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Boonie Tails

By Grace Keilbach

Boonie Goodbyes

Volunteers on Saipan can be hard to come by but this summer, we were lucky enough to have two amazing women dedicate their time to saving the Boonies! Shea, a long term friend and Boonie Babies supporter, truly went above and beyond to make sure that our ground operation was up and running. In addition to being an amazing volunteer, Shea also became an amazing mom to this lucky girl, Novi. Novi and Shea will be making the journey back to the states this week to begin their new chapter together at grad school. We’re not sure Novi is as smart as her mom (among many talents she speaks fluent Mandarin, how cool is that) so please wish her luck at school!

Emily came to Saipan to visit family and had no idea what she was in for when connecting with Boonie Babies. She quickly became a dedicated volunteer and was always there when we needed extra help. Upon her arrival, Emily quickly fell in love with this owner surrendered “Maltese”. Being that Alien, now known as Remi, had lived his entire life in a cage and was a product of poor, backyard breeding, we were unsure if he would be able to be rehabilitated enough socially and physically to be adopted out.

Emily nursed him back to health and gave him a new chance at life, something we would have not had the time or resources to do without her. This past week, Emily’s time on Saipan came to an end but she wasn’t about to leave her new best friend behind. Remi is now enjoying his new home in West Virginia and can sometimes be heard singing “Take Me Home Country Roads” by John Denver.

Although there is so much to say about these incredible, intelligent, and beautiful women, we’ll just summarize it with this; hot girls rescue dogs! Thank you for helping us save the Boonies!

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Dollars for Dogs

Support your favorite rescue by shopping for what you already need on our Amazon Storefront! We have everything listed from dog and cat food to our favorite sunscreen and facial bronzing drops. All items listed are used by us and Boonie approved. The best part? Shopping from our storefront comes at no extra cost to you, we just earn commission for recommending it. Click HERE to make your dollars support dogs!

Already have what you need for you and your pet? Share the love and select something from our wishlist to ship directly to our front door (A.K.A. PO Box. On Saipan, no mail is directly delivered). Click HERE to see what items our rescues currently need.

Boonie of the Week: Sweet Boy in Need of Name

“Hi I think this is the number for Aria of Boonie Babies. I’m on Saipan for work. I just got here and found a dog with a bad leg who is starving. Can you help him? He is friendly”.

Every time I get a message like this, especially from off island visitors, I ask for a video of the dog’s condition because half the time, it’s just a semi-taken care of stray in far better condition than the majority of dogs we encounter. Living on island, this is something you become desensitized to so our definition of “semi-taken care of” is a lot different than anyone’s from the mainland is. Lily instantly messages back with a video of a malnourished Boonie limping towards her, tail wagging.

Although not the worse we’ve seen, he did appear to be in significant pain, something we always try to help with. When dogs have any type of injury, often the only humane solution available is euthanasia due to our lack of resources and no veterinarian. I explained this to Lily honestly. Refreshingly, she completely understood the reality of the situation but was still willing to give this dog a fighting chance. With so many animals in need of help, those who require extensive medical treatment are simply not in our budget and out of our capability to care for them long term. Without even asking, Lily immediately volunteered to cover the cost of his medical care and understood that being on Saipan, there’s no guarantee of a happy ending.

I had a busy afternoon running to meetings and before I could message Lily back with a plan, she had successfully loaded the dog into her rental car and was on her way over. Although we don’t know what the future of this dog looks like, it was incredible to see the initiative of a visitor and her dedication to not only helping the dog, but supporting us in doing so along the way.

This sweet boy may already have the support he needs but so many of our other Boonies are still looking for your help. When we rescued our very first litter, we fundraised for their medical care on TikTok by allowing people who made donations to name the pups. Help us name this Boonie of The Week and give another dog the same opportunity! Email us at [email protected] to learn how to make a $100 donation and name your very own Saipan Boonie. The name will be announced in next weeks newsletter!

Boonie Tails is free to read. But if you liked this post, support Boonie Babies and this newsletter by pledging a monthly or annual donation. Thank you for reading and we’ll see you next week!