As the New Year approaches it is always time to reflect on the many wonderful Labradors that have touched our hearts this year. This year was not unlike the previous two years where the economy has been a factor for the surrender of many of our labs, as well as military deployment. Unfortunately, we also saw a higher percentage of labs ending up in shelters because of owner death or serious illness. Approximately 40% of our intakes were senior labs, most because of the death of their owner. They teach us all lessons about gratitude for small kindnesses and their resilience to change even in their golden years. I'm happy to report ALL have been adopted. This year also holds special meaning to our lifelong commitment to our rescue labs. LRRCT is a safety net for all of our adoptees, so they will never be abandoned or end up in a shelter again. Buddy's story personifies this commitment because he is now back with us getting healthy again after being retrieved earlier this year from an adopter who failed to follow an allergy protocol that was a condition of his adoption. Buddy's journey touched many hearts but none more than his special needs foster, Anne and his treating veterinarian, Dr. Denise Trapani, who volunteered to take Buddy's case on. We are forever grateful for their commitment and happy to report that Buddy is back to his playful, sweet self and looking like a Labrador.
It truly takes a community of dedicated volunteers and professionals to rescue just one lab. Our thanks to all of our volunteers, fosters, trainers and donors who provided goods and services. They enable us to continue our mission of rescuing and rehoming this wonderful breed. Special thanks to our donors whose sponsorship and generousity funded medical care for our special need Labradors like Buddy and so many others. Our thanks as well to the many veterinarians who cared for our labs this year but especially to our primary vets, Dr. R. Maizel, Dr. J. Lukowsky at Candlewood Animal Hospital for their continued support & dedicated efforts on behalf of our labs. Medical grants from Mayor's Alliance for NYC Animals, Labrador Life Line & the Goldstock Fund provided additional funding for our shelter labs coming to us with serious medical issues.
Lastly, no nonprofit could exist without the tireless effort and commitment of its volunteers on so many levels. Once again, Roz & Don Nenninger fostered our crazy juveniles, affectionately called "yahoos", who need exercise and training in order to be remotely adoptable. Bruno was one such youngster who put a new meaning to the question, "how many miles does it take to tire a Lab out"? Thank you to artist M.K. Zeppa of Zeppa Studios for our new logo and our webmaster, Liz Walker for many hours designing our terrific new website.
This Holiday Season is a time to reflect on our blessings and the good will of so many. Our story is not just about the labs that we rescue but about the human lives that are enriched because of knowing them, ours as well as their new families. We hope you will look around our website and see some of their stories and pictures.
Warmest Wishes for a Happy & Healthy Holiday Season.
Kathy Lifland, President, LRRCT, Inc.
Roz Nenninger, NW Regional Director
Liz Walker, Intake Coordinator and Webmaster
