I am putting a copy of an e-mail I got today in here. Please hlep and vote for this group in this contest.
Amazing aussies is a fantastic group of people in Arizona that take in and find homes for the homozygous merle aussies and sometimes other breeds that suffer from this condition too. A homozygous merle is from a merle to merle breeding ( merle is a coat coloring). The merle gene is recessive and carries the gene for blindness on it . One in four pups from such a breeding will be homozygous but the numbers are often higher as I helped rescue a group where 5 of 10 pups were born homozygous. The dogs tend to be white with very limited and often very muted merle markings. Because of all that white they are often deaf ( like white boxers or a few other breeds that sometimes have a white puppy) So these aussies are very often deaf , blind or have varing degrees of vision issues or a combo of these two conditions. Despite it all they do make fantastic pets. Phoenix is deaf and has limited vision she is different in that while she does have too much white in her coat she does actually have a very beautiful dark blue merle coat.But most tend to be very white dogs.
I got help from this group when I first saw Phoenix at the local humane society and after talking to them I knew she would be a great dog and she is. My vet warned me that deaf dogs tend to be bitters, and questioned me as to why I adopted her. I have yet to meet one that is a biter! Dazzle plays with one at the dog park and most people there do not know there is a thing wrong with him. I knew because he is a white aussie so I asked his owner if he was deaf.When I took the 5 homozygous puppies we helped rescue to Lorraines house and met her pack of homozygous dogs every single one was a huge love bug! So please help as this group could use the money as these dogs often need eye exams and meds when they first get them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Jan
Below is the e-mai.l
I have a very,very special request from each of you!
Rachel Ray has just started her Mutt Madness - a contest where rescues across the country were selected and based on weekly voting, a final rescue will be chosen to win $50,000! The Amazing Aussies Lethal White Rescue of Arizona was chosen and is starting the first round! As you all know, this rescue is incredibly near and dear to my heart as they rescue dogs that are born blind, deaf or both. They are BADLY in need of funds and I would just love to see them win!
Please go to http://www.rachaelray.com/pets/muttmadness/index.php (broken link) and sign up to vote EACH week! Cast your vote for week one by Tuesday night, October 20th and then check back the next day to see who made it to round two. You can only see "Amazing" on the voting panel so just click on it and then you can vote!
If the link above doesn't work, your can still access Mutt Madness by going on
www.rachelray.com clicking on Pets tab then Mutt Madness at the top.
If you have time and want to vote, you have to register and vote for each bracket so it takes a couple of minutes. If you don't want to vote, please consider sending it on to a friend or someone that might vote. We are on the right column going up against Florida Boxer. Round 1 ends 10/20!
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO AS MANY FRIENDS AS YOU CAN, POST TO YOUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER SO WE CAN KEEP THE AUSSIES IN THE RUNNING EACH WEEK TO WIN THE PRIZE!!!!