NEW BEGINNINGS NEWSLETTER - FALL 2014

PET CARRIERS NEEDED

New Beginnings of Merced needs carriers for the 200 plus animals they transport from Animal Control to no-kill rescues each month. Any carriers appropriate for animals 30 pounds and under in usable condi-tion are acceptable as well as new carriers or funds for their pur-chase. Receipts can be provided for tax purposes. If you can help, please call 658-8553 or 769-8953.

WHAT IS AMAZON SMILE?

Amazon Smile is an easy way to help New Beginnings! The next time you are ordering from Amazon, type in Amazon Smile. On the right side of the screen there is a pull down to select a charity and you type in New Beginnings For Merced County Ani-mals. After that, New Beginnings will pop up each time on the top of your Amazon page and a percentage of your order from Amazon will go to help the animals. Neat, huh?

HAPPY VOLUNTEERS AND GREAT PIZZA! New Beginnings' first volunteer appreciation luncheon was held July 19 at Gail's wonderful country home. In the shade of massive old trees, the volunteers enjoyed several kinds of wood-fired pizza, baked right there on the site by Rustic Brick Oven Pizza of Modesto. The weather was de-lightful and the company even better! After we filled up on salad and pizza, Sharon over-came her dislike of public speaking and did a great job reporting a few interesting facts about each volunteer. Many thanks to Gail for offering her home, making salads and arranging for the pizza. She's planning on it again next year-Yea!

BAKE SALE For the third summer in a row, Emily has held an annual bake sale in front of Christina's Fine Clothing and has netted much needed funds for animals in Merced Coun-ty. From the sale of desserts donated by at least 30 bakers, she was able to contribute $2,745.00 to assist New Beginnings with medical costs and other types of animal care. Rounding out the day was Marti from San Francisco who bought the last items at the day's end for the enjoyment of employees and volunteers at the San Francisco SPCA. Many, many thanks to all you great cooks out there, to Christina for the use of her store and to Emily and her family for bearing the stifling heat for the ben-efit of our furry friends. Watch for information about the annual Christmas bake sale in December.

DID YOU KNOW?

When photographed, our dogs' names are chosen from a list of people who have been honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Why? Because they're OUR Walk of Fame! Lucy and Darrell with crates

for kittens being flown to Ft. Col-lins, Colorado on August 12.

New Beginnings Board Members along with Junior Members Caitlin and Emily.

Caitlin and Emily with the “Goodies”

NEW BEGINNINGS TRANSPORTS

Sometimes it's vans "piloted" by earnest, hardy, sleep-deprived drivers and sometimes it's a frequent visitor from the skies who lands at the Castle Airport. However it happens, lucky critters arrive at no-kill rescues and from there get new, permanent homes. It goes without saying that our heartfelt thanks go out to all our transporters. The photos included in this issue show an air transport completed on July 27. Forty-eight dogs were flown to Missoula, Montana by Peter Rork, a retired orthopedic surgeon who decided he didn't want to play golf all the time! The name for his not-for-profit organization is "Dog Is My Copilot" which is literally true; he always has at least one dog and sometimes three in carriers in the seat next to him. Peter is an animal advocate extraordinaire and he does not charge New Beginnings for the several flights he makes here each month. His summer trips included five visits in June, three in July and two in August. We are so fortunate to have him with us and so grateful for his dedication to animal wel-fare. We have to say, "Thank you so much, Peter", and here's a big "Woof" and "Meow" from our furry friends.

New Beginnings for Merced County Animals Visit our website to find out more about New Beginnings. There you can donate to help save the animals of Merced County. Scan our QR Code using your smartphone or tablet to take you directly to the website, or you can always enter the URL: www.newbeginningsforanimalsmerced.org

Pilot Peter Rork stands at the tail of his plane which displays his logo and slogan, “Dog Is My Copilot”

You really mean ALL these are going in THERE??

Da Plane, Da Plane!

Left to Right: Sharon and Emily of New Beginnings with Pilot Peter Rork.

Fran Allison looks for her new owners awaiting her in Missoula.

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!

Many people volunteer for New Beginnings and give of their time to benefit the animals of Merced County by doing a great variety of things. From the time animals come in there is the photo team taking photos of the wonderful animals at Merced County Animal Con-trol. Others assist in the testing of dogs before transport and help meet the needs of rescue groups that come to take animals. Merced County Animal Control staff help with the docu-mentation and loading of animals for transport and veterinarians see that they are healthy and ready to go! Then there are volunteers who load animals in crates for transport, and drivers and a pilot who convey them to their destinations all over the western states! Still others are involved in fund raisers like the pancake breakfast and bake sales. Computer savvy people help with the website and Facebook. Just recently a newsletter team started in. Several serve on the board, making important decisions for the organization and animals and handling the spay/neuter vouchers. Foster “moms and dads” provide our critters with a safe place to stay until transport and donors give so that New Beginnings has funds for transport costs, medical necessities and other needs as they arise. Ensuring that donors receive proper acknowledgement for their support is an artist who enjoys creating beautiful hand-made cards and another lady who writes and sends the thank-yous. These helpers are the lifeblood of New Beginnings and we can’t thank them enough for their participation and support. We are a small but mighty group of around 40-50 volunteers and there are lots of needs. We can always dream up something for you to do! If you have some time to volunteer and would like to be a part of wonderful things happening for animals, give Sharon a call at 769-2122. To all you supporters out there, many, many thanks again!

So, besides transports, what does New Beginnings do...? In addition to rescuing animals from Animal Control, we accept as many owner surrenders as possible, depending on foster availability and funding. Some of these animals have medical issues which can be major. Pictured are Sadie, a Pit Bull and Elf, a Chihuahua. Sadie was removed from Animal Control with severe Demodex mange for which she was treated. She is now living and completing her recovery in Mon-tana. There she has several acres to run on and is so happy and loved! Elf's owner moved and asked a neighbor to keep her for a couple months, but did not return to retrieve her. Then in late July an encounter with a car fractured Elf's pelvis. To make things worse, for some unknown reason her left eye popped out, could not be reinserted and had to be removed. Oddly enough, the next day another Chihuahua housed in a hoarding situation had the same eye condi-tion. Medical costs for skin conditions, and eye and bone surgeries are expensive but these little souls deserve a chance to know love.

Celebrations! All sorts of wonderful things happen when dogs are sent to no-kill rescues by New Beginnings and find a new life else-where! Isn't Moose the lucky one! He had a party celebrating his one year anni-versary of being adopted from a Bay area rescue.

Bob, formerly one of our Chihuahuas, is loving it up with his foster mom from the rescue group in Montana that accepted him from us. The group had a get-together and Bob's new family brought him by to say hello!

Sadie, before treatment & her forever home.

Elf receiving treatment & “Love”

BY THE NUMBERS Here are some figures you’ll all enjoy reading: 1196 dogs and and 449 cats were rescued from Animal Control and transported to no kill rescues or shelters in

2013. 1 potbelly pig and 2 Guinea pigs were rescued in 2013. 728 owner-released animals were accepted between January and July this year. 44 dogs and 42 cats were accepted from owners in the month of August 2014.

Or on the web: www.newbeginningsforanimalsmerced.org

A HAPPY ENDING Twelve year old Olive was a blind Chihuahua mix who was surrendered to Animal Control as a stray. But Olive was special. Everyone at Animal Control LOVED her and she quickly became a staff favorite. They contacted New Beginnings asking for her to be placed. So the first step was a trip to Valley Animal Hospital where her diabetes was discovered, making it necessary to keep her there until she was stabilized. Then a wonderful dog sanctuary in Petaluma, run by a wonderful woman who has helped New Beginnings for years, was contacted. Voila! Olive was off to her new home in the north Bay to become friends with other special needs dogs there. We are so grateful to this remarkable rescue for tak-ing in elderly Chihuahuas . Welcome Home, Olive!

THINKING OF HELPING? HERE'S HOW:

Amazon Smile (When you order from Amazon go to Amazon Smile and choose us)

Costco gift cards (gas for van transports)

Collars (Find these on Amazon Smile)

Dog tags (these are also listed on our Amazon Wish List)

Non-spillable crate water bowls

Pet carriers suitable for animals up to 30 pounds

I Give

Advantix and Frontline Plus (especially for small dogs and cats)

New Beginnings for Animals Merced County 6065 Vine Ave., Winton, CA 95388

YU-U-U-U-UCK! These are about half (if even that) of the ticks that were removed from one small momma dog and her four puppies this summer which graphically illustrates our great need for donations of Advantix and Frontline Plus. Probably due to the drought, there has been a great increase in flea and tick infestations. If you want to pur-chase either of these products in Merced , you can call 723-8953 to arrange a delivery or pickup spot. Or- if you purchase it through Amazon Smile, you can have it sent directly to our shipping address. Then, if you have named New Beginnings as your choice of charity, we get a percentage of the sale!