Volunteer of the Year 2015
AKKNR Board of Directors would like to congratulate the dual recipients of the Volunteer of the Year award, Jennifer Hsia Michaels and Catherine and Gilbert Lingle, whom are recognized for their outstanding volunteer work during 2015.
Catherine and Gilbert Lingle
In January 2015, AKKNR received notice of a potential rescue when an AKK was for sale on Craigslist.Catherine & Gilbert Lingle were not AKKNR Volunteers at the time, but quickly signed up so they could spring in action. Gilbert drove 1,000 miles round trip to pull Koto from his 4th home where he was obviously abused and neglected. When Koto was taken for Vet care, x-rays showed Koto had a dislocated right hip that had apparently been that way for a long time and would need surgery. The Lingle’s sought out the best possible surgeon and drove the many miles to get him in for surgery, but when the specialist shaved Koto for surgery, he was found to have a staph infection on his skin and to be extremely malnourished. Cathy and Gilbert took Koto back home and started him on medicine for the staph infection and to try to help him gain the needed weight for the surgery. It took time for Koto to gain weight and even longer for the staph infection to clear up, but finally Koto was able to have his surgery and went through rehab. On 7/16/2015 Koto was adopted by Cathy’s parents Darrell & Janice Kent who assisted with foster care and rehab. AKKNR recently got updated photos from the Kent’s.Koto is living a great life now and gets to spend part of his time visiting elderly residential facilities where he steals their hearts!
Jennifer Hsia Michaels
Much like in Koto’s case, in November 2015 when AKKNR was notified of an apparent AKK in the Pasadena Humane Society, Jennifer Hsia Michaels was not an AKKNR Volunteer, but quickly signed up to do a Breed ID and get the dog pulled from the Pasadena Humane Society.Chips (the name given by AKKNR) came with a badly broken left front leg. The shelter had only splinted his leg and didn’t plan to do anything further. Jennifer drove several hours one way to take Chips to an orthopedic surgeon to make sure he would have the best possible outcome. It was determined that Chips was only 6-8 months old because his growth plates had not closed yet. The orthopedic surgeon placed a plate and 6 screws in his leg – but avoided the growth plates. Because the surgeon could not put in the usual number of screws, Chips was on very strict and limited use of his leg – which Jennifer did a great job of keeping an AKK puppy under control. Once Chips was released from the orthopedic surgeon, Jennifer still drove one hour each way to take Chips to her own Vet who has several AKK patients. Also with Chips’ age, they weren’t sure if he had been neutered or just retained his testicles. Jennifer worked with her Vet for Chips to have an ultrasound which showed it was the latter, so he also had that surgery and Jennifer once again had to keep an AKK puppy quiet for a few days. During this process, Jennifer worked with other AKKNR Volunteers to make sure Chips had great care and fostering.Chips was adopted in early 2016.