2016 Holiday Letter

“If dogs don’t go to heaven, I want to go where they go.” – Will Rogers

Dear Golden Bond Rescue Supporters,

Now that the turmoil of the Presidential election is finally over, we can get down to what’s really important: saving dogs, specifically golden retrievers and golden mixes; and, unlike politicians, you know the adoration and love seen in a golden’s eyes can be taken to the bank!

Your very generous 2015 donations allowed GBR to rescue all the “local” goldens who came our way (51) but also 31 goldens from Taiwan and another 36 goldens from China. Although this Holiday Letter will not focus on the China dogs, we do want to tell you that 100% of the 36 China goldens were rescued from various dog meat slaughterhouses or from restaurants serving dog meat. Overall, the per dog expense average remained around $600, although this figure does not include the few high expense dogs, e.g., orthopedic surgery, eye surgery, allergy care, etc.

To date, this year has seen a huge upswing in senior (8+ years old) goldens being relinquished by their owners or rescued from the streets as strays. The reasons for the owner surrenders ranged from “…moving and can’t take the dog with us” to “our golden has severe health issues and we can’t pay for it.” GBR’s rescue mission mandates that we will never turn a golden down because of its age or health. A golden in-need is a golden in-need whether it’s 4 months old or 14 years old, whether it only needs a distemper booster or needs supportive end-of-life care.

As in past years’ letters, we have a few stories to share with you, and though this year’s letter is primarily dedicated to our senior goldens, we do want you to know the story of a rescue who’s at the other end of the age spectrum – remarkable Jane, a two-month old golden found as a stray. We’re also going to share with you the stories of three of the many, many seniors we took in this past year: Jameson, Shilo and Toby.

Jane’s rescue story begins with an American living in Beijing finding her outside his apartment. She was wet, starving and seriously ill. Hoping to nurse her back to health, the American kept her for two weeks before contacting GBR. He had heard about GBR’s work with Together for Animals in China (TAC) and managed to track us down. Working with TAC, we were able to take possession of Jane and get her to International Clinic for Veterinarian Services (ICVS), a clinic in Beijing we knew which had highly trained and skilled vets. After shaving and examining her, Dr. Yiang found that not only was Jane severely malnourished, she also had pneumonia, an extremely bad skin infection, and was filled with parasites. After 2.5 months of care by Dr. Yiang and the ICVS staff, including daily baths, antibiotics, and oxygen and ventilator treatment for the pneumonia, Jane was well enough to make the journey to her new family on the Oregon coast. Without you, our supporters, Jane would not have survived and would not be enjoying romps on the beach and chasing seagulls.

“Now onto our Seniors!”

Jameson came to us at the age of 12. His owners had had him since he was only 8 weeks old and loved him dearly. Unfortunately, they had to move to California and were unable to find housing that allowed a dog as large as Jameson. He is the poster-child for male goldens: huge head, goofy, very loving, and a cuddler. His biggest issue was allergies which caused chronic skin and ear infections. A few weeks of a good, limited ingredient food plus an aggressive and consistent ear treatment made him less itchy and much more comfortable. Jameson went from living outdoors in a small yard to living with his new adopted forever family on a large piece of property near Astoria, OR.

Our next featured senior is 12-year old Shilo. He became a GBR dog because his owner lost her job and was unable to care for him. From the first moment Shilo came to GBR, he struggled with health issues. We knew he had arthritis and weak rear legs, but it wasn’t until he had a thorough examination that we became aware that he had cancer and had only a few months left to live. Shilo was destined to live comfortably as a permanent foster in a GBR foster home. Then a vet tech at his treating clinic fell in love with Shilo and asked that she be allowed to adopt him and give him a forever home for the few months he has left.

Toby is the youngest of our featured seniors – 11 years old. Toby began his life living with his family indoors; however, for the last few years with his original family, he was made to live outside alone. Overfed and under-exercised, Toby ballooned up to 100 lbs. Add to the excessive weight his ear infections, arthritis, multiple fatty tumors, a large, painful cyst at the base of his tail, untreated thyroid issue, loneliness, and it’s no wonder Toby was one miserable boy. His foster family spent hours bathing him, taking him on gentle walks, giving two controlled square meals a day, and treating his various ills. He now lives happily with his forever family in Central Oregon.

The main purpose of our annual Holiday Letter comes down simply to this:  if you value golden retrievers and the work that Golden Bond Rescue does in putting them right and finding the families that will be their forever homes, please be as generous as you can. As you consider our request, please ponder these wise words uttered by Groucho Marx: “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” As true today as it was back then!

We thank you so much in advance for your continued support, and as always, we remain convinced that golden retriever lovers, especially supporters of Golden Bond Rescue, are among the very best people that humankind has to offer.

Have a happy and safe holiday season and remember:  your special dog friends deserve a visit from Santa as well.

Golden Bond Rescue

How you can donate:

1.  You can send us a check using this printable donation form: click here for Holiday Letter Donation Form. Our address is: P.O. Box 25391, Portland, OR 97298. The mailing address is on the form as well.
2. Use our Donate Now button located on our Home page or use this link: DONATE NOW. With this link you may use either PayPal or your credit card.