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OUTSTANDING RESCUED GOLDEN OF 2004
PRINCESS KAILE LEILANI RENFROW In 2001, KAILE was found wandering along a roadside in Nebraska. She was extremely thin, loaded with parasites, had a broken tail and was pregnant. She wasn't yet one year old. After she whelped 9 puppies, her rescuer surrendered her to Retrieve A Golden of Minnesota (RAGoM). Holly Renfrow, who had adopted another RAGoM rescue, Koa, the year before, adopted this little girl despite the emotional load of a terminally ill mother and having to deal with Koa's struggle with behavioral issues due to abuse before he was rescued. The family moved to Washington, and after her mother died, Holly started taking Kaile to work with her at a long-term care facility for the elderly. Kaile interacted so well with everyone that Holly began therapy training with her. Kaile quickly earned her Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dogs International certifications. She also started training for agility competitions. Soon, though, she was diagnosed with cataracts and, when those were removed, with the much more serious condition of retinal degeneration; she is now virtually blind. In the summer of 2003, Holly and Kaile introduced the Paws for Reading program to the East Side branch of the Spokane public library. Beginning with 12 regular readers that summer, Kaile has offered 58 programs and served 591 children. She also works at South Side Christian School weekly during the traditional school year. This library serves primarily a below-poverty-level population of minorities and refugees, only 10% of whom speak English. In addition to listening to many reluctant readers struggling to learn English, Kaile has provided school supplies and given parties at Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day to celebrate reading milestones. After Thanksgiving, she provided a lunch of homemade soup, because the children were missing the nutritional benefits of the school lunch program. Recently, when word got around that the city council was considering closing this branch of the library, Kaile took one of her 6-year-old readers, a Russian refugee, with her to a meeting. The council was so impressed with the story about the success of the reading program that they voted to keep the library open and found other areas in which to make budget cuts. Kaile is a shining star in the city of Spokane and a shining star for rescued Goldens.
HEROISM - Shasta WehryHEROISM: In 2001, 5-month-old SHASTA came to Rescue A Golden of Arizona (RAGofAZ) with broken cartilage in his ankle, a staph infection, two ear infections and a bump on his head the size of a baseball in diameter. He was enraged at humanity and took every possible opportunity to bark, to fight with the other animals in the Wehry household, where he was being fostered then adopted by Michele and her daughter, Nina, and to be as destructive as possible. The women, who referred to Shasta as "tornado pooch" when he was in "locomotive mode," spent the next 3 months with him tethered to one or the other of them 24 hours a day. Gradually, Shasta learned that complying brought happiness and that he could make a difference in someone's day by making them laugh; he learned that he could work and that he could love and be loved. When he was 9 months old, Shasta earned his Canine Good Citizen certificate. He now works in partnership with the Wehrys to rehabilitate foster dogs who are in total shut-down mode when they come into Rescue. Shasta is in charge of guiding them with a leash to wherever they are supposed to go; no matter how much they fight him, he never gives up. He reaches out from his heart to show them that a life lived in fear is not the only option. What is a "hero"? The dictionary defines the word as any person admired for his qualities or achievements and regarded as an ideal or model... the central figure in any important event or period, honored for outstanding qualities. Shasta seems to understand that there is a goal with such severely withdrawn, submissive Goldens. Shasta is their guiding light, their hero, and he is ours, too. He has helped rehabilitate several Goldens that would have never been adoptable without his intervention.