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THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!! I am just beside myself with joy this morning. I just updated our stats for the 2005 year and to date -- 4 months only into 2005 -- we have placed 37 dogs and those are all adult -- no litter of puppies!! This is just beyond incredible. Even more incredible is that we have helped with the murder/suicide case and closed the Akita portion of a local puppymill. That along with this number of placements is just tremendous!

This is certainly a team effort -- ARWNY is a whole lot of people and supporters -- from donors, to advisors, to vet friends, to transporters, to evaluators, to fellow rescue groups and breed clubs, to breeders, to the 9 year old nephew of a supporter who was touched by a story about the Lorber dogs and went out on his own to solicit toys and money and food for those dogs, to another two children who went and got restaurant gift certificates donated and are raffling them to make money for rescue, to people who help with our web site, to well -- EVERYONE!!!

ARWNY normally places approximately 74 dogs a year. 37 dogs -- ADULT DOGS ALL NEEDING VET CARE, REHAB, AND TRAINING -- well what can I say! You all made me speechless and that is a tough thing to do!

The Lorber dogs are down to just one left to place -- our special Erin -- one of my personal favorites! Their case was certainly the epitome of a "village helping a rescue!!" We could NOT have done that case alone and are so heartened by the tremendous outpouring of support from the nation's Akita lovers.

KUDOS AND MANY MANY MANY THANKS TO ALL -- every single person who did anything to help these loving dogs get the permanent home they so deserve! THANK YOU!!

Left to right: Crescent Pet Lodge opened their doors exclusively to these dogs; Dr. Joan Puritz (center) owner, prized vet, and ARWNY friend; Dr. Peeples (right) drove from Georgia to donate her time and adopt Helen -- the Lorber dog blind with VKH!

What a weekend! The ARWNY traveling crew (Heather, Kathy & Justin) transported 11 dogs from PA to Oneonta, NY to be spayed & neutered. Dr. Rachel Peeples, a dear friend of ARWNY, offered her services and traveled from Savannah, GA to help with the procedures. We cannot thank her enough because her generosity of spirit saved ARWNY substantial costs and prepared these dogs for adoption much sooner than our funds would have allowed. We also cannot thank Dr. Joan Puritz enough. Dr. Puritz of Crescent Valley Veterinary Clinic in Oneonta, NY has been a guardian angel to all the Akitas that were rescued from this tragic situation. As if she had not extended herself enough, Dr. Puritz once again opened her heart and her vet clinic to the Lorber Akitas. By providing a clinic to perform the spay/neuters and teaming up with Dr. Peeples to get all the procedures performed, Dr. Puritz extended her kindness and generosity further than anyone could have hoped.

We cannot forget to mention the wonderful staff at Crescent who donated their time to assist in this effort. These amazing women came into work, without pay, to assist in the spay/neuters. Our thanks go to Kaye, Sarah and Cheryl. Without their assistance, this day would not have been possible. Kaye was the vet tech assisting Dr. Puritz, Sarah was the vet tech assisting Dr. Peeples, and Cheryl kept operations running smoothly.

Kathy Dewees and Cheryl kept everything organized during this tireless effort. They guided the ship and made sure that all records were accurately tracked and ensured that each dog had everything it needed. Kathy donated her time, energy, and weekend to drive from NJ to transport these dogs to NY and to their second chance. You often hear the question, "How far are you willing to go?" applied to many situations. When it comes to saving Akitas, Kathy is always willing to go the distance - and more. Her dedication and self-sacrifice has saved the lives of thousands of Akitas.

Justin, who traveled from NJ with Kathy, was indispensable. Justin has proven himself to be a natural at handling dogs and, boy, can he convince any Akita to get in a crate! Justin has a calming influence and naturally understands how to interact with the dogs. Justin did most of the heavy work lifting dogs in & out of the vans. Heather was very grateful for that assistance because it saved her a visit to the chiropractor!

Heather Hauser had quite the experience driving a cargo van for the first time! She took out the insurance, just to be safe, and was pretty glad she did because when she set out from the Philly suburbs, the van slid down a steep, icy hill into a snow bank. Some kind neighbors helped free the van (undamaged - woo hoo!) and she set off, soon mastering the art of driving a rolling blind spot. The new experiences kept coming for Heather who was put in charge of cleaning surgical kits - yuck! She got over her queasiness pretty quickly and was then taught to do some canine dentistry by Dr. Puritz. When Dr. Puritz said, "I'm going to show you how to clean teeth," Heather thought she was kindly offering to let her observe. Oh no, Dr. Puritz was teaching her and Heather was soon removing tartar and plaque from all the males. It was an amazing experience for Heather and she didn't forget to think of Nancy...she saved a big chunk of tartar just to send to Nancy in Buffalo!!!

ARWNY's traveling crew (Heather, Kathy & Justin) can't say enough about the two vets and the staff at Crescent. It was a pleasure for them to meet Dr. Peeples in person who is truly a gem, not to mention that she bakes a mean loaf of bread! As if driving from Savannah, GA to perform spay/neuters wasn't enough, Dr. Peeples baked delicious mini loaves of bread for all to enjoy throughout the weekend. Then, to see Dr. Peeples adopt the blind VKH girl, touched the hearts of the ARWNY crew more than words can say. It goes without saying that the Crescent staff - Dr. Joan Puritz, Sarah, Kaye & Cheryl - have become more than our partners in this tremendous effort, they have become part of our ARWNY family. The weekend effort was a beautiful reminder that there is genuine kindness in this world and that there are people who are willing to go the distance to make a difference. But, the effort does not end here...the financial toll for boarding, meds & supplies mounts daily. ARWNY hopefully reaches out to others to be inspired by this spirit of self-sacrifice and help us get these dogs to their forever homes. To complete this circle, we need donations and adopters - with your help, all these dogs will all be able to go the distance.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!! Sunday January 9th an ARWNY team was on-site and successfully pulled all 24 dogs left on the property. A wonderful local vet, Dr. Puritz of Crescent Pet Lodge and her assistant Kaye, volunteered to come on-site to vaccinate and assess medical needs. 6 dogs were transported to her vet office for follow-up assessment and care and will be transported to kennels later this week. Cassi Belli (and husband Brian) of Middleboro Vet Clinic also assisted on-site. Angi and Ron Diamond, Kim Holmes, and Ron Wozniak helped with on-site evaluations. Angi took 4 dogs to her house to hold until they could be transported to another kennel. 6 dogs were transported to Buffalo and Eagle Ridge Kennels who again stepped forward to assist. Southwind Kennels opened their doors to house 11 and Camp Waggin Tail Kennels also stepped forward to help ARWNY out and dogs will be transported there from Angi's and the vet's during this week. Paul Suydam, the local ACO, and Deb Crute, of the local SPCA, have been of tremendous assistance. The SPCA has one dog that will come to us later in the week. One old dog was running loose on the property and was not spotted that day. The ACO will continue to watch for him. We had assistance with transport as well from Leslie Mulhollan, Emy Angeli and her dad, Ray, and we cannot thank ARWNY's own Deb Parcel or her boyfriend Tim Preston and his daughter Samantha enough for all their help!

All dogs received a general quick vet exam, vaccinations including bordetella and Rabies, a general worming, and a nail trim.

The dogs were in outside kennels and the kennel doors had to be shoveled out to open. The dog houses were frozen to the ground. Food was being given over the kennel fence but water could not be given nor could the kennels be cleaned for over a week! BUT they are all now safe and in ARWNY's care!

OH DEAR!!!! We sent ARWNY's own Kathy and Heather on a long trip to meet Dr. Peeples and Dr. Puritz to get the rest of the Lorber Akitas described below spayed/neutered. We do not know what happened! Today, I received this picture that shows Justin, ARWNY's newest volunteer, with what came back from the trip! Where oh where is Kathy and Heather -- guess only the dogs will know!!

All humor aside (and after the last several weeks we do need a sense of humor), this picture shows Tioga -- one of the 26 dogs rescued from the murder/suicide case below. He is ready for a home and so are many others. Check them out on the ARWNY Availables page and lets see if together we cannot get these dogs adopted in the next several weeks! And thanks to the many of you sending product donations -- like these bones that Jamie sent. The dogs are loving them.

Today kids get a bad rap for being selfish, for not caring about anything other than tv and video games but not all kids deserve that bad rap. Here is an exceptional 11 year old boy -- Jason D, from West Chester PA. This young man does not even own an Akita, but was so moved by the plight of the Millbrook/Lorber Akitas, that he set out to do something to help. Here are Jason's own words:

"My name is Jason D. I am 11 years old and live in West Chester. I am very
athletic and LOVE dogs. I have been around dogs of all different breeds my
entire life, and I have always enjoyed being around them. I heard from my Aunt
Lisa that 26 Akitas needed help and would eventually need homes, so I decided I
would help. I wrote an e-mail about the dogs to my friends and family and
asked them to donate old towels, blankets, and sheets, and anything else that
the dogs could use. After I collected everything, my family and I met my Aunt
Lisa and Uncle Bob at a kennel that was housing some of the rescued dogs. We
unloaded about 7 bags of blankets and food. We got to see some of the rescued
dogs, and they were all really nice dogs. I was glad I could help them."

The gals of ARWNY were moved to tears at the generous undertaking. HUGE bags of goods were brought to help the Akitas and Jason's Aunt & Uncle, Bob & Lisa Muench (long-time Akita lovers and volunteers for Akita rescue themselves) were instrumental in getting Jason, his family and all these wonderful donations to us. We think Jason deserves a HUGE round of applause for all his dedication and hard work!! And we look forward to Jason growing up so he and his sister Kelsey can start doing volunteer work for Akita Rescue -- we like the idea of recruiting our volunteers early!!!