From Medfly Brigade Basenji Rescue

It has been a busy year but we have had some heartwarming adoptions of special kidlets to very special people.

 

We also celebrate the amazing Max, one of our kidlets.

He WON the 2012 AKC Agility Invitational Top Basenji Award.

With his proud mom Alyce Sumita.

Alyce has kept us posted over the years as Max has shown off his many wins.

He always looks a little nonchalant about his prizes but when it is time to perform, that boy is all show and energy.

 

<<< Max with his latest prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two of our favorite adoptions this past year were Scully and Kanzi, both very special gals. Scully had been adopted from us quite a few years earlier and was found (thanks to her microchip) as a stray in Phoenix. Chuck dropped everything and drove to Phoenix to retrieve a very thin but still sweet and beautiful Scully. She had a sun tumor on a breast, which required surgery but she got a clean bill of health and settled well into life back here. Now that she was no longer a young lady and with a bout with cancer, her odds of finding a home were greatly diminished and Scully now had two tumors again, one on her shoulder (in a very seismically active area) and one on her back. About the time we were scheduling her for a trip to our phenominal new vets in Palmdale, we received a call from a lady who coyly didn’t give her exact age but did tell us she was in her 90’s. She had recently lost her dearly loved red Basenji gal and needed another. Since her caretaker was there I did speak with her and learned that Alicia was quite mobile and would provide a great home. Scully required a little extra time here and a couple of extra trips to the vet to help that active area heal. We started our day very early one day so we could care for pooches and head off with Scully to her new home in Santa Cruz. If ever there was a perfect match, this was it. Scully at 11 still looks beautiful with a trim body and no white hairs. She is a perfect lady in a perfect home.

Kanzi was one of four we rescued from a terrible environment, the worst we have ever seen. Having heard for years of this backyard breeder with Basenjis on cables in his back yard, somehow I always assumed he was in the country. We received a call from his brother-in-law asking us to rescue the dogs as the breeder was in jail for shooting out the back windows of his soon to be ex-girlfriend’s car as she was leaving with her four children. When we arrived to pick up the Basenjis I was shocked to see that he was in town, with houses all around on small sized lots. We were met at the door by a small tri gal hooked by a chain she shared with a Malamute to an overhead cable. Everywhere he went, she also went. Kanzi was in the back, the most isolated and scared gal, with a chain hooking her to an overhead cable and a dog house with more holes than substance. Working with Kanzi was a challenge as her main goal was to run to shelter but she did love cookies and learned to do what I called her “cute sit”. One of our adoptive parents who lives in Laughlin, Nevada, emailed to tell us she lost her little gal to diabetes. Since she is an older gal who lives alone and wanted a quiet gal, I sent her a picture of Kanzi doing her “cute sit”, warning her that this was a very timid little creature. Since Kanzi was super shy, we made the long haul to deliver her to her new mom in Laughlin, which is why Kanzi is panting. Even Basenjis pant when it is 111!

With the tremendous help of Lynn Garel of South Coast Basenji Fanciers Club, we rescued a large red boy from a shelter close to her home. She saved us many trips out there and had a handsome guy waiting for us when we arrived to pick him up. Paolo virtually had a home waiting for him as Dan Sailor, who had adopted a big gentle tri boy from us a couple of years earlier, was considering a friend for Buddy. Paolo and Buddy. What a pair! They match in size and immediately got along like they had been raised together.

Proud dad Dan Sailor sent Christmas greetings from his boys.

Stella’s family moved from Arizona to a rented home almost directly across the freeway from us, a home with absolutely no fencing for a Basenji. We droppped everything to pick her up and get her to safety. Dennis and Tamara Allen had adopted from us in the past and needed a Basenji to be a buddy for their new puppy, Tippy, a precious little red gal from Susan Marsicano. Tippy and Stella were great together but Stella couldn’t go to her new home until she got spayed. Two weeks here wearing a lamp shade and Stella finally headed home

 The 3 Amigoes - Stella, Tippy & Gloria

We have been called many times by people looking to put a dog into a rescue without realizing that Basenji is a breed. One cold day after several days of rain, we received another such call about a Boxer a family was..in this case…”getting rid of.” For some strange reason, Chuck decided we would rescue this gal who was about 20 minutes from us. They were surprised we would come that quickly as they need to bathe her. We arrived as they were drying Rizzo off with towels, more concerned with how terrible filthy she must have been than the fact that she was starving. Rizzo was a great introduction to Boxers as it would be hard to imagine a more gentle and loving creature. She arrived weighing 39 pounds, stayed with us for several months until we got her up to 53 pounds, got her spayed and off she went to a home with a friend who has adopted Basenjis from us over many years. Rizzo now has a beautiful brindle Basenji boy (from us) that is her special playmate.

There are always Basenjis that come in as strays from shelters that amaze us that no one has claimed them. We had two in particular that we placed in 2012. One was an adorable and petite tri gal we named Nami who ended up in a shelter when she was about 10 months old. If Nami had been our Basenji, there is no way we would not have found her. She was without a doubt one of the best Basenjis we have ever had come through our rescue. She loved everyone she met, including other dogs, and had not a mean bone in her body. She probably had been on the road for some time as she was terrified of birds overhead (hawks and owls?) and very cautious about bushes that might conceal a danger. She was spayed by the vet used by animal control in her area and even after two days here was still woozy. Nami deserved the best home possible and we took our time, eventually placing her with a delightful lady who had previously been owned by a Basenji.

Nami and her new mom….

Another great puzzlement to us was a handsome red male we named Radames, also from a shelter. Radames was already neutered, had his dew claws off, knew sit and stay and down and, to top off the mystery, his tail was just growing out from being trimmed like he was a show dog. This was a first for us… an unclaimed stray with his tail manicured. Radames was the second big red guy we picked up within a few weeks of each other (Paolo being the other) and it would be hard to say which was the more outstanding guy.

Radames enjoying his new family.

Our newest love is a handsome but skinny red guy named Eddie who arrived with his brother, same parents but not littermates.

Eddie and Junior are from the mess in Anza, the place that uses Cambria as the kennel name. There are no words to express the anger many of us feel to this breeder who has produced many of the Basenjis out here with Fanconi even as she misappropriates the Cambria name. The couple who produced Eddie and Junior and 4 others we have rescued over the years had never been told about Fanconi when they bought a breeding pair. We had already placed a littermate of Eddie’s a couple of years ago with a couple who have had a Fanconi kidlet before so when their little gal Tuco developed Fanconi, it wasn’t an impossible to task for them to deal with the pills and testing. Eddie’s dad had no idea about Fanconi and Eddie arrived in bad shape. Fortunately we have an outstanding vet hospital in Palmdale, of all places, with two great vets. Much to our delight and surprise, they had just gotten a venous blood gas test machine two weeks before Eddie showed up and we now call it Eddie’s machine. Between very caring vets who have worked hand in hand with Dr. Gonto and relished all the knowledge Dr. Gonto shared with them and that blessed new machine, we are happy to report that our precious Eddie has gone from a very sick boy to a bouncy, yodeling and funny kidlet.

On Christmas day we had a very special celebration as we welcomed a lady who flew from Alaska to meet and adopt one of our special gals, a tri named Bridjet. Chuck has been so busy we don’t have her picture with her new mom available yet but Bridjet will now be a pampered queen of  her cabin. She got to fly first class, curled up in her new mom’s lap with a lay over in Seattle so her trip wouldn’t be too tiring! Amazingly it was colder here than in Anchorage and New York City so Bridjet is probably happy to move out of southern California.

We wish that all Basenjis and their people have a wonderful year filled with good health, good friends, and lots of laughter and joy.

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Kidlets and Chuck and Karen Jones

Basenji Rescue of California

PO Box 93

Acton, CA 93510

(661) 269-2364

karen@basenjirescue.com