Sad News

"If there are no dogs in Heaven,

then when I die I want to go where they went."
Will Rogers

One of the pups, little"Precious" had to be put down last week( right in photo above). Bev reports that the vet says she had parasites. Precious was one of the little runts that Bev had been keeping at her home early on, but was living up at the trailer now, while waiting for dog runs to be built. Bev got little "Precious" to the vet, but the most humane thing was to put her down. I believe the pup had serious diarrhea that couldn't be controled. In additon, emergency veterinary services are few and far between. Two others were showing similar symptoms, but have gotten to the vet earlier for treatment. China the pup on the left is one of the pups who went for treatment and is doing better.

Bev's internet access has been limited due to changes in her work's policies, so I am hearing from her only sporadically. She last reported she had appointments for the "girls" to be spayed on May 15. So I am sending her $300 this week from our pay pal stash. Hopefully this will cover the special veterinary care and the spaying services.

A carpenter is still needed to build a fence on the "lease", which would dramatically improve pup living conditions. I continue to admire Bev's efforts to save these abandoned animals from a carbon monoxide death at the land fill. Thanks to all of your for your prayers and support.

Here is an excerpt from a recent email from Bev.

"Your prayers worked, little Ghina is sliding through the gate to the run, just to get to the food, she didn't like the food much today, think she is getting spoiled to can dog food, but she is doing much better and Lucky ate all his food today. We had flooding saturday, I wrote to Wendy about it, I still have water in the yard, it was scary because it didn't lack much coming into the run where the pups are now, those on the hill had no problem. I'll be taking veruca and Bear to get spayed friday, I can't take china until she puts on some weight but I will make an appointment for her and ask if they can do Dayz and Samantha then also, that way it will get all the girls done and I won't have to worry about Sam getting any of them pg, he lives up there on the hill now, he goes home occasionally, well need to check all my emails, It's cool today and overcast so I can't get much of anything done. I'm going to get some straw and clean out the doghouses and give all of them (the multitude) fresh bedding. Got to run. "

"Love never fails;

Character never quits;

and with patience and persistence;

Dreams do come true."
Pete Maravich

The latest news from the Sawmill Strays!

Bev has signed the lease for the land where the abandoned trailer stands. This is great news! Now she can proceed with making improvments, such as cleaning up the trash, and establishing dog runs. We're hoping we can get a mission group to help with the labor. But one day at a time. The hauling away of the trash seems to be the next hurdle to cross.

• The dogs are safe,


• several have been spayed and neutered


• Bev has aquired the lease to the land.


• we still have approximately $350 available


• the pups are now 4 months old.

And when we started out, we thought this was all somehow impossible to achieve. Praying folks, please keep Bev and her animals in your prayers, all others, send good karma.

"One dog barks at something,
the rest bark at him."
- Chinese Proverb

Some more photos of the animals at the abandoned trailer. Bev continues to feed them. The pups have been moved to Bev's property. They were born in November, so we have a couple of months before they need to be spayed and neutered. Working on talking one of the neighbors into letting us neuter his dog, that he lets roam. We'll see what happens. One pet at a time. Thanks to Bev for her hard work.

We received a donation of $37 from Bev in St. Louis, she collected from some of her neighbors. They are the best! We are using that to get some collars for the pups.

Thanks for following our progress.

Be sure to spay and neuter your pets and help others with their pets as well. Donate to a shelter near you, or help Bev spay and neuter the Sawmill Strays. Together we can make a difference.

Check out this website for more information about why it is important for your pet.

If you can't decide between
a Shepherd, a Setter or a Poodle,
get them all ... adopt a mutt!"
- ASPCA
Just received a letter from Bev containing the veterinary receipts. As we indicated earlier 3 cats were "fixed" and given rabies shots for a total cost of $195. The second receipt is for Princess the dog and Tarbaby a female cat. Both were spayed and received rabies shots as well, the cost was $170.( You recall that is the exact amount Bev had saved for this project.) As indicated I sent a second $200 money order yesterday. Hopefully she will get it this weekend.

Keep Bev in your prayers, she works such late hours and then goes home to rest a bit before heading out to the vet. Granted she doesn't do this everyday, but there are lots of mouths to feed and areas to keep clean.

Bev is going to hold off taking more pets to the vet for a few weeks, she just got new tires on her truck and now the brakes are making a squealing noise that she wants to check out before she does too much more mountain driving. ( We think that's a great idea!)

Also continue to pray for the entire situation, sometimes the folks who abandoned the pets stop in to salvage some of the junk from the abandoned trailer.( Of course they pay no attention to the animals at all.) They left the animals alone Labor Day 2008, and have not fed them or paid any attention to them or attended to them in any way. Also remember that McDowell County has a less than satisfactory way of dealing with stray aninmals.

Right now we have around $350 in our paypal/chip in account. Where it will stay until Bev decides what the next step is at her end.

Tomorrow I'll drop off the film that Bev just sent, and we'll get some more photos posted in a few days.

Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.


Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.


- Margaret Mead







An update from Bev!


1. The three kitties that were spayed and neutered last week, are back and recovering well. They each received a rabies shot. ( Total cost $195)

2. Friends at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church hosted a luncheon after church on Sunday, February 15. We raised $200 for Bev and the Sawmill Strays. We'll be sending her a money order this week.

3. Princess, shown above, will be going to the vet on Monday morning. She is going a little earlier than planned. First she is the "mom" who the family should have had spayed over two years ago, as a result of her litters and offspring litters there were 30 additional pups born. Princess has been attracting the attention of the male strays, so.....Bev decided we better move up her surgery to this week. Wise decision.

4. The large dog crate arrived this week. So Bev will be able to use it for Princess on Monday.

5. Keep Bev in your prayers as she continues to work to rescue these abandoned pets, as well as keep up with her own life's ups and downs. I admire her courage and perseverance.

So to date we have collected approximately $770 + Bev's $170 = $940. Pretty good for a small group of people coming together to try to change the world, one pet at a time. Thanks for your love and support.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.

It's not.

~Dr. Seuss

Here's the latest news from Sawmill Hollow in Welch, West Virginia.

• Bev knows a woman in Richmond, who has been sending donations of food, to help feed all the animals. Bev received a letter from her late last week that said she has arranged with a local vet to take care of the spaying surgery for two of the female dogs, plus pay for their shots. The vet this woman contacted is the very same vet that Bev has been making her arrangements with. I'm amazed at how this is all coming together.
• Three cats will be checking in on Tuesday evening for surgery on Wednesday.
• We sent Bev a money order for $200 on Saturday.
• Bev has ordered a dog crate on-line, so that she doesn't have to build one in the cold, nasty weather.
• Late last week Bev reports they had 6 inches of snow, and had to carry the dog food and supplies, up the hill, the gravel roads are not cleared, so the truck wouldn't make it.( hope the weather is better this week!)
• Bev had an exciting evening at work Saturday night, besides doing her normal cleaning routine, she had to call the fire department to help her turn off the water, after the water pipes ruptured at the movie theatre. Water everywhere, and a long night of clean up.

So keep Bev and her furry friends in your thoughts and prayers. Progress is being made, because of your help and prayers. Thanks to all!