At this time one year ago Scooby was living on the street, sleeping on the sidewalk and eating whatever he could find. He was covered in tumors, had broken teeth with exposed roots, terrible allergies that left him practically bald in some places and bright pink in others, and he suffered from an extremely painful spinal infection that would have proved fatal within just a few weeks if left untreated.

Yet despite the pain, when I met him the first thing he did was climb up my legs to give me kisses. I gently lifted him into the back of my car and he quickly curled up in the bed that was there just for him. And home we went.

Today Scooby feels great and is pain free. He lives large and he eats well. The bald patches have grown hair and the bright pink patches are healed. Tumors have been removed and the spinal infection was knocked out after a month of heavy-duty meds.

He spends his days at daycare, enjoys swimming in the therapy pool, loves going for walks in the park and rolling around on the grass scratching his back. And he gets regular massage for those 18 year-old achy joints. He’s happy and smiling and loves to nap. And he will do pretty much anything for a treat.

Here’s to you, Scooby…happy birthday, my friend. I love you! Larry Chusid
Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. www.thepongofund.org

Photo Credit: Pauline Zonneveld www.paulinephotography.com

The Pongo Fund relocation puts a strain on the Oregon charity that helps thousands and financial donations are needed to replenish lifesaving kibble inventory before the temperature drops. To help struggling families and their pets through the cold fall and winter months, an emergency fundraising campaign has been launched to raise funds to resupply urgently needed pet food.

Portland, OR – August 28, 2012 – The Pongo Fund pet food bank today officially announced plans to move from its current facility across from the Oregon Convention Center to a new SE Portland location and has launched a kibble-cash fundraising campaign to help secure dollars needed to replenish their exhausted kibble inventory as soon as possible. Continued damage from roof leaks that plagued the charity last winter has made their building unsafe and forced the non-profit to relocate operations. The Pongo Fund’s new location in SE Portland will expand the organization’s unparalleled service to the community as well as its one-of-a-kind pet food distributions to dozens of other social service organizations.

The Pongo Fund keeps hungry families together, with their pets, through hard times. Since its opening in November 2009, The Pongo Fund has donated nearly 4 million pet meals and facilitated some 1,000 spay/neuter surgeries, a strategic formula working in unison to reduce overcrowded shelter populations. While this move will bring many benefits, it will require The Pongo Fund to have its first ever interruption of service. During the relocation process, distribution of pet food will not occur during September. Regular operations will resume on Sunday, October 14th at their new location at 3632 SE 20th Avenue, Portland, OR, 97202.

In preparation for the move, The Pongo Fund has donated an extra 50,000 pounds of kibble to many of their community partners, including Snowcap Charities, Salvation Army, Neighborhood House, Potluck in the Park and Clackamas Service Center. The Pongo Fund also donated food to establish pet food pantries at West Columbia Gorge Humane Society and Multnomah County Animal Services. These extra food supplies will provide struggling families with increased options during this brief service interruption. However, these extra distributions have severely depleted The Pongo Fund’s stores of kibble, meaning their warehouse will need to be restocked before the charity resumes service.

Concerned members of the community, lovers of dogs and cats everywhere and loyal Pongo supporters can make a donation to the kibble-cash fundraising campaign via the Donate Now button on The Pongo Fund website at www.thepongofund.org. Donations will help restock emergency pet food supplies and ensure there is enough kibble to help pet loving families through the cold fall and winter months. Because The Pongo Fund purchases pet food at huge discounts, monetary donations go the farthest to help feed hungry animals around the state.

“Pets are family too, and having to surrender a beloved pet to a shelter because a job was lost or medical bills need to be paid makes a sad situation even worse,” said Larry Chusid, executive director and founder of The Pongo Fund. “Bowls of kibble from The Pongo Fund are often just the recipe needed to keep these families whole and to keep animals safely at home and out of the shelters.”

The Pongo Fund pet food bank uses a two-pronged approach to fight hunger and reduce animal shelter populations. The charity is best known for its pet food bank that serves thousands of struggling families from its Portland warehouse. But equally important is The Pongo Fund’s distribution network that has delivered hundreds of thousands of pounds of dog and cat food to dozens of other social service organizations across Oregon and Southwest Washington, including emergency food banks and food pantries that redistribute The Pongo Fund pet food to their own clients along with human food supplies.

Donations can also be made by contacting The Pongo Fund at 503-939-7555 or mailing a check to The Pongo Fund, PO Box 8244, Portland OR 97207.

About The Pongo Fund
The Pongo Fund is an award-winning and volunteer-driven, 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity that was formed to help address a growing concern in our society: when people go hungry, their pets go hungry too. As Oregon’s pet food bank, The Pongo Fund is the only full time resource focused on preventing beloved animal companions from being surrendered to shelters simply because their families cannot afford to feed them. Over 100 social service organizations, emergency food agencies, shelters and rescues in 28 counties across Oregon and Southwest Washington have received emergency pet food assistance from The Pongo Fund, and that number continues to grow.

For more information, please go to: www.thepongofund.org, their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/thepongofund or contact us at:

The Pongo Fund
PO Box 8244
Portland OR 97207
info (at) thepongofund (dot) org
503-939-7555

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

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

By Julia Williams

A few months ago I shared the touching story of a devoted dog named Ceili who became a hero when she saved her owner’s life. Ceili’s “dogged” determination prevented Danny from going upstairs to bed, and when he suffered a massive heart attack a few minutes later, she ran to alert Danny’s wife Gayle. Well, I’ve just received some exciting news about Ceili that I wanted to share. Because of Ceili’s lifesaving actions that night, she is a Top 10 Finalist for a national award given to dogs that have shown extraordinary courage or resolve to help a person in need!

I really hope Ceili wins, because she is a true canine hero and definitely deserves this wonderful award. But what I find most intriguing about this story is that several very important things had to happen before Ceili could save her owner’s life. I’m always fascinated by miracle stories that illustrate how things could have turned out differently    “if not for X.” The “X” is always different, but the end result is pretty much the same.

So what needed to happen in order for Ceili to be able to help Danny? First, a great man named Larry Chusid had to have both a dream and unwavering resolve to see it become a reality. Larry wanted to open a pet food bank in Portland, Oregon, and his passion and vision for achieving this dream attracted the attention of CANIDAE Natural Pet Food Company. CANIDAE donated $125,000 of their pet food to Larry’s nonprofit organization to get the ball rolling, and the Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank opened in November of 2009.

Meanwhile, Ceili’s owners were struggling financially. They were considering the heartbreaking option of giving Ceili up when they learned of the Pongo Fund, which distributes free pet food twice a month to anyone with a genuine need. Danny and Gayle received some CANIDAE dog food for Ceili and she was able to remain with the family she loved. Not long after this, Ceili saved Danny’s life!

I spoke with Gayle, who was delighted by Ceili’s nomination for this award. “Ceili is Danny’s guardian angel dog. Without her, I would be a widow,” she said. Fifteen years ago, the couple found a tiny Lab mix puppy on the street and named her Ceili, because their daughter was an Irish step dancer and a céilí is a social gathering featuring Irish music and dance.

Ceili and Danny have always had a close bond, Gayle said, and now it’s even stronger. “When Danny was in the hospital, Ceili would look for him every day.” Ceili is on the CANIDAE PLATINUM® formula for seniors and overweight dogs, and is “doing great. Ceili loves her CANIDAE food and chows it down. Her coat looks good and she’s not itchy anymore,” said Gayle.

It’s days like this that make me proud to be associated with a company like CANIDAE. Without their generous donation to Larry Chusid’s charity, the Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank would likely not exist. And without this vital avenue for free pet food, many lives would be irrevocably altered, including those of Danny, Gayle and their “hero dog” Ceili.

The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank will be open again tomorrow, providing an abundance of premium quality dog and cat food for the family pets of anyone in honest need.

Thanks to the continued generosity of our pet food partners, including Canidae All Natural Pet Foods, we have donated more than ONE MILLION lifesaving meals during this past year. Each and every one of them directed to a family pet that might have been given up or abandoned were it not for the emergency food that we provided.

We help the animals when they need us, and the good karma payback that we receive goes well beyond what we give.

Because helping animals and their human families stay together is the right thing to do.

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live.

www.thepongofund.org

This past Sunday The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank once again helped to heal a hurting community, one kibble at a time. Our generous friends from Canidae Pet Foods joined with us to donate a measure of lifesaving pet food for more than 600 animals that might otherwise have had no food to eat for their dinner.

But that’s not all.

The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank also provides emergency pet food to dozens of emergency human food charities throughout Oregon and SW Washington. The list includes some of the biggest charities in Oregon, and this past Sunday it included Sunshine Pantry, Holy Trinity Food Pantry, Dignity Village, Potluck in the Park, Union Gospel Mission and St. Francis Dining Hall; along with two dog rescue groups and the good folks from Meals-On-Wheels.

The Pongo Fund is not a big group. Frankly we’re tiny by most non-profit standards. But we’re mighty, and we work hard 24/7 to ensure that no animal is ever abandoned or surrendered simply because its family cannot afford the food to keep it fed.

We believe that pets are family too, and we’ll do all that we can whenever we can. Be sure to let us know if you ever need us.

The saying goes that every dog has their day.

At The Pongo Fund, we believe that every single day should be every dog’s day. And the same for the kitties, too. That’s why our Pet Food Bank provides emergency food for 1000’s of them, free of charge, every single month. More than one million meals so far.

Because pets are family too, and no family member should starve when tough economic conditions make it so their human families cannot afford to keep them fed. It’s scary, but during these hard-hitting times that really could be anyone of us. Thanks to our good friends at Canidae Pet Foods, the less fortunate animals of Oregon & SW Washington do not go to bed hungry.

Portland does many things well, but providing emergency cold weather housing for both the homeless and their pets is not one of those things. Several groups provide shelter for the people, but they deny entrance to their pets. How sad to be told that you can come inside, but you must leave your family outside. Where it’s freezing.

Luckily a few groups have stepped forward this winter to provide sleeping quarters for those with both two and four legs. That’s why The Pongo Fund was thrilled to get the call from Amie at the Daybreak Shelter Network. She knew they needed help for the four-legged friends, and she knew she could count on Pongo.

Immediately after hearing from her we responded with both kennels and food for the dogs in her care. With both good food and a safe place to sleep, these dogs had their day. And so did their people.

Larry Chusid, The Pongo Fund