Look at What Deaf Rajah Has Learned!

Above is a videoclip of Rajah, deaf pitbull mix, doing sit, lay down, come and friends, which she'll shake your hand. I had this interpreter take video for me after the Teacher's Pet class, which Rajah did good. You will notice that she is receptive to me signing to the ASL interpreter :) Definitely a visual dog!

As a volunteer, I have been dedicating many, many hours spending time and working with Rajah at Philadelphia SPCA. She picked up very quickly when she is taught something new. She knew nothing upon arrival, which is common among deaf dogs in the hands of ignorant people. She is ready to go to a home if one passes screening with flying color. Much further than the state where Rajah is may be considered as transportation can be arranged by the animal loving community/network who have saved many animals and put them in a new home. Rajah is spayed, microchipped and vaccinated.

She is a darling and have won over people. She loves sitting next to me on the bench, curling up to me, lays her head or half of her body on my lap as we watch people walk by. She is getting better with the leash. She enjoys greeting people and loves to be constantly touched for affection. The hardest part for me is whenever it is time to go back to the kennel because she would struggle and walk backwards to avoid and try to go into another direction. Most recent, she didn't want to go in and jumped on the bench and sat on this 8 years old boy's lap while his relative and him were petting her. Whatever excuse she can find to avoid going back to the kennel. I don't blame her. She got two strikes against her because she is deaf and a pitbull, but
I see no reason for such ignorance. Learn the joy of living with deaf pets.

Someone who adopts her will be very lucky. She needs a home that is consistent and loving to her as well as be sensitive to her visual cues.

Deaf Animals at Adoption Center Today in NJ!

If you would like to see these gorgeous deaf animals, they will be at:

Terry's Pet Depot, this SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, from 11:00am - 2:00pm!

A Sign Language Interpreter will be available at 11:00am to assist with adoption interview or any questions you may have!

Terry's Pet Depot is located at: 1711 Route 10 West, in the Kohls + ShopRite Shopping Center, at the intersection of Rt. 10 & 202, in Morris Plains, NJ.

For Directions: http://www.petdepot.net/terrys.html

Please pass the word to anyone you know who may want to adopt a beautiful deaf pet! Don't wait... These beauties won't be around for long!! Pictures are included in each bio of deaf animal below.

Hope to see you on Saturday!! :)

Jake
No Cats
Not Suitable for small children
Special Needs
Animal: Cat
Breed: Domestic Medium Hair-white [Mix]

Sex: Male
Age: Adult
Size: Medium
"Hi, my name is Jake, and if you are trying to talk to me you should know that I can't hear you! I was brought in by my owners because they were moving. My previous home was kind of scary because I was an indoor/outdoor kitty and I got attacked by other cats outside(I have a bite wound on my back right now which is healing nicely). So I really need for my next family to promise to keep me safely indoors so that other animals can't sneak up on me & hurt me! I am 3 yrs. old and I am a 'talker' and my back ground might even be Siamese. If you would give
me a loving home, I would be a good kitty and make you happy. You can contact my foster mom Rosemarie at: rdogsnpups@aol.com or call 973-865-6421. I prefer to be an only cat since another cat really scares me. Oh, I have one blue and one gold eye."

This pet is up to date with routine shots.
This pet is already house trained.
This pet has been altered.

Sport and Sparky
Special Needs
Animal: Dog
Breed: Great Pyrenees [Mix]

Sex: Male
Age: Baby
Size: Large

Sport and Sparky are brothers and came to us from KY a few weeks ago. They are about 3 months old. These pups have special needs as they are both deaf. We are asking only experienced folks to apply to adopt these beauties. They are social, sweet and affectionate, playful and cute. It is our dream to place both together or one each with another dog in the family. They both have an upper respiratory infection right now and are on medication but doing well. As of right now - because of their cold and the freezing weather outside, they are paper trained. Should you be interested in one or both pups, please contact Rosemarie at rdogsnpups@aol.com or call her at 973-865-6421. Our guess: they won't be quite as large as the true Great Pyrenees.

Alfie
Not Suitable for small children
Special Needs
Animal: Dog
Breed: West Highland White Terrier Westie [Mix]

Sex: Male
Age: Adult
Size: Small
Adoption Pending - Poor Alfie....just because he is deaf, the new home that adopted him recently, brought him back to the shelter. Alfie is 4 yrs. old, neutered and completely up to date on vaccinations. He is also micro-chipped and heartworm tested. Now that he has been with us
for a week, he is showing some of his true colors: he is protective of his food when it comes to another dog so either he should be an only pet or someone would have to feed them separately. He also has a foot fetish and once he gets carried away, one needs to wear shoes because he likes to bite into them, playfully. So he needs to learn a few things in this respect. If you can provide him with a proper home, knowing his quirks, please contact Rosemarie at rdogsnpups@aol.com
or call her at 973-8 65-6421. He does snuggle and likes to sleep in your bed and is quite playful, loves stuffed toys and balls.

This pet is up to date with routine shots.
This pet is already house trained.
This pet has been altered.

2 Deaf Pit Mix in Philadelphia Need Saving ASAP!

UPDATE: Perla is now safe but BamBam still needs help getting out of PACCA!

FURHTER UPDATE: I was informed by PSPCA, who re-tested her, that Perla is not deaf. Perla is still safe. As for BamBam, a concrete answer to what happened to him wasn't given other than saying no record of him and that he left facility unauthorized.

Greetings, PAWS has two beautiful, scared deaf furry pals that are in desperate need of a rescue, foster, or forever home. So I am reaching out to all of you to see if you can help us place these two wonderful dogs! Please forward this email to anyone you think might be able to help!

Perla

BamBam

First there's Perla, a beautiful, white, 2 year old, deaf Pitty mix surrendered to the shelter because her owner was given a military transfer. She is petrified in the shelter! She has no idea why she is in this strange place and you can see her confusion and sadness all over her face!!! She wouldn't move from the corner of her cage when I went in to interact with her. She did lick me and let me pet he when I sat with her, but she just stayed in the corner. This poor girl really needs to be somewhere safe, happy, and peaceful! Her Animal ID# is: A04167978. Below is a picture of Perla:
Then there's Bambam! He's a very young, beautiful, deaf Pitty mix, picked up as a stray in West Philly. He is an absolute love! He wants to cuddle up next to you, roll over and get his belly rubbed! And he has that wonderful puppy energy, so he won my heart within five minutes! He walks beautifully on the leash, he seems to LOVE other dogs, he also loves being in the company of humans, and he really wants to sit for a treat, but he gets so excited, his behind barely touches the floor! His animal ID# is: A04115841. Below is pictures of BamBam:

If you need any additional information regarding either of these furry pals, please email or IM me at Ivolunteer4PAWS@aol.com. Please direct any inquiries to me.

Thank you for caring about the lives of our furry friends!

With Gratitude,
Stacey
PAWS Volunteer

Sarge in TX to be Euthanized Anytime. Please Help!

UPDATE: RESCUED!

Sarge, Australian Cattle Dog

Sarge was surrendered. He's about 1 year old. He's beautiful and appears healthy. He loves to be petted. He has special needs as he is deaf. He will be available to RESCUE ONLY. Can anyone help this sweet boy? His tracking number is 1405. Here's a the link to his pictures:

Pictures of Sarge

Irving Shelter Tel. 972-721-2256
THE NEW IRVING SHELTER HOURS:
M-F 9:30am to 6:00pm
Sat 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Sun closed

Russell Posch
Irving Shelter Walker
214-529-2920

A Deaf Cat in Tennessee Needs a Home

UPDATE: ADOPTED TO JOIN SNOWFLAKE and he will be named Blake.

I received an email from Bruce, who once had Marlowe, in his custody as a rescuer. His email to me reads as:

My name is Bruce Wilson, you may remember me as Marlowe's original rescuer. What a wonderful posting by Stephanie Schmid, his new companion. I am interested in posting a deaf white kitty who currently lives in a household in Cleveland, TN with the Robbins family. I am attaching a couple of pics of this kitty, he doesn't have a name at this time, he is a rescue as well.

If you can post him on your web site, I can get information about the kitty for your listing. I appreciate your assistance on behalf of all deaf animals!!

Bruce Wilson

After giving Bruce the okay, he had Larry Robbins/wife email me with more information about this deaf cat:

Thank you for your interest in finding a home for our deaf white kitty. He is about three to four years old. He has been neutered but not declawed. He is very sweet and gets along well with other cats. My one cat, however, thinks he's a yucky boy. My others get along with him fine.When we rescued him, he had been hanging around the house. He wouldn't let us get near him so we started feeding him. One night we were outside and saw him almost get hit by a car. The next day, when we saw him, he was limping badly. I had a cage on my deck and put some food in it. He managed to hobble up the steps and when he went into the cage, we shut the door. He didn't seem to care. The next day I took him to the vet. His paw was inflamed, probably from a bite. Also he had a severe kidney infection. The vet said he probably wouldn't make it, but gave me an antibiotic to give him. He only weighed 7lbs. 14 oz. When I had him neutered, they did a bloodwork profile on him and everything was normal. As far as I know he is in good health.I haven't had him to the vet since he was neutered. I've had him for a year and a half. I tried PALS to get him adopted, but they said he was too old. People wanted kittens.I didn't have the heart to take him to the Animal Shelter. I finally made up an ad and took it to my vets office. That's where you came in.

All my other cats (five in all, also rescued) are 12 and 13 years old. We are retiring in three years and are ready to be free of animals (I think). I appreciate anything you can do to see that deaf kitty finds a loving home. He needs to be an indoor cat.

If you or know of anyone who would be interested in providing a forever and loving home for this deaf cat, do not hesitate to contact Bruce Wilson at carolinapanther1107@yahoo.com.

Deaf Pets Make it in the News!

I subscribe www.care2.com and they provide a wonderful resource, ranging from domestic animals/wild animals to environment to violence against women and so on. They send a petition from time to time on various issues to sign. I encourage you all to subscribe and give your support. I stumbled across this article that talks about deaf pets as well as someone mentioned about it to me. Overall, I agree with most of, if not all, what is being said in the article on deaf pets.

Go to Pets with Disabilities Series: Deaf Pets made available by www.care2.com or go to Pets with Disabilites Series: Deaf Pets made available by www.petside.com

Deaf-Blind Dogs Can Lead a Normal Life!

While I appreciate some of Carl's blogs/vlogs on http://carl-schroeder.blogspot.com/ about deafhood and linguistics when it comes to people, I was disheartened and saddened by what he expressed and how this deaf and blind puppy had to endure based on what he said in his vlog.

There were some things I noticed that were not done appropriately that may have contributed to this puppy's fear. Puppies do not come out of the womb afraid for no reason. Nothing doesnt seem to be done carefully and slowly to allow this puppy time for adjustment with every new thing at a time but instead was bombarded with everything thrown at its way. This is pretty obvious because this puppy was brought home at one month old or so and already given up within a few months with everything I read that shouldn't happen. This puppy was set up to fail. It is my observation that this puppy had a bad start and is not at fault.

#1 -- This puppy wasn't given time to bond and develop trust with one person who'll become its master, become familiar and comfortable with its home environment/territory and learn commands before introducing to other humans or animals, one by one with plenty of time space in between.

#2 -- This puppy with these special needs should not be in a home with young children and would be better off with one adult or two in the home. Who can expect children this young, 10, 8 and 6 not to leave things around, tease the dog or step on it? No one should be allowed to throw a ball at a deaf and blind dog or expect it to fetch a ball. Throwing ball, as common sense indicates, is inaccessible therefore not accomodating for this kind of dog. Tug of war rope or some kind of independent toys that it plays on its own would suit a deaf-blind dog.

#3 -- Why change dog food when the puppy was eating the old dog food and let it starve? Too much changes in short time is not good at all. With the puppy not being toilet trained, go figure with everything that has gone wrong from the start and at that age.

#4 -- Deaf animals require touching to replace the lack of sound along with sight but with a deaf-blind dog, it requires a whole lot more of touching to make up for lack of sound AND sight. It depends on tactile communication. I do not see any of this and I perfectly can see why this puppy gets frightened by touch it hardly was exposed to.

Just because a person is deaf and works with deaf or deaf-blind people doesn't make the person qualified to consult or train about a deaf or deaf-blind animals just as much as just because the person is hearing and works with hearing people doesn't make the person qualified to consult or train a hearing animal. There are people experienced and/or specialized in caring for those kind of animals.

With that said, the puppy was in the hands of people who do not know how to deal with a deaf and blind dog. It has absolutely nothing to do with the puppy being blind on top of being deaf that failed him. It is human who failed this puppy and the puppy chose to stay at one place and not move because it has no clue and has given up trying. I can imagine it being confused and scared. It won't surprise me if this puppy was euthanized by sheer arrogance and ignorance of some people involved.

There are success stories of deaf-blind dogs who lead a normal life by people who know how to deal with them rather than giving up and blaming on their blindness. Who are we, deaf people, to talk like that about blindness when the majority in our society views our deafness just like how deaf people views those who are blind? Anything deaf is not superior than anything deaf-blind when it comes to animals. For anyone in deaf community to say that, is it a projection that also meant deaf-blind people as well are inferior to us, deaf people?

Check this link at http://www.pawstoadopt.com/blindanddeafdogs/ and it has a lot of wonderful resources as a guide for deaf-blind dogs and I absolutely concur with it. Reading this will show that this deaf-blind puppy did not receive proper care and training. It took this deaf-blind dog in this link a year to learn this one thing.

Here is youtube of deaf-blind dog playing with blind dog and article about deaf-blind dog that were posted on this blog a while ago:

Deaf-Blind and Blind Dogs Having Fun

Hearing Dog Found Deaf-Blind Dog

Here is a few links of and about deaf-blind dogs:

http://www.deafdogs.org/resources/otherlinks.php#deafblind

http://www.rollingdogranch.org/dogs/spinner.html

This blog will close with this quote:

"It is the ultimate test of our worth as individuals and countries how we treat the most vulnerable and disadvantaged." Sir William Deane, Former Governor General, Australia.