by Wendy Hunter

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

Good evening peeps, and a very Happy New Year to you all! I hope your holiday, however you celebrated it, was joyous and lovely. If it was like mine, it was full of chocolate, cinnamon rolls, eggs benedict, bubbly, and my cousin Lori’s amazing Finnish cardamom loaf. YUM. It was also full of old Christmas music LPs (Barbara Streisand, Glen Campbell, and Nat King Cole). It was a weird, but amazing get-together for my family this year. As many of you know, my 89-year-old mother has vascular dementia, which might sound horrific, but it’s not so bad. She still knows everybody’s name, for the most part, and she’s pretty cognizant. She forgets certain things, and battles with the television on a daily basis, but that’s as bad as it gets. For Christmas, Mom, myself, and sister Jill decided to make the six hour trek up to Redding. A year or so ago, my cousin Lori moved up to her childhood home to take care of her dad, my Uncle Dennis. Dennis has some form of dementia or Alzheimer’s, and we hadn’t seen them for about seven years. A road trip was definitely overdue. We were crammed like sardines in Mom’s Subaru, but we had plenty of CDs, and a mess of snacks that we had purchased for the long journey. We patiently endured Jill’s crazy crooning and white-knuckle driving. Hey, we don’t call her Mario Andretti for nothing.

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool. ~F.M. Knowles

Now I have to tell you that everybody I know kept asking me the same thing: what are you going to do with your dog? Are you taking her with you? Are you boarding her? Hmm. Well, I’ve never boarded Cocoa before, and she doesn’t like other dogs. Because we have no doggie door, my neighbor offered to come over and check on Cocoa and let her out for potty breaks. This was so generous, but she’d be there all by herself for the most part. I just felt like she’d do best at our house with someone, so I reached out to Rover.com. If you have never used them, I’m telling you, it was really a godsend. I found a lovely gal, who luckily worked for Fresno Unified School District, and had a two-week winter vacation. Which meant that she was able to stay with Miss Cocoa for three days and nights, at a very reasonable price. She happily sent me photos of Cocoa every day, and remained cool and calm, even when one of our toilets overflowed. Eww. And yes, I gave her a nice tip. A great experience for sure.

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go. ~Author unknown

In hindsight, I am thrilled that we didn’t take Cocoa with us. First of all, it’s a long-ass drive, and one that’s rough for even humans. Then we had two elderly people, both with walkers, in a two-story house. It would have been way too easy for one of them to trip on a short, fat dog, and that could have been disastrous. A new house that was foreign to Miss Cocoa would have been so frightening; who are these people, where am I, and where do I pee? I’m so happy I left her home with my Rover gal. I know she would have been so miserable otherwise. Our visit proved to be a wonderful experience, despite the fact that my uncle didn’t recognize any of us. But after a day or two, he seemed to know who we were, and was proud whenever he got a name right. Sometimes, I would look into his eyes and they appeared almost vacant, but other times, they’d light up when he was talking, and I could see the old Dennis. He used to poke us in the ribcage with his finger and shout, “ZOT!”, laughing hysterically when we flinched. I believe he stole that silly word from the old comic strip, BC, and he shouted it with great joy. Uncle Dennis did that to me a couple times at Christmas, and it was just like I was a kid again.

It’s not what you eat between Christmas and New Year’s that matters—it’s what you eat between New Year’s and Christmas that counts. ~William A. Canady

And speaking of kids, ARF wrapped up 2023 with the famous Annual Holiday Open House, and celebrated our 25th year anniversary. Adults and children alike were the veritable kids in a candy store, as they took photos with Santa and the Grinch, enjoyed delicious treats, scored raffle prizes, and completely cleaned out our notorious bake sale. Thanks to all the fabulous vendors who came out, and to the people who generously donated doggie presents to put under the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We could not have asked for better weather, as the sunshine and light breeze kept the temperature just perfect. For 25 years ARF has been saving dogs and helping educate the community on the plight of so many homeless animals. ARF started out small in Fresno in 1998, with kennels and monitored play groups. Today, we are lucky enough to have plenty of room on our property, allowing the dogs to play all day and sleep in kennels at night. Thanks to all of our generous donors, volunteers, and everyone who helps keep us doing the thing we love most – saving dogs. Not only did we adopt out a fantastic number of dogs at our facility, but many of our dogs were lucky enough to snag a Golden Ticket to SoHumane in Oregon. The Saving Train chugged up that long road quite a few times, where most of its puppy passengers found their furever homes. A perfect way to ring in the New Year!

Trusting the Buddha, good and bad, I bid farewell to the departing year. ~Issa

The crispy holiday month of December means lots of family time and sharing memories. It also proved to be when so many deserving ARF dogs found a home to call their own. Several of them scored big by riding off into the sunset with repeat adopters. It’s great to see past adopters come back and fall in love again with an ARF dog, knowing they will take such great care of their new family member. For Buzz, Pumpkin, Spanky and Dolly, they really hit the jackpot with their new owners.

Other dogs, like little Sara, had a rougher time than others in finding a home. Sara suffers from high anxiety, and has difficulty meeting new people. But miracle of miracles, a gentleman came in, and Sara amazed everyone by choosing him as her new daddy. She wasn’t shaking at all, wasn’t nervous, and was even giving him lots of kisses. Those are the adoptions that just melt your heart.

Many people with children are hesitant to adopt a dog, much less two. But that’s what happened to siblings Ruby and Rosie (now Anna and Indy). Still technically puppies, they went home with a wonderful family, who have kept up their training, and shared some sweet photos with us.

There are so many other amazing dogs that were adopted last month, including one of my favorites, Miss Pia. With wiry hair, pointy ears, and an almost Scotty Dog appearance, Pia had been at ARF since February. A bit shy and reserved, she finally found her family, and immediately showered her new mom with kisses. We wish them well, along with all of our adopted dogs, and know they have just begun their best adventure yet. Cheers!

Thus it is, and so it goes;
We shall have our day, my dear.
Where, unwilling, dies the rose
Buds the new, another year.
~Dorothy Parker

Animal Rescue of Fresno
4545 E Dakota Ave.
Fresno, CA 93726
Website: arf-fresno.com

Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section and check back every month for another animal rescue adventure from ARF. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to a local animal rescue. We also have a pet Facebook group for KRL and we would love to have you join!

Wendy Hunter has been volunteering with ARF since 2014. She grew up in Fresno and has been an Office Assistant with Fresno County for 7 years. She has been writing all of her life, though never professionally, and currently writes personalized poetry for birthdays, weddings, pet remembrances, etc.