8 State Hurricane Kate

On Sunday I attended a fundraiser in Minneapolis for Safe Hands Animal Rescue. Safe hands was formed by a group of friends who volunteered in Mississippi, taking care of rescued animals after Katrina. The event was a “Thanks and Giving” reunion of many of the OVER 400 dogs they have helped rescue over the past 2 years. It was an amazing event for Safe Hands alumni dogs and the Safe Hands extended family of supporters, volunteers, foster and adoptive families. Fetch Delivers offered their warehouse space for the event.

I had been in contact with some of the Safe Hands people, like Lynne and Tess, via e-mail, but we had not met in person before.Lynne and I had corresponded about transports up from Kentucky. Safe Hands goes down to Harlan, Kentucky four times per year to bring back animals who otherwise wouldn’t get another chance. Lynne told me that they can bring about 42 dogs (including many puppies), rescued from the hellhole kill shelter, on each trip. On Sunday we saw the happy outcomes for many of them!

The dogs in attendance could get their photo taken with Santa, discover their hidden artistic talent by painting a picture at the Picasso Pups area, or bob for hot dogs in a kiddie pool. There was also a raffle and a silent auction.

I especially enjoyed the photo contest entries of adopted Safe Hands dogs, with prizes given in the categories of “Best Smile”, “Silliest Pose”, “Best Action shot” and “Best Friends”. A whole wall of photos was displayed and it was fun to see all those happy endings. I even spotted a couple of cattle dogs in pictures on the wall and walking around among the crowd. I was impressed at how well all the rescued dogs got along!

There was also a video booth for adopters to tell their stories about how they found their new Safe Hands canine companion, what they thought when they met him or her, about bringing the new family member home and any other stories about their rescued pet. Videos were taken for the website and maybe for a future documentary on Safe Hands Rescue

Local Artist Jessie Marianiello of Stray Dog Arts displayed her fabulous artwork. She had a booth next to mine and we got to chat and trade our wares. Jessie is a wonderful woman who is donating a portion of the proceeds from her work to animal rescue. See her beautiful artwork and read about her inspiration, Ode, at http://straydogarts.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-fundraising-promotion.html.

I had a table with books and I gave a reading accompanied by a slide show of Lamar-Dixon in Louisiana, photos of Hurricane Kate, and photos of some of the dogs we have rescued. I donated $5 per book sold to Safe Hands Rescue. My reading and slides were videotaped. If the video turns out (noisy venue!), I’ll make it available on this website.

I met Angie, a vet tech who has two rescued Safe Hands dogs. She told me that she also has a deaf cattle dog named KATE who she adopted about a year ago from Robyn Adair of Southern Indiana Cattle Dog Rescue. This Kate was rescued from Etowah in Georgia, another infamous hellhole. It was great to meet Angie (Kate was not in attendance) and hear of Kate’s happy ending. It was also fun to tell Robyn later that I had unexpectedly met Kate’s adopter. What a nice surprise!

I was very surprised to see Lynn and Barbara, two women who I went to grad school with many years ago. They had seen the notice about the book signing in the newspaper and came to see me! I hadn’t seen them for probably 15 years and it was fun to have them show up at the book signing. We’re going to meet for lunch, where we can talk without all the commotion.

Wow, what a day it was! I was so excited to see what a difference Safe Hands has made in the past two years. And I got to meet Lynne, Tess, Jessie, and Angie and see Lynn and Barbara again as well!