A Personal Request

So, I don’t usually like to do this, but I’ve got two personal requests today – one animal related, the other educational.

Animal

So, here’s the deal – For a number of years -ette and I had two dogs in the city. A bit after the second -ling arrived and our oldest (yes the one that’s a virtual clone) started pre-school, the pups got to be a bit too much to handle (for us). We’d had the oldest for over a decade and the younger as a companion pup for the older for a few years (he doesn’t like to be alone and has always had another dog in the house). Basically, between the amount of apartment that was penned off with kid gates and the amount of attention they lost in all the changes it simply wasn’t fair to them to keep them.

We searched for a proper home for them both for about a year. Since neither’s a purebred (Go Muts!!) breed specific rescues were uninterested and the age of the older one precluded him from most traditional means of finding a new home. We also wanted to keep them together if at all possible. Craigslist posting resulted in mixed results – the primary being flame emails (and anyone interested in doing that here, feel free – you won’t like my response or our next real-life encounter (and if you’re not a local — I will be in your city or within driving distance one day)) but nothing worthwhile to go on (that and selling your sofa on CL is one thing, giving away living creatures an entirely different matter).

Our dog-walker found it in her heart to make room in her home for them. She’s had them for about year but recently moved, started a new job, etc. and finds herself in a similar situation of trying to find them a new home. And so…I thought why not turn to the largest group of peers I’ve never met and see if anyone’s a mush and has room in their hearts and homes for two very loving dogs. Relevant details on the dogs below – they’re currently in Boston but we can make arrangements to get them to you. They both have basic animal health insurance (yes, such a thing exists) and we’ll continue to cover that cost for the duration of their lives.

• The oldest is a 13 year old (Yellow) Labrador/Whippet mix (as far as anyone can guess). As part racing dog he’d love to have a fenced backyard to run in and chase imaginary things and after that a spot on the floor at your feet where he could watch TV (the last parts being the lab in him).He adores people and ideally needs someone who spends a lot of time at home (or can take him to work with them) and can spend a lot of time with him since he does gets anxious when he’s alone. Perfect for an older person or couple although he loves other dogs, cats and children. He still acts like a puppy, but is starting to get a little arthritic. Sweetest disposition ever, hands down.

  We had absolutely no hesitation (but monitored since I’m crazy like that) having him around the -lings at a very early age. When we introduced him to the younger pup at the rescue shelter the Lab’s first instinct was to prevent the new dog from getting anywhere near the kid. We actually had to remove ourselves from the situation to see if they got along.

• The younger is an adorable long haired Chihuahua / Pekinese mix (an educated guess). We were told at the shelter that he was about 2 when we got him (which is about 5 years ago), though we suspect he’s a little bit older. He loves people, cats, dogs, children (though he is a little dog so older kids would be better). Very friendly and smart.

The dogs have been together for about 5 years and we’d like to keep them together if at all possible. It would certainly make the adjustment easier for them. You can reach me at my usual email address: prcog1 [at] gmail.com

Educational
The older -ling’s school (PS 89) is having Spring Auction in mid-April and is seeking items to auction. (Yes someone has submitted through the usual PR sources). Full text of what they do with the funds and what they’re looking for below. If you’ve got a client or someone else interested, drop me a line at the usual email address (prcog1 [at] gmail.com) and I’ll put you in touch with the right people.

Please help support our local public elementary school (PS 89) near the World Trade Center site in their spring auction (taking place on April 15, 2010). The annual auction is held to raise funds for technology upgrades, musical instruments, field trips and teacher workshops in order to help enrich our childrens’ education.

The school auction is attended by as many as 1,000 affluent families in the Battery Park City and Tribeca areas of Manhattan. All donors will receive a mention in the auction catalog and their company name mentioned in the auction.

Every donation is greatly helpful and appreciated so please don’t hesitate to suggest something you think may be too small for us. We can bundle it with other items in a lot for auction. We’re also happy to accept items that might be items that are out of season or need to be removed from your inventory to make room for new stock.

We would consider all donations but prefer products [rather than services] as they tend to auction better. Offers of gift certificates redeemable in the NYC area are also greatly appreciated.

Deadline for offers is February 1, 2010 and items that are accepted to be placed in the auction will be notified no later than February 15, 2010. Non-perishable products would have to be delivered no later than March 15, 2010. Special arrangements can be made for perishable products.

All donations are tax deductible.