Champ's Champion Christmas!

Here’s a special after-Christmas post by my collaborator and co-Pawthor, Champ.

“I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa Paws brought you exactly what you wanted. Here’s me in my Christmas Elf coat, next to the tree, wondering if Santa Paws got my special letter to him…

Isn't our Christmas tree just beautiful?

Yay! Santa Paws brought me just what I wanted! A whole bunch of squeaky balls!!!

Yay! Lucky me!

Don’t forget that there are so many needy animals out there, animals who didn’t have a warm cosy bed or a loving family over Christmas. It’s our duty to spread the word and save as many lonesome or homeless animals as possible. Just a small donation at any animal shelter or rescue will help so much.

If you want to help S.A.F.E. Rescue, the wonderful people that saved me from abuse and illness, please consider buying my book about my journey back to life. Champ: My Story of Survival is available on Amazon and proceeds go to help S.A.F.E. Rescue save as many animals as they can.”

About Champ: Champ is a 7-year-old poodle mix brought back to life from the brink of death by S.A.F.E. Rescue, a no-kill animal shelter in California. He lives happily for now with foster parents and their loving family while he gets completely well. He loves to be loved, and has not let being a celebrity turn his head. His favorite toy is his squeaky ball; and he loves going for walks and being cuddled. Collaborating on this book was the biggest step in his life and he hopes that people will love it to bits and tell the whole world.

Readers and supporters will agree with S.A.F.E. Rescue when they say: "Champ has touched the hearts of so many people and has been an inspiration, if for no other reason than to bring awareness and attention to the plight of abused and neglected pets. They too just want to be loved and cared for and can and will blossom into wonderful companions with unconditional love, despite their past."

Book Review: Saving Wombats

Ruthie, dad Tom and mum Kate, along with Ruthie’s younger siblings, Liam and Bel, and their pet wombat Womble are en route to her cousins’ farm to spend a lovely holiday in the countryside. Up ahead they see a sad sight: a wombat has been run over by a speeding truck. Ruthie’s parents stop to check the animal and discover it has a tiny baby in its pouch. The baby is still alive. Luckily, the Jirringbah Wildlife Shelter is on the same route and soon they get the baby, called a pinky, to Jo Matthews who shows the kids how to take care of the pinky. While they are there, the kids learn a lot about Australia’s wildlife and some of the skin diseases that can affect these animals; one is a horrible disease called mange! Ruthie doesn’t want to admit that soon Womble will be old enough to be released into the wild – imagine if he gets a nasty, itchy skin condition from the mange. Once they get to their cousins, the kids find out more about wombats and mange because there is a wombat on the farm that looks as if it has a bad case of mange. Medication can cure the condition, but it’s catching the animal and applying the medication regularly that’s the problem. Wombats are also pretty quick when it comes to getting away! With the help of some wildlife experts and her Uncle Dave, they devise a clever way of getting the medication onto the skin of the elusive wombat. Will the medicine cure this sick wombat? Will Ruthie be able to release Womble back into the wild?

Saving Wombats by Emma Homes is the second book in Ruthie’s Wildlife series. Ruthie is a great role model for kids since she is a Zoo Youth Ambassador. With wild animal habitats declining worldwide because of human encroachment, it’s important for today’s kids to learn about animals, and to care for them and respect their rights. This is a charming tale that will appeal to its target audience. Author Emma Homes turns Ruthie’s family trip into quite an adventure – wombats may look cute and cuddly, but don’t get on the wrong side of them or try to invade their burrows! There is a wonderful warm atmosphere between the characters of Ruthie’s family and the people they meet. Ruthie and her siblings are real and believable and any parent would be proud of them. In this simple tale an amazing adventure unfolds, with the kids committed to helping animals. The author cleverly feeds necessary information into the story so that by the end of the book young readers will have learned an amazing number of facts about wombats. I really loved reading this!

Age Level: 8 - 11 | Grade Level: 3 - 6
Juvenile Fiction/Wildlife
Five Stars

How Fiji's Most Famous Dog Got Saved

Playful Poppy, the famous Fijian dog who grabbed headlines two years ago, is back again with her very own book, The Poppy Project. Poppy shot to fame when animal lovers world wide contributed to her reconstructive surgery after a hunting accident left her maimed and on the brink of death. Poppy got a new nose, a new life, and a new Happy Ever After family in Australia.

Although Poppy is now famous in her home country of Fiji and her new country Australia, I had never heard of this brave little dog until I saw an episode of Bondi Vet on Animal Planet, dedicated solely to Poppy’s story of rescue and reconstructive surgery. I cried and laughed alternately through the show as I watched Poppy’s tale of woe unfold and then turn to joy. Despite the horrific injuries to her snout, and the pain and discomfort she must have felt many times during her long road to recovery, that tail never stopped wagging and her wonderful doggy smile never left her face. Poppy showed love and joyfulness at all times. She was just ecstatic to be with people. I was moved by the number of people who formed a chain of love stretching from Fiji to Australia and, indeed, the rest of the world in an effort to give one dog a chance at life. Poppy grabbed that chance between her teeth and ran with it. Poppy’s miracle began the day someone spotted her foraging for food, malnourished and clearly suffering. Without significant and drastic help, Poppy would never have survived. That help came.

Poppy on arrival at Animals Fiji

Julie Hoskison of the West Charity Trust Society says: “Poppy’s story shows what is possible when people refuse to look the other way. This poor little creature was just holding on to life and could not have lasted more than a few more weeks without food. In Fiji, thin, unwanted dogs are a dime a dozen and Poppy was just another one of these. My thanks go to Headmaster Segran Pillay who was the first to notice her and took time to help; and to the hundreds of others who then played their part in her miraculous journey. I hope Poppy’s story inspires others to go out of their way to help creatures in need.”

This book is a must for readers who enjoy heart-warming animal stories and who would like to do more for animals but do not know how. Included are easy tips on how to make a difference, a wonderful poem written by Poppy about her Pretty Ever After life, Poppy’s Classroom Capers quiz, and a short story fiction for younger readers. Poppy makes public appearances as the spokesdog for Animals Fiji and inspires even more people she meets in person.

 

Poppy in her role as Ambassadog for Animals Fiji!

Poppy has never forgotten her friends left behind in Fiji and, as Ambassadog for Animals Fiji, this playful pooch is doing something to help the many needy animals in Fiji. Animals Fiji’s motto is “No animal is turned away” but they need help and Poppy’s book aims to raise both awareness and funds for this worthy cause.

Poppy’s miracle is now complete.  Please share her message of happiness and, by doing so, in some small way you will be helping other animals—the ones left behind.

Book Review: Nobody's Poodle by Gizmo



Gizmo looking cute!

Since I became Champ's biodographer (Champ: My Story of Survival) , I've been helping Champ review books by other Pawthors. It has been an enlightening experience, to say the least. Champ's latest foray into book reviews led me to read Nobody's Poodle by Gizmo. What a story, and what an adventure. Gizmo was abandoned in Tenerife when he was just a year old and spent some time in a refuge. Gizmo was found by Nikki and Richard Attree (looking to fill the big sad gap left when their beloved Basil went to the Rainbow Bridge) and his life went from rags to riches. Gizmo is such a clever dog that it wasn’t long before the Attrees and Gizmo had penned his experiences and produced a book.

The story starts with a great adventure—Gizmo and his people (Sharon, Trev and young Tracey) move from England to Tenerife, which is an island in the Atlantic. It sounded great: sun, sea, sand, a new Woof lingo, new places to explore, and new faces to meet. But things didn’t turn out so well when Gizmo’s family ran out of money. He was abandoned when Trev didn’t come back for him on the day they left the apartment. Gizmo had to fend for himself on the mean streets, and he soon learned that life in Tenerife is very harsh for an abandoned pooch. He made friends with other dogs in similar situations and wondered if he would ever find a Fur-ever Family again. Then the most terrible thing happened. Gizmo was caught by horrible people that make dogs fight each other. He was shoved into a dreadful dark place, given hardly any food, and met other suffering dogs with sad tales to tell. His one consolation was meeting a dog that had been on the same plane ride with him from England to Tenerife: Rambo the Rottweiler who is all soft inside of a fierce outside. Luckily, when they were taken to a dog fight, the police arrived, and in the confusion of all those people being arrested, Rambo and Gizmo escaped. Somehow they ended up at the same rescue shelter, where kind people looked after them. Some of Gizmo’s street friends and acquaintances also ended up there, and soon found loving homes. Gizmo waited … and waited … and then one day Nikki and Richard walked into the shelter, and Gizmo’s life changed overnight!

What I Think: I actually wept when I read this book and I think Gizmo was very brave to survive all his real-life traumas. It is so sad that many dogs are abandoned in Tenerife because their owners can’t afford them any longer, or don’t want them. The dog fighting was also very distressing. I can just imagine how all those poor dogs felt, locked in cages, and thinking there was no way out for them. A lovely message in the book was when Gizmo spoke about love and communication between dogs and humans, and how much dogs understand humans, even more than humans could ever know. Another very nice ending to Gizmo’s sad tale is that Gizmo’s terrible experiences also ended up helping other pooches in a strange way.  His new Fur-ever Family are dedicated to helping stray and abandoned dogs in Tenerife. Gizmo’s writing expertise also attracted attention and before you could say, “give a dog a bone,” Island Connections newspaper signed him up to be their intrepid news hound, doggedly sniffing out the breaking news and giving the pooch perspective in his regular column: ‘Life According to Gizmo (It’s a Dog’s Life).’ If you love dogs (and any animals) you will really enjoy Nobody’s Poodle. Gizmo is hilarious and his sayings made me laugh. He is also quite philosophical about life and has some wise words for humans and canines. There are also very cute drawings by a talented artist called Annie Chapman. Hop over to Amazon and get a copy. Just purchasing the book will help other needy dogs because some of the profits from Nobody’s Poodle will be donated to help the animal rescue shelters in Tenerife.

Gizmo doing a bit of swotting on dog stuff.

About the Pawthors: Nikki’s website is dedicated to finding homes for the island’s abandoned dogs, as well as being a mine of information and an insight into the canine world. Gizmo is the Spokes-Mutt for Tenerife Dogs, following in the paw steps of the late, great Basil, who was the first ambassador for Tenerife Dogs. One of Gizmo’s first tasks was to be the poster pooch for Accion-del-Sol’s educational program. This is the refuge that took Gizmo in and cared for him. Gizmo’s role involves visiting local schools, telling the children about the plight of stray mutts in Tenerife, and teaching them how to look after their pets properly. You can read more about Nobody’s Poodle here.  Besides his many other accomplishments Gizmo is an expert in woofing, sniffing, digging, chasing cats, siestas, and looking cute.

 

Champ Shares: The Year That Was 2013

Welcome to 2014. I am sure that for many people 2013 had its ups and downs, trials and tribulations. I followed the ups and downs, and many trials and tribulations of Champ, the little dog in California who survived terrible abuse, and lived. With me as his biodographer, Champ penned his story of hope in Champ: My Story of Survival. He started his own blog, made a book video, and also a music video. Here is Champ's reflection on 2013, and his New Year resolutions for 2014. Brave, loyal, loving, and ever optimistic, this is one dog in a million. Please watch and share his music video which says it all.

Champ's motto, now and forever!

Champ says: "Hi everyone, I hope you had a wonderful New Year celebration and you've made lots of good New Year resolutions. I have: I'm going to shower my friends and Foster Family with love; and I'm going to show the world how to love animals everywhere.

I thought back on how far I've come since I was rescued. It's hard to put all my feelings in words, but my fantastic musician friend Joe Zamora and his band One Bad Munky said it all for me. Please watch and share this amazing music video."

Champ's Music Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGs9MXN7GIk

Me thinking back...

Saving a Spider (and Other Animals!)

This morning I saved a spider.  Not an incey-wincey cutesy spider as in the song, but a great big galumphing thing with what seem like countless legs (actually only eight!) in a leg span of around 10-12 inches. They are also known as the ‘huntsman’ spider because of their speed and how they hunt their prey. So, you might ask, why save one? My Jack Russell, Chloe, having failed the “can-you-hunt-rats?” test (the clever, faster rats always escape) is determined to prove her worth. 

Image courtesy Wikipedia

She cornered it, but with the help of a paper towel, I rescued it. Huntsman spiders are actually considered very useful because they feed on insect pests, including cockroaches. I bothered saving it, not only for the cockroach angle, but because lately I have become more and more concerned about saving creatures full stop.



Image courtesy SAFE Rescue

My recent foray into animal rescue resulted in my little e-book (pending) called Champ: The Story of My Survival. Champ is eagerly awaiting the on-sale date of his book and will be sure to alert fans and followers. I blogged recently about Champ’s book. I have become a passionate follower and avid tweeter of other sites that do a fantastic job such as PETA, Soi Dog Foundation, and countless others. I wondered if my ardent Tweeting about animals and their plights would put off my Twitter followers. In fact, I have doubled my following since I began this crusade (for want of a better word). I used to only Tweet about writing and book-related stuff, but since my Tweets now encompass myriad animal stories, petitions, and pleas for help, my new following has showed me just how much people care about animals and wild creatures. In fact, my foray into the world of animal rescue writing has led me to new projects. I started a book site dedicated to my animal rescue books, called Caladrius Books, as a way of creating animal rescue stories to make people more aware of the plight of animals in need, and to help raise funds for various organisations. I hope you’ll visit, learn more, and support the books when they are available.


Cover design by Meagan Miller

My next mission is writing about Poppy, the most famous dog in Fiji. I watched a documentary on Animal Planet called Bondi Vet. It featured Poppy’s story. Basically, Poppy’s nose got cut off in a hunting accident. She must have been in great discomfort but this never dampened her amazing friendly nature. She was brought to Animals Fiji Nadi clinic by a team effort between a teacher at an inland Fiji School who saw her foraging for food—she was skin and bone—and Julie Hoskison from Myola in Sigatoka. The call went out and a young schoolgirl called India Davies in Melbourne, Australia began the fundraising. The word spread and Poppy attracted the attention of Chris Brown, the Bondi Vet. Poppy went to Sydney for facial reconstruction (by surgeon/vet Andrew Marchevsky) at the Small Animal Hospital Sydney (SASH) there. She made a wonderful recovery, and the Davies family became her new ‘forever’ family. Although Poppy now has a new home in Australia and is basically cared for by a loving family, she has not forgotten her friends back in Fiji. Animals Fiji is in desperate need of funding to help look after the many needy animals on the island. Poppy has become the spokesdog of the fundraising program. Poppy has a Sponsor a Vet Appeal, and all funds are gratefully accepted. Proceeds from the book will go to Animals Fiji for continued animal care on the island.


Next up is the story of Melani the Sumatran tiger that survived eating tainted meat at her home zoo in Surabaya, Indonesia. There were originally four tigers, but three died. Melani, through some miracle, lived. Her plight—she was emaciated and fading fast—caught the attention of the wonderful director of an organisation called Cee4life (Conservation and Environmental Education 4 Life), Sybelle Foxcroft. Sybelle literally moved heaven and earth to get Melani moved from the zoo to an amazing animal rescue/safari park (Taman Safari Bogor) that does a fantastic job in saving and housing exotic animal species. In June 2013, after wide media reports on the frail Melani, the Minister of Forests

Cover design by Meagan Miller

ordered that Melani be removed from Surabaya Zoo and taken for treatment to Taman Safari Bogor, Indonesia. Melani now receives top care and the proper diet for her species. But this beautiful, elegant creature has a long way to go to achieve an acceptable quality of life. Melani is the most beautiful tiger, with a gentle loving nature. Her photo was used to create a compelling and haunting cover. Melani is on a long road to recovery but still needs a special diet. Please read more about her on Cee4life website and if you can, contribute to her continued recovery.
 

I am honoured to be able to create books about these amazing animals and their equally amazing rescuers. There are countless rescue sites and petition sites that desperately need your help. The people that tackle often dire situations, fight with red tape, battle unhelpful government officials, and struggle to raise funds, go largely unmentioned and unrewarded. Their joy is in seeing an animal saved from the brink of death; seeing that animal trust and love again; seeing that animal decide that life might just be worth living. Please do what you can to save animals and the planet. As human development encroaches into wild habitat, exotic animals suffer. As the domestic animal population increases because of lack of sterilisation or the dreaded puppy mills, more animals pay the price. I was horrified to read about the number of kill-shelters and the number of animals simply dumped for a variety of reasons by their owners. I was devastated to read about the recent mass killings of stray dogs in Romania, something that has turned into a vicious vendetta against innocent creatures.

Animal cruelty and brutal animal practices, such as the horrendous live meat export situation in Australia, world-wide industrialised animal farming in which particularly chickens, pigs, and cattle endure appalling conditions, the annual (unnecessary) dolphin killings in Japan, the illegal dog and cat meat trade in the East, the atrocious bear bile practice in China, the mass poaching of elephants and rhinos in Africa reduce me to a terrible sense of desperation. What can one person do to stem a tide of horror and brutality that makes the human side of ‘humanity’ a sick joke? One person can do what only one person can achieve. Multiply that by millions and you have a rising tide of people who say NO. Please pass the message on, please sign petitions, please make a donation, however small, to a worthy animal rescue site. We are in danger of losing the planet that was entrusted to our care. Only we can stop that happening.

My small share is what I can give freely: my writing about various issues, and spreading the word. Thank you for reading this post. Please share this with all your friends and followers. Together we can inspire change, even if it starts with saving a spider.

Saving one animal may not change the world, but the world will certainly change for that animal.

by Fiona Ingram

Champ: A Story of Survival

Have you ever heard a story so gripping that you are compelled to “do something about it?” Well, that’s what happened to me over these past few weeks. It is my only excuse for blogging just once in three weeks. I have been following more and more rescue sites and stories of animals saved from an awful fate. Many times I end up in tears and raiding my PayPal account to donate.

One particular animal rescue story captivated my attention—a story of death and life, in that order. The little dog was nothing special, many may think. He isn’t an exotic creature on the verge of extinction; he’s just a little poodle mix named Champ. When I first read Champ’s story I was, like

Champ's story!

many readers, appalled and then moved. Appalled that such neglect and abuse could even happen in the first place, and moved by a little dog’s immense courage, fortitude, and most importantly his will to life, and his ability to forgive and love humans again.

On May 11, 2013, this little dog nearly died. He was dumped at the West Valley Animal Shelter, Chatsworth, California. Champsky (that was his given name) was enclosed in two sealed plastic bags, with another one over his head and tied around his neck. This gruesome parcel was left on the clerk’s counter by two people who then walked away. When the clerk opened it, thinking it was a delivery package, she saw what she thought was a dead dog. After all, he had already turned blue.

Do you believe in miracles? One happened right away. Against all odds, the shelter vet was able to revive him. The dog was a matted mess. They shaved him down and discovered ulcers covering most of his body, as well as deep wounds going all the way through his skin to his muscles. He was extremely malnourished, weighing only 7 pounds, when his proper weight should have been 15 pounds.

More miracles happened. He was stabilized and then taken in by S.A.F.E. Rescue, an animal shelter in California. Along with the hundreds of supporters on Facebook, I followed his precarious road back to health. Again, the odds were stacked against him; his condition was so bad, his wounds so deep. But this little champion (renamed Champ) decided to live. A torrent of love and funding poured in for Champ. The shelter was able to provide him with particular food to build up his constitution. Every day, his new foster guardians kept a Facebook Diary updated. Every day, people sent their messages of support, myself included.

Then I thought, “How about a blog post?” Then I thought, “How about a little e-book?” That way, I could donate my writing and create something to generate ongoing funds for Champ and the rescue shelter. S.A.F.E. Rescue were over the moon and the rest has been a flurry of gathering photos and information, getting Champ’s story down, and some creative stuff on the side, such as Champ’s “Happy Eva After Pome” and his short story How Superdog Champ Saved the Day.

As I wrote, so people worldwide sent in messages of love to be included in the book; some even sent messages from and photos of their own rescued dogs. But it all starts with one act of kindness. Every person involved in rescuing an animal, be it a glorious tiger in the jungle, or an orphaned elephant in

Happy at last!

the wilds, or just a little dog that perhaps no one would miss—his abusive owners did not care—is a link in a chain of love. The unsung heroes are a growing army of compassionate people, vets donating skill, supporters donating funds and food, volunteers donating their time. There is very little fame involved and definitely no fortune. Many large animal organizations and the humblest of animal shelters rely on public goodwill to keep going. The only reason they still operate is because of people's compassion and generosity.

Champ’s messages, included in his book, also moved me when I read how many people said Champ, and his brave little struggle for survival, had changed their lives. People saw their pets in a new light; some people began to work with animals; some people saw their own life in tandem with Champ’s and decided if he could survive, so could they. Champ’s tomorrows look very good. From being beaten by life, he has risen to stand head and shoulders above everything. Although fame was something he never expected, Champ handles his new celebrity status with grace and aplomb. To so many people, he has become a little ray of hope and sunshine in a dark world. His fans just want to love and cherish him. Until he is fully back on all four paws, he is enjoying life with his Foster Mommy Suzy and her collection of animals. Champ is not out of the woods yet. He needs ongoing care, and an operation to a damaged knee.

Kelli Hopper, who runs S.A.F.E. Rescue says: “Champ has touched the hearts of so many people and has been an inspiration, if for no other reason than to bring awareness and attention to the plight of abused and neglected pets.”

Champ’s book will be available soon from Amazon, B&N, and all other book sites. Proceeds from sales go to Champ's continued care, and will enable S.A.F.E. rescue to help more animals. Please share Champ’s story: it deserves to be told.