Please Vote in Memory of Pumkin

[chocolatecoffee]

Hi everyone,

Last month, a beautiful little Yorkie X named Pumkin entered my life. She was found as a scared, neglected girl tied to a tire in Louisiana. A rescue flew her up here and and I was fortunate enough to foster her. In addition to an array of other health problem, she tested positive for heartworm, but we thought it was mild. However, further testis ndicated that she was too far gone and the worms had actually travelled to many of her organs. In addition, a pin in her leg (which we can only assume was intended to fix a leg that had been broken in the past) was protruding and actually poking her. While this problem could have been fixed by surgery, she was not strong enough to undergo the anesthetic and we all felt it was inhumane to make her suffer any longer. Consequently, she was sent to the Bridge where she can run and play in perfect health on June 17th, 2006.

Even though Pumkin didn't make it, the cost to fly her up here and all of her tests were very expensive. In an attempt to try to raise some funds for the rescue who gave her the chance to experience love, I entered my three pups (Mocha, Panna, and Cannelle) in a Patriotic Pets Photo Contest (the grand prize is $500). We're doing well, but I'm worried that there will be a huge surge tonight so I'm trying to strengthen my lead which is why I need YOU (think Uncle Sam...it is a Patriotic Photo contest after all ) to please take a minute to vote and send this to your friends and family. I would be eternally grateful to you. They ask you for your e-mail to verify the vote, however nobody else I know who has voted has received any junk mail at all so don't worry.

The picture's here and it's the first picture in the forth row (Mocha, Panna, and Cannelle from Calgary, AB). Voting ends today at 11:59 EST.

If you could please, please do this, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks SO much!
-Daniela

P.S. You can vote more than once with different e-mails, if you feel so inclined...

R.I.P. my angel...

[HappyDancer]

I voted

[Chrissy]

Done

[Angelnstuff]

i voted, i think urs is the best, alot of them are just like random pet pictures, not really with the theame at all

[Elvis Lee Mommy]

I voted....great pic....sorry you lost your girl....she was a cutie

[petpredicaments]

voted

[wellahart]

Congrats on winning. I'm sure that $500 really helped you and your animals out a lot! They are adorable dogs. Sorry to hear about your rescue.

[chocolatecoffee]

Thank you HappyDancer, Chrissy, Angelnstuff, Elvis Lee Mommy, petpredicaments, and wellahart!

Quote: Congrats on winning. I'm sure that $500 really helped you and your animals out a lot! They are adorable dogs. Sorry to hear about your rescue.

Thank you very much ! Just to clarify though, the money's being donated to Furever After Rescue Society, which is the rescue that rescued Pumkin.

Yep, we won!!! We ended up with 709 votes, second had 416, and third had 315.

Mocha, Panna, Cannelle, and I would just like to say...

to ALL of you!!!

Thank you so much! The rescue and I really appreciate it!!!

[wellahart]

Quote: Originally Posted by chocolatecoffee Thank you HappyDancer, Chrissy, Angelnstuff, Elvis Lee Mommy, petpredicaments, and wellahart! Thank you very much ! Just to clarify though, the money's being donated to Furever After Rescue Society, which is the rescue that rescued Pumkin.

Oh ok. either way, I'm glad you are able to put the money to good use. I didn't get to vote because the voting was done by the time I was the post. Congrats again though. It was a cute pic and so is the thank you pic.

[kathydip]

Congratulations! I am sorry I missed the voting. I am also sorry for your loss but at least you made her as comfortable as possible in the end and gave her all the love she could want.

[chocolatecoffee]

Update!

Okay, sorry for taking sooo long to update but here I am! We're the people and dogs who won the Patriotic Pets Photo Contest thanks to your support! We were having some trouble with the contest, they said they'd e-mail the winners but they didn't. Then I noticed that the winners page was taken down and the "Submit Your Photo!" one was back. I tried e-mailing and calling, but couldn't get ahold of a real person and then the voting page was back up! I kept calling the morning after I saw that and got ahold of a real person who was actually very helpful and he said he'd relay the message to the person in charge of the contest and he gave me his e-mail in case I needed anything else. Anyways, I never did receive an e-mail and, as a result, never gave them my address but somehow I received the cheque in the mail on Tuesday! I'm not too sure how that works, but regardless, we got the cheque!

We've decided that the $500 will be the initial donation into Pumkin's Promise, a fund set up through Furever After Rescue Society (the rescue that saved Pumkin) for the medical treatment, including heartworm, of rescued animals. We decided against doing it just for heartworm because Pumkin had other problems that needed medical attention, such as the pin in her leg, and we're so grateful that the rescue did everything possible to save Pumkin. We want to make sure that all animals have this option.

Our first order of business was to order those silicon wristbands, which we did about an hour ago (five hundred of them!). They say "Pumkin's Promise" with a heart in front of Pumkin (symbolizing love and also heartworm) and a pawprint after Promise (symbolizing Pumkin leaving her pawprint on the world). Then they have the words "SAVE, HEAL, LOVE", which is the promise we made to Pumkin, and then on the inside they say "www.fureverafter.org", the rescue's website (which, by the way, you can visit if you want reassurance that I did donate the money and that I'm not Joe Blow sitting in my basement, lol, they were very kind and put the information on there). Then they're swirled with light orange, orange, and white (as pumpkins are orange!). I wanted to have "Prevent Heartworm" on there, but there is practically zero incidence of heartworm in my area (something about the temperature having to stay above 70 F/21 C for a period of two weeks for the worms to develop, which never happens). So, instead, I decided to hand out a little sheet along with each wristband with Pumkin's story on it. I'm so excited!

The rescue was already having an awareness picnic on September 9th, so we're just selling the bracelets then also. Then on the 10th, we're having a garage sale. We want to take advantage of the whole pumpkin and Halloween thing, so I was thinking a human/dog costume party with an optional costume contest with prizes, like best guardian/dog costume, most original, etc. For Christmas we want to have a Christmas crafts sale and *hopefully* Christmas cards with Pumkin's story, hoping that they'll be sent to areas that are affected by heartworm and raise awareness.

This is all so exciting, it's happening so quickly! Oh, and the initial $500 donation in Pumkin's Promise that all of you helped with was used for spay/neuters and heartworm testing (which, I'm happy to report, were all negative).

Any suggestions? Opinions? There's so much to do! lol

Pumkin smiling at all who helped, thank you! (Pumkin's would-have-been adoptive mom sent this to me yesterday, wasn't she gorgeous?)

[HappyDancer]

awww she was beautiful...and it all sounds wonderful, I have visted the rescue site a few times, its all so wonderful, I am so glad you won, we voted multiple times...thank you for the update and thank you picture...I am so happy that people will get to hear her story and help save others like her

[kathydip]

I was looking at her picture marveling at how much one little dog can change a persons life. And how much that person can make the lives of many other dogs better. What you are doing is really wonderful!
How are you selling the wristbands? How much are they?

[corgimom]

This is the first time I've seen the thread, so I was unable to vote. If I had seen it sooner, I definitely would have voted, though. I think it's wonderful that you are doing all of this to help the rescue.

I'm currently living in Louisiana, and it just amazes me how many people here think of pets as property and not family. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I didn't see even half as many strays as I do here. Didn't see half as many outside dogs as I do here. (And considering the heat and humidity, I can't imagine having an outside dog in this area). It's sad.

I wish you the best of luck with your fundraising. I have a feeling that Pumkin will live forever-in the hearts of all of those who knew her and all of those who have been told her story.

[Elvis Lee Mommy]

I'm soo happy Pumpkin won the contest. The pic of her is precious. She looks like she was a Very Special little girl. It's wonderful you are doing something positive in her memory.
Can you post info on the bracelets?