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Mr. Un-Lucky
It's with deep emotion that we say farewell to sweet Mr. Un-Lucky, who crossed the bridge on 11/4/08.

The call came into OCC from a concerned shelter volunteer in WV.  A sweet, stray, very young and medically challenged lab mix was due to be euthanized unless a home/rescue could be found. Thanks to many wonderful volunteers, arrangements were made immediately for transport.

Mr. Un-Lucky greeted our volunteers with a vigorously wagging tail, but it was his extremely thin back end and legs that caught their attention most.  We could only assume his injuries were a result of being hit by a car.

Luckily, for Mr. Un-Lucky he was taken in by a loving foster home with a nice comfy bed, toys, food, and most importantly love.  He now shared life with 3 doggie sisters, 3 cats, 3 human little boys and 2 great foster parents.  It took time for him to adjust and a ton of work on the family’s part but soon enough it seemed as if he had lived there his whole life.

Lucky was brought to New Paltz animal hospital to been seen by Dr. Alison Soscia.  Dr. Soscia ran blood tests and took x-rays for his legs to see what we could do to fix him.  But because his injuries had already healed it was determined the best thing to do at this point was not to perform surgery and evaluate him down the road.  He did not seem to be in any pain and kept up just fine with his fur sisters. Dr. Soscia also found 6-buck shots in his body and a fractured jaw.  Like most rescue dogs we knew nothing of Lucky’s history but could now assume our poor little guy was a victim of abuse.

It was official very quickly that Lucky had us all wrapped around his little paw!  Everyone who met him confirmed that he was an absolute joy and that his spirit was so incredible. 

Lucky had good days and bad and when his foster mom Jodi voiced her concern for him not gaining weight she took him to see her family vet Dr. Evan’s of Flannery Animal Hospital.  Dr. Evans noticed Lucky’s breathing was heavy and after x-rays delivered the bad news that Lucky had Diaphragmatic Hernia.  In short his abdominal organs entered into his chest cavity. Surgery was necessary to try to correct this condition.  We were told his odds of survival were 50/50 and without surgery he would eventually die.

On November 4, 2008, three wonderful doctors at Flannery Animal Hospital performed surgery.  As we feared the damage was far worse than we thought but never gave up hope. Lucky proved to be a fighter and survived the surgery. 

Approximately four hours after we received the heartbreaking news that Lucky had passed. He held on for so long but his battered body just could not take anymore.

Un-Lucky, or Lucky as we called him was a dog of indelible sprit.  He will always remind us that life is a glorious thing and that love and kindness make all the difference.

Our thanks to the shelter volunteer who contacted us and gave him a chance, all the transporters who got him to us safely, all of our friends who donated for his care, Dr. Soscia and staff for your support and wonderful care, Flannery Animal Hospital, especially Dr. Evans for doing everything you could to help him.

And a very special thanks to Jodi Mickalauskas and family who took him into their home and hearts. Days before surgery, Jodi and her family made it official and adopted Lucky. No matter what was going to happen, they wanted Lucky to have a "home"to call his own. It takes very special people to do what they did for him. They not only provided him with a home, all the love and support care he needed, but you gave him with a family.   When his time came he knew unconditional love.  We can’t thank you enough.

Lucky’s zest for life and happy sprit has forever captured many hearts and will

Gracie: Gone but never forgotten
It's with heavy hearts that we here at OCC: All Retriever Rescue have to tell you that we lost a faithful friend when Gracie, a 15year old rescued Black Labrador, crossed the rainbow bridge. Her frail body could no longer sustane her bigger than life spirit and she was gently laid to rest last night (4/5/07) with her loving foster, Marty and her friends from OCC by her side.

Gracie was rescued from a kill shelter in Ohio after her long time owner (90 years old) could no longer care for herself, let alone a nearly 80lb, arthritic animal. The shelter was forced to put her on the list to euthanized by gas. Members of the rescue were made aware of Gracie's situation and with the help of some great volunteers (Mare, inparticular who drove 14hours to get her), Gracie made her long trip up from OH to NY.

For several weeks, Miss Gracie lived the lap of luxury at "Chateau Marto" with her foster dad Marty. She was
pampered and spoiled rotten. She received daily groomings and relaxed on the porch watching deer graze in the yard. Occassionally Gracie would even chat with the dog that lived across the way.

Gracie made a positive impact on the lives of everyone around her. She put smiles on our faces and wagged at
every person with whom she came into contact. She will be deeply missed.

Plans are being made to set up a memorial fund in Gracie's name to help more senior dogs. No dog, especially senior dogs, should be thrown out like garbage or should die alone by gas. We at OCC will do what we can to help. We are also planning on planting a tree for Gracie at her foster's home and we will lay her ashes to rest there. We are also going to start a Senior Fund, specifically for Senior dogs in need. More information coming soon.

We will miss you Gracie-girl. We hope that you are running around and enjoying your youthful body again.
We love you.

Volunteer who goes the distance
Rose sent in an application for adopting a young, female yellow lab. After a few conversations with OCC we knew that Rose and family were more than just nice dog-friendly people...they were angels sent to help the rescue. During one brief conversation about the arrival of Rose's future puppy, Rose could hear the stress mounting in the voice of one of the OCC Board members. Four gorgeous Chocolate puppies (approx 8 weeks old) were just dumped at a kill shelter. Immediately reacting, OCC jumped on the phones to get the puppies out of the awful fate that awaited them. Foster care was found but now how to get these young pups from OH to NY. Because they were so young, volunteer transport would be too long and paid transport could jepordize the health of these young puppies who needed to get their second round of shots. Rose, without much hesitation said "I'll pick them up." As if to say, "I'll run to the market." But really she was offering to drive 10 hours in each direction to save the lives of these 4 puppies.

Rose and her husband Tom, spent an entire weekend driving to OH and back with 4 puppies in tow. They fostered the puppies for a week, brought them to the vet and assisted in their adoption. When the yellow pups arrived and Rose just knew that she could not have two pups...and although there was a special place in her heart for those chocolates she could not let them all go so she adopted one of them...officially!
THANK YOU ROSE....and congrats on your new bundle :)

Foster Mom goes above and beyond
We are nothing without volunteers. We appreciate all the time people spend assisting our rescue to continue doing what we do. Sometimes days get long and weekends get even longer, but you must keep going forward. One foster mom, Stephanie, has gone above and beyond what any rescue could ask for. A couple weeks back, Stephanie took in 4 sweet Black Lab puppies that we pulled from a high kill shelter. These poor sweeties weighed about 5lbs each and were about 6 weeks old. Stephanie has cared for these pups, in her home, and has nursed them to health after dehydration, kennel cough, and diarreha. Not only is she physically caring for them each and every day, she has offered to sponser each pup and have them altered so that OCC does not incur the cost.
THANK YOU STEPHANIE for the generous donation!
These puppies have all been adopted!!!!!!!!

Happy Endings for Shannon & Trooper
We are pleased to announce that Trooper and Shannon have been officially adopted.

Shannon has found a new wonderful home in Cortlandt Manor, NY with her doggie parents Bill & Andrea and a new four-legged buddy, Monty.This loveable Lab is as sweet as she is beautiful. Her owner fell on some hard times and had to give this poor girl up. She is purebred Yellow Lab with a heart of gold and found herself in a kill shelter ready to be euthanized. We could not see that happen so we saved her and brought her to NY. Shannon is special...she is on medication for seizures. We needed to find her the "right" family. After almost 3 months in foster care (and one big scare with seizures after Shannon's friend Emmett was adopted), Bill and Andrea found us and it was a match made in heaven. We took things slow to ensure that all would work out and we did not want to stress Shannon out. Now the move is complete and Shannon is in her new home ready to start a whole new life. We are so grateful to all the volunteers, donors and just well wishers who kept us going. Shannon is so special to us and we are just thrilled she has found her fur-ever home.

Trooper has been adopted by his caring and loving vet at New Paltz Animal Hospital. This poor pup was left on the road to die with a broken pelvis after being hit by a vehicle. Since his medical expenses were too great, he ended up on death row in a kill shelter. OCC stepped in with the help of a loving foster mom who pulled Trooper (and two buddies) from the shelter. She helped him recooperate for almost a month, walking him and keeping him still as his pelvis healed. Trooper and his friends finally made their way from MI to NY via volunteer transporters once Trooper was up and around again. When he arrived he needed special one-on-one care and attention to continue building his muscles in his hind end. An incredible foster dad, Rob, came to the rescue and along with his dog, Jet, they welcomed Trooper into their home for almost three months.

Trooper's story was looking better until he went in for his vet appt and neuter. While getting his blood work, Trooper was diagnosed with heartworm. This potetially fatal disease is treatable...however extremely costly. There was no way we were going to let Trooper go...we all worked too hard and he deserved a chance. OCC pulled what little money we had and with the generosity of some wonderful people (especially Marie & Sadie) we raised enough money to fund his care. Allison, Trooper's vet, fell in love with him and decided that he should come home to be apart of her family.

The New Paltz Animal Hospital and Allison donated much time and money to make Trooper's care affordable and we thank them so much. Now Trooper has a wonderful new lease at life. Thank you to ALL who donated time, money and prayers for Trooper's care and recovery. We could not have done it without you!