Let's win this thing

Me and Mom have been trying REALLY hard to get another Costa Rica shelter listed with Petfinder so they could be included in the challenge. We were going to ask all of you to vote for them this time. They work out of their pocket too, just like we do. And they don't get any outside funding. That's the kind of shelter we would like to see win this challenge.

They have been trying to become members of Petfinder for some time but, for some reason, they have not been able to complete their membership. Now Petfinder tells us that "new" members cannot be included in the challenge. Seems kinda unfair since they've BEEN trying to become members before the challenge started but I guess rules are rules.

The Bahamas shelter is way ahead, as usual, and they will probably win a weekly prize, so the shelter in 2nd place will win the international.

All the international shelters in the top ten seem to have funding other than the grants, except us. (Yep, we're still in the top ten) So me and Mom can't decide who to vote for.
Some have annual budgets of over $100,000.00!!
Some have MONTHLY budgets of $20,000.00 plus!!!
Mom went into shock when she read that. LOL!!
They already have money coming in and have lots of "assets." (whatever those are) so we want to help a shelter that is not so well funded by other means.
Others are kill shelters. (:-[
Several of them ship plane loads of dogs to shelters in the US. That seems kind of unfair to the other US shelter dogs who are waiting for homes.

It's just really hard to know who to vote for. That's why Mom and me were gonna try to help this other Costa Rica shelter. We KNOW how badly they need funds. We KNOW they aren't funded by other sources and $1,000.00 would mean as much to them as it does to us!! It wouldn't be just a drop in the bucket like it would for some of the other shelters.

Mom even thought about having you vote for us again and just donating the money to the other Costa Rica shelter, but, according to the new rules, if we win this challenge then we can't win the next one. And by then our SURPRISE donation, ($1,000.00) from the fund raiser in Canada, will be running out and our funds will be low again.

We're kinda between a rock and a hard place. (:-[
Here's the only plan we can come up with.....
If we all went ahead and voted for Lighthouse this time, move into 2nd place and Bahamas wins a weekly prize, we could win the international division again. That would put another $1,000.00 in our shelter funds and hold us over through the challenge we are not allowed to win.
THEN....in the next challenge, since WE wouldn't be allowed to win it...we could all vote for the other Costa Rica shelter!! The one we KNOW doesn't have outside funding. HOPEFULLY by then they will be able to be in the challenge.
Does any of that make any sense?

We're grasping at straws here to help the other shelter AND keep our own doors open, so if anybody has a better idea we'd sure love to hear it!!
MEANWHILE!!! Please go ahead and start voting for Lighthouse again. We need to get started as soon as possible if we're gonna move into 2nd place to try and win again.
Just go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com. Click on the "Shelter Challenge" tab. Then choose Costa Rica for the country and click "search." That should bring up Lighthouse. Click "vote" and then type in the letters/numbers that appear to confirm your vote.
Once you have voted, the next time you log onto the vote site there should be a spot just below the search box that says, "This is the shelter you voted for during your last visit." or something similar. All you have to do is click on vote. You won't have to search for Lighthouse anymore.

Some of us furkids have been really sick over the past few weeks and Mom and Dad have been really worried and working hard to make us better.
Me and Milana got REALLY sick and had bloody diarrhea all day and all night.
ALL of us felt really bad and were real lethargic but me and Milana were the only two who had the terrible diarrhea.

We think it was some new food Mom mixed in with our regular food. Maybe it was just a bad batch that had some ingredient in it that was bad. We don't really know but that is the only thing that ALL of us ate so Mom says it just about had to be the food. So we had to throw out all that food and start over with new.

Bunny had another seizure and possible stroke and was really sick for several days. She was real disoriented and seemed to go into sort of a daze several times a day. She'd just stand and stare. Not moving and seeming not to hear when Mom and Dad spoke to her. Mom started putting Taurine on her food and, for the past three days, it seems to be helping.

Joy's congestive heart failure is worse and she is coughing a lot more. Mom has changed her medicine and it seems to be helping a little.

Me, Joy and Bunny are all on home cooked food now. Rice, chicken, potatoes, carrots and broccoli.
It's GOOD!!! And Mom just mixes in some vitamins and stuff too.

Anyway, y'all let us know what you think we should do to help the other Costa Rica shelter. PLEASE!!
Hope to hear from lots of you!! We've missed sending out the reminders every day.

Tailwags!!!
BudBud