Wright-Way Rescue News
Chicago's Shedd Aquarium adopted "Harley" a purebred Black Labrador Retriever from Wright-Way Rescue. Now he's a star of the "Shedd Way Training Program". Read about this great new program and visit the Shedd Aquarium to meet Harley and the five other rescued dogs that participate in their program!
In Fall 2008 the Shedd Aquarium adopted Harley, a Black Labrador Retriever. Harley was a young adult dog that has been surrendered by his former owner who could no longer keep him. Harley had so much potential and the Shedd Aquarium noted this upon meeting him. They decided to add Harley to their program as one of their 6 resident dogs used to promote humane training as well as adoption of shelter dogs. The next time you and your family are at the Shedd Aquarium, be sure to say hello to Harley!
Newsletter
Fall/Winter 2008/2009
WRIGHT-WAY RESCUE ADOPTION CENTER
OPENING SOON IN NILES ILLINOIS!

A Place Like Home
In Winter 2009 (date still to be announced) WWR will welcome the public to it’s grand opening of the new Wright-Way Rescue Adoption Center located at 7136 W Touhy Ave in Niles IL. This new 3500 square foot adoption center will serve as a temporary home to approximately two thousand dogs and cats in 2009; all patiently waiting to meet permanent families.
The adoption center will have several cage less suites for larger dogs and litters of puppies while smaller dogs and single puppies will enjoy the comfort and conveniences of plastic, low-stress caging. Comfortable beds, interactive toys, music, mid-day snack time, and other amenities will all help provide a home-away-from home atmosphere for animals available for adoption. Adult dogs will benefit greatly from several walks a day, courtesy of trained volunteers. Puppies, dogs, cats, and kittens will also enjoy socialization, interaction, grooming, and basic training..
The new WWR Adoption Center offers an inviting, boutique type setting unique to many shelters. Sky lights, hand-painted murals, and human furniture to relax on, are all part of the welcoming atmosphere, ”We wanted to offer our animals and our adopters a relaxing, enjoyable (adoption) experience” says Christy Anderson, WWR Founder and Director Of Operations. ”We want to provide educational opportunities to help keep adopters and adopted pets alike happy with one another.”

Adopting A Pet 
The new WWR Adoption Center has been designed not only to match owners with new pets, but also to offer educational opportunities in an effort to ensure the success of each animal placement. The process begins with an adoption application which applicants can fill out on-site at the computer work stations. Next, potential adopters are invited to an Education Room where they are given basic information and coached on the appropriate steps suggested to add a new pet to their home. A video along with a personal Q&A session helps those who adopt, get started on the right foot with a new pet in their lives.
Families can view the available pets needing homes while visiting the WWR Adoption Center. Their housing has been designed so that each animal is highly visible to the public, while still offering them a secure and comfortable living area. Meet n’ Sniff areas are available for families who decide their interest in a particular pet may more than just puppy (or kitten!) love.

Training & Beyond
A certified dog obedience trainer will be on staff to help answer any questions adopters may have in regards to the training and behavior of their new pet. Socialization and obedience classes, with levels ranging from puppy-advanced, will be available to both adopters and the general public. Discounts will be provided to adopters.
Muttzie’s Boutique, located adjacent to the WWR Adoption Center will offer both adopters and the community a fun place to shop for their pet. Items available will include the necessary supplies; leashes, collars, bowls, crates, indestructible toys and chews. Fun items like doggie clothing, leather goods, plush dog beds, and seasonal items will also be available. Proceeds will help WWR efforts.

Make A Difference
Wright-Way Rescue needs your help! Donations to help us pay for the cost of construction are needed. All donors who contribute $50 or more will be recognized in the WWR Adoption Center. Suite naming opportunities are still available. Please call for details!








WRIGHT-WAY RESCUE INTAKE FACILITY IN MURPHYSBORO IL
HOSTS WELCOME HOME GRAND OPENING
WINTER 2009

  For the majority of the dogs and cats at the WWR Adoption Center, their story begins approximately 340 miles South of Chicago in a town called Murphysboro. This rural town, located next to Carbondale (home of Southern IL University) serves as a hub for the many homeless and abandoned dogs and cats in the Southern IL, Northern KY, Western IN, Eastern MO, and Northern TN area. 
Wright-Way Rescue is in the finishing stages of completing over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in renovations which have made the new state of the art WWR Adoption & Intake Center a reality. The facility is located at 8459 Old Highway 13, and is home to approximately 100 dogs, puppies, cats, and kittens at any time, who are anxiously waiting for their chance at finding a home. During their 21 day stay at the WWR Adoption and Intake Center, the animals receive extensive medical and behavioral care. Each pet is examined upon intake and entered into a computer database- PetPoint. Pets are tested for viruses, heartworms, and screened for fleas, ticks, and other health concerns. A strict vaccination and parasite treatment and prevention program is in place using the latest technology and advancements in veterinary care. A vet visit is then scheduled for outpatient procedures such as spay/neuter\surgeries and heartworm treatments. Once an animal has received the medical attention that it needs, a behavioral screening is performed to ensure that pet is suitable for placement. If problems are found, our on staff trainer will work with that pet to resolve the issue prior to placement. 
The animals will be housed in 5 separately ventilated isolation hallways. They are completely plastic covered, each with 6-7 kennels. This allows for disease control and creates a low-stress environment with minimal ”kennel noise”. Comfortable bedding, music, and several feedings a day provide a safe and nurturing atmosphere in which they can thrive and get healthy prior to traveling to the WWR Adoption Center in Niles to meet their new homes. Puppies and kittens are housed for a minimum 21 day period, allowing for vaccinations and good nutrition to take effect. Adult dogs and cats are housed for a minimum of 7 days. This hold period allows for the WWR staff and volunteers to get acquainted with each pet and get to know their personality. The hold period also allows time for the pets to recover from the spay or neuter surgery and be treated for any health issues prior to adoption.
So many of the WWR animals come straight from rural animal control facilities. These places are not often the best place for a pet to end up. Pets surrendered or brought in as strays to these facilities often face illness, harsh weather conditions, and lack of adequate nutrition. The WWR Adoption and Intake Facility helps animals forget this part of their lives so that they can look forward to the future.
The new center will drastically increase the well-being of each pet pre-adoption. In addition to the new state-of-the-art animal housing, a large new Grooming & Adoption Prep Room,  Pharmacy, an Education room for volunteers and staff, and a large indoor Training Room has been built. A welcoming lobby and fully equipped animal intake room welcome guests. WWR accepts pets from the Southern IL public as space permits in addition to pulling pets from animal control facilities. Families who live near the WWR Adoption & Intake Facility in Murphysboro will soon be invited to add a new pet to their homes from this facility, which will be open 5 days a week to the public.







Dedicated Pet Lovers Needed
To Fill Volunteer Positions

Volunteers play a critical role in Wright-Way Rescue’s adoption program. The new adoption facility will require help from community members in order to ensure it’s success in placing homeless pets. New volunteers will be invited to go through an orientation program where they can learn about the various volunteer positions available. Such positions include dog walking and exercising, grooming, feeding/cleaning, greeting potential adopters, post-adoption follow up, running off-site adoption events,  transport to and from veterinary visits, and various other daily and irregular tasks. Once a volunteer establishes where their interests lie, a training program will be provided. Routine continuing education workshops will be a required part of volunteering at the WWR Adoption Center, particularly for those volunteers wanting to work directly with the animals.
The use of the software program Rescue Connection will enable volunteers to create and schedule their own shifts at the WWR Adoption Center. Volunteers will be asked to maintain a minimum and consistent number of hours per week in order to be considered and active volunteer. 
Foster homes for animals with special needs are also being recruited and are considered an important part of the WWR Adoption Program. Committees for fundraising and special event with be forming early Spring 2009.

If you are interested in becoming a WWR volunteer, please email us your name and phone number at [email protected]. We will contact you to let you know when our first volunteer orientation is!








MUTTZIE’S BOUTIQUE
Something To Bark About!

Natural pet foods, cages, beds, bones, collars and leads, interactive and safe toys, natural treats, and more are just some of the many items you and your canine will find at Muttzie’s Boutique. Catering to the discriminating rescued dog and their owner, Muttzie’s Boutique will offer all the basics to a new pet owner. Quality products that have been tested and approved by WWR dogs and cats will be available for sale. ”beyond the basic” items will also be available ranging from designer beds to doggie clothing.
The best part about shopping at Muttzie’s Boutique is that a portion of all proceeds will go straight back to Wright-Way Rescue, helping their efforts of placing homeless pets in loving homes. Be sure to visit Muttzie’s Boutique opening alongside the WWR Adoption Center in Winter 2009, Niles IL.








Wright-Way had previously taken animals from the Christian County Animal Shelter, where animals picked up locally are transported if their owners cannot be found.
“We can call her now if we have anything,” said Tucker.
Once picked up from the local facility, animals are transported to Wright-Way’s intake facility in Murphysboro, where they are quarantined.
Puppies and kittens under 4 months old are held for three weeks; older animals are held for 10 days.
During the quarantine period, the animals are screened for illnesses, treated for fleas and ticks, dewormed, vaccinated, spayed, neutered and microchipped for future identification.
Photos of each animal are posted online at petfinder.com. (A link, and much more information, is available on the Wright-Way Web site, www.wrightwayrescue.net.)
Once the quarantine is ended, the animals make the trip north to Niles.
“They’re with us until they find a home,” said Anderson.
“It guarantees life,” added Tucker. “Working with her is saving a lot of lives in our county.”
• The local animal facility has undergone a makeover in recent months, thanks to donations from some local individuals and businesses.
After a renovation project at the local CVS pharmacy, company officials donated their old shelving to the animal rescue group.
Cole Lumber also donated some lumber to allow shelter volunteers to put up walls in the facility, located in the old Tresslar building between the Youth Inc. complex and Food Giant.
Kathi Thompson, kennel manager at the facility, handled the paint work, and many other volunteers contributed as well, said Tucker.
Private donations allowed the purchase of new kennels for larger animals in the rear of the facility.
The renovations are an improvement, but animal rescue officials have their eyes on an even bigger goal — the construction of a whole new shelter.
Donations to the program can be mailed to Caldwell County Animal Rescue at P.O. Box 877 in Princeton, or dropped off directly at the facility.
The shelter is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.
Volunteers meet monthly to discuss local animal rescue efforts. The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the fire training center on U.S. 62 West.
The public is invited to attend.



Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - The Times Leader
Princeton & Caldwell County Kentucky


Animal volunteers partner with Illinois no-kill shelter

Times Leader Staff Report [email protected]



Partnership with an Illinois shelter will mean a greater chance for a happy home for dogs and cats residing at the Caldwell County Animal Rescue holding facility off Legion Drive.
Since last fall, the local rescue group has been affiliated with Wright-Way Rescue, which operates an adoption center in Niles, Ill., near Chicago, as well as an intake and quarantine facility in Murphysboro, near Carbondale.
Wright-Way Rescue founder and Director of Operations Christy Anderson said staff members accept animals for the no-kill shelter from county-run animal control facilities and shelters in the region.
“And they have been a blessing for us,” said local Animal Control Officer Abigail Tucker.
In a recent two-week period alone, the local facility turned over 30 puppies and eight kittens to Wright-Way.
Anderson and support staff from the Wright-Way facilities visited the local shelter on April 8 to make another pickup and get a firsthand look at the local operation.

By Jared Nelson [email protected]

Local Animal Control Officer Abigail Tucker (left) turns over a canine guest of the local holding facility to Wright-Way Rescue owner Christy Anderson during a recent local visit from Wright-Way volunteers.