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
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ly for volunteers
to help out. In a
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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
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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.
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