albert and 9 puppies. Still left are Nigel, Nigella and Nina. Those are the three that we don't want to split up. We think that the 9 puppies included Nigella's litter, but we are not 100% sure so we are not comfortable pulling her off of the streets until we are 100%. Which means, we cannot pull Nigel or Nina yet either. We are going to keep looking to be sure and should be able to rescue within the next week or two. If you volunteered to foster one of these sweeties, please stand by.

AND NOW FOR THE EMERGENCY:

We just discovered that Tweed and Argyle's mom Chenille is pregnant AGAIN. She looks like she is about ready to pop. She hangs out with one other dog by the Ameren station in a dirt pile. We would like to get these two off the streets ASAP. Chenille is soooo cold. She barely has a coat of fur and just sits and shivers, sometimes barely moving when we pull up. We do NOT want to leave Malcom behind. He will be alone if we do that and that is never a good thing.

Both of these dogs are very sweet. A little shy, but will be fabulous once we get them.

If you have a basement that is concrete or an area that is secluded in your house, you would be the perfect candidate to take Chenille. She would be forever grateful!

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.

Prada, Maggie & Gertrude

We have been feeding Prada for about 2 months now. She is a playful, but shy, little wiggly girl. Definitely a gem of a dog, she just needs the love and affection that a stable home will give her. She is 10 months old and about 18 lbs. She is staying in PJ's carport right now because of her age and the fact that PJ has had parvo in her house. We just don't want to risk it. Please email us if you are interested in fostering Prada, or better yet giving her a loving, fantastic home.


I have spoken about Maggie before on this blog. She takes her bones from us everyday. She loves the pets she receives more than her bones. She is ready to come home to someone. She is going to be the PERFECT dog. I have a great amount of affection for this dog. If I had an open spot in my home she would be my foster for sure. Please consider fostering Maggie. I want to get her off of the streets before she has to live through another winter of icicles hanging from her long, beautiful fur.

Gertrude is the last of the kitties that we want to rescue from the area. She meets us everyday and asks for food. The house she used to live in was knocked down (thankfully she was not in it). The one next store to it burned (thankfully she was not in that one either). She did disappear for some time after those incidences, but is back and begging for food everyday again. Please help us rescue this kitty before she is burdened with the freezing winter months. She is a lover. If you are interested in any of these pets, please email us at gatewaypetguardians@yahoo.com

Sonny & Deacon are Saved! (but still need a foster)

Thanks to Paul Boyer, of Civil Engineering Design Consultants, we were able to pull Deacon and Sonny Friday. Paul offered to sponsor their stay at a kennel until we can find them a foster. We have one potential foster, but are still in need of someone for the other. They are both very sweet. Deacon (brown guy) is about two years old and is the more laid back of the two. Nothing much bothers him. I think that is why he got so beat up the other day. I don't even think he knew what hit him. Sonny (smaller and tan), on the other hand is about a year old and is all puppy. While Deacon laid quietly in my back seat on the way to the vet this morning, Sonny stepped on his head, back and forth from window to window, trying to get into my front seat, licking my neck, chewing his leash, etc. Sonny seems like he would be a lot of fun for someone who would like a dog with a lot of energy. They both seem to do well with other dogs. Although, Sonny might be too hard of a player for some types.


So, these two sweeties are being kept in a kennel, and although it is a nice kennel, it is a kennel, none-the-less. Their lives have been saved and they are not only safe from attacks from other dogs, but they are living the lap of luxury chewing on their $12 cow arms (sorry little cow) in their very small cage that they will be in until we find a foster for them. Remember, these two are used to running free, so this is going to be a crazy adjustment for them. Since I have never used the kennel before I asked to see the facilities. They are clean and decent, but the barking is killer and I would imagine extremely stressful for all of the dogs there. Not to mention the fact that they will be living in a 3 x 4 cage until we find a place for them to go. Please pass the word along that we need a foster home for these guys. My mission was to save them from being euthanized, and now my mission is to get them out of those tiny cages. It will be haunting me until I can get them into a home.

Sonny & Deacon Need Help Desperately!

Deacon (in front) & Sonny (lighter color) hang out around Richard's Mom and Manifred. I just will never understand dogs, because Manifred and Richard's Mom won't let them eat. Deacon and Sonny run away with their tails between their legs when we feed them because Richard's Mom and Manifred growl at them. It is so sad. There is a girl in heat around the area, and I guess Deacon and Manifred got into it over her. Deacon, being the lover he is, got the short end of the stick in the fight. To put it lightly, he lost. His face is so torn up. On top of that, there is a local church across the street and the people were outside and saw the whole thing. It scared them and they are saying that they are going to call animal control on these two dogs. Deacon and Sonny will surely be euthanized if they end up in animal control. We need fosters for these lovers. Deacon runs up to me when we pull up and hops on top of my lap. He is such a friendly guy. The two of them seem to get along with other dogs just fine, unless there is a lady in heat, that is. If you know anyone willing to foster, or if you know of another rescue that would be willing to help us out with these guys, please pass this along. These two are way too sweet to be put down. PLEASE HELP!

The Dilemma

When we go to East St. Louis, just about everyday, there seems like there is a dog in need of being rescued. Just two days ago, Lucky looked like he had a broken leg. We were going to put a plea out to pull him, but it seems to be miraculously healed now. And then, yesterday, Hank had a terrible puncture wound on his neck.

The dilemma comes from a few angles. First, we have to ask ourselves, do we have the money? Usually the answer is no. Next we have to find out if we can get someone to foster, which is no small task, especially for adult dogs who have lived on the streets all of their lives. I have said before that there are times where I take pictures of a dog that I really want to pull, come home, post pictures, write up a story and never find him again. That is heartbreaking. Which leads us to today's dilemma.

If you watch the video below, you will see one of the strangest things I have seen so far in East St. Louis. These two dogs were linked together with a short leash. What?! How long had they been like that? They were both very underweight, so I would imagine that it had been a while. Two dogs cannot hunt if they are tied together. As we pulled closer, PJ exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! it's Bruno!" She then went on to explain that Bruno was someone's puppy about four years ago who she vaccinated and had neutered for him. She also gave Bruno his monthly heartguard. PJ was smitten with Bruno. One day, about three years ago, Bruno disappeared. He was gone for quite a few weeks when PJ found him and brought him back home. About two weeks later, Bruno disappeared for good. Or so she thought.

This was two and a half years ago! PJ could not believe her eyes. Would she ever see Bruno again if she did not take him now? What if whoever tied him to this other dog came along and did it again? PJ and I know that per the rules of our rescue, we are not supposed to pull unless we have all of our ducks in a row. That is unless it is an emergency. Was this an emergency? And then, there is the question, how can we just take one? It is heart wrenching to have to leave any dog on the streets, much less to choose between two that have been tied together for who knows how long. But, alas, we had to make a decision. And quite honestly, we had to do it fast, because who really knows who might be watching and what kind of trouble we will run into if someone caught us removing the leash from these dogs, much less taking one home with us. My heart broke as we pulled away, leaving the other dog alone without his buddy. I would love to rescue him too if we ever see him again (and have the money and a foster).

All of that being said, we are in a little bit of trouble for pulling Bruno. And when I say trouble, I just mean that I feel really bad because we are trying so hard to get this rescue to the point where we can buy a shelter so that we don't have these dilemmas anymore. When we pull dogs that were not planned for, our shelter plan is set back that much further. Please help us sponsor Bruno so that we can stay on track for our shelter fund. Please help us so that we can save as many dogs like Bruno and his buddy as possible. We need about $200 for Bruno's fund. In order to pull Bruno's buddy, we would need about $300 more. Whatever you can donate is so useful, whether it is $5, $10 or $100. We can't tell you how much every dollar counts for a rescue like ours. Thank you for your support and thanks for listening to my long winded dilemma.

Not Exactly An East St. Louis Dog

But adorably lovable just the same. Tell all of your animal loving U.K. friends about E.T.!

Egypt & C.L. (that's creative for Chocolate Lab)

This morning I did my rounds with PJ and we came across the same group of dogs we have seen lately. It is a new pack that consists of a puppy named Egypt, a chocolate Lab, Pit Bull and a few other dogs. I have been meaning to send out a plea for Egypt, and then this morning the Pit Bull, although just playing, got a little rough with the puppy. Rough enough for me to say, that's it! I'm taking that puppy. I was just scared that I would show up next week and the pup would be hurt. That being said, Egypt is at the vet right now being checked out. She is in pretty good shape. One of the neighborhood ladies was taking care of her. She really wanted us to rescue her though. I have parvo at my house, so am unable to foster her. Please take a look at her sweet, sweet face and give her a place to stay until she finds her forever home. She is totally laid back. Jumped right in my arms and relaxed in the passenger seat the entire ride to the vet. Such a great temperament. I think she will be easy to house train too. She looks to be about 3 months or so. Maybe even a little older. Please help me out with this one. I will keep her in my bathroom until we find a place for her, but she is not going to be very happy with that. I have a feeling she will wonder if that was really "rescuing" her if we have to keep her in the bathroom.



On another note, there is also a pure bred chocolate lab that is too sweet for words in this pack. He is a little shy, but is coming around quite nicely with PJ. He took a treat from her today. He seems to show up with some injuries every once in a while, which worries us because he does not seem like much of a fighter. Does anyone know anyone looking for a chocolate lab? Or would anyone be interested in fostering this sweetie? We would love to get him off of the streets.