One of my volunteers jobs for New Rattitude is to coordinate rescues of dogs to keep our Washington state foster spots full of rescues. The job is called a "state coordinator" and I spend time filing through our group's listings of urgent dogs around the country and deciding which dogs would be good fits for different foster homes and which I'll be able to get transported to Washington. Each home has a different make up of resident dogs and each foster parent has a mix of skills so I end up being a bit of a matchmaker.
Because I am constantly scanning through the photos and write ups about dogs that are very close to being killed, I've tried to learn to compartmentalize things and not think of how many dogs I can't save and just focus on the few that I can help. It's much easier said than done and sometimes a little face grabs my heart and I really want to save a specific dog, in spite of the reality of not having room for him or her.
Recently a little dog named Happy in Los Angeles caught my eye. I didn't rush because I thought he had more time before being euthanized, and I didn't really have a spot for him but I kept checking back, hoping I could pull him. When I finally had a spot that could take him I checked on him and his picture was no longer on the site. Panicking, I checked with a volunteer at the shelter and discovered that Happy had been euthanized because the shelter was really crowded and he hadn't shown well in the shelter setting. I was crushed and felt like his photo was burned into my skull. Knowing how fast stuff like this can pull a person under, I focused my frustration on saving another Los Angeles dog.
A1181170 was a young adult, male rat terrier west of Los Angeles. I wrote down his number, copied his photo and then set to digging through the bureaucracy that is the Los Angeles Animal Services to get this dog out. After 4 hours of networking with local rescuers and volunteers a plan was in place and the shelter was ready to release him. Little A1181170 was a shy guy. He had been surrendered with 5 other rat terriers and all of them were quickly adopted. He was returned for being too shy and after being returned was unlucky enough to come down with kennel cough. The stress of the shelter and a bad case of worms was wearing him down and the kennel cough turned into a serious upper respiratory infection. His chances of making it out of the shelter were getting slim without a rescue group's intervention. Everything worked out for this guy though and our volunteer transporter pulled him this morning and drove him straight to our temp foster mom's vet. As a thank you, little A1181170 covered her with boogery kisses and hugged her close, obviously relieved to be out.
In total 7 volunteers in California worked with me for 2 days to get this little guy to safety. He still has a long road ahead of him. This week he'll rest up and hopefully the antibiotics will start to do their magic. Next week an airline employee has volunteered to fly down to Southern California and carry him back to Seattle in cabin. He'll spend a few days with me and then will travel to his foster home in Yakima, WA where he can settle in for awhile and heal up while he awaits his forever home. And I am glad to say he is no longer #A1181170. He is now Kermit the Dog or Kermie for short.
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