Author: Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue

Who do you love?
Donate to the Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue and Cupid will shoot a heart with the name of your love!
$5 for a small heart or $20 for a large heart.

 

Order your heart here!

Sorry, I’ve been forgetting to post our newsletters here!

Success Story – Freddie the Cat
This is Freddie. He was found as a stray on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He had nerve damage to his left paw. His leg was amputated because there was no chance of the recovery for the leg. He was neutered and vaccinated at the same time. He tested negative for FIV. He has a very sweet disposition. The vet staff just fell in love with him. He went to Angels of Hope on September 16th, 2014. He has since been adopted on September 27th by a little boy and his family. We are so happy Freddie found his forever family!

The Largest Spay/Neuter Clinic Yet!
The Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue hosted a spay/neuter and vaccination clinic on September 15th-17th. It was our biggest clinic yet. Our veterinary partners from the Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program did an amazing 121 surgeries over the 3 day period! We also vaccinated many pets that had been altered at our earlier clinics. This was nearly double the amount of surgeries that we did at our spring clinic. And, it was great to see some of those pets from previous clinics back to get their booster shots.
Thanks to everyone that helped get word out to the community, brought in animals for vetting, and volunteers that helped with the event. The only way we are going to get ahead of the animal over population problems on the reservation is by spaying and neutering pets. Although this clinic is free for reservation residents, it is not free for LTAR. We’re working hard to come up with the funds to pay our clinic bill, which is $9,035!
We do not have dates planned yet for our 2015 clinics. Please be sure to watch our facebook page, and future newsletters for updates.

Happy Anniversary!
LTAR was formed in November 2010 when it was announced there would be a ban on dogs in tribal housing. We quickly worked to start removing strays from the reservation, but at the same time, started gathering signatures to help convince the Tribal Council that a ban on dogs was not the answer. We were able to first get the ban delayed, then later cancelled. Our onsite team continues to work with Tribal Council to improve animal regulations in the area.
As of September 23rd, 1635 animals had gone to rescue since LTAR began. We remove abused, neglected and unwanted animals from the reservation, including strays and owner surrenders, take in dogs from the Sisseton impound, and from Tribal Police. We transport them to foster home based rescue groups in MN, SD and ND, where they are adopted out to new families. To date we have also spayed or neutered approximately 680 reservation animals, all free of charge for owners.

Pause 4 Paws: Harvesting Hope for Animals
One of our biggest fundraisers of the year is happening on Thursday, November 13th, at the Downtown Minneapolis Hilton Hotel. It is the 4th year for the event, and the 3rd year that LTAR is participating. The event will feature wine and beer tasting, live and silent auctions, dinner and entertainment. Our LTAR fundraising team has been working hard to help procure items for the silent auction, and we’ve gotten some amazing donations. LTAR will also have a booth at the event, where we will be selling Dean Russo’s Pit Bull calendars, Yoga cats calendars, jewelry and more! Get your tickets today! For more information and tickets, please visit the Pause 4 Paws website.

Upcoming Events:
Pause 4 Paws: Harvesting Hope for Animals: November 13th

Give To The Max Day: Online day of giving : Thursday, November 13th . Here is a link to donate to LTAR.

Open House and Photos with Santa, hosted by Crossroads Animal Shelter: November 15th- 16th . The Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue will have a table and will be selling items at this event. Photos with you and your pets; bake sale, gift items, Rescue Groups. Drop ins welcome, reservations at 763-684-1234.
Location: Rockford Township Hall 3039 Dague Ave SE, Buffalo, MN 55313
Giving Tuesday: December 2, 2014 LTAR will be participating in the National Giving Tuesday event. Watch our facebook page or website for more information.

Subsidize a Spay, Sponsor a Neuter
To walk around the reservation, you realize that many animals there live differently than in the city. Rez animals often are not in fenced yards, on leashes or tethers. Instead they are often running loose, interacting with the people and other pets of the community. Of course the problem that arises is pet over-population. With so many animals running loose, it is nearly impossible to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The only way we can take a bite out of this problem is to ensure we spay and neuter as many animals as possible. Our spay/neuter clinic bills totaled over $11,000 for 2013! The majority of our fundraising for the year goes to pay for our spay/neuter clinics. In September, we vetted 90 animals free of charge for residents of the reservation. We have two fundraisers in the works to pay off the bill from September, and to start to bank money for the clinics next year: the Schwan’s Fundraiser and the Online Auction

Schwan’s Fundraiser
Stock up on great food and desserts for the holidays! Now through December 4th, purchase any items online from Schwan’s, using our special link and Schwan’s will donate 20% of your total purchase to help Lake Traverse Animals. You can also purchase a $25 e-certificate for Schwan’s, and $10 for each purchased will go directly to LTAR. (Limit one per guest) The fundraiser doesn’t end there…..for the next 11 months, using our link, Schwan’s will donate 5% of every purchase to the Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue.

Online Auction
Do you love an auction? Be sure to visit ours and bid on some great items. Saturday, November 9th from 10:00am to Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00pm, Helping Paws will be hosting an online auction for the Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue. There will be something for everyone in our auction. We have everything from tickets to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, to a St Boni Motorsports gift card, handmade blankets, Purify Your Body foot pads, “Thirty One” bags, jewelry, to doggy tutu’s, and everything in between! Be sure to visit our auction and get in on the bidding. Auction photo album

Rez Rescue Roundup
On Saturday, November 16th, LTAR will host a roundup of stray animals on the reservation. Any dog running loose without a collar could be taken. We will have volunteers and rescue groups from out of town on the reservation, guided by local volunteers. As we find animals, we will secure rescue for them, and take them with us. If you are on the rez, please make sure your animals have collars, or are confined that day. We’re there to find strays and don’t want to mistakenly take a cherished pet. We will be slowly driving around the housing areas looking for stray animals. If you have strays in your area, it would be amazing if you could tether them on that day, and let us know, so we can easily find them. Often we hear about strays, then drive the neighborhoods and can’t find them. Please help us help your community by temporarily hanging on to strays for us if you can.

Happy Anniversary Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue!
Did you know that the Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue’s first Rez Rescue Roundup was on November 20, 2010? Yep, our 3 year anniversary is coming up in a matter of days. By the time our anniversary arrives, we will have removed about 1300 animals and spayed/neutered about 400 animals. Whew! That’s a lot of work! If you want to join our team and make a difference for animals in your community, please let us know. We really need help on the reservation right now, as Shannon, our main intake person will be having a baby any time now! Her main back up, is her mom Joan, so we may have to close intake temporarily when the child is born, if we don’t find additional help. Also Abby, our Transport Coordinator will be out soon on maternity leave, too. This can be done from anywhere in the country.

Twin Cities Craft Show
Mark your calendars! We will be participating in the Secondhand Hounds Arts Crafts and More Sale, at Eisenhower Community Center on Hwy 7 in Hopkins, on Saturday, November 23rd. Watch our website and Facebook page for more information. Proceeds from this event will go to help cover our emergency vet bills.

It’s cold outside! But, that doesn’t stop LTAR volunteers and supporters! During our Rez Rescue Run on Jan 5th, 11 dogs and 8 cats went to rescue! We thought we’d find more, because we were hearing that there were a lot of strays. But, that means that probably some of them that people thought were strays, were actually owned pets.

We had our first vaccination clinic on Thurs, Jan 10th. We vaccinated 30 dogs and 8 cats that day. We’re working hard to stop the spread of diseases in animals. The Wonderful Dr Paula from Valley Vet Clinic closed her offices for the morning to come to Sisseton for our clinic. We highly recommend Dr Paula and her staff if anyone is looking for a vet near the reservation. Their phone is (320) 695-2513. Funding for this event was provided thanks to a Vaccination Grant provided by the ASPCA! We had also used a portion of our grant money to cover the vaccinations done during our spay/neuter clinics in 2012. We have a little bit of grant money left over, so we will be purchasing vaccinations to have on hand for animals going on transport.

We’ve got several great fundraisers in the works. First, TODAY and TOMORROW, stop by the LTAR booth at the Winter Show in Sisseton. Aliive Roberts County generously donated some of their space for an LTAR booth, so that we wouldn’t have to pay to be at the show. We will have calendars, tote bags, ceramics and many other items for sale at our booth. All proceeds will go right to helping animal on the reservation.  And I hear it is a bright, sun-shiny day on the rez!  A perfect day to get out and get rid of the winter blues!

Have you ever wanted to go to a MN Wild hockey game? We currently have a raffle for a pair of MN Wild tickets! The tickets are for the Sun, Feb 17th game at 5pm against the Detroit Red Wings!  A $5 donation gets you in the drawing for the tickets. The more tickets you buy, the more chances you have of winning. The drawing will be held on Wed 1/23, so you will have plenty of time to plan your trip to the Xcel Energy Center if you win. All donations are tax deductible. Visit our website to enter the drawing.

Make this Valentine’s Day a special one for your pet, with our Show LTAR the Love Fundraiser. Make a donation, and Cupid will shoot out a heart with your pets name on it! If you make a $20 donation, your pet will get a Valentine in the mail, addressed to them! Look forward to this fundraiser starting immediately following the Wild ticket fundraiser. Remember, all donations are tax deductible!

We are also planning an Indian Taco sale in Sisseton in February! Watch our website and facebook page for more information. We are still working to plan the date for the event. You will be able to pre-order you Indian Tacos, and they’ll be made fresh for you that day. This was a hugely popular event when we did it last year. For our fans that don’t live on the rez and may not know what an Indian Taco is, it is a piece of fry bread, usually about 6 inches in diameter, and just over an inch thick, topped with taco meat and all the usual taco fixings and you eat it with a knife and fork! YUM!

I’m also going to throw out a teaser for another event we’ll have coming in the next month or two…..it will be a “Break-a-thon”! Watch our website and facebook for more details as we get the plans for this one ironed out.

Did you know there was a Sisseton City pound? We have always pulled animals from the Sisseton City pound, when their time was up. This fall, we worked with Mark, who manages the shelter to make it more comfortable for animals in the winter. The Sisseton City pound is located inside a tin maintenance building in town. There are no windows, no heat, no air conditioning, and no real budget! We added items to our LTAR wish list that would specifically be used at the pound, such as heat lamps, heated water bowls and stainless steel food bowls. The fans of our facebook page generously donated the items needed. We also supplied bedding, and a good slip leash. Mark would love to get some collars and leashes for use at the pound. So, the next batch ordered off of our wish list, will be sent to the pound.

We hope everyone is having a great winter! Be sure to let us know if you have litters of puppies or kittens that you need help with, or if you have strays in your neighborhood that need help. We remove animals from the reservation to help reduce the animal over-population problems on the rez. All animals we remove go to foster based rescue groups that specialize in finding great homes for animals. You can email us at laketraversedogs@yahoo.com, post on our facebook page or call 605-742-0219 if you know of animals that need help. Thanks for your support!

Happy New Year Everyone!
We have a lot of things coming up in the next two weeks. This Saturday, Jan 5th will be our first Rez Rescue Run of the 2012-2013 winter. We always do these during the winter, as it is easy to find the animals in need. During warm weather the strays are running the countryside. In the winter they stay in closer to the neighborhoods so they can find food. We still need volunteer drivers and co-pilots to assist withh the run, as well as rescues that can take animals that day. It is a long day, but a very rewarding experience.

On Thurs, Jan 10th from 9-1 we are holding our first ever vaccination clinic. We received grant money from the ASPCA for vaccines, and it needs to be used up by the end of January. I’ll publish the location of the clinic as soon as I have it.

Since our inception in Nov 2010, LTAR has saved about 975 animals by removing them from the reservation and sending them in to rescue. We have also Spayed/Neutered about 315 animals during that time, with the majority of them remaining on the reservation.

The one bit of bad news is that our website will be going away, and will be rebuilt on a free web hosting site. I didn’t realize the cost for this site would be $360 per year, and that would just take away too much of our money that needs to go to helping the animals. Look forward to a new site coming soon. I’m not sure exactly when this one will be disabled.

Here’s looking forward to a great 2013!
Thanks for your support!
Cheryl

Hi Everyone!
First I want to wish you a Happy Holiday! If you haven’t purchased a present, star or an ornament for our LTAR Tree of Giving, now is the time! Remember, all donations are tax deductible. We’ll be sending receipts right around the first of the year for your taxes. All donations received go right to helping LTAR animals. It will help cover the costs of emergency vetting, or will be put towards our spay/neuter programs.

Brrr….it’s getting cold outside! That means it’s time for a Reservation Rescue Run. We had to postpone our December run due to the big snowstorm. Our next planned date is Sat, Jan 5th. We will be picking up strays, as well as having a puppy drop off site. The more unwanted animals we can get off the rez that day, the better. And yes, we do these primarily during cold weather months, because the dogs stay in the neighborhoods and are easier to find. And, boy some of them are really happy to get in to a warm car. We have heard there are a lot of strays right now, and we’re hoping to rectify that.

We’re hosting a Vaccination Clinic on Jan 10th from 9am -1pm! Our wonderful Dr Paula from Valley Vet will be in Sisseton to administer Rabies and DHPP vaccines for dogs and Rabies and PRC vaccines for cats. DHPP vaccines will help prevent Parvo and Distemper, which are two diseases we have seen in Rez dogs. PRC vaccines will prevent Distemper as well as some respiratory illnesses in cats. In 2012 we received some grant money from the ASPCA to help cover the costs of vaccines for rez animals. A portion of the grant helped cover our vaccination costs during our spay/neuter clinics. We have funds left over from that grant, so we are hosting a vaccination clinic in Sisseton. Exact location info to follow.

Our 2013 spay/neuter clinic dates are: May 9-11 and Sept 12-14. They will be 3 day clinics, but both clinics will include a Saturday surgery day! Mark your calendars now, so you can either bring in your animals to be altered and vaccinated, or so you can help with the clinic!

We still have some calendars left! We’re doing a Christmas sale this week. For $15, you’ll get an LTAR calendar, LTAR tote bag and LTAR bracelet, and it includes shipping! Order a set now for your favorite pet lover! Here’s the link to get in on the special offer.

We also have some GREAT news! Annie, our first horse to come through LTAR has been adopted! She was found in the gravel pit area and the Sheriff contacted us for help. We had her in a foster home and took care of emergency vetting, and the basic testing to make sure she didn’t have anything contagious. She is happily settling in to her new forever home, where she will be loved and cherished for the rest of her life. Thanks to Andrea’s Angels for taking her in and finding her a great home.

Happy Holidays, and we’re looking forward to a great 2013!
Cheryl (LTAR board)

I’m definitely running behind when it comes to blogging and getting a newsletter out. The newsletter is changing formats, and there is a lot of set up to make it happen initially. But, once it’s done the first time, it should be smooth sailing from there. Here are all of my fall updates, and I’ll be getting another blog done later this week.

They’re Fixed!
In September we held our 3rd Spay/Neuter/Vaccination clinic on the reservation. A veterinary crew from MNSNAP came to town with their mobile surgical unit, and spent 4 days doing surgeries. During the event 114 animals were altered! This puts us up to just over 300 reservation animals that we have altered. We provide this service free of charge to reservation residents. It is funded completely through fundraisers, grants and donations. This is the last clinic for 2012. Hot off the Press!!! Our 2013 clinic dates are: May 9-11 and Sept 12-14. They will be 3 day clinics, but both clinics will include a Saturday surgery day!

Sisseton pound update
When I was in town for our September clinic, I met the person that runs the Sisseton City pound. Mark is a volunteer that is working to make sure the animals are safe and healthy while they are at the pound, and that they get out safely in to rescue. I had seen the pound from the outside before, but finally got a chance to go inside. The building is actually a city maintenance garage. There is a garage door, but no windows, no heat or A/C. There are 4 dog kennels just inside the door. Mark has zero budget for his work at the pound. He has recycled roadway signs to cover up the holes that had been chewed in the kennel fencing, and built wooden platforms for sleeping areas, so the dogs don’t need to lay on the concrete. He has also set up a dog crate to use in case cats are brought to the pound. He is doing some great work, but really needed some help!

We posted a plea on Facebook in October for some basic supplies to help the animals at the pound. Our generous supporters purchased heat lamps, bulbs, heated water dishes, stainless steel food bowls, leashes and gift cards to help improve conditions at the pound. LTAR also gave bedding items to help keep the animals more comfortable. We will ensure that they have food and supplies going forward. The only thing remaining on their wish list is more stainless steel bowls, and to use for food as water bowls in the summer.

Twin Cities Fundraiser!
The Lake Traverse Animal Rezcue was privileged to participate in the second annual Pause 4 Paws fundraiser in Medina, MN on Thursday, Nov 8th. Pause 4 Paws is a group of animal advocates that use their skills to host fundraising events for smaller rescue groups. All proceeds go right to the participating rescues. The event featured the KFAN morning crew as emcee’s, a silent auction, live auction, wall of wine, and musical entertainment. LTAR had a booth at the event, where we provided information about the rescue, and sold donated items!

Thanks for your support! ~Cheryl

First, we have a very exciting event coming up on November 8th in the Twin Cities! Pause 4 Paws MN is a group of animal advocates that help small rescue groups with fundraising. They are hosting an event at the Medina Ballroom, and LTAR has been chosen to participate! See our Events page for more information about the event, and ordering tickets.

Wow. We have been really busy this fall! During our spay/neuter clinic in September, we altered 114 reservation animals! That puts us up over 310 spay/neuter surgeries since we started in Nov 2010. I just heard our tentative clinic dates for 2013 are May 9-11 and Sept 12-14. That means we will have 3 day clinics next year, but they will include Saturday surgeries!

Our 2013 calendars are on sale now! Fans and friends submitted their favorite animal photos and then everyone voted for their favorites. The top vote getters are featured in large size photos on our calendar. Many animals that live on the reservation, or have been rescued from the reservation are included. The calendars have shipped and will be arriving on 10/31/12. Order yours today, by clicking on “I want to Help!” on the menu bar then, “2013- LTAR calendar” to go to the order form. Calendars will also be available for sale at the Pause 4 Paws fundraiser, and at at events in Sisseton the weekend of Nov 10th and in December at general council. (More info on these two events will be coming soon)

Remember, we can only continue to save these animals with your help. Please donate your time, animal related products, purchase one of our fundraiser items, or donate money to our emergency vetting fund. See our “I want to help!” tab for more information.

To date we have saved:
636 dogs
304 cats
1 horse
1 rabbit
1 ferret

Thanks!
Cheryl