What will we do...
by Cynthia Jones,
co-founder and co-owner of Diana's Grove

With will we do with your donation? Support. Sustenance—food for the dogs and delicious hope for those of us who care for the dogs. Knowing all that Diana’s Grove Dog Rescue needs—a kennel house to provide housing, a transport van, and more concrete (I always want more concrete) and fence panels that make my heart sing—

Let me tell you what $500 can do. We can:

Purchase 162 vaccinesagainstParvo, Distemper, and other evils and protect 54 puppies or 81 adult dogs from these killer viruses. A pup needs three vaccines, adults dog only need two to be safe.

Construct a wonderful safe place for two large dogs or a litter of pups. (We can buy six and one-half six-foot-high fence panels or eight panels that are four feet tall.)

Spay seven and one-half female dogs or nine males. In ten years that will save well over 7,000 pups who would have been born to die of illness or neglect or be euthanized in shelters.

Test 28 dogs for heartworms or give 142 doses of Heartgaurd and keep 47 dogs safe from heartworms for the summer. Or we could treat two and one-half dogs who have heartworms because their owners didn’t give them the preventative.

Keep fleas and ticks off 50 dogs for six weeks

Enable 62 dogs to be safe from Rabies for a year.

We could:

Buy 15 dogs houses and provide shelter from the cold and the rain for 30 dogs or 15 litters of pups at one time. (Now, that is too many pups even for me.)

Buy 750 pounds of dog food or...

Pour one concrete pad for a new safe and sanitary puppy home or...

Treat all of our dogs for worms monthly for a year or...

Make between 10 and 20 trips to deliver dogs to their new owners in St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City and even Seattle—no we didn’t drive her there, we took her to the airport.

I could go on and on. We send our thanks to all of you who support our dogs and our work. Fill your plate with the above options from the smorgasbord of ways to save and protect a dog’s life. All of these things are really important for the dogs. But, here is what a donation really does. It lets us continue rescuing dogs and saving lives. It lets us continue.

Financial resources enable us to take a sick puppy to the vet. With funds, we can fight to save a life that can be saved. We can set a broken leg; we can buy medicine. We can treat heartworm rather than euthanize a dog who can recover. Without funds, we can’t save lives. We saved 11 puppies this year whose medical expenses were under $250 each. When we lack funds, those who could live—those who only need a week of care that is more complex and critical than we can provide—must die. When that happens, we will no longer be a dog rescue.

What will we do with your donation? We will keep on saving lives. You give us hope. Life, time, care and tomorrow, that is what your donation buys. We extend our thanks to every one of you who helps us care for the dogs.

The lives of all the dogs pictured in this article were saved this spring for under $200 in medical care.