My Furry Valentine
Louie’s Legacy Is Saving Lives
It was 2009. Emily Gear was living in New York. Eight years had passed since two planes flew into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, causing the two tallest buildings on the globe to implode, killing nearly 3,000 people, and sending a ripple of fear, anxiety, hatred across borders.
When something like that happens in your home town, you are in an instant changed. For Emily, PTSD had seeped into her soul. Her world was a heavy 
place. Her heart was missing a piece.
Emily wasn’t much into dogs back then but she was asked to babysit a basset hound and she said yes. That one little word was what pulled her out of a dark abyss. It became the start of a journey that has ultimately saved more than 22,000 animals by finding them forever homes that are filled with love.
It all started with Louie
There he was. On the 13th page she looked at on Pet Finder. He was a basset/husky mix with red fur and multi-colored eyes. Something about him just spoke to Emily, called for her to drive to Connecticut to meet him in person. He was heartworm positive which was fatal if not treated with very expensive medical treatment. She really was not expecting to bring him home, but she did.
Louie was just what Emily needed at the time.
I was shut down. He made friends with people easily. He was funny. He looked so weird with his short legs on a huge body and a head that didn’t quite fit. He looked like he was pieced together from different toys, she told me.
But also, he knew what she needed every moment. They were in each other’s heads all the time. I don’t think a human being could have done that, she said.
Louie, it turned out, came from a shelter that euthanized more than 99% of its dogs. It blew Emily away that her soul mate, her companion, could have easily been one of that statistic.
Saving dogs. Giving love. This became her life mission.
Moving back to Cincinnati, Emily began volunteering for rescue organizations while making medical and transport arrangements for animals. Soon she realized she needed to start her own rescue.
Sadly, it was one of her foster dogs that opened the gate to her back yard, through which Louie ran out and into the street. His life ended when he was hit by a passing SUV.
He had a specific job to do and when he did it, he left, she told me.
He didn’t get to see the day Louie’s Legacy was incorporated but truly, it is his legacy, that thousands of animals have been saved to do their job with their humans, to bring and receive joy through every day moments.
Louie’s Legacy, now operating out of New York and Cincinnati, is one of the largest shelters in the U.S. Almost all of the dogs they bring in have come from kill shelters.
Today Emily shares her home with four dogs, ages 11 to 15. Joe is a basset/Carolina mix who was a friend to Louie. Sirus Jones is a jack russell mix. Sandusky is a basset/husky mix who she found on Pet Finder just 13 days after losing Louie. And Louie Jr. is a fox hound mix, part of the first litter of puppies she fostered.
They keep me honest about the flow of life. That things begin and end and we need to be okay with that. You can’t waist the now moment worrying about that, she said.
By the way, Emily has also become an animal communicator and healer. You can learn more at www.IamEmilyGear.com.
My Furry Valentine
You can see animals from Louie’s Legacy and many other rescue organizations at My Furry Valentine, the region’s largest adoption event. Thousands of animals will be looking for their forever homes. This year it is February 15 and 16 at the Sharonville Convention Center (11355 Chester Road; Cincinnati, OH 45246). General admission is $5 and early bird admission is $25.
Shay Has A Heart For Animal Underdogs
Shay Baysore, volunteer social media coordinator for My Furry Valentine, will tell you, she has always been drawn to the underdog, those human and non-human animals who are often overlooked, stigmatized, and expected to fail. She has always believed in their capacity to give, receive, contribute and achieve.
“A soul is a soul,” she told me.
And every soul is deserving of love.
That has been Shay’s lifelong passion, ingrained in her as a young child from her father, her role model. A big man with an intimidating presence, he had soft spot when it came to animals. Some of Shay’s earliest memories are of their taking in strays including any injured animal walking by like a three-legged raccoon and abandoned bunny babies.
These days Shay and her husband share their home with five dogs and three cats – all of whom are either seniors or have some sort of difference/disability. Among them are Embry, adopted from My Furry Valentine, who has had to have surgery to narrow her eyelids and has chronic dry eye; Lyo, their Pug who has partial back leg paralysis; and Kylo (pictured with Shay), their puppy mill rescue who is missing a jaw.
With so many pets and so many different issues that require time, patience, and love; being a non-human mom could almost be Shay’s full time job…but it isn’t. She has a busy career as director of digital marketing for Lasik Plus; and donates over 10 hours of her time each week to attract people to My Furry Valentine through social media. She even finds extra time to give to the Clermont Animal Care Humane Society.
If you will be one of the hundreds of people who attend this year’s mega adoption event, you may see Shay and her husband with cameras and their phones, capturing moments for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Before the doors open, Shay also spends a lot of time reading and getting to know animal tags. Then, as she is talking to attendees, she can help match them with their forever new companion.
“I am always tired when My Furry Valentine is over, but it is SO worth it,” Shay said.
About My Furry Valentine:
Where: Sharonville Convention Center
When:
Saturday, February 9th 2019
Early Bird* Hours: 10:00am-Noon
General Admission Hours: 12:00pm-6:00pm
Sunday, February 10th 2019
General Admission Hours: 12:00pm-6:00pm
Main Event Admission:
General Admission Tickets $5 (Children under 5 are free)
*Early Bird Tickets $25 (Children 5 and older only $5 with paying adult)
For more detailed information on My Furry Valentine, including participating dog and cat rescue organization and pets up for adoption, please visit their website.
Joel: A Dog Adoption Story Of Love
On DOGust Day, a day when we celebrate the birth of adopted dogs whose real birthdays may be unknown, I’d like to share with you his very special story. His life, his spirit and his journey while here on earth so moved the people in whose care he found experienced enduring love that he will never be forgotten…and will be a constant reminder of their purpose. Their passion.
Carolyn Evans, otherwise known as Cincinnati’s PhoDOGrapher, founder of the My Furry Valentine mega adoption event, and now executive director of Clermont Animal CARE Humane Society, told me – of all the dogs her rescue and animal welfare work has touched, his adoption story is her favorite.
In Carolyn’s own words, “Joel was one of the 60 or so dogs that was waiting for us when we took possession of the shelter on January 1st. He was a long-timer and was continually overlooked. He was old and sick, and every day we hoped a family would come along and swoop him up. Sadly, that day never came.
On May 1st, Joel was rushed to the vet because the right side of his face was swollen. It was a difficult diagnosis. Initially, the vet thought that it might be an allergic reaction to an insect bite. He also considered the possibility that maybe Joel injured himself with a fall, but that was quickly ruled out. He was treated with a steroid injection, Benadryl and we continued to monitor him closely. Joel came home with our Medical Director where he seemed to improve and his handsome face went back to normal. Unfortunately, the swelling began to return slowly even with the steroids and we took him to the emergency vet because the swelling was so severe that his right eye was swollen shut. An x-ray of Joel’s skull identified a mast cell tumor.
We discussed options, cried, talked more, consulted the oncologist and made the most difficult decision but one that was best for Joel. After a trip to the drive-thru, a few hamburgers and fries, tons of kisses and tears, Joel gained his wings.
Our hearts were broken and we just couldn’t get our heads around the idea that Joel never found his forever home. But then we had a beautiful realization… that WE were his forever home. Every one of us loved him and he will forever be a part of us. Joel WAS someone’s dog – he was OUR dog. Joel was officially adopted by the staff and volunteers of Clermont Animal CARE Humane Society.”
Animals And Humans Meet
While Joel’s story, his home, and his heart are his own personal legacy…what he shares with the hundreds, even thousands of dogs and cats, who have found their way to one of the dozens of local animal rescues and shelters is his capacity to give and receive love.
It is why people like Carolyn – passionate volunteers, advocates, and professionals – do what they do. And it is why over 15,000 people now attend the My Furry Valentine mega adoption event. Nearly 1000 families found their best friend at at the last event in February.
And, THIS year, organizers have added a new summer Summer Lovin’ Adoption Event – scheduled for August 18 and 19 at the Sharonville Convention Center. Just as with the winter event, dozens of nonprofit dog and cat rescue organizations will be on hand with puppies, adult dogs, kittens and cats (and even some smaller animals).
If you are looking to add a new furry friend to your family, absolutely plan on attending!
Before you go, please read my post on considerations to think about BEFORE adopting. Think about your lifestyle and what general breed qualities will fit best within it also BEFORE you are smitten by the adorable face in front of you.
My Furry Valentine Volunteer Has Heart For Pets
For hundreds of Greater Cincinnati families and individuals each year, Valentine’s Day has become a holiday to treasure…as it represents the day their lives joined with a life of a furry (and even feathered) looking for a forever home. It happens because of what has grown to be the largest mega adoption event in the region, My Furry Valentine, that attracts over 1400 visitors and has more than 700 animals (dogs, cats, birds and some other species) from dozens of rescues. If you are looking to add a non-human friend to your household, you just may find your new companion Valentine’s Day weekend!
(More information on My Furry Valentine is below.)
Each year I like to profile a volunteer who helps make the event possible. This year I spoke with Melanie Corwin, My Furry Valentine’s rescue shelter coordinator.
Hers is a very important role that includes writing the application and vaccine requirements, communicating with the rescues, helping them set up on Friday, and coordinating the team of veterinarians and vet techs who check in every animal before opening the doors to the public.
The role is a perfect fit for Melanie, who, as executive director of UCAN (nonprofit spay and neuter clinic), already has a relationship with many area shelter and rescues. AND the heart for this cause. She herself shares a home with her son and five rescues – two dogs (Peanut and Blackie) and three cats (Katniss, Grayson and Calypso).
Melanie came into this line of work because it is her passion. Prior to joining the staff team at UCAN, she was a private practice attorney for 25 years working with nonprofit organizations. She and her son began volunteering at a no-kill shelter as a way of her teaching him the importance of giving back. It was a fateful activity that would change the course of her career – and he life.
“It got to be so depressing,” she told me. “We’d see the animals all get adopted and then the next week, all of the cages would be full again.”
She saw spay/neuter as a solution and began supporting UCAN financially. Then she joined the Board, having served as director, then vice-chair, and then chair of the Board before ultimately joining UCAN’s staff as executive director in 2012.
“People love their pets. Some say you should not adopt one if you can not afford the care but I don’t believe it. There should be community resources to allow them to have that animal,” she said. “There are so many benefits. Everyone deserves the love of a pet.
“Almost every day someone comes in and I have never had to say no. I enjoy getting grants to enable us to do free spay/neuter to help people who can not afford it,” she said.
UCAN was founded in 2001, to stop the endless cycle of unwanted births and euthanasia. The two main reasons people do not sterilize their pets are cost and lack of access to spay/neuter services. UCAN solves both of these issues. It provides low-cost spay/neuter services and free transports to its Colerain Ave clinic from several locations in Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. The nonprofit clinic performs over 13,000 surgeries each year and this past year began offering low cost vaccinations also.
Melanie and the rest of the My Furry Valentine team will be very busy February 10 and 11, doing their part to help hundreds of animals find their forever homes.
Looking for a dog or cat (or other small animal)? Plan on being there!
My Furry Valentine Facts:
Where: Sharonville Convention Center (11355 Chester Road; 45246)
When (and cost):
Early Bird Entry Saturday, February 10th 10am – 12pm: $25
Saturday, February 10th 12pm – 5pm: $5 ages 5 & up
Sunday, February 11th 10am – 5pm: $5 ages 5 & up
For a list of participating rescues and to see pictures of many of the adoptable animals, please visit www.myfurryvalentine.org.
Lessons From A Mission Trip To South Africa
In her own words…
Lisa Jones, My Furry Valentine
event manager, revisits a long journal entry written after returning from a mission trip to South Africa
Our last night in Mamelodi I’m asked at dinner “so Lisa did South Africa live up to the expectations you had before you came?” I hadn’t really thought about it. I heard “life-changing”, “you won‘t ever be the same again”. Perhaps I managed my expectations well by not forming many before I left.
At the Johannesburg Airport we are greeted by probably 20 women from Mamelodi. When I say greet, I mean they have whistles, horns, duck quackers and they grab me as soon as I’m out the sliding doors from baggage claim. They hug me and pass me on for more hugs. They are singing and dancing (making LOTS of noise) and throwing the biggest party ever and I’m crying like an idiot – exhaustion, right? Only the first of many times I saw immense joy radiating from South Africans.
Our first of two days of medical clinics starts out well enough. I volunteer for intake which entails asking the patients their name, living situation, HIV status, etc.. This seems easy and unemotional, or so I think. My first interpreter Mel is amazing. He is 18, smart, funny, mature and so sweet. I want to pack him in my suitcase and bring him home with me. But then he takes a break and I get Girly. Girly wants me to pray out loud for the patients. I don’t want to generalize so I’ll say that most (but probably all) South Africans like to (and are good at) praying out loud. I hate to pray out loud. After praying for about 15 people we intake an 84-year-old woman. She has no fingers on either hand, walks with a cane and wears a black knit GAP cap to cover all the scabs on her head. She is so sweet and full of smiles and she is the same age as my mother. After we pray with her I need to take a break to have a long cry, overwhelmed again. I play with some kids, do cartwheels with them and eventually go back to work with Girly.
That night I write in my journal “Thank you God for this unbelievable difficult day. Thank you for Mel, thank you for Girly. Thank you for filling me with enough of your holy spirit to reach out to these people. Thank you for my little old lady. She pulled me closer to you God, continue to open my ears, my heart and fill my mouth with the words You want me to say and I promise to continue to know more of you.”
Our second medical clinic was set up in Phomollongh which is essentially a squatter’s camp. Dwellings are made of whatever can be found. Metal rooftops are held down by rocks, overturned wheelbarrows, car seats, bikes, whatever. Conditions are far worse today, many more translators needed. The look on most faces is blank and empty. Far fewer smiles today, and shoes. And I am numb. I took blood pressures and tested blood sugar levels at triage. At the end of this day we meet the 5-year old girl that will haunt everyone on this trip. She lives alone with her younger sister, abandoned by their mother. A neighbor (who has brought them to the clinic) tries to look out for them but they mostly eat whatever they can find among the piles of garbage that seem to be everywhere. Her clothes are in shreds. Since it takes about 3 hours for a patient to be seen at our clinics, waiting in line, then intake, then triage, then nurses and doctors, everyone has seen this little girl.
You cannot not see this little girl. Her eyes are yellow and red and swollen and glassy. And they are vacant and dead. Something is seriously wrong with her. One of our doctors tells us later that night through tears that she has a Chlamydial eye infection which means she is being raped.
- And then there was the 11-year old pregnant girl.
- And then there was the woman who came to us directly from the hospital, with the EKG pads still attached to her!
- And then there was the epileptic woman who was carried in a chair to the clinic for treatment.
- And then there was the little boy with cerebral palsy cradled in his father’s arms, mother also by his side. Eyes rolling back into his head, no body control, being continually kissed on the forehead by his parents.
- And then there were all the children holding out their hands for our pizza at lunch or offering up empty soda bottles for us to refill with ours – and having to look the other way because we couldn’t start a feeding frenzy.
- And then there was the sweet little girl happily dancing in my arms to Bob Marley’s “One World” who 15 minutes later would fall fast asleep on my shoulder.
South Africa is a bit of a contradiction. I met people there who don’t just have faith in God they have complete dependence on Him. And I saw things there that might make some people question whether there is a God. In revisiting “expectations” about South Africa I would have to say there are a few things to safely expect on a visit to SA.
You will want to return there before you have even left the country.
You will see unending joy and abundance where you would expect hopelessness and despair.
You will want to pack up someone you meet and take them home with you.
Your transportation will break down, it is just a matter of time.
