Sydney Needs Our Help... NOW! - Page 1

I met Sydney a year ago when she was 6 years old. At that point she had already been in the shelter for over 2 years. She is just the sweetest dog and NEEDS to get out of there! She MUST find a forever home! I can't even begin to imagine that she would end up living the rest of her life there. She is such a sweet beautiful girl, it just breaks my heart that she hasn't been adopted yet. Even if we could just find someone that would be willing to foster her that would be FANTASTIC! Thank You, Margaret Bradley http://www.geocities.com/margaretmbradley/vondernewlenox.html Sydney German Shepherd Dog Size: Large Age: Adult Sex: Female I.D: 83 Notes: Sydney is a gorgeous, very sweet large Shepherd mix. She is approximately 7 years old and spayed. She walks well on a leash and responds to basic commands. Some think she would do best in a home without other dogs, while others think with a properly monitored introduction and supervision, she would do well with dog buddies. She has lived at our shelter for 3 years and deserves a "forever home." She is good with kids, men and women. The people who left her with us a couple years ago told us she jumped their fence -- we don't think she would do that now, if she had a reason to stay -- reasons like love, good food and attention. ==== "I don't know the whole story of Sydney, but I do know that she is learning to be a dog again and learning to have fun. I take her to the dog park every weekend and we walk around the park, she has her nose to the ground most of the time that we're there. After a couple of rounds, I sit down in the shade and she comes over and lays down in the grass, rolling over on her back and kicking those big feet up in the air - loving life and the feel of the cool soft grass. She then rolls over on her side and puts her big beautiful head in my lap and I start brushing her. I always take the brush with me when we go because that's such a good opportunity to groom her. It's so calm and relaxed and so is she. I have to believe that she really looks forward to these outings. The car ride is the bonus. She loves to ride in the car and look out the windows. She rides very well in the car and seems to enjoy getting as much of her head out the window as she possibly can. She is a very sweet, loving girl. She will be the most wonderful companion for that someone special who will love her and take her for car rides and to the dog park." (Cindy - one of the wonderful people who love and care for Sydney here at the shelter) This pet is: up to date with routine shots, altered This pet is eligible for a gift of the first month of ShelterCare pet insurance paid for by Petfinder.com Madison County Humane Society Anderson, IN (765) 644-6484 madisoncohumanesoc@sbcglobal.net Copy and paste this link into your browser to see picture's of her and more information: http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=574177&adTarget=468petsgeneral&SessionID=41bb019a0ac57d13-app2&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmpl=&stat=

Margaret, she's adorable. why don't you post this under ARTICLES and add her pictures directly. Also, the Denver area humane societies have been known to have a shortage of dogs, believe it or not. You may want to call them and see if you can transport her there. She should get adopted there real quick. shipping her from Indiana to Denver will not be too expensive, and i'm sure I can help you drum up some money if need be.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I will look into them and try and add her to the section you refered to. Are you from the Denver area? If so, could you give me some of the shelter phone numbers that you know of? It was very nice of you to offer financial help, thank you. I will let you know what happens. Sincerely, Margaret Bradley http://www.geocities.com/margaretmbradley/vondernewlenox.html

Until this past summer, I lived in Anderson and volunteered at the humane society where Sydney lives, primarily working with the big dogs there resolving behavioural issues and re-socializing them so that they stood some chance of ever being adopted. Until early this year when a new director was appointed, this facility was being run by the (still there) kennel manager who, in my opinion, is more a collector than someone whose interest is finding appropriate forever homes for the animals. The local newspaper in Anderson has been, for over a month now, full of accounts from would-be adopters who were insulted by this woman and never allowed to adopt. This is a "no-kill" shelter and there are dogs there that arrived as puppies and have been there for the better part of a decade...hardly humane. Last month, the new director, a volunteer who had made some very positive changes there resigned in disgust at the lack of support from the board of directors who then hired a new executive director at a salary of $40,000.00 per year. As near as I have been able to establish, her only qualification for this job is 4 years of Bichon rescue. Believing that experience with Bichons somehow uniquely qualifies her to know what is best for a GSD, she has refused to allow the dog to be rescued by the local GSD rescue who finally has space for her. This refusal is based solely on my association with the rescue as I have been a vocal critic of the shelter and its board of directors and have publicly requested disclosure of the new director's qualifications and the application and selection process used by the board. Inasmuch as this facility is owned and funded by the community, I do not consider these requests unreasonable but that information has not been forthcoming. To be continued...

About Sydney... I have worked quite a bit with Sydney and know her fairly well. When I first met her, she seemed to have lost all hope and was just an empty shell waiting to die. She had no idea what a toy was and had so little pack instinct left that I had little with which to work and seriously questioned if I could ever turn her around. After my first hour with her, I literally cried on the way home. Surprisingly, Sydney did start to come around and bonded with me. If I had had the space and facility to bring her home, I would have. She does have some dog agression issues (no doubt from having been kept in virtual isolation for years and I think she's been there for more than 3 years...no one really knows because, like several of the dogs there, there seem to be no accurate records indicating when she got there or from where) but they are controllable and could possibly be eliminated by a good handler who has enough patience and the ability to keep her separated from other dogs until they are resolved. Syndey is an older dog who really just needs a loving home in which to spend her last few years. Any help anyone can offer finding that home would be greatly appreciated and I will help any way that I can so long as it does not involve going to the shelter (where I am obviously no longer welcome). Anyone wanting more information please feel free to contact me at skyd1ve@hotmail.com There is a head shot of Sydney here: http://www.keithgrossman.com/Photo/images/DSC_0063_jpg.jpg

Keith... E-MAIL ME NOW! My home e-mail is margaretmbradley@sbcglobal.net . When I am at work e-mail me at margaretmbradley@yahoo.com . I want to talk to you on the phone ASAP! Margaret