Big Paws of the Ozarks 2022 Wrap Up
Wow oh wow! First, we are eternally grateful for our donors and followers who support us day in and day out. We appreciate you so much! Letty and Laura gained a lot of attention this year and rightfully so. But we wanted to share more of our favorite dog rescue glow ups and our 2022 "big" updates!
Sid
At 16 years old, Sid's life was somehow nothing to brag about. He was never allowed inside. So one hot and fateful, Sid was seen collapsing on the road. Springdale Animal Services was called out and they were able to revive him. They also called Big Paws, and we convinced the owner to surrender him.
18 days. 18 glorious days. That's how many days Sid spent in his fospice home. We always wish for more time with our dogs, but we know that time was the best of his life. Sid was spoiled by a loving home and family, air conditioning, cushioned bed, blankets, toys, and a senior brofur named Koa. When it was him time, Kindness in Motion came to the house. Sid peacefully passed the rainbow bridge in his first true home surrounded by his loved ones.
Tilly
Big Paws was called out after someone found an abandoned puppy. Tilly's memory is a little fuzzy how she got there, but we prefer it that way. And as it turned out, she was an extra special puppy. Tilly is blind and deaf due to irresponsible breeding of double merles. Luckily, Tilly didn't have to wait long for her fate to change.
Tilly is a happy, healthy, rambunctious dog who now enjoys the finer things in life like a treat puzzle. She has a little human and fur siblings to keep her company, too. We're so proud of the loving and smart dog she's becoming!
Kale
At 250 days, Kale was one of our longest residents. But we knew the perfect family was out there somewhere. We could see it! But first, Kale needed to work on his leash manners, impulse control, and a few other dog behavior issues. It’s not his fault that he never received the proper dog training to be his best self. Kale spent a lot of time with our dog trainers working on his good boy manners.
After 8 long months, Kale's furever family came into the picture! His new mom is a travel nurse who was looking for the perfect travel buddy. He's now part of a dynamic, traveling, adventurous duo. He even ran his first 5K!
Della
This senior boxer was found as a stray with a 4 pound tumor hanging from her side. With the help of Centerton Animal Shelter, our team, a dedicated fospice home, and the amazing team at St. Francis Animal Hospital, we were able to save Della and drastically improve her quality of life. A total of 14 masses were removed along with providing heartworm treatment, spay procedure, and vaccinations.
It didn't take long for someone to fall in love with Miss Della. She fits right in with her new family who adores her. She even has a hooman and other Boxer siblings. A picturesque family right off a holiday greeting card to live out her golden years.
Mulligan
You might recognize Mulligan from the Big Paws facility. An animal welfare advocate purchased him from a breeder auction. He wasn't in a good emotional state and ended up in our care. He was terrified of people, leashes, doorways, crates, and pretty much everything except other dogs. All this meant that he needed one of our dog trainer fosters. Mulligan didn't know it yet but his life was about to turn around.
After months of training, his confidence grew and grew as did his trust. He started to trust people and realized that he was safe to be a dog. Mulligan formed a strong bond with his foster dad and trainer, Chris. Turns out the feeling was mutual. He was officially a "foster fail" and adopted by his foster dad. Now, Mulligan and his brofur Atlas help train other dogs at Big Paws Academy!
Pickles
Poor Pickles ended up in...quite a pickle before she came to us. Someone reached out after they found her and it seemed like she was hit by a car. She was just outside of the Big Paws territory about 90 miles away. We knew she'd need expensive vet care and couldn't say no to that sweet face. We sent out an emergency transport request to our volunteers. You know what happened next...The Big Paws pack sprang into action to save this sweet girl!
Pickles spent a lot time recovering with her wonderful foster after her amputation. By the way she gets around you'd never know she once had a 4th leg. Pickles is now living the good life with her new family, and she still gets to see her foster mom!
Bottle Babies
We (unfortunately) saw our fair share of abandoned litters and unplanned puppies this year. We took in a total of 97 puppies! But we're particularly proud of our bottle fed litter. 9 puppies were found by a lake but sadly one had already passed. Someone brought the remaining 8 to us just in time, and two-by-two the puppies went off to their foster homes. Our amazing fosters were bottle feeding the puppies around the clock! Plus our wonderful followers donated milk to keep their bellies full. Now all our bottle babies are loving life in their new homes!
The Big Paws Impact for 2022
The wonderful news is that we could never fit all the dogs we saved or all the amazing accomplishments in one blog post. With your help, we accomplished some pretty great things:
established a new training facility and expanded our dog training offerings
provided over 100 hours of free dog training lessons to dogs in our care
rescued 211 dogs all across Northwest Arkansas
re-homed 200 of those dogs, including 104 puppies and and 95 adult dogs
We are so appreciative of everyone on this wild and rewarding rescue journey with us! It truly takes a community to save dogs. Every single bit helps from engaging with social media, reading this blog, fostering a dog, adopting a dog, purchasing a training class, and donating money or supplies. Together, we will continue to save lives in 2023.