After having read about Lucy and her puppies in Ricky's Story, you may be wondering what became of them.  If you have not yet read Ricky's Story, please do so first, then return here.

Lucy was picked up as a stray from another part of Memphis.  Like Ricky, she was infested with worms, diseases and heartworms.  Her paperwork listed her as being spayed.  So, imagine everyone's surprise (except Karena, who had immediately proclaimed Lucy pregnant upon seeing pictures of her), when Lucy gave birth to eight puppies - five boys and three girls.  Lucy will have had to go through many of the same treatments and procedures as Ricky - de-worming, the high recovery diet, flea and tick medicine, and the heartworm treatment.  And, in Lucy's case, the high recovery diet was particularly important since she also had to care for her puppies.  Lucy's heartworm treatment had to be delayed until after the puppies were weaned. (As stated in Ricky's Story, a dog has to be worm and disease free and in fairly good health before proceeding with the heartworm treatment.)

All eight puppies were placed in homes - one in Nebraska, one in Washington state, one in Idaho and the remaining five in Colorado.  We pray and hope that their owners are responsible, loving dog owners and that the puppies all grew up to be happy, healthy, long-lived companions.

Lucy survived and completed the heartworm treatment and recovery.  She had to remain in boarding in Memphis until Blue Moon Akita Rescue had the money to bring her the rest of the way home to Denver. She was eventually transported to the rescue and adopted out to a family in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Jeff and Dion would like to thank Karena for all she does with Blue Moon Akita Rescue.  We had originally wanted to get an Akita puppy from a breeder, but when we found Blue Moon Akita Rescue right here in Denver, we knew that adoption was the right, and only, way to go.  We would also like to thank Debi in Memphis for bringing Ricky to Karena's attention and believing in him as having a lot of potential.

Dion expresses his deepest thanks to Karena for taking time from her very busy schedule to answer questions about Ricky, Lucy and the rescue process in general.  He also thanks Karena for giving him permission to use her small write-up about Ricky from her web site - and permission to greatly expand on it!  (It's in there! - paragraphs 11 and 12.)  And, thank you for the pictures of Ricky at the Memphis shelter, in Kansas City, MO, and upon his arrival at Blue Moon Akita Rescue.  Without these pictures and the wealth of information that Karena so generously gave, Ricky's story would not be complete.  And, Karena has given her "stamp" of approval for the version of Ricky's Story that appears here on our web site.  In return, we have gladly given Karena permission to use our version of Ricky's Story in the Success Stories section of her Blue Moon Akita Rescue web site.

Karena has been rescuing Akitas since 1973, alongside a regular Monday-Friday job.  Without her dedication, devotion and many, many hours of commitment over the years, many of those dogs would not have lived to see a loving, forever home.

Debi is a volunteer in Memphis that brings potential rescues to Karena's attention.  Karena thinks of her as her "Southern Chapter" of Blue Moon Akita Rescue. 

The rescue process presented in Ricky's Story is fairly accurate.  The process and procedures may vary some depending on the location and the situation of the dog.  Rescuing a dog is not cheap.  Medical expenses can be very high, especially for dogs like Ricky and Lucy, where their health at the time of rescue is very poor.  Then, there's boarding costs, feeding costs, the cost of transport to Colorado, more boarding costs, more feeding costs, grooming costs and training costs.  Blue Moon Akita Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  As such, it's operating expenses are covered ONLY by adoption fees and donations.  The organization has no other sources of income.  As a result, the organization is always a click away from financial disaster.

Please consider donating and help other unfortunate Akitas find their forever homes.  Or, there are many other rescues if Akitas are not your breed.  There are St. Bernard rescues, Golden Retriever rescues, Corgi rescues, just to name a few.  An internet search will help you locate a rescue of your choice.  Your donations to, or adoptions from, a rescue will go a long way in giving a deserving dog a second chance.