Andi Hocking at the Rainbow Bridge

6/20/10
It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that this morning, I held our precious Andi as she made her way to the Rainbow Bridge to be with her brothers Columbo and Buck and sister Patches and her long time friend, Reba. When I came downstairs she was lying on the family room floor, obviously in some sort of distress and I suspected she was bloating--a huge fear of any basset owner. I rushed her to the Emergency Animal Hospital but she was already crashing...apparently she had several cancerous tumors around her liver and stomach, and one of them had ruptured and she was bleeding out. Emergency surgery was not even an option at that point, so I had the vet give her the euthanasia shot so she wouldn't suffer any longer, and held her in my arms as she slipped peacefully away. This all happened very fast--she was fine earlier, and we had absolutely no idea she had this cancer...she never showed any symptoms. This beautiful girl, one of our BHRA fosters who we ended up adopting, had so many gremlins when she came back into rescue for the second time--and over time she became confident and trusting and simply adored Earl, despite her fear of men. She was even the perfect lady at the annual basset bash this past May. Andi was funny, could be a real clown and was very much the grand dam of the house. I cannot even imagine how I'm going to tell Earl when he gets home this evening..... Andi was his special girl and our house will be immensely quieter now. So say a little prayer for Andi as she journeys over that rainbow.

Helen Hocking

A Big "Thank You!" From BHRA

BHRA is so very lucky to have wonderful friends that step up when we need their support. This is a recent "thank you" that went out to some of our good friends. We just wanted to share how very important these donations are to Rescues like BHRA.

Dear Kind Donor,

Thank you so much for your continued support of BHRA. This means so much to us and the hounds. I will see to it that we send you a receipt at the end of 2010 for the total contributions you make during the year.

These donations help as we have Flashy Lady who is in need of continual medication for the urinary tract and we just brought in Happy who had to have one eye removed due to glaucoma, cataract or an accident. He was a stray that a sweet young lady found. She took him to the vet & paid for the eye surgery, shots and neuter, $388 that she took from her meager living expenses as she is out of a job. Then she called us as she could not keep him. We have had him checked out at Calera and he will be ready to go to an adopter or foster this coming weekend. He should be on the website, hopefully next weekend.

Foster homes are scarce as are adoptions currently. But we are trying to make sound decisions.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and a great summer.

Trudy M. Phillips

This is a wonderful note we received with a another greatly appreciated donation this week! What a sweet note! We are really moved by the generosity!

Adopting an Older Hound...by Martha Crow, BHRA Trustee

We have thoroughly enjoyed our “special needs older hound”. She is about 12 years old now, diabetic, almost totally blind and does not hear well…but she is also the sweetest dog ever! Even if she can’t figure out who is calling her or where they are calling her from (as she stands with her head tilting from side to side and ears lifted high), or she hears a doorbell ring on TV and runs barking to our door (and we have to convince her no one is there), she always has a spring in her step and a wag in her tail. (plus she makes us laugh!) )! Even the cats love her and cuddle up with her every chance they get. We know we don’t have years and years with her like we will probably have with our other younger dogs, but we will take what we can get. She is just a blessing in our lives. She loves her people and we love her! Caring for her takes a little more effort, but well worth every bit of it! Mercedes (aka Steve) has been the best addition to our household (as she lies sleeping at my feet.)

In Loving Memory of Cherry Emerich

Miss Cherry, a.k.a. Cherokee, came into BHRA rescue from MS in the year 2000. She was a stray weighing 19 lbs., with cherry eye, heartworms and a lung infection. After recovery, she was adopted by Diane Emerich in Birmingham, AL. Gertie joined the group ( a puppy mill mom ) along with Ethel (a runaway walking down the interstate). Gertie and Ethel are gone, and Cherry passed last week at age 12. She enjoyed her home in Texas with her basset friend Baxter and wannabe Mr. Flint. She was my cupcake, my princess, my baby gurl, my heart.
--Diane Emerich