Rock Stars at The Pongo Fund

The first clients of The Pongo Fund Emergency Pet Food Bank began lining up before 9am yesterday. Quite a testament to the good work that we do, particularly considering that we do not open until noon. Meaning a three hour wait in the cold just so they could get the food needed to keep their animal family fed.

Yet each of these individuals says it’s worth it. But why?

Because they’re treated with courtesy and respect. And when they go home, they’re doing so armed with an abundance of high-quality Canidae Pet Food. Meaning that their dog and cat family will get a really good dinner, and lots more. And that means everything. In a fast-paced 2.5 hours, we provided food for the family pets of more than 161 families.

Our days are filled with many special moments; poignant, emotional, and sometimes both happy and heartbreaking. But we always hope for the best, and work hard to bring the best to everyone that we meet.

One of the most special moments occurred with a gentleman that had not been to see us since last October. He said that he’d been working, and had been able to buy the great Canidae food we’d provided in the past. But his job ended and once again he needed help.

He said that being able to come back to us for help five months later was the very best part of his day, his week and his month. He said he didn’t know what he would have done without us. And then the compliments just started flowing. He said that we made him feel like an old friend, yet we hardly knew him. And he said that everywhere he looked, he saw other folks just like him being treated like Rock Stars!

And that even though it was cold and wet outside, we made him feel like it was warm and sunny.

He shook my hand and said “thank you,” and stood there frozen for a moment. And then he began to cry. He started to say something else, but the words would not come. He apologized. But the truth is that I heard everything he wanted to say, even though he couldn’t say it. His eyes spoke volumes and that was more than sufficient.

The Pongo Fund; keeping pets and their people together is what we do.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.

www.thepongofund.org

Portland Dog is Front Page News in The Oregonian

Published Thursday March 09, 2011, by Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

A fiercely protective elderly mutt is up for a national hero award for pestering her owner in the hours before he had a heart attack and then barking for help once it struck.

Ceili, a 15-year-old Lab mix, usually spends much of her day lounging in her North Portland home. But one steamy day in August, she stuck by her owner, Danny Fincher, trotting behind him from room to room, sometimes blocking his path. When he sat down, she licked his arms and legs and then jumped on his easy chair, sniffing his breath.

“She was driving me nuts,” he said.

That evening, as he brushed his teeth, she tugged at his shorts. When he headed upstairs to bed, feeling knotted with indigestion, she nipped at his feet and pulled off a shoe, trying to prevent him from climbing the stairs. Ceili seemed to sense something was wrong and she was right. Moments later, Fincher suffered the heart attack.

The idea that Ceili may have been aware of the problem isn’t far-fetched, said one specialist. Dogs can be trained to detect seizures and research is looking at canines sniffing out bladder and lung cancer, said James Serpell, professor of animal welfare at the University of Pennsylvania. Although he hasn’t heard of cases involving heart attacks, he said that falls within the range of possibilities. “We’ve bred dogs to be focused on humans,” Serpell said. “So they have this combination of heightened sensitivity and heightened attention to their owners, and that combination gives them sometimes what looks like miraculous insights.”

In a daze after the attack, Fincher, 62, tried to crawl up the stairs, but the dog tugged him down then ran into a back room where his wife, Gayle Jewell, was watching television. Barking furiously, Ceili darted between the two until Jewell checked on her husband and whisked him to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. Thanks in part to Ceili, Fincher was treated within 20 minutes of his attack.

“There’s no question she saved my life,” Fincher said.

Dr. Jonathan Lindner, a cardiologist at Oregon Health & Sciences University, said quick treatment after a heart attack is crucial. “The bottom line is the earlier you get in the better, Lindner said. “You lose more heart muscle the longer you wait.”

For her actions, Ceili was nominated along with nine other dogs for a Dogs of Valor award sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. “She went to extraordinary lengths to make a point that something was wrong,” said Colin Berry, innovations director of HSUS. “She may not have known what it was but she tried to let him know.”

Ceili came into Fincher’s and Jewell’s lives 15 years ago as a puppy. Jewell spotted her wandering through a Safeway parking lot and brought her home. At the time, their daughter was an Irish stepdancer. The dog pranced next to her, almost in step, so they named her Ceili (pronounced KAY-lee) after ceili dances, a type of Irish folk dancing. “She kind of named herself,” Jewell said.

She could be vicious around other dogs, but got along with people and quickly became attached to Fincher, a saxophonist who performed with Paul deLay, the late Portland blues harmonica player. In recent years, her health declined, however, and the couple contemplated putting her down. Living on monthly Social Security disability payments, they had little cash for expensive vet bills or even dog food.

Then last year they discovered The Pongo Fund, a food bank for owners with limited means. Since then, they’ve fed Ceili high-quality Canidae senior dog food provided by the agency. “If it wasn’t for The Pongo Fund, I wouldn’t have had the food to feed her,” Jewell said. “And without Ceili, I would have found Danny when I went to bed stone-cold dead.”

The Pongo Fund posted the story of Ceili on its Facebook page leading to her nomination for the award. The top three winners will be announced Sunday along with a people’s choice chosen online at http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/facts/dogs-of-valor-awards/fourth-annual-dogs-of-valor-awards-meet-the-finalists.html

Jewell said the nomination was a welcome surprise. “It’s really nice to see the old girl get some recognition,” Jewell said. “It’s a great honor to be nominated and to show that animals aren’t just something to be kicked around or played with. They have feelings and sense things we can’t. I sleep better knowing Ceili’s keeping an ear and nose on Danny.”

– Lynne Terry