When it seems like all hope is lost, Home For Life® Animal Sanctuary in Star Prairie, Wisconsin often comes to the rescue.

Home for Life is an unusual but much needed facility with dedicated staff and volunteers who provide “loving care, a nurturing environment that is safe and stable, a place to belong… a home for life.”

Tripawd Bear and Family Finds a Loving Home

Home For Life® Animal Sanctuary recently saved three legged Bear and his senior siblings from a certain terrible fate, because senior dogs are among the most difficult to find homes for, especially when they are shy and come with a perceived handicap.

Tripawd Bear is a ten year old Collie/ Shepherd mixed breed who came from a volatile domestic abuse situation. When his human Mom fled for safety, she not take her four senior dogs and surrendered them to a rescue group. But when the rescue couldn’t fulfill its promise to take Bear and his pack, Home for Life stepped in to help.

Today, Bear’s family is together forever. All four dog are living out their lives, as a strong, close pack, in their own townhouse at Home for Life.

Why Home for Life is Different

Home for Life does not place animals, but instead provides a permanent home. The group cares for about 245 special needs animals on its 40 acre property along the Apple River in Wisconsin. With 13 doggie townhomes, three operations buildings and numerous fenced runs and play areas, these happy animals are in good hands as they spend the rest of their days among a loving volunteer-driven staff of caregivers.

The group was founded in 1997, and can only continue its work because of the generosity of people who help sponsor the care of animal residents. It take 8 sponsors at $25 a month to help care for just one Home for Life resident with average veterinary needs. If you’d like to help, contact Home For Life® Animal Sanctuary.

Reaching Out for Life

Until recently, shelter animals only had two ways out: adoption or euthanasia. Today, thanks to Home For Life’s visionary efforts, a new option is being created; the Third Door™.

For animals with medical needs or temperament challenges, Home for Life’s Third Door™ program gives these animals a quality life, where they can be themselves, run and play, and be loved and cherished for as long as they live. Animals receive specialized care that’s tailored to their needs, instead of just living in a warehouse-type existence.

The facility in Star Prairie is a model for additional Home for Life Sanctuaries to be created around the country. Ultimately the group hopes to change public perception of euthanasia as an option for these special needs animals, by educating people through outreach programs that encourage them to commit to lifetime dedication and care of their companion animals.

Contact Home for Life to learn how you can sponsor Buddy and his family,
or any of their other rescued animals and programs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We all want to try to help, so we spread the word to everyone we know via places like the Tripawds Rescue Forum or Facebook page.

Oftentimes, like in the case of Tripawd Miles, a success story happens and the dog finds a furever home. Sadly, oftentimes we’re not quite sure whatever happens to other rescue dogs.

We all want to do what we can to help dogs find homes, but Tripawds just discovered that sometimes our good intentions can lead to confusion that hinders the process.

We recently learned from a friend who heads up a rescue organization, that many of these “last minute” dog-on-death-row alerts aren’t always what they seem.

An Urban Legend is Born

Many times the dog isn’t actually on death row, but in our enthusiasm to help, we give people that impression. Rescue stories often end up being passed around like the telephone game, with the facts becoming so mixed up that it’s hard to get the facts so the dog can be helped.

For example, recently we were told about a German Shepherd who was looking for a home, and his picture was posted in the Tripawds Rescue Forum and Facebook page. His amputation had been done and paid for by the rescue group, but suddenly his time was up and he needed to find a home, “or else.”

A call out went all over the web, and people were desperately trying to help spread the word, including us.

After reading about him, a Tripawds friend who leads a German Shepherd Rescue Group did some investigating to try to help.

He learned that the name of the shelter the dog was supposedly in was wrong (the dog was actually in Florida, not California), and the dog was in no danger of being euthanized.

Since the call went out, the shelter had been besieged by phone calls from people trying to help. Exasperated, the shelter director told our friend:

“Why on earth would we have him on death row after paying thousands for his amputation and care?!”

After learning this, we wondered how we had missed that little fact in the earliest posts on Facebook. The dog was up for adoption and the shelter was doing all they could to find him a home.  All the calls and emails they had been answering from well-intentioned folks were actually preventing them from getting their work done.

Assess the Situation Before Spreading the Word

Stories like this can circulate through the Internet for years. Many shelters still get calls about “Lab Puppies Found by the Highway Need a Home Now!”  years after they were all saved. We think there really needs to be a “Snopes.com” for rescue dog stories!

We learned a valuable lesson, that sometimes we can do more good, by getting out of the way of the shelters who are trying to re-home the dog. Of course it’s good to try to help, and although we don’t claim to have the answers as to how to discern fact from fiction, maybe we can all ask ourselves these questions before telling everyone we know about the dog:

• How authentic does this story seem to be?
• Does the original poster have some kind of personal connection to the dog?
• Did someone already pay for the dog’s medical expenses?
• Is the dog in a no-kill shelter?
• Does any of the information come directly from the shelter?
• Is there concise contact information about how to help?

Can you think of any other ways we can do more good when trying to help?

It’s hard to imagine what our lives would be like if we had never laid eyes on the one puppy in the shelter who had destroyed every toy in his kennel, who barked, jumped right into our laps, licked our faces and said “get me out of here!”

The world hasn’t been the same since.

Thank you, Jerry.

We will love you forever.

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision.

But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.

-Sanskrit Proverb.

Meet Spright, the first three legged mayor in the country, if not the Universe! Spright is the mayor of Divide, Colorado, a mountain town near Colorado Springs.

Earlier this year, Divide had a mayoral election to raise money for their Teller County Humane Society. Each vote cost $1, and the only requirement was that each Dog-o-Crat and Republi-cat candidate had to have a “job.”

The contest came down to two contenders, a cat named Walter who works at a vet clinic, and Spright, a three legged rescue pup and first assistant to Dr. Lisa Berg, a mobile vet.

The race was close, but as any Tripawd pawrent knows, a three legged dog can outrun a four legged cat any day! Walter got 4,213 votes and Spright won with 4,755. Altogether the contest raised over $14,000 for the shelter.

As Mayor, Spright goes around the county to advocate on behalf of homeless dogs (and cats!) and the great work the shelter does.

And because she happens to be a tripod dog, she’s raising awareness about the awesome capabilities of Tripawds everywhere. Spright’s Mom, Dr. Berg, believes that Tripawds can and do have great lives, and she and Spright are doing a pawesome job educating the public about our community, like this USA Today article that even mentions Tripawds!

We were lucky enough to meet Spright at our Southern Colorado Dog Pawty back in May. And now, introducing, Sprighty the Mayor!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tripawds first ever Cannonpaw Run Rescue was a huge success, but it couldn’t have happened without the dedication and help of so many compassionate dog rescuers who dedicate their lives to finding homes for dogs like Miles.

Miles came to our attention when Tshuvah‘s Mom Beth, a Taos resident, originally discovered him at the local animal shelter. Miles caught her eye because of his unique quality. He was a Tripawd, just like Tshuvah.

Beth noticed he had been at the shelter far too long. Worried that maybe he would never get adopted because he was missing a front leg, Beth wanted to help, so she told everyone at Tripawds.com about this very patient, three legged dog.

Less than one week after Beth told the Tripawds community about Baggins, Angel Raven‘s Mom, Dawn, of Auburn, California, vowed to adopt the boy after seeing his photo on the Tripawds website.

That’s all it took for Tripawds members to coordinate a rescue road trip that took this lucky pup more than 1,600 miles to his new home. He was renamed “Miles” in honor of the many miles he traveled to get there.

The trip involved eight drivers across six states over a 48-hour period. We would like to thank our Cannonpaw Run drivers:

• Maria from Stay Hearts Animal Shelter. She drove Miles from Taos to Santa Fe.
• Dave Sarver with Basset Hound Rescue. He drove Miles from Santa Fe to Colorado Springs.
• Tripawd Nikki, Sasha and Angel Buddy’s pawrents, Mary and Ted, who fostered Buddy for the night in Colorado Springs, and drove him to Fort Collins.
• My Dad, Jim (aka Admin Guy), who drove Buddy to Salt Lake City.
• Jennifer Bunker, Dawn’s Facebook friend who drove Miles to Winnemucca, Nevada.
• Tamsen, Dawn’s friend in Winnemucca, who safely delivered Miles to Dawn in Reno.

Please visit Miles’ blog to see how he’s adjusting to life with Dawn and Bulldog Betty.

The Tripawds Rescue Forum is a free service, which often gets updated with new three legged dogs in need of adoption all over the country. Just since Miles’ rescue there have been three more dogs added. Please visit the Forum to add Tripawds you know are looking for homes, and help spread the word via our Tripawds’ Facebook page too.

The Cannonpaw Run was the first time Tripawds members have coordinated such a rescue road trip, and we hope there are many sequels to come!

In case you missed it, here’s a touching video Dawn made about Miles’ journey:

Click here to view the embedded video.

These pretty pups aren’t Tripawds, but we wanted to help spread the word about them. Last week they were saved from a terrible dog hoarding situation in rural Park County, Colorado.

Calpurnia and her Mom are working hard to help find donations and homes for these dogs. Here’s what they had to say:

“We are dealing with a horrific case of a musher ‘hoarding’ dogs, resulting in 100 dogs (6 mos to 14 yrs) that are now in desperate need of homes. Here is a local news story about the discovery.

Luckily, another musher who lives in the area discovered the situation before it got any worse and contacted the authorities. Amazingly, the dogs seem friendly and well socialized.

All the dogs are “somewhere” safe for now.

I asked what the critical need is right now, and it is money.

Park County is not a big county, and very low on funds. It is costing them to bond these dogs, plus medical care for the critical ones, plus checkups, shots, spay/neuters for the rest.

If people want to donate, they can send it to the Park County Animal Control, flagged for the Sled Dog Rescue efforts.

They can also donate to one of the shelters (listed below in order of need):

If someone wants to adopt a dog (someone with an active lifestyle, with a 6′ or greater fence and lots of patience and time to help these dogs adjust to being pets), they can contact the shelters directly.

The more doggy people I can get brainstorming on this, the better we can get these dogs homed and the love and care they each deserve.”

Please contact:

• Ark-Valley Humane Society, Buena Vista, CO. Tel: 719-395-2737
• Lake County Animal Shelter, Leadville, CO. Tel: 719-486-8951
• Denver Dumb Friends League, Denver CO. Tel: 303-751-5772
• Longmont Humane Society, Longmont CO. Tel: 303-772-1232
• Boulder Humane Society, Boulder, CO. Tel: 303-442-4030

Although our pack was still spiritually together, they were so sad that I wasn’t physically with them to enjoy new adventures.

Over the following months, they shed many tears. And each time a dog crossed their path, they felt as if their hearts were sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

But slowly, and thankfully, all of you good Tripawd pawrents helped bring them back into the present. The Tripawds mission became something for them to focus on, other than grief. These last few months they’ve worked hard to build up the site to support more Tripawd pawrents, and it’s kept them very, very busy. With each anniversary of my passing, the heavy burden of grief slowly becomes a little lighter.

In July, I led my Mom and Dad to a place in Colorado where I would have loved to roam, a spot where any dog would feel like king of the mountain.

See, ever since I got sick, they had been looking for a new place for us to call home. Although we roamed from California to Maine and down to Texas, we all knew that the Rocky Mountains were our destiny. In spring, they headed to Colorado, and began their search for my land. But months went by, and nothing seemed destined to become ours.

They had just about given up on finding what they wanted, when I led them to our perfect spot in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. Funny because in our travels together, we had driven by the turn-off from Hwy 287, just west of Fort Collins, three times. This time, the road led them to a beautiful mountain retreat they now call Jerry’s Acres.

As they began making plans to bring our storage stuff out from California, my friend Codie Rae, Girldog Extraordinaire, and her pawrents were hard at work, helping to rescue a fellow Shepherd in need of a loving home. While I wasn’t able to spend my last days on the land we sought for so long, I can’t help but think what a wonderful place Jerry’s Acres would be for a neglected puppy from the inner city… (continued)

My pawrents recently met Lucy, a sweet rescue dog who had a very ruff start in life. But thanks to some incredible people who saved her life, Lucy found a great home, and is now showing the world how awesome life can be on three legs.

Lucky us, we finally got to meet her in Oakland. We tried to get her to slow down and say a few things on camera, but she wouldn’t have it. After all, there were just too many scents to sniff and so much space that needed to be checked out at the dog park!

Codie Rae, brother Smokey, Momma Martha and Daddy Ralph, you guys are awesome!