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Charities we have helped:

United Cerebral Palsy

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

The Warrick Dunn Foundation

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

American Cancer Society

Ronald McDonald House

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"Saving Man's Best Friend"

Eight months ago, my wife and I adopted a dog we named Jake.  We found Jake at the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, MA.  At that point we were told that he had arrived at the shelter from somewhere in Georgia.  Apparently down south there is more of a supply of stray dogs and less demand to adopt them.  We contacted the “Old Fella” Animal Shelter in Georgia and were put in touch with a woman named Jodi Pope who had taken care of Jake the past few months.

Jodi told us that Jake was surrendered to her along with his 3 sisters by a homeless man who could no longer take care of them.  Jake lived among a dozen or so other dogs in foster care until he was healthy enough to be adopted.  At that point, Jake was loaded on a truck and sent to Massachusetts.

Jake has spent about 8 months with us and has rounded out our family quite nicely.  Jodi had said that she always loved updates on the dogs that passed through her care, so I thought it was time to send her one.

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TO:                  Jodi Pope
CC:                  Northeast Animal Shelter, Old Fella Animal Shelter
FROM:            Scott Riecke
SUBJ:              My dog Jake

March 9, 2009

Jodi,

I contacted you a number of months ago regarding our dog Jake, who had made his way to us through your foster care after being surrendered to you by a homeless man.  Jake eventually made the journey to the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, MA where we adopted him.  Originally his name had been Walker and he came to you as the only male pup of a litter of 4.  You had mentioned in your reply that you love updates, so I figured that since we recently celebrated his first birthday I would send you one.

Jake has settled in nicely as a member of our family.  He is one of about a dozen dogs in our condo complex, but we think he has pretty much become the mascot of the building.  He is definitely more popular than me – more people refer to me as “Jake’s Dad” than by my own name.

Each morning Jake and I jump in the car and go for a ride to Dunkin Donuts.  He’ll wait in the passenger seat while I go inside and get my morning coffee, a sandwich of some sort, and a plain bagel for Jake.  When we get back home and park in the nearby lot, Jake waits until I hand over the bag with his bagel in it.  He’ll carry the bag from the car all the way to our apartment, passing by pedestrians who can’t believe what they’re seeing.  It’s so cute that it never gets old – we do it almost every single day.

Jake loves the outdoors.  But when we first got him, I couldn’t get him to chase a ball if I had tied a raw filet mignon to it.  This frustrated me as one of the things I always envisioned was being able to play fetch with my dog.  Over the first few months of having him, I practiced throwing the ball to Jake over and over.  Often times I would take him to the park, throw the ball just a few feet in front of him only to have him walk right by it forcing me to pick it back up myself.  This would often attract strange looks from the other people in the park, but I persevered.  Eventually the hard work paid off and Jake caught on to what I was trying to get him to do.   He now fetches regularly and I am no longer embarrassed to walk through the park playing fetch with myself.

One thing that you might not have had the opportunity to learn about Jake down in Georgia is that he loves snow.  While people in New England were miserably plodding through most of the winter, Jake was in his own private heaven.  He loves making his own tracks in the fresh, newfallen snow, and after the trucks plow he loves to climb the large mounds that are left behind.

My wife and I are expecting our first child, a girl, in two months.  One of the things we look forward to most is bringing her home to meet Jake for the first time.  Jake has always been great with kids and we know that the two of them are going to have a special bond.

I wanted to take the time and let you know that Jake has found a wonderful home.  My wife and I would like to thank you again for taking care of him and his sisters.  We hope that this helps you further recognize the good that you are doing by fostering these pets whose lives might otherwise be hopeless.  The thought of Jake walking around homeless with nothing to eat and nowhere to go is heartbreaking.

I have attached a recent picture of Jake and have donated $50 to Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue in the hopes that it helps dogs like Jake find caring homes.  Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Scott Riecke

 

If you would like to comment on this letter, Scott can be reached at info@aletteraweek.com.

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