President’s Message

April 22- 23

Care-A-Lot Pets Virginia Beach April 30

Woofstock in Richmond May 10

Bubba’s 33 All Day Dine in Chesapeake (in conjunction with Give Local) May 15

Sandbridge June 11

Big Ugly July 17

Painting with a Twist in Chesapeake Facebook: Southeastern Virginia Golden Retriever Rescue, Education, and Training! Website: https://adoptagolden.com

GRREAT Times is now offering advertising space. Rates per issue for various size ads are: Full Page = $150 1/2 Page = $100 1/3 Page = $75 1/6 Page = $50 A discounted rate for multiple issue placement is available. Email requests, size and specification questions to grreattimes@adoptagolden.com. Every effort will be made to put your ad in the desired issue. GRREAT Times is published quarterly the second week of January, April, July, and October. Deadline for submitting an AD is the 1st of the month prior to the publication date. Just when you think things were going back to normal with COVID slowing down, everything starts to go topsy turvy with Russia, gas prices and the cost of cereal (among other things)! On a positive note, we had a great 1st quarter here at SEVA GRREAT. If you follow us on Facebook, you probably saw that we were able to help rescue dogs from an absolutely horrific hoarding situation in South Carolina. In all, 166 dogs were confiscated. So, with the help of my husband Joe, Jane Krom and I loaded 6 extralarge crates into a van. Of course Jane and I know how to drive a cargo van! (NOT!) So off we went to Pickens, SC. When we got there, Animal Control sweet talked us into taking 3 more dogs. I mean how could we resist those adorable faces?? (I’m talking about the dogs and not Animal Control!) Needless to say, all that wonderful van planning went down the drain. And here is where I need to stop and pour a little reality into this fairy tale. First, keep in mind, these dogs have hardly if ever been touched by a human being and they did not want to be touched by us. They were so very, very scared. It was heartbreaking to see how fearful they were. Second, these dogs were probably never let out of their kennels (using the term kennel is a nice word – think chicken wire). In other words, they had never had a bath! And you could tell!! Or should I say, you could smell! They were very odoriferous! To put it mildly! But we happily survived the 12+ hours getting them to the homes of the foster families. Now we just need to get them healthy and ready for adoption! You can see pictures of them on page 14.

We had a very successful GoFundMe campaign for our Turkey Dog rescue partners. We were able to raise $17,665. I am proud to say the Board voted to bring the amount up to $21,000. Because of your generosity, our rescue partners were able to save over 40 Golden Retrievers and 12 Golden mixes. And again because of your generosity, over 400 kg of dog food was sent to feed the strays living in the forests. Sevil, Gamze, and Yasemin thank you very much. You can read a story about Gamze in this magazine. There will be stories on our other rescue partners in future magazines. Also, please feel free to continue donating to this cause – just make sure to mark your donation for “Turkey Dogs.” Now we just need to get the Turkey Dogs to America! We are working on that and we may be asking for your help. More to come. . .

We have set up a number of events! Please check our website and Facebook page for the particulars.

The world of rescue is very rewarding though it can sometimes feel like a never ending uphill battle. But with each Golden saved, a life has been changed for the better! And we take another step in the right direction for Goldens not just here but around the world. Thank you for walking beside us! Golden lovers like you are the ones who help make this work possible every day! Deb