Victim of eviction/foreclosure, looking for a home with people in it - Jessie has a lot of love to give! 

Jessie is at a home, with no people in it, and the time is ticking as to when the bank will be coming for the home.  The home and the animal are being cared for by neighbors and relatives for the time being.  Jessie is thought to be 6 to 7 years of age, housebroken, spayed (Jessie), up to date on shots, heartworm negative.  If adopted through Illinois Humane, we will micro-chip her prior to transfer to his new homes.  She are loving, affectionate dog, with great temperament.  She is good with other animals.  She lived with three cats. 

Email petadoptions@illinoishumane.org for more information or if you are interested in giving a home to Jessie.

Sweet Pea, a ‘Toto-’ly Wonderful Dog

Many people have suggested the Dial family rename Sweet Pea, their newly adopted Illinois Humane dog, after “Toto” in “The Wizard of Oz”! “We’re not going to do that, though,” says Laura Dial, “because she is just the sweetest, cuddliest dog in the world! Whoever named her ‘Sweet Pea’ named her right.”

The “Toto” reference has been suggested for Sweet Pea because on Sunday, March 8, her new family’s home was hit by the tornadoes that swept through the Springfield area that afternoon. Laura, Hannah, the Dials’s 4-year-old daughter, and two young friends had just left for a fun, fast-food lunch for Laura and the children. Trent stayed at home with Sweet Pea and Ginger, the Dials’ other dog. Both Trent and Sweet Pea were in bed sleeping when the storm roared toward their home near Centennial Park. When Trent awoke to the sound of the tornado, he ran toward the basement, Sweet Pea beside him. Just at that moment, the tornado hit, blowing in their heavy front door.

Trent was knocked down the basement steps by the door as it hit him and slammed onto the foyer floor. When he crawled upstairs over the debris and saw the door flattened, he feared that Sweet Pea might be under it. Hefting it up and finding she wasn’t there, he hurried into the kitchen to find the back door, on the upper level, was blown out and Sweet Pea nowhere to be found.

He hurried outside to look for her, and neighbors said they had seen her running through the field across the large pond behind their house. Heavy wooden furniture from their deck was almost submerged in the pond, as was a swing set, garbage cans and other items from the neighborhood. Laura had heard about the storm and had hurried back with the children to find an enormous old tree down, much of the roof of their home gone, the window to Hannah’s room blown in, the garage door smashed and items blown about all over the interior of the house. They frantically looked for Sweet Pea. (Ginger, still very frightened, had, they surmise, taken cover in a bedroom closet and was fine.) The search was on for Sweet Pea, who had only been with the Dial family for six days when the tornado hit.

When finally spotted by a neighbor, she would not come to her, but she seemed to know that her home was with the Dials, and she hunkered down in a culvert near the nextdoor neighbor’s badly damaged house. Huge trees and bushes were all over the lawns, a brick entry lamp post was smashed like a child’s Lego set and shingles lay all over, as did a neighbor’s 5-foot-tall white fence. Neighbors hurried to tell Trent they had spotted her.

Trent approached the frightened whippet/pit bull mixed-breed dog, lowered himself close to the ground and called her. She recognized her new owner and ran to him, trembling and pushing her body close to her new dad. Sweet Pea did not appear to suffer any injuries, which their veterinarian confirmed the next day. Had she landed in the field, she would most likely have had abrasions and been sore, so the supposition is that the wind dropped her into the pond, softening her fall. She probably swam to the farther shore and that’s how the neighbors had spotted her running in the plowed field.

The Dials’ home is fully repaired, and no one in the area was injured. While the house was being restored, the Dials stayed at Laura’s mother’s house, where Sweet Pea’s “grandmom” said she wants to keep Sweet Pea, too. “No way!” says Laura. “She is the most wonderful dog we have ever had. I’m going to take her to obedience classes so that she can do agility, and someday she is going to be a therapy dog. She is giving us ‘therapy’ already!”

We communicate the trials, tribulations and success of our work through our animals’ stories. It is through the combined effort of all of us — our volunteers, donors, service providers, foster homes, and permanent homes — that make these stories read like fairy tales. But they are not fairy tales. They are true miracles. We ask for your continuing support.

To download the pdf version of these letters, right click on the links and select 'Save target as' Summer09

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CATS FOR ADOPTION FROM ILLINOIS HUMANE

Jasmine is a sweet 9-year-old tabby cat who has lived with the same family since she was a kitten. Unfortunately, now the owner, widowed and preparing to move to the West Coast to be near her four grown children and grandchildren, has to surrender Jasmine because one son and his four children are allergic to cats.

Jasmine has had excellent care all of her life and is quite comfortable with children when she gets to know them. She is a bit shy, but once she gets on your lap, she's a purring machine. She is spayed, microchipped and up-to-date on shots. Jasmine's previous family was delighted with Jasmine when she would sometimes dip her water out of her water bowl daintily to drink it. Sometimes she sips, but often she's a dipper! She has no physical problems and uses her litter box. Even though her owner kept her with her claws, she has not been destructive. Jasmine uses her scratch post. Jasmine's petfinder url is here.

Tom and Jerry (more information to be posted soon). Brother cats 13 years old, declawed and immediately available for adoption. Email petadoptions@illinoishumane.org

DOGS FOR ADOPTION FROM ILLINOIS HUMANE
(click pic for more info)