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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2012)
8 in other words february14 2012 Creature Comforts ~ Rescue! By Victoria K. Guerrero the dogs are in good health, and friend- ly, although some have been neglected After working at Creatures pet emotionally and are in some cases, need- store in Vernonia these past few months, ing a gentle hand to train and teach to it’s obvious that our little community is love. full of large hearted animal lovers, who This is where fostering comes in are more than willing to open their heart very handy. Knowledgeable people with and home to help out an animal in need. the time and resources are able to con- From saving baby kittens born wild in a nect with rescues, and after applying and wood pile, to lending a helping hand to being approved, can open their home to an old mule in need, the stories are plen- animals in need. Often times, as men- tiful, as is the need for help. tioned above, the animals have not had It is obvious by seeing the a lot of human contact, and are hard to news stories from time to time regard- find homes for. A foster teaches the pet ing hoarding cases that there is a serious all about being a part of a healthy fam- need for help. In the past twelve months, ily and home, and that it’s alright to trust Oregon rescues have taken in hundreds people. Coming from experience, it’s of dogs and cats from our own state, and ever so rewarding to teach a pet that hu- Chihuahuas and small breed dogs from mans are safe and loving, yet it’s ever so California. It seems there has been an difficult to say good bye! Many people over load of Chihuahuas in shelters and including myself start out with the very rescue organizations, due to over breed- best intentions, but in the end, adopt the ing and popularity of the breed. Many of pet they intended to only help out for a short time. Aside from fos- tering there are many other av- enues to helping animals in need. Local shelters as well as rescue groups often ral- 503-429-7387 expires 3/31/12 ly for volunteers to help out. In a 10% off all grooming services Creatures 736 Bridge Street few minutes by doing a simple Internet search, thousands upon thousands of res- cue groups can be found. Locally we have several options starting with Columbia County Humane Society--a no kill shelter doing a great job in our county to help out homeless animals. Columbia Humane Society of- fers low cost rabies clinics, low cost pet food, and discount spay and neuter cou- pons. Through generous volunteer dona- tions they now have a wonderful fenced in exercise area for the dogs, as well as covered outside runs to protect the big dogs in the rain! Columbia Humane So- ciety can be reached at 503-397-4353, or look for them on the Internet. Although they are not a rescue group, Columbia County Animal Con- trol can be helpful also. There have been severe budget cuts but county Of- ficer Roger Kadell does a wonderful job at covering the needs of our county. If a stray or injured animal is found, Offi- cer Kadell will do his best to come assist the animal to get needed help. Columbia County Animal Control can be reached at 503-397-3935. Indigo Rescue is also a wonder- ful organization made up of a series of fosters and volunteers. As many of you know Indigo now owns property near the Vernonia Airport, better known as Indigo Ranch, a cage free boarding fa- Vernonia Resident Fights Kidney Disease continue to work full time. According to Laura there are only a handful of people that know about Ryan’s condition. “He is a proud man and doesn’t like for people to feel sorry Vernonia Coffee Roasters “QUALITP COFFEE ROASTED TO PERFECTION” Now available at vernonia sentry market WWW.VERNONIACOFFEEROASTERS.COM for him,” Laura explains. “There are times when I feel so drained and I just don’t want to get up, but I have to, I just have to keep on going” says Ryan. “It’s rough but I’m the kind of person who always tries to figure out my own problems. But with this we’re just having a hard time.” Ryan has continued to work to the amazement of all his doctors. Because of his condition sometimes he is unable to work and has to be off for weeks at a time. “As you can imagine this is very hard on our finances,” says Laura. “ I work full time but I don’t make enough to keep us going by myself. Also when Ryan is off work for very long we have to come up with our insurance premiums.” Ryan works in Portland as an above-ground miner; Laura works in Beaverton in accounts receivable for a software development company. Ryan’s condition is getting worse. He says he is tired a lot of the time and he is always sick. He throws up now almost on a daily basis and he cility created to support the needs of the rescue. Indigo has several yearly activi- ties that anyone can join in to support the rescue’s efforts in helping animals in need. For more information, check out www.indigorescue.org, or leave a mes- sage at 503-626-7222. Displaced Pets opened about two years ago in Vernonia. They focus mainly on ‘petite breed’ dogs and have done many transformations over the past few years, and helped out many dogs in need as well as families. A lot of the dogs that end up at Displaced Pets Res- cue have been at different shelters in our area, and get brought to the rescue due to not doing well in the shelter environ- ment. You can locate DP on the Internet at www.displacedpetsrescue.com, or call 503-703-2923. One last way you can help-- there is always a great need for finan- cial support. Not only to offset the cost of feed and veterinary expenses, but the rising cost of gas. Even though the dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, it still adds up, and the animals appreciate the help so much. Many will agree when consider- ing the rescues they have supported in one way or another, it is better to give than to receive. But when the rescues end up staying the real question is, who rescued who? continued from front page gets muscle cramps that are paralyzing and his leg muscles twitch almost nightly. He gets little sleep due to all of this but he still gets up at 4:00 AM to go to work to help his family as much as he can. After a full day of work, Ryan then heads to 185 th Street three days a week for his five hour dialysis treatment. The doctors say they need to remove both of Ryan’s kidneys. “He has to have both kidneys taken out because they are so large and filled with cysts that there will be no room to place a new kidney if he were to have one,” says Laura. This will place him higher on the donor list as his need will be greater. This will also mean a 6-8 week recovery period where at least one of those weeks he will need to have someone at home to help him as this is a very painful procedure. “That means time off for me and I am not sure I will have the vacation time built up at that time,” says Laura. “I want to get a new kidney so I can go on with my life like it was before,” says Ryan. “It makes it hard to go fishing or hunting or camping because I have to be back in a day or two for dialysis. It’s hard but I’ve been dealing with it and just keep on going—I have to try to support my family.” A donation account has been set up at US Bank—“The Ryan Roberts Medical Fund.” The family has set up a Facebook page with the same name so people can follow Ryan’s progress. Laura’s daughter Brianna, an eighth grade student at Vernonia Middle School, with the help of her Leadership Class, is also organizing some fundraising activities. “I’m hoping if people know about him they will come together and try to help us in whatever way they feel is right; whether it be financially or to be tested to donate a kidney to him,” says Laura. “I have seen the community over the years pull together and help others that were in need. We just didn’t know how to ask.” “I am just hoping to get this all behind me, get our lives back and go back to doing what we used to do,” says Ryan. COMMUNITY DINNER START RIGHT. START HERE. SM Time to get your MOWERS tuned up Repairs, Blades, Belts, and Parts Family owned & operated for over 40 years 834 Bridge St., Vernonia (503) 429-6364 Your LOCAL property management company Joni Jackson at The Scout Cabin in Hawkins Park on February 18 from 6:..-8:.. P.M. Owner/Principal Broker Real Estate Sales • Residential • Commercial • Vacant Land Property Management • Residential • Commercial • Vacation Rentals See classified section for current rental listings Real Estate Service with a plan of ACTION! 503-956-0445 Joni@RelianceRES.com 859 Bridge Street • Vernonia, OR 97064 www.RelianceRES.com Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup Bread and Dessert Dinner is free-- Everyone welcome! Sponsored by the Vernonia Pioneer Baptist Fellowship (No Perfekt People Allowed!)
