Where is my human? Nothing made sense to Ruby, an eleven-year-old lab mix, who suddenly found herself amid the other dogs at North Shore Animal League America. Adopted from Animal League America as a puppy, she lived a happy and comfortable life with her family until early this year. Ruby’s owner passed away, and his wife entered a nursing home and was unable to care for her.
Her entire life, Purry only knew the safety of a loving home and family. Suddenly, it was all ripped away. Purry’s owners packed up and left the country, leaving their sweet-natured, eight-year-old female cat behind — abandoned and alone. But this sweet senior still had a lot of love left to give.
As 2020 finally drew to a close, at North Shore Animal League America we once again witnessed that not even the smallest creatures could escape the hardship of this most difficult year. Pregnant and due any day, Audrey was rescued off the street by one of our partner shelters in Georgia, who then reached out to us for help. There was no time to waste, especially when pregnant dogs are often the first to be euthanized at overcrowded municipal shelters.
Zeus, a sweet, lovable Hound mix, was rushed to North Shore Animal League America’s Pet Health Centers in critical condition. His back legs were suddenly paralyzed and he couldn’t take even a single step on his own. “Zeus presented to the Pet Health Centers unable to use his back legs. Our main concern was getting him the specialty care he needed as soon as possible. With spinal injuries, treatments must be started immediately or they may not work,” stated Dr. Katarina Valen, Staff Veterinarian. “Despite this, he wagged his tail and gave out generous kisses to everyone who walked by.”
As many are looking forward to the end of a year that has seen unprecedented loss, we at North Shore Animal League America are committed to our no-kill mission. For the month of December we expect to bring in almost 300 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens. In a year where we have had to scale back our rescue missions due to the ongoing global pandemic, we did not stop our lifesaving work and continued to do all we could to save more animals.
Daisy had struggled throughout all of her young life, which began in a puppy mill in the Midwest. When she arrived on our Mobile Rescue Unit in late March, our Veterinary team found that Daisy’s biggest struggle has yet begun — this one would mean the difference between life and death.
Alex MacDonald has fond memories of growing up on Long Island and, in particular, of a wonderful dog named Licorice. “I grew up in Syosset, New York. My father adopted our first dog, Licorice, a one-year-old Labrador Retriever mix from North Shore Animal League America,” recalled Alex
Klinger and Radar — the last of the four dogs rescued from a dog meat farm in Korea through North Shore Animal League America’s partnership with K9 Global Rescue — were adopted this year. Our Pet Behavior Team, having spent time helping them adjust to life in the U.S., was so happy and excited to see them go to their perfect homes.
North Shore Animal League America lost a caring, compassionate friend and a valued member of its Board of Directors when Dr. Gerald Tirozzi passed away on November 1, 2020 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
North Shore Animal League America is excited to celebrate the first anniversary of the opening of Bianca’s Furry Friends Feline Adoption Center, or BFF, as we affectionately call it. During this memorable year, filled with some sad and difficult moments due to COVID-19, we are so thankful that we were able to continue our no-kill mission to Rescue, Nurture, Adopt, and Educate. And BFF was one of the reasons why we could! It’s been a bright light guiding us towards a future without a coronavirus pandemic.