A hearty thank-you to everyone who helped make this year's joint entry float a success!  We were so lucky to have Miriam Grant donate her trailer for the event and drive it for us, and Beverly Almvig donate most of our decorations to create a wonderful "dog park" setting for our float.  BHMS donated their lot for our meeting/decoration location and Sara Archer kept the doors of BMHS open Friday night so workers had a place to keep warm!  Special thanks to all the volunteers from all three groups who braved the cold weather to help us put the float together!  

 

      

Beverly Almvig, who designed our float this       SWAT Volunteers Deborah Silva and Amanda Fleck

year and donated most of the decorations         with foster dog Pee Wee

  

Holiday Pet Photo Fundraiser

Most important, thank-you to all the dog lovers in the area who came by to have their photos taken and support Save Wonderful Animals Team!

Walla Walla Dog Park Grand Opening

SWAT is an avid supporter of the Walla Walla Dog Park and was honored to be a part of their grand opening celebration on October 4, 2008.  Despite the rainy weather, there was a good turnout of both human and canine supporters.  SWAT had a table set up before the Dog Stampede, and several adoptable dogs were there for the Stampede and the park opening.  In fact, one of our foster dogs, Roper, found his forever family at the park!

SWAT encourages dog owners to take their dogs to the park for exercise and play time.  Be sure to follow the rules posted at the entrances.  For more information on the Walla Walla Dog Park and its activities, visit their website at www.wwdogpark.com.

 SWAT President, Sarah Ricks (L) and her daughter with Kathy Spillane from the Walla Walla Dog Park at the WWDP Grand Opening. 

Spotlight on Northwest Farm Supply

Since its inception, SWAT has had the support of many local businesses. Our most visible patron is Northwest Farm Supply (NWFS), located on the corner of North 2nd and Rees Street in Walla Walla.

NWFS hosts our adoption days each Saturday and houses the Kitty Clubhouse, where our cats and kittens live while awaiting adoption. The NWFS staff, headed by Store Manager Amber Davidson, also support SWAT by aiding with cat adoptions during the week, taking care of the cats and clubhouse, and helping foster families with vaccinations.

The store also donates pet food, SWAT ID tags and other materials regularly. Recently, NWFS provided a generous discount on two large puppy kennels, bringing SWAT one step closer to the completion of its Puppy Quarantine project.

SWAT President Sarah Ricks presented NWFS and the staff with their Patron certificate at a ceremony held on June 9, 2008 at the store. All of the NWFS staff were there along with many SWAT members to celebrate.

SWAT Rescues Neglected, Abandoned Dogs

Sweet Pea is a wonderful Cocker Spaniel who was severely neglected and then abandoned outside of Dayton. A local resident who couldn’t stand by while Sweet Pea and another abandoned dog, Rosie, were almost run over, rescued the dogs from the side of the road and contacted SWAT. The dogs were accepted into our program and taken to the vet for immediate medical care.

SWAT Members Certify for Dog Therapy

Three SWAT members—Matt Ricks, Sarah Ricks, and Jennifer Knowles—have certified with their canine companions as Therapy Dog teams by the Delta Society of Washington. Jennifer Knowles certified with her dog Jess, a former SWAT rescue who was adopted by the Knowles family in August of 2007. Sarah and Matt Ricks certified with their dogs, Bubba and Cinch.

Not only must the dog perform as asked but the handler must also meet certain criteria, such as communicating well with the dog, supporting it in unfamiliar situations, interacting well with people/patients and recognizing signs of stress in their animal and responding appropriately.

Now that they are certified, Matt and Sarah plan on starting a reading hour with Cinch and Bubba at the public library later this summer and at some point approaching the school district to explore a Reading with Rover program for students with reading/speech disabilities. Jennifer and Jess are also interested in the Reading with Rover project, but also want to visit nursing homes.

SWAT and Mr. Ed’s Restaurant Team Up for a Successful Spring Fundraiser  

Longtime SWAT member Louise Lynch worked with the wonderful folks at Mr. Ed’s Restaurant to put together a fundraiser for SWAT just before the Easter weekend.

Dan Givens, co-owner of Mr. Ed’s, noted that “animal welfare has long been an issue near and dear to the hearts of all of us at Mr. Ed’s Restaurant. Because of that and our desire to give just a little something back to the community that’s been so supportive of us, we were more than happy help with this effort.“

SWAT sold pork shoulders and turkey breasts which were smoked and prepared by Mr. Ed’s in their large outdoor smoker.

Says Givens, “the idea actually came from a very famous meat smoking (BBQ) family in Memphis, Tennessee, where I was lucky enough to spend several days learning the ins and outs of the smoking process. The Memphis family has had similar fund raisers locally with wonderful success.”

And that proved to be the case in Walla Walla as well. The fundraiser raised over $660.00 for SWAT.

Of course, none of this was possible without the “Pitmaster,” Mr. Ed’s co-owner Craig Potter. When asked about the smoking process, Givens noted that “after weeks of trial and error with variations of seasonings, temperatures, woods and timing Craig has come up with a remarkable combination. Its success required us to contract the manufacture of a custom smoker able to hold over 600 pounds.” The smoking process itself “is extremely labor intensive and takes 8 to 10 hours on the smoker after having been rubbed with a seasoning mixed to our specifications. During the process the meat is rotated and turned several times and constantly monitored for proper cooking temperature. The smoker is 100% wood fired using only apple wood from local orchards. Many of our recipes include a brining process that includes an apple juice based concoction which complements the apple wood smoke.”

Aside from the cost of the meat, which was generously donated by Louise Lynch in honor of her late mother (see separate article), Mr. Ed’s donated all of the labor and materials associated with the project. Givens told us that “in one way or another all employees were involved with the effort. Including the dishwashers that go out and help stack wood and maintain the fire, the cooks that apply rub, time the brine and monitor the smoking progress, and of course the servers that deliver the final product to the customers.”

So, a very special thank you to everyone at Mr. Ed’s who helped to make this a successful fundraiser for SWAT.

If you missed out on the delicious smoked pork and turkey this year, fear not! We asked Givens to share the options available for customers year-round, and discovered that “BBQ is available daily and includes BBQ chicken halves, pork ribs, beef ribs, smoked Philly sandwiches, and of course our best selling pulled pork sandwich. In addition we smoke prime rib every Saturday, but come early as we often sell out. For years Mr. Ed’s has been known for our hearty breakfast and comfort food fare. The addition of BBQ has been one more way we hope to continue serving the local folks we care so much about.”

And with this success, there may be another collaborative fundraiser in SWAT’s and Mr. Ed’s future.

In Memory of Frances Erma Rugg Brown, 1918-2008

In addition to the amazing job SWAT Member Louise Lynch did in planning and organizing the successful SWAT Meat fundraiser this March, she also made a sizable donation to SWAT by paying for the cost of the meat. The donation was made in honor of her mother, Frances Erma Rugg Brown, who passed away in January.