Mending Broken Hearts

Mending Broken Hearts, One French Bulldog at a Time

This new design for the French Bulldog Village’s Cafe Press store lets you show the world that Rescue is “Mending Broken Hearts, One French Bulldog at a Time”.

Featuring the lovely Miss Itty Bitty (aka Ema), this design is available for light and dark clothing and accessories. Bumper sticker and button friendly designs are coming soon.

See all of the designs at the FBV Store, or check out the sample t shirt below. 100% of all profits benefit French Bulldogs like Ema.

French Bulldog rescue t shirt

A Thank You From CJ’s Mom

Karen, CJ’s Foster Mom, asked me to post the following message which she had sent to the French Bulldog Village mailing list:

Well after crying for the last 24 hours, my eyes swollen like baseballs. I’ve eaten a 20 piece chicken mcnuggets, large fries from Mcdonald’s and a skor blizzard from Dairy Queen. I’ve been able to pull myself together enough to come see all the emails of condolence I received from truly caring and compassionate people.

I’d first and foremost like to thank Carol G. for her absolute AMAZING, FANTASTIC, OUTSTANDING, FANTABULOUS work. Within 15 minutes of me posting C.J. needed help Carol was ON IT. Reaching out to the dog lover community. Being able to raise such a large amount in 24 hours totally reassures me that the human race isn’t going to hell in a handbag.

As I stood in the Vets exam room looking at x-rays showing the BB pellets in C.J’s chest and leg. First it was complete sadness with the realization of what he had really been through. When you get a stray there is no knowing what each animal has been through in his or her previous years. And I got a brief glimpse of what C.J. had been through and I wouldn’t have wished that life on a worst enemy. Not even on the one who shot him. I got my people hater hat on and was angry beyond words at how some people could be so cowardly to lash out at those that have no voice to beg them to stop. But I was able to take my angry hat off again as I sat at my computer reading the literally hundreds of emails that I’ve received from people I don’t even know. I must say I have never had such an outpouring of well wishes. It fills my heart to know that the good people in the human race still out weigh the bad 2 to 1.

I would like to THANK absolutely EVERYONE who sent their wishes, condolences, and money to help a dog they had never even met. You have all truly restored my trust in humanity. Carol said it best on her blog (which made me bawl, thank you very much Carol) “sometimes, we really do need to light a candle and stand together against the dark. That’s CJ’s miracle, when you think about it.” And I believe that was C.J’s message. For the one who has hate in their heart, we have shown there are a hundred to band against them.

To Kim, I want to thank you for EVERYTHING you did for C.J and myself. I don’t think words can tell you how comforting it was as a foster home, knowing that you were ALWAYS there. Any time of day or night I called you would answer and be able to help me with any question or problem I had. I actually cried when I heard you were standing down as foster co-ordinator. You and I are a lot alike and want to save everyone. But we have the stronger more sensible people like Charlotte to remind us that there are some that we just have to say good-bye to. I would beg you to reconsider resigning as co-ordinator, because when I get my next foster I want you as my coach and cheerleader.

To Charlotte, Thank you for being the voice of reason. I thank you for being my broad shoulders and letting me know it’s ok to say good-bye.

Carol, if you could please post this on your blog as well. Since I received so, so, so many emails from your followers. I have truly come into a family that have each others back and each others hands. The family of French Bulldogs.

You’re welcome, Karen – and more than that, welcome to the family.

Friends of Ema

Our grateful thanks to all of the following friends of Ema, who have made her upcoming surgery possible. It’s simply been overwhelming how many people have reached out to help one tiny little dog.

By the way, I’m attempting to keep this list as current as possible, but please forgive me if I’ve missed you – it was not intentional.

We have good news – Ema’s surgery date has been moved up even closer, to October 20th. She goes in at noon on the 19th for pre surgical consultation, and then surgery on the 20th. This was made possible by the family of a Bulldog who was originally scheduled for the same day, for the same procedure, but agreed to swap dates with Ema, since her condition is more severe. Yet more proof – Bully people ROCK.

– Carol, Ema, ECFBC Rescue and the French Bulldog Village

Friends of Ema
Jessica Lambrecht
Erica Schlaug
Sean Galbraith
Carrie Alongi
Hope Saidel
Beth Thornton
da hinton
Lori Kobayashi
Cindy Caldwell
Glenda Hertzman
Rosemarie Chalker
Karla K. Akins
Kristina Stratton
Sarah Freeman
Michael Hanscom
Penelope Schenk
Daniel Herrera
Keith Daniels
Susan Rosenau
Michelle Lewis
Diggity Dog Kennels-Gnosticfire Farm
Lucy Henderson
ashleigh spurlock
BECKY L WIRTA
David Mercaldi
Scott Nygren
Joseph Lau
Jill Sokol
Andrea Morden-Moore
Joyce Mitchell
Laura Fisher
Meghan Williams
Cornelis Kerkhoven
Ember McLeod
Steve Hallman
Karen Anderson
Peggy Gallerno
Elsie Kolb
kimberly rice
Dane Bailey
Glenn Forrester
Ellen Sard
Karen Tucker
Christine Towner
Brenda Comeau-Watson
Melissa Bowersock
Jill Salmon
norma toraya
Angela Kelly
Shannon D Tuttle
Angelique Faustino
Alicia McDaniel
Maria McKenzie
Cindy Victor
Diana Dekle
Rebecca Wallace
Susan Riley
Julie Grund
SarahMalia Barbusca
Jay Joseph
Diane Dickins
Richard Rockford
Jeremy Shockley
James Phillips
da hinton
Melody Gonzalez
Gloria Jill Fraser
Breanne Maier
Flo Leung
Nancie Lillie
Melissa Schue
Matthew Pascale
Jennifer Bender
Cynthia Vreeland
Jocelyne Mangubat Vega
Melissa Myer
Jonathan Russell
Brian Callahan
Donald Carron
Kristine Logan
stephanie abbott
Melissa Goldberg
Sue Williams
Elizabeth Pendergast
carol watson
S. Forest King
Kim Jacoby
Bryan Kuppers
betty nguyen
Susan Snider
Whitney Kratsas
Rachel Tennant
Karen Bringol
RMR EMPIRE DISTRIBUTION LLC
Susan Koshoshek
Susan Rosenau
Nicole Sellers
Vicki Bouchillon
Alissa Gordon
Lisa Ricciotti
JESSICA HSIA
Jennifer Vodvarka
Jason LaChappelle
Theresa Wates
Brynn Dooley
Katherine Deveau
Marcy M Einarsson
Lisa Goetz

CJ was his own miracle

CJ smiling in the sunshine

CJ smiling in the sunshine

I am sorry to have to announce that, last night, CJ lost his brave fight. The infection in his abdomen was more widespread than the veterinarians had initially thought, and CJ was suffering.

Karen, his dedicated foster mother, was with him when he left the world. I’m comforted to know that, at the very end of his life, CJ knew the love that he was denied for so much of the rest of it. CJ was Karen’s first foster dog, and the difference she made in his life is immense, as is the hole that he has left in hers. If you think of it, please write her a note of condolence.

Our grateful thanks to everyone who donated towards CJ’s care since we reached out to you yesterday. Your donations will help to pay for the vet bills CJ accrued while his home veterinary team and the vets at Guelph searched for a way to save his life.

Like everyone else who was touched by CJ, it is tempting to meditate on the cruelty that was done to him. We lost volunteers over CJ’s story, good people who are just too burned out on the seemingly non stop stories of sadness and misery and plain, banal evil that rescue work seems to expose us to every day.  Instead, I’m going to choose to think of the people who reached out to him, and offered to help. You’re what matters, now more than ever.

It’s trite to say, but sometimes, we really do need to light a candle and stand together against the dark. That’s CJ’s miracle, when you think about it.

A list of all of CJ’s supporters will be posted, with gratitude, on the French Bulldog Village and ECFBC websites.

The weak can never forgive.
Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Mahatma Gandhi

Cruelty beyond boundaries

Cj Needs a Miracle

Sometimes, it seems like just yesterday to me – a time when no one knew what a French Bulldog was. If you were walking one, the most common question was “Is that a Boston/Pug/Bulldog?” (quickly followed by “did you crop his ears?”).

If you wanted a Frenchie, you had to search for one, and you had to be prepared to wait. I searched and waited almost a year for my first Frenchie, and my first show Frenchie was a year and change search that had me flying cross continent into the buckle of the bible belt.

In rescue, a single dog in need was a big deal – big enough that we all knew the back story, where the dog had come from, what it had been through. If you’ve been around for a while, you remember the story that shocked all of us to the core – the little puppy mill Frenchie who’d been living in a chicken coop, one ear cut off, possibly to get rid of her identifying AKC tattoo. A rescue was usually just that – a needy dog, taken out of a horrible situation. There weren’t many abandoned or unwanted French Bulldogs, even fewer strays (I can’t recall any, actually, or if they were strays it was only until their frantic owners tracked them down).

Times have changed for our breed, however. You can’t look at a rescue page without reading about a French Bulldog dumped at a shelter, or given up by an owner who doesn’t want it any more. Even the “rare” Frenchies are turning up in rescue now – FBRN has had a Blue French Bulldog or two in their care, given up by owners who apparently didn’t place value on either their dog, or the $6,000 they paid for him.

We even have strays – dogs found wandering, and unclaimed. French Bulldogs that no one bothered to look for. Inconceivable, not very long ago – common place, today.

CJ is one of those dogs – found wandering on the streets of a southern town, CJ ended up in a pen at a kill shelter, just one more dog that no one wanted, and that no one bothered to look for. CJ’s time was running out, but the French Bulldog Village won him his freedom, and he made the trip north to Canada, along with Peanut.

CJ has been fostering with FBV/ECFBC Rescue Volunteer Karen, in Beamsville, Ontario. I met CJ, and I envied Karen getting to share her house with the big galoot.

CJ is all happiness and affection – a leg leaner, pressing against you for comfort, smiling his big goof ball Frenchie grin at everyone he meets. His back legs are wobbly, and he has the occasional accident, but he’s a good boy at heart who tries his best to make you happy, and who we were optimistic was going to make someone a fabulous companion.

Then, over the past weekend, CJ became ill, vomiting and unable to keep his food down. When he stopped eating, foster mom Karen knew something was very wrong, and rushed him to the vet’s office.

What she found stunned her, and has stunned me – CJ has been shot, not once, not even twice, but at least three times. Embedded in his body are three BB Gun pellets, two in his chest and one in his leg. He has peritonitis, possibly from the perforation that one of the bullets left in his body caused.  They’re going to have to open up his abdomen, insert drains and put him on IV antibiotics.

Some time in CJ’s past, perhaps while he was wondering lost and alone on a dark southern street, someone saw him and, rather than wanting to help him or alleviate his fear, aimed a gun and shot him. Three times.

There are moments when the very thankfulness and gratitude that I wrote about just two days ago seem to slip out of my grasp. There are times when I feel, when anyone who rescues can only feel, overwhelmed by the amount of cruelty that exists in the world.

This is one of those times.

If you ever meet CJ, a little dog who only wants to make everyone his friend, look into his soft brown eyes – and now imagine, instead of being moved by him, deciding to aim a gun at him instead.

CJ needs what we’ve already asked you for so recently – CJ needs a miracle. His vet bills are $1,100.00 so far, and he’s on his way to the University of Guelph (where Ema will be receiving her surgery).  Their estimate for his care is $1500 – $2,000.

If you can help CJ, please visit his page on the French Bulldog Village website, and click the paypal button at the bottom of the page. Again, as with Ema, every dollar counts.

In our own tiny attempt to fund raise for CJ, I’m going to do something I’d always said I never would – I’m going to put ads on my blog. If you donate $250 or more to CJ’s care, I’ll place your banner on the bottom of every post on my blog, for six months. A pretty good deal, since we get well over 30,000 visitors a month.

What a bargain! Make your donation via CJ’s paypal button, and note that you want to run an ad on this blog, and I’ll get it set up. Heck, I’ll even design the banner for you. Ads are limited to three, due to space considerations.

Do you have your own fund raising idea for CJ? Tell us about it – let’s try to get this big happy boy, who’s had such bad luck with the people he’s met in his life, that there are people out there who care.

If you can’t donate to CJ’s care, please please – spread the word about him. Share his story on twitter, facebook or on any mailing lists you’re on. CJ needs a miracle – let’s be his angels.

If I haven’t managed to convince you yet, watch CJ’s video – and now remember those bullets.