But sometimes a rescue is an emotional roller coaster full of risks that can continue for a couple weeks or more. Such was the case with a rescue I was involved in this last few weeks.
I had received an email from several different people about a group of stray "Fox Terriers" located in Barstow, CA. I get anywhere from 15 to even 30 or more of these kind of emails each day, some screaming out at me from the subject line - "I DIE TOMORROW, WHY WON'T YOU SAVE ME?!!!" I only look at them when I know we have foster space because it truly can be soul killing work. But I opened this email because the "7 Fox Terriers" part of the subject line caught my interest. Since no one knows what a Rat Terrier is on the West Coast, I'm used to most of the dogs I pull being called Fox Terriers, Jack Russells, Italian Greyhounds or Chihuahuas. Heck, I once rescued a purebred calico coat Rat Terrier labeled by the shelter as a German Shepherd!
Anyhow I opened the email, which had attached photos and was addressed to about 25 different rescuers. Staring out from the photos was a kennel full of beautiful Rat Terriers. Still, I knew that it was unlikely that my rescue partner Lynn and I could pull off a rescue of these dogs who were stuck out in a shelter located in rural desert area. They were too far from Lynn, who lives in Fresno. I deleted the email.
 |
| One of the first shelter photos that was being passed around in rescue circles |
But then someone else sent it to me.
Finally I started looking at details. I was hooked. We were in. After that 100's of texts and emails followed. We were going to save them. Nope, we didn't have anyone to help in Barstow where the dogs were located. Oh wait, someone was found! But wait, she stopped responding to emails. Wait! There was another person who had info. Nope, dead end. Maybe Pilots and Paws could fly them? Nope, no one to take them to the airport. Plus, there was the fact that we needed a trusted person to evaluate the dogs. We needed to know sex, size, temperament.
Seven Rat Terriers screams breeder to me so there was a good chance these dogs were very under-socialized. I don't care much about a rescued dog's past unless it helps me better understand where they are at now, emotionally. I want to see where exactly they are at in the present and then come up with a plan for their future. I have no time to dwell on sad stories of the past because that won't help with the present problem - they need out of the shelter and they need people to care for them and time is of the essence.
Then I learned there were just five dogs listed. No one seemed to know where the other two went and the shelter's rescue liaison was tough to get hold of. Then one of the young pups was adopted. We were down to four dogs. Four dogs was doable, right? But wait!!! The adopted puppy ended up contracting parvo. Lynn and I panicked. With no help for transport and now 4 dogs possibly exposed to parvo we were out. There were plenty of other dogs to rescue who didn't have that parvo risk attached to them and who were within driving distance of Lynn. I was very sad because I had started to feel connected to the dogs, but rescue coordinating has a lot of triage work and Lynn and I had made a tough but good choice for our volunteers who would be fostering these dogs. We couldn't make it work this time. The emails stopped and I moved on to other dogs and other rescue work.
Then a week and a half later, Lynn and I received another email. "Hey, these dogs have gone urgent - it's their last week - they've been tested and are parvo free." Hmmm... And it was past the worry period post parvo exposure. We had a couple problems left though.
New Rattitude didn't have "pull rights" at the shelter and although we are 501(c)3 designated, it would take longer to process the paperwork than the dogs had left to live. While shelters would love to have the space and money and employees to hold dogs until all the paperwork is handled, they just don't. The shelter is crowded. The dogs had been there three weeks and the shelter was getting crowded. Their euthanasia date was scheduled.
Doing a typical rescue pull wasn't going to work for these particular dogs. However, I learned that I could personally "adopt" the dogs for $85 which included their DHPP and Rabies vaccinations as well as speuter surgery. New Rattitude reimburses rescue coordinators for pull fees since often those fees include discounted vetting, so I paid the $340 dollars and became the proud owner of 4 rat terriers. After adopting them I learned they were all girls and the 3 adults where in the 20 pound range - big, beautiful girls.
Lynn and I got to work looking for a way to get them the 250 miles to Fresno. Because of Lynn's work schedule it had to happen on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. A friend of Lynn's dad, an angel of a retired guy named Tyrone who lived on the coast in Lompoc had been following this saga and after seeing that we were getting desperate, he said "hey, I'll do it." He felt like a road trip and might as well save some dogs on the adventure.
Everything was set - dogs were adopted on Tuesday the 9th (the day they were scheduled to be euthanized), spayed and vetted on Wednesday the 10th, and transport arranged from Barstow to Fresno on Friday the 12th.
Stay tuned for part two, coming tomorrow with the happy ending - or you might say the happy beginning, since rescue is a bit of both.
A Long and Precious Rescue: Part Two
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment