Gun Dog Forum

There was a devastating fire at Bruce Shaffer's house yesterday (GDF member AHGSP). Thank god his wife and two children are safe but his house is a total loss and he lost about 20+ dogs. Some of those dogs were his and some were clients. Sadly GDF member 1doogie also lost his GSP AFC Snip's Sixth Sense Wyatt MH in that fire. To say this fire is devastating is a severe understatement not only for the loss of the dogs but for Bruce's family losing everything they own. I am asking if you can help please donate to his family at the link below. This is one of those instances that us as a dog community / hunting dog community need to pull together. Please donate if you can. Thank you.

http://pitchinbox.com/widget/widget.swf?id=5866260037

~Robyn

This is the last kind of news I want to see when I visit GDF or any other site my prayers go out to Bruce & his family,also to Doogie & all others who lost animals in this horrible incident.

A Facebook page has also been set up for you to share your thoughts with Bruce and his family.

https://www.facebook.com/ShafferFamilyFire

I can't imagine the pain. My heart goes out to all that are involved.

So very sorry to hear something like this no matter who it happens to. I just hope out GDF family will pitch in and help in any way they can. Let us know what is needed, my prayers are with you.

Ezzy

Unfortunately, our bama was among those that perished. My heart and prayers go out to all the other owners that lost. Please pitch in and help Bruce and his family in any way u can. Bruce im sure u know that we all keep you and your family in our prayers and let us know if we can help out on the farm. More than willing to make the trip for anything needed.

Joe.

So sorry for your loss, glad your family is ok

Glad the family is ok. That is a terrible loss. I have been through one myself a few years back. It is a very emotional time for all of you. Thoughts are with you all and the others that had losses.

Sorry to hear about the loss. You, your family and your clients are in my thoughts and prayers.

Oh Joe...so incredibly sorry for your loss.
This is just such a tragedy. I can't even begin to imagine your loss. My prayers tonight will include your family. So sorry for you and Jon and Raf and the others. Hang in there.

This is shocking... I am so sorry for Bruce and his family as well as all those who have lost beloved dogs.

My heart goes out to you all...

Thank you byrdgirl. Its been a tough day. Torn between my loss and knowing that Bruce and his family have lost everything. I couldnt imagine that kind of loss. I know heck be back at it. When he does, heck be training our next prospect.

Joe

My heart breaks over this. So so sorry for everyone involved. Its such a shocking tragedy.

For those of you who are not friends with Bruce on facebook. He posted this message late last night:

"I've been back with my family a couple hours, from what has been the longest 1400 miles and 36 hours of my life. To say I'm utterly gutted & destroyed emotionally is an understatement. 1st and foremost, the most important treasures in my life; my daughters Raine & Storm and Wife Jen are safe. The second most important treasures in my life, all of the dogs, were lost to a house fire Friday night as... I was enroute to Eureka, KS for Nationals. The house is completely down to the foundation and absolutely nothing is left. I've drawn great strength and a greater resolve to overcome this, thanks to the tremendous support of all that have been reaching out to us to help. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. For all that have messaged me, please bare with me as I try to respond to each and every one of you, as my only source of connectivity is my cell phone. We all know how joyous typing messages on a cell phone are....
I will know more tomorrow and will reach out in the coming days. Right now, about all I can share is, that due to Insurance Companies dislike for large numbers of dogs, we were uninsured after our carrier dropped us and unable to secure new insurance that would have covered our "unique" home business.
Again, thank you each and every one, I will never be able to be grateful enough for the outpouring of support over the past 24 hours, as our tragedy became known."

Please if you are able help donations are being taken for Bruce and his family. They will need lots of help: http://pitchinbox.com/widget/widget.swf?id=5866260037

Bruce:
You and your family are in our prayers. I can not even imagine what you all are going through.
So sorry for your Loss and your clients Loss.

Rick and Janet.

I have read many great postes from Bruce over the years. This is heart breaking to even read about. One reason this same thing happened to me not long ago. I too lost dogs in our home fire along with everything but the shirt on my back. THe house is rebuilt and many of the items are replace, however my dog Toad and the family dog Tabby have not been. I do have other dogs, but honestly I can tell you some of the luster has left me with dogs.

To Bruce and his... I wish you all the best in your recovery!

Tom Kosmack

Heart breaking, funds have been sent.

What a devastating tragedy .. beyond words.

Bruce, his family, and our gun dog community will be racing against winter to get their home cleaned up and rebuilt ASAP. If you have specific skills(carpenter, plumber, etc...), time (WV is beautiful in the fall with all the leaves changing), and/or materials (large quantities or a few faucets that fell off the back of a truck) that you would be able to donate and get to WV in the coming weeks, please contact me on here or e-mail me at knightfarms@gmail.com. I will be working on posting a list of needs to the facebook page and the GDF soon.

I'm going to try to start organizing the efforts the best I can from afar. Please take a moment to fill out this form about how you would like to help:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1M3L-KI ... c/viewform

Join us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShafferFamilyFire

A picture is worth a thousand words. Please donate if you can. There is also a website up: http://www.shafferfamilyfirefund.com/ that has a guestbook if you want to leave him your thoughts.

So sorry to hear this, my prayers go out to all involved.

So sad. Sending positive thoughts your way...

I also knew one of the dogs lost in this fire, sweet, sweet boy, R.I.P Biscuit...

http://www.shafferfamilyfirefund.com/the-dogs

So very sorry to hear. Know that your in our thoughts & Prayers . Everyone .

Though my single interaction with Bruce came by way of a phone call, I remember thinking how nice it was to talk with some one who cares about dogs as much as him. In as much as it is a tragedy for he and his family, it is a blessing that his his wife and kids are OK. My heart goes out to all those who lost dogs in the fire.

Thanks to those who posted the links to send help.

For those of you who are not connected to Bruce on facebook he posted this update late last night:

Well, the past couple days have been a heck of a wild ride!!!!

We've gotten most of the metal roof folded and stacked in a pile for salvage, as well as a lot of other steel/metal salvage from around the foundation area. No sense paying for tonnage at the landfill to haul it off, when you can make something back hauling it to salvage.

The side building is almost cleaned out, except for the freezer that somehow still had semi-frozen meat, fetch training birds like Phez and even a couple boxes of Girl Scout cookies! Hoping to possibly pull it over w/ the tractor/truck tomorrow or Friday.

Have some folks; Melissa Burkhardt and Rich, Deb Fishel Beyer, neighbors Larry Krumrine and Harry Shahan, as well as Jens brother Paul coming down to help. We'll have a full panel of help this weekend as well; when Jonathan Sensinger, Rafael Franco, John Grimes, Larry Krumrine, Jackie Secan Yeiser and last, but not least; Robyn Klenk show up with their work boots on. For others that are offering to come down and help, I'm trying to figure out a way to sort out how we can do small groups on days convenient to those offering, so as to not overwhelm me and get "too many cooks in the kitchen" as they say.

For those asking what items we need for both now and in the future and offering items they may have duplicates of, Cheryl Thomas Knight and Jeff Lagasse have given me the suggestions of writing up a list of things lost and needed, photographing it and sending it to them and then putting it into an Excel, or Drop Box type file, so we can check off items as they are gotten, or promised; so folks can better see our needs. I'll be trying to get that list together in the next day or two.

For those wondering, the girls are doing pretty good and being real troopers through all of this. The folks at their school have been nothing short of fantastic in helping to keep their routines as normal as possible, as well as being there for them when they are at school and not directly with us. A ton of folks have also helped tremendously and reached out, offering items like toys, games, stuffed animals, movies, books and such that they lost; to allow them to keep on being kids and not have to realize the loss.
Jen and I are also doing well and doing the best we can when life hands ya lemons

Again, I can just not possibly THANK all that have offered support in any fashion enough, you folks have given us a ton of courage and strength to dig in, clean up and rebuild. We're going to beat this, come heck or high water..... THANX TO YOU!!!!
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The outpouring from the dog community has been amazing. With that said we are still collecting donations for Bruce and his family especially anything that can be offered financially. We are also planning a Beef and Beer in the Allentown / Quakertown PA area for Saturday 12/7. Please let me know if you are in the NY/NJ/PA area and think you would want to attend or if you are able to donate goods or services to be raffled off. Thanks so much. ~Robyn

Shaffer House UPDATE:

Ready to start organizing all the amazing offers of furniture, clothes, appliances, and building supplies. The link to this online form can be placed in an e-mail to your clubs or groups, and information will not be shared beyond our small group of organizers. This is the link: http://tinyurl.com/ShafferFireDonations

Pictures, videos, and comments can be viewed here: http://www.shafferfamilyfirefund.com/

They need everything from building supplies to appliances, to beds, a couch, coat rack, etc...

Gathering this information and donations is so important because it helps Bruce and his family create a housing budget; they are approximately $20,000 short for purchasing the supplies needed to rebuild their home. If you can donate anything to this family, even storage space, you are bringing them one step closer to having a home for the holidays.

Take a look at the form, fill it out, and push it out to all your networks. Thank you!

paypal sent...just heartbreaking and almost unbelievable.

Hey everyone,

We put together an online auction to help raise the final amounts needed to get GDF member Bruce Shaffer and his displaced family back in their home. There are lots of great hunting related items. Check it out!

http://www.32auctions.com/shafferfamilyfirefund

Happy Friday everyone!! We added five more items to the auction tonight so please head back and check it out! There are so many items there are two pages so don't forget to go to page 2! Keep sharing and keep bidding! It all goes to a good cause! http://www.32auctions.com/shafferfamilyfirefund