If you are part of the animal rescue community on FACEBOOK and are friended by the major CROSSPOSTERS from across the United States, without fail, you will come across pleas for financial assistance to cover pull fees, vet costs and foster support for dogs that are in danger of being euthanized in shelters across the nation. Countless requests for financial assistance I’ve noticed have been done through ChipIn. What is it? Here’s the pitch from their website:
ChipIn is connected to PayPal and that’s how payments are processed.They track the progress of donations and let the organizer know once donations hit the target amount. Donors can leave messages for the organizer and the progress for the drive can be followed in the cause’s home page. It seems to be the way to go for many in the animal rescue community and hundreds of ChipIn pleas have been launched for different dogs all across the country.
I myself have received numerous ChipIn requests through FACEBOOK widgets and status updates. At times it can be overwhelming. Just like how I wish I owned acres of land to house all the dogs I want to save from euthanization… when I see pleas for deaf dogs, senior dogs dumped at the shelter especially, I wanna give each time…but of course, I cannot.
One case though caught my eye and wallet. It was for two puppies housed in the Orange County Animal Care Services.
Here is the original ChipIn request from Candi Crawford requesting assistance with pulling, fostering + vet costs for two very cute pit bull puppies with very bad cases of Demodex mange. These were the pictures posted on Facebook.
Such sad faces!!! When I looked up mange, I of course found out that it was a very painful skin condition that needed extensive and costly treatment. This sealed the deal for me. Also, Theresa Meyers Fraser, DDR Alum,Chowder’s mom was involved so I knew this wasn’t a scam. I donated money. Not a huge amount but I knew I wanted to be part of the rescue efforts for these two pups in pain. Candi’s goal was to raise $1200 and I’m pretty sure PUPPY POWER won out here. These two cuties she named OC pitbull pups got the $1200 raised! Their names: Tonka and Turtle!
Here is an update from Candi:
Fr: Candi Crawford
To:
Hello!
I finally was able to catch my breath and capture most of the email address of everyone that donated so I could send an update 🙂
The past week has been an incredible adventure and blessing, being able to save these two dogs lives.
It was one week ago yesterday that I first discovered the photos of Tonka and Turtle on the OC Shelter website. Only having 24hrs to get the younger (Tonka) out seemed impossible, but THANKS to all of you who donated, a wonderful rescuer named Isabel, and a fabulous foster Suzy, it worked. I personally picked up Tonka and delivered him to Suzy a week ago today. He was scared at the shelter, came to me wrapped in a blanket, with little to no fur. He was not only nervous, but obviously in a lot of pain.
Suzy is an experienced foster and was not afraid to tackle his case of mange. He’s made leaps and bounds already this week. The vet estimated $500 for treatment, but that all should go well, and once he’s healed and neutered, he’ll be ready for a forever-home.
Friday was the deadline for the 7 month old (Turtle), and even up until the afternoon, we were still scrambling for a foster and for donations. I have to admit, there was a period of time on Friday when I thought this was impossible, I had faith, but it was dwindling as the options were running out. Turtle’s foster Witney got my plea through a friend on facebook and emailed me just in time. A friend of Isabel’s so graciously picked him up and delivered him to Witney. They called me immediately as he is in MUCH worse condition than we thought. His paws are incredibly swollen, to the point that he seems to shift his weight and not put pressure on all his paws.
At his vet visit Saturday morning, it was determined that he has a stage 1 heart murmur (which hopefully will go away when he’s all healed up), as well as a severe case of mange. He’s already begun treatment, and has also improved dramatically. His estimates are more than $500 at this point. He will also be available for adoption once healed and neutered. I was able to drive out and visit him and meet Witney on Monday.. Turtle is a gem already.
Sunday, I got word that my chipin reached the $1200 goal.. thanks to a very special someone who contacted me ahead of time, and GRACIOUSLY donated the remaining balance.
I don’t know how we could’ve come this far without each of you.. whether you donated $5 or $100, I appreciate you. Together we saved the lives of these dogs that otherwise would’ve been discarded by this shelter. And while they might not be the prettiest dogs in the world right now, they already have a lot of love to give. Whoever ends up with them will be lucky!
Pictures are attached, and I’ll keep you all updated as we progress.
and Thank You for saving Tonka and Turtle!
Much Love,
Candi Crawford
Here are the “healing up” pictures of Tonka:
Last week
This week
YAY TONKA!!!! And TURTLE!!!! A happy ending non? Well, not quite until they find their forever homes but that will happen in no time. Candi Crawford, thank you for making this happen and a big kudos to all the other donors that gave money to give these two pups their second chance!
