New Orleans Lab Rescue Finding permanent adoptive homes for homeless Labs

www.nolalabrescue.org

March 2018

Spring has sprung and many of us are spending

more time outdoors, working in our flower and

vegetable gardens. It is wise to review your

plants and make sure they are safe for your furry

companions should they happen to ingest some-

thing. The ASPCA has a detailed listing of toxic

plants for dogs, cats, and horses that is very in-

formative.

Be cautious when using mulch in your garden ar-

eas. Cocoa bean mulch is highly toxic to dogs.

Safer alternatives are cedar, hemlock, and rub-

ber mulches. These can also cause problems

with choking and blockages should your pet en-

joy chewing. Use pesticides and herbicides care-

fully. The author had a close call with carpenter

ant bait that was left out by the pest control

company. All ended well but it was touch and

go.

Many people think they cannot have a nice yard

because of the dogs. It is doable with a little

planning. Does your dog like to run around the

fence line? You

can accommodate

him by leaving a 3

-foot wide path

covered in pea

gravel or mulch

next to the fence.

Then place your

landscaping on the

edge of the path.

Driftwood, large rocks or commercial landscape

borders can be used on the edges so your dog

has a visual of where he is not supposed to go.

With a little training, he will stay out of your

beds.

Many people provide a place just for their fur

friend to dig and have trained them to eliminate

in one area. Spending some time working with

your best friend will create a stronger bond and a

nicer yard that you both can enjoy.

Dog Friendly Gardening

Kim Tamburri

Kim is a mom and wife who has been

involved with dog rescues for over 4 years.

Being in Pennsylvania doesn’t keep her from

helping NOLA Lab Rescue. Kim jumps in

where ever, and whenever help is needed.

She does phone interviews for potential out of

state adopters and data entry for dogs on in-

take, keeping track of the foster dogs’ loca-

tions, medical records and expenses. She has

also helped organize several successful fund-

raisers including keeping track of the donated

auction items in the US and Canada, keeping

on top of the bids and who won each item,

contacting each winner for payment.

Kim also organized NOLA's calendar contest

from A to Z this past year. She promoted the

voting contest for each month and the cover

which might have been the easy part. She

went above and beyond having people donate

to have a special dedicated day in the calendar

for their pets birthday, gotcha day or the day

they went to The Rainbow Bridge. When the

votes were in and special days were reserved,

Kim then made sure each pet was given their

special day in each month before sending this

all to the printer. With her final stamp of ap-

proval the calendars were printed and sent to

her and she made sure that each order was

filled and mailed.

Kim does all of this while helping out at a local

dog groomers for the past 5 years and current-

ly is a dog walker and pet sitter. Volunteering

for a rescue hundreds of miles away is still re-

warding even if she is not capable of actually

fostering a dog. There are so many other, eve-

ry day, behind the scenes things needed in

rescue to make it work. We are so glad to have

Kim as a part of NOLA rescue. Kim says, “The

reason I do it is to try to make a difference in

just one dog's life.”

Volunteer Spotlight

March 2017

Stacie Stevenson

My family and I began fostering for NOLA

Lab Rescue in August of 2016. I started following

the rescue when they took in several dogs from

a hoarding situation in my area.

It didn’t take long for me to see that they were a

group that was committed to helping dogs and

seeing them through their care; no matter how

long it took to get the dogs well enough for

adoption. I knew NOLA Lab Rescue was a group

I would want to help.

When the floods of August 2016 hit south Louisi-

ana, a plea was sent out for fosters to step up

and take some of the dogs that were in the af-

fected shelters. My husband and I knew it was

time to step up and that is when I picked up my

first foster, Boyd, a HW positive chocolate lab.

I was nervous about fostering a HW positive

dog. I have 3 of my own and none of them had

ever had them, so I had no experience with car-

ing for a heartworm positive dog. Education from

the treating veterinarian and some online re-

search helped prepare me for what he would be

going through. Treatment went well for Boyd, it

was hard watching him in pain after his injec-

tions, but the end result would prove to be worth

it. Of course prevention would have been key,

but it wasn’t part of his care prior to becoming a

NOLA rescue.

After getting the all clear from his heartworm

treatment Boyd was adopted. It was a heart-

breaking and heartwarming experience all at the

same time. I was sad to see him go, but knew

that he was going to lead a happy life. A life he

truly deserved.

After Boyd, we fostered another heartworm posi-

tive dog, this time a petite lab mix girl named

Daisy. She was a little spunkier than Boyd and

keeping her calm was a challenge, which is a

crucial requirement during treatment. She too

persevered and found her forever home in Cana-

da.

Volunteer Spotlight continued

Our third foster, Vader, was lucky enough to

evade the evil disease that affects so many

dogs in the south and he is currently being fos-

tered in Canada.

We are now about to start the treatment pro-

cess with our fourth foster, Sarah, but before

she can begin treatment and her road to re-

covery, she has to deliver puppies. She won’t

ever have to bare that burden again. We will

love and nuture her during her time with us,

just like the others. We will be sad when she

goes on to her forever home, but thankful we

had her in our lives.

These dogs bring so much joy to us and my

children learn compassion and responsibility

from fostering. It’s a wonderful experience for

them and a lifesaving experience for the dogs.

It is truly rewarding.

We are so happy to have Stacie on the NOLA

Lab Rescue team. It is our volunteers that

make the organization work. Please contact us

at NolaLabRescue@gmail.com if you are inter-

ested in becoming a volunteer. We have many

opportunities that include fostering, adminis-

trative, transports, fund raising, and the list

goes on…..

March 2018

WHY “SLOW KILL” HEARTWORM TREAT-

MENT IS A NO NO

Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more

dogs that test positive for heartworm disease.

This might be because the dog hasn’t been given

a heartworm preventative on a timely basis, but

even dogs that have been given heartworm pre-

vention on a regular basis have the possibility of

becoming heartworm positive due to a seeming

increase in the tolerance of the heartworm to

many of the drugs used to prevent this disease.

With this increased incidence of heartworm dis-

ease, it is very tempting to try the “slow kill”

method of treating heartworms. Instead of hos-

pitalization and treatment with the drug me-

larsomine, these animals are simply given a dose

of heartworm preventative each month. This

method is tempting to some owners, and even

some veterinarians, because it avoids the cost of

Ask the Vet heartworm treatment, and is perceived to be

lower in risk. This perception, however, may be

wrong.

Using a monthly heartworm prevention to kill

adult heartworms may take more than two years

before the parasites are eliminated completely.

Strict exercise restriction would be required for

this entire period of time, which is a lot to ask of

most pet owners. Without exercise restriction,

risk of complications including sudden death are

increased. Also, for this time period the dog

would still have adult heartworms, leading to

worsening of the damage that the heartworms

cause to the heart, lungs, and pulmonary arter-

ies.

Even more importantly, the “slow kill” method of

heartworm treatment exposes the heartworms

to a small amount of the monthly preventative.

This increases the likelihood that the heart-

worms will become resistant to the drug, render-

ing it useless in preventing heartworms. If this

happens, the drugs that we currently use as

monthly heartworm preventions will cease to be

effective. This would be a tremendous problem,

especially here in south Louisiana where heart-

worm-carrying mosquitoes are ubiquitous.

A great resource for pet owners is the American

Heartworm Society website, http://

www.heartwormsociety.org. There is an entire

section under “Pet Owner Resources” detailing

the life cycle, diagnosis, and treatment of heart-

worm disease.

March 2018

The Toy Review

The Testers: Layla, Cleo, and Maddie

The Toys: JW Pet crackle ball, Leaps &

Bounds tug toy, and Kong squeaky stick.

Maddie – I’ll just sit here and watch Layla de-

stroy the toys.

Cleo – I want to play with the Lady that

brought the toys.

Submitted by Laverne Mars

Layla – Oh wow! All those toys for me. I really

enjoyed (yes, past tense) the crackle ball. It had

a fun crunchy sound with a satisfying rubbery

chew. It only took 10 minutes to break through

the rubber and get to the plastic crackle. The

Kong squeaky stick was a lot of fun too and it

lasted 20 minutes before I was able to chew off

pieces. The tug toy was sort of OK. It doesn’t

bounce or squeak and that is disappointing since

my Lab sisters have no interest in playing with

me. Maybe I can get the little Shih Tzu, Nola to

play a little game of tug. :)

Would you like your furry companion to be the

toy tester in our next newsletter? Send us an

email at NolaLabRescue@gmail.com put Toy

Tester in the subject. We will do a random draw-

ing on April 30th and send a new toy to the win-

ner. All the human has to do is write the review

in time for the June newsletter.

March 2018

Shout Out to our Sponsors

Bryan Automotive

Williams Co.

Porter Group

New Orleans Softball Assoc.

Ryan’s Paint and Body

Dog ID Collar

Why Join NOLA?

Our mission is to provide:

Permanent adoptive homes for unwanted, abandoned or

abused Labs.

Medical care and foster homes for rescued dogs.

Education to pet owners regarding spaying/neutering and

responsible pet ownership.

Public information about irresponsible breeding practices

and animal abuse in an effort to end both.

Your membership supports:

Vaccination, sterilization, heartworm prevention, and vet-

erinary services for all dogs.

Heartworm treatment.

Rescue of canine seniors with high expenses.

Orthopedic surgery for rescued dogs in need.

Transportation of HW neg., fully vetted dogs from the

overpopulated South to pre-approved foster and forever

homes.

March 2018

You can make a difference! Contact us at : nolalabrescue@gmail.com

Donations are accepted through PayPal at:

nolalabrescue@gmail.com

We are always looking for fosters to join the team.