Meet Deborah Wilson, MD, founder of Circle L Ranch in Arizona, a nonprofit sanctuary and rescue for horses, dogs, cats and farm animals who would otherwise have been euthanized or slaughtered for meat.
One of our goals this year at DERMagic was to find just such an organization... one that we can support by helping resolve skin issues in their rescue animals, and possibly making them more readily adoptable, and certainly more comfortable as they live out their lives in safety and love.
We just returned from a delightful and productive visit to one of the ranch facilities in Prescott, hosted by the delightful Stacy Mantle, who is Marketing Director for the foundation as well as a published author, animal lover extraordinaire and all-around renaissance woman. I'll be talking more about her later in this series.
In a desert climate like this... hot, dry, full of fleas and ticks, blazing sun and all the hazards of summer... dogs are particularly vulnerable to infections and infestations, many of which initially appear as dry skin, scaly dandruff or a rough scabbiness on the rump and tail area. And many of the animals rescued have some serious skin problems just from not having been cared for properly. We are going to try to help as many of these as we can, working with Deb and Stacy and the staff at the ranch.
But we need help. Part of the treatment for animals that are really itching and biting themselves all over is to cover them with a tee shirt to protect the skin while it's healing. We need tee shirts for all sizes of dogs, but especially the medium to larger dogs. Old doggie tee shirts, people tee shirts, any kind of soft cloth (cotton is best in that heat) old baggy torn ancient dirty old ragged tee shirts are wonderful and we need dozens and dozens of them.
We also need e-collars and vet wrap. We need anti-flea drops. Doggie socks and booties... None of these items has to be new. If you can donate old tee shirts or any other items we mentioned, please send us a note right away and we'll tell you how to get them to us. Or if you prefer to donate cash, click here. (All donations benefit Circle L Ranch, an animal rescue in the state of Arizona, with a 501(C)(3), nonprofit status for the purpose of rescuing and re-homing animals that would otherwise be euthanized or shipped off to slaughter.)
We're going to be writing about our wonderful visit with Deb and Stacy and all the dogs and horses and lambs and goats and the dedication and devotion of the "Two Kims" ... but that's a story for the next installment. Stay tuned. There's so much more to come!
Meanwhile, take a look at this photo and you'll see why I want to come back in my next life as a Circle L Rescue Dog!
Dog Love for All! Dr Adelia
