And Toby’s own goodbye in his own words…

Toby Weymiller, a man who followed his dreams and was always passionate about making a difference, passed away in the mountains on(insert date), just as he had hoped.

Toby loved nature, the mountains, his family and his friends. He always thrived for the ultimate balance with all of these passions and his dying wishes were to tell everyone, “Thanks for the memories!” and “Thanks for all the support over the years!”. In lieu of flowers or donations to charity (although he always encouraged donations to charities), Toby asked that you all go outside, sit down, breathe in that fresh air and take a few minutes to remember him. Toby asked that you smile and laugh as you remember the good times you shared with him. Toby says that even though he is not visible to the eye, he is still very alive in spirit and you can find him often when you go out into nature and especially up into the mountains. Toby said he is waiting for you to come visit him there.

Toby is survived by many family and friends, all of which he loved dearly. You can go to http://www.weymiller.com to see more about Toby, including pictures and videos, as well as his family and friends.

–Toby wrote this obituary himself back in 2008 and his final word to all if you is “Namaste”.

*3/29/2013 original post:
Today is a very sad day for us at AngelsWithFur. Toby Weymiller, previous administrator of this page, passed away today from injuries sustained in an avalanche. A truly bright light has gone out of this world for both people and animals. In addition to the work with this page and all of the other amazing things Toby did in his life (and there were many), he was extremely active with the rescue of animals after the Tohoku disaster, both physically on the ground and logistically online. Both the animal and human world lost a great man tonight. Rest in peace Toby. You will be dearly, dearly missed…
–When you are outside, maybe looking at the cherry blossoms this weekend, please take a moment to remember Toby and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Fostering allows rescues to save more animals. If you are going to be in Japan for a few years, this can be a great way to help! Clicking the picture will take you to OAARS homepage.

First up, meet DeNiro.  How could a person not fall in love with this face?  Denny is looking for a home with a family who has some experience with Border Collies.  Maybe that’s you?

I asked Santa for a family who loves and understands me this Christmas. Do you have room in your heart for me?

More of a cat person than a dog person?  Meet Hikaru and Po-Chan.  These two are true BFFs!  Their Christmas wish is to find a family looking to add a double dose of furry cuteness to their family.

Aren’t I a beautiful boy? My name is Hikaru which means light.  I’m a pretty sunny cat, so it fits!  Po-chan is my best friend and we both love to cuddle and play. Can we come play at your house?

Kitten punch! Hi! I’m Po-chan! C’mon, let’s play! My best friend Hikaru and I would love to play at your house! We’re dreaming this Christmas of finding a home of our own! How about your house??

*Both of the kitties have a cold right now, but it should clear up and their eyes should be fine.

Click on the photos to read more about DeNero, Hikaru, and Po-Chan.  They are ARK animals, so the pictures will take you to their site.

**ARK will ask potential adopters to fill out a detailed adoption survey, which might feel weird if you haven’t done it before, but they’re really, really good at helping families find the perfect match.  It’s worth it to trust the instincts of the staff at ARK on this.  They’re great people and want the best for everyone involved.

Please contact AngelsWithFur at :   AngelsWithFur-owner@yahoogroups.com  (copy-paste) if you might be able to offer a loving home to any of these animals.  We will forward your information on to their current family and they will contact you directly.

Yuki- 

Snacks please!

Age: Just over a year

Size: Medium-small dog (just below knee level)

Sex: Female

Breed: Shiba-Inu

Health: Yuki is in good health and has had all

her shots for both Japanese standards

and Misawa Air Base. We have

documentation for all shots. She has

been spayed.

Character:

Named after the snow that was falling when we bought her, she was pure white except for her ears and the tip of her tail. Over the year we have had her, she has gained more orange on her ears, tail, along her back and on her legs. She’s got a lot of energy and would do really well with a yard. She loves to wrestle and play with other dogs, but can get a little rough at times. It would be best not to have her around cats or a dog that is smaller than she is. The same size or a little bigger would be fine though.

Tubs (sister) and Stripe (brother)-

Age: about 4 months old

Size: going to be large cats

Sex: Tubs (female) Stripe (male)

Health: Healthy as far as we can tell,

but they have not had  an opportunity

to go to the vet yet.

Character:

Tubs-  She is a mix of white, grey and just a little bit of orange. She has no problems with people at all and is more than willing to cuddle at all times. She has been ok with our two shiba dogs, but she might not do as well with a larger dog.

Stripe- This guy is an adventurer. I don’t think he’s afraid of anything. He’s always the first one out of the cage, out of the room, in the dog’s face or climbing to the highest point he can find. He’s very personable and friendly, though a little hardheaded at times. He has gotten along great with our two dogs. He’s a beautiful grey and black striped color.

*Backstory- All 3 have been much loved and well cared for by their current owners. Due to unfortunate circumstances, the owners will soon not be in a position to be able to keep them any longer.  They are doing their best to reach out and find loving homes for Tubs, Stripe, and Yuki as soon as possible.  Please spread the word if you can about these 3!!

Come play! 遊ぼう！

 ARK Adoption Event at Dog Life Design in Komizawa　(Today!!)

From ARK’s Facebook site:

Dog Life Design has made its spacious salon available for adoption events since April 2007.
Come and enjoy meeting both dogs and cats.

This is a great opportunity to come and not just see, but pat and play with our animals in a relaxed environment. Come and meet our animals or support ARK by purchasing books or original items.
Please keep an eye on our website and let us know if there are any animals you would especially like to meet.

Look at that  face!  I’m kind of in love with this poster from OAARS.  They have recently put a call out for some additional foster families to help them keep doing what they do!

They say:
Foster families are always needed and the rewards are endless. If interested, please email Cats Becky at oaarscats@gmail.com or Dogs Amy oaarsfoster@gmail.com.

Clicking on the image will take you to their homepage too!

(Photo: By Mehdi Taamallah, AFP/Getty Images)

New York City has taught us some great lessons so far in Hurricane Sandy.  By law, all city shelters were required to be pet friendly and all taxi drivers had to accept customers with pets during evacuation.   **Hooray for  New York!**

Even the New York shelters though have certain stipulations for incoming pets.  All pets must be in carriers or must be on a lead.  They asked also that the owner bring their own food for their pet as well…  so even in the best case scenario, we still have to think… are we prepared?  Will we and our pets be ready if we ever need to evacuate?

Even more so in Japan, we need to be ready.  The regulations are not uniform.  Some areas have pet friendly shelters…others do not.  Do you know what the situation is for your community?  Can you talk to your local government about making a plan for pets if they don’t already have one in place?

I think most of the pet lovers on Angels with Fur would agree that we wouldn’t leave our pets behind, but are we ready with a plan for where we will go and what we will need to have with us when a disaster occurs?

All of this made me think about a friend who is a jietai (Self-Defense Force) nurse here in Japan…she is required to have a “go bag” in her entryway for  emergency.  Everything she needs to leave at a moment’s notice is in there.

We need pet “go bags”!!!
(Maybe you already have something like that, but if, like me, you don’t…)

The two sites below have some excellent advice to get us started with what to put in it.  The first is a wonderful veterinarian’s blog and the other I think everyone knows.  tsukurimasho!

Tyson’s solder will be new to Japan and he needs some help finding a place for Tyson when he has to leave the base once per quarter.  Can we help him out?

(This was originally posted on DogsOnDeployment.)

Click on the image to go to their page!  You can find out more about their events and activities in Japan!