Dog Rescued in Maplewood Finds Home, Dog Cart in Union

Even though this eager-to-please, attention-loving girl loves to cuddle and give kisses, she suffers from a costly condition that inhibits her walking so much that most people will have nothing to do with her.

Penny, a 3-year-old Boston Terrier, was left in a crate on the front steps of the Maplewood animal control officer's home back in September and has since been turned away by two local animal shelters.

Cranford's Best Friend Dog and Animal Adoption group is the exception.

"Many [of our animals] have conditions like upper respiratory infections, broken bones, any medical need you can imagine," said Rosa Joseph, who serves on the Best Friend board with four other individuals and fosters four cats in her Elizabeth home. "Don't forget that we take many out of the kill shelters. We've had some with injuries. Some have been hit by cars."

Best Friends is a non-profit, no-kill, all-volunteer organization based in Cranford. It is made up of 20 local volunteers who open their homes to abandoned and forgotten animals, help at adoption days and fundraisers, and work in the group's benefit thrift store in Scotch Plains.

The volunteers are from all over Union County, including Cranford, Clark, Elizabeth, Linden, Westfield and other neighboring towns.

They raise money to feed, house and find homes for animals with conditions that mark them as unadoptable. Volunteers front the cash or find sponsors to pay for expensive medical treatments. Without dedicated groups like Best Friend, animals with such conditions often die from their illnesses or are given up on by shelters.

Penny has Ankyloking Spondylitis, a chronic, inflammatory arthritis and autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and eventual fusion of the joints between the spinal bones and pelvis. She needs ongoing medical treatment and custom-made wheels to help her get around.

A local business owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to pay around $750, the full cost of Penny's full-body quad cart. Best Friend took her to Eddie's Wheels in Massachusetts in mid-January to be fitted for her device.

Penny is lucky. With Best Friend's help, she is now living with her foster mom Allie and her five cats and three dogs, in Union.

"I took her in because I was given a perfect opportunity to help someone," said Allie. "She is an extremely energetic dog and tries to move as best she can, even in her condition she doesn't stop trying to walk and make her way over to you.  In all she is such a good girl and has this affection towards people and a will to love, despite all she's been through. My family greatly empathizes and wishes we had the time and money to keep her."

Best Friend currently houses 20 dogs and 16 cats. They cannot take any more animals in without more foster volunteers, though they will help those looking to find a new home for their pets by posting listings on their website.

Among the Cranford group's other special needs animals are Misty, an older dog with Cushings that was surrendered by an owner who "just didn't want her anymore," a diabetic cat, and another cat with asthma. The group was able to find a home for a Marshmallow, a cat with feline immunodeficiency virus or FIV.

FIV is a slow-progressing virus that affects the immune system. It is not the same as human immunodeficieny virus, or HIV, and cannot be transmitted as such.

"Marshmallow is a beautiful white cat we had for about a year before he got adopted into a home with a FIV-negative kitty," said Joseph. FIV can be passed through blood transfusions and deep bite wounds. If introduced properly, "they can share the litter box, even drink from the same water bowl."

Though Joseph is officially unemployed, she finds her efforts in Best Friend more than enough to fill her day.

"This has been always full time for me," she said. "It's with you all day, 24/7. I mostly keep our website updated, create all printed media for the group, help with adoptions..."

Those interested in helping pay for Penny's on-going treatment can send what they can to P.O. Box 335, Cranford, N.J. 07016 or through PayPal. Click here for additional volunteer and foster opportunities.

"All groups deal with the same problems," said Joseph. "We all rely on donations from caring people."