Arwednesdays with Arwen: Loving Animals

Hello, it's me again, Arwen the Wonder dog. I wanted to get serious for a moment, if I may today...
I am loved.
I am very loved.
How do I know? Well, my mommy tells me at least 10 times every day.
I get my beautiful fur brushed every day, with lots of petting and mommy telling me how pretty I am. When that is done, I get my pearly white teeth brushed.
I have lots of toys, from tennis balls to squeaky stuffies, Nylabones and Kongs to keep me occupied, stimulated and happy.
I get to go for walks almost every day (unless it is very cold, icy or very wet), and I get to play in my yard every day, chasing birdies and squirrels and barking at imaginary beasts. When I come back inside, there is always fresh water, healthy food, and sometimes even treats if I've been good (or just looked really cute).
But, mommy tells me not all animals are loved.
Mommy tells me that there are many animals all over the world that are not fed properly, are not cared for, brushed, walked or even talked to nicely. Many animals are beaten, starved, left alone tied outside, or even forced to fight other dogs until one of them dies.

But, mommy tells me that there are great people who rescue these sad animals so that they have a chance at a happy life. One place is called Harmony Fund (animalrescuechase.com), and they are having what is called the World's Biggest Baby Shower for Animals (http://animalrescuechase.com/baby-shower/), where people can donate money online to help them rescue lots of animals and make them happy like me. Take the little guy in the photo above. He lives in Puerto Rico. One day, his owners got in a fight in their apartment. To get him out of the way, one of the owners shoved him in a hole in the wall in the back of a closet, where he fell to the bottom of the building and was left for two weeks in a wall, and was ignored by the residents who heard his cries for help. Finally a nice lady heard what was happening and rescued him, moments from dying and covered in sores. Now he is healthy and living the good life, thanks to these amazing people working with Harmony Fund.
Mommy thinks this is very good, and I do too. If you are able, please try to donate to them to give all sorts of animals (doggies, horses, cats, monkeys and more) the chance to have a happy life. At the very least, please try to spread the word about all the great things that they do so that others can help them too.
Please help these animals have a chance to have a happy home.
A chance to be loved.

and Arwen the Wonder Dog

July's Charity of the Month: Rescue 100

This month's charity of the month is Rescue 100 Foundation. They are a non-profit horse rescue that regularly receives horses seized by the Alberta SPCA. Many of these horses are able to have perfect lives - the only problem is that their previous owners neglected them so badly they often need months of rehabilitation to be healthy enough to be adopted. This takes a substantial amount of love, attention and money. The results, however, are worth it. Keep reading to see one success story of many at Rescue 100:
The above image is of Saffiya, one of the first horses rescued by Rescue 100, in a herd of about 100 horses (sadly, not all of them made it) seized from a farm by the Alberta SPCA (they have since had more horses - the SPCA has had TWO major seizures alone this year, resulting in many horses being kept at the farm). She was so starved that she would stand like this, in the middle of frigid winter, for hours, too weak to move. You can see her belly is bloated from lack of food, her coat is rough and falling out from lack of nutrition, and she has almost no muscle, and nearly zero fat. She often had to be hand fed by the wonderful people at Rescue 100. It was a labor of love, however, as she was eventually healthy enough to be adopted, and her new owner sent a photo of Saffiya in her hew home:
What a transformation, and such a happy ending! This truly is an act of kindness and love, and as you can see, the results are definitely worth it. I wish I could adopt one of them, but right now, I could only keep a horse in the yard with Arwen or in the house with all of us, and I don't think they'd like the stairs. That, and Arwen likes to be the only one pooping in the yard ;-)

10% of the sales before taxes and shipping will be going towards this noble cause. You can purchase items from my Etsy store here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlestudiojewels or you can go and donate directly to Rescue100 via their website here: http://rescue100.ca/?page_id=43


Images are copyright Rescue 100 Foundation

Sweet Saturday: A Stroll With Epic Farms

Today I thought I would take a stroll over to Epic Farms, who happens to be my charity of the month (and a great friend also!). Jen is a wonderful artist, breast cancer survivor, and horse rescuer extraordinaire (sometimes when she doesn't even intend to be, lol).
I have purchased several items from her and I have to say that everything is high quality, beautiful, well packaged, affordably priced, and goes to a great cause - her 501(c3) charitable-approved horse rescue!Located in Alabama, her farm has recently had a few difficulties - the recent heavy rains have increased their already problematic erosion problems to the point that they have had to go out on several occasions and do emergency hole filling, and a few of the holes are going to have to be back filled. To add insult to injury, a recent storm ripped the roof off of two of their horses' stalls, and you have a real need for funds! I wanted to show a few of the pieces available for sale, but I also wanted to direct your attention to the right hand column of my blog - if you scroll down a bit, you will see their widget to direct you to their fund raising page on FirstGiving so that you can also donate directly if you would prefer.
Jen doesn't know I have profiled her on my blog today *wicked grin* but in addition to telling you of her farm's needs, I really wanted to show you some of her work, as it is just gorgeous :)

Please do stop by her Website, Blog, Squidoo Lens and most especially her Etsy Store....and don't forget to always "Live, Love, Laugh" as the items above show you!
Have a fantastic Saturday!

URGENT CALL FOR HELP!

I received an email from a friend, Marjorie over at The Fantail, about the Feathers Foundation, an organization that saves good horses from slaughterhouses in Canada and the United States. Apparently, they have come across a lot of 19 horses, ten of which are pregnant! They are all due to go to the slaughterhouse unless the money can be raised to send them to Circle L Ranch in Arizona to be rehabilitated and, where possible, adopted out to a loving forever home. They need to raise about $4500US and have so far reached about $2100US. Any donation is greatly appreciated, many people are giving just $10 (and that is doable for just about everyone, right?) to help and that is making all the difference! If just 200 people donate $10 (and you are welcome to donate more!), they will reach their goal in no time.
THEY NEED TO REACH THEIR GOAL BY APRIL 24 OR THESE HORSES AND THEIR UNBORN FOALS WILL GO TO SLAUGHTER! Please, please help save them! If you go to their donation site (which is a secure site through FirstGiving) you can see that you may even be able to adopt them, for as little as $100! How amazing to get such a wonderful creature for only $100, and know that you have saved them a terrifying end to a too-short life.
Please donate any amount today at: http://www.firstgiving.com/savehorses
Thank you!