Miami-Dade Animal Services (MDAS) has had an inordinate number of German Shepherd Dogs this past year. They’re either picked up as strays or are owner sur- rendered. In mid-July 2016, THE NEW BARKER received a message that there were 10 to 11 German Shepherd Dogs at the high-kill facility who needed to be immediately adopted, or at least temporar- ily fostered through a rescue group. They were in danger of being euthanized. The message sat on my computer
screen. Then, with some trepidation, I pressed the reply button with a response of how we might assist. Lesson learned: animal rescue is not a
stick-your-big-toe-in-to-test-the-waters kind of game. Most anyone with an ounce of empathy will be sucked in, if naive enough to offer help. And, the old timers smell the naiveté in the blood of a newbie. Once the commitment is made, the
wheels of rescue are set in motion. It starts out slow, like an uphill climb. This mission was no different. Folks stepped up right away, then backed out for various reasons. It is easy to become discouraged and over- whelmed, especially if there are other obli- gations, like a job and family. We would not have been able to pull
those death row dogs, who became known to us as the Miami 5, without the commit- ment, help and encouragement from On the Wings of Angels Rescue (OWAR). The Tampa Bay Area sanctuary agreed to take five of the dogs when we presented the sit- uation. The facility was already at capacity, but the staff volunteered to work overtime with no pay in order to accommodate the dogs. Securing a commitment for safe
placement of the dogs was the first step. The next step was to find an organization in Miami who had a partnership with MDAS to pull dogs. We reached out to those we knew within the Tampa Bay area who are in rescue: Bill Gray with Second Chance Boxer Rescue, Laura Dyer and Danielle Yoho of Racing4Rescues, Connie Johnson with SPCA Florida and Kristen Triplett of Pasadena Pet Motel. We were put in touch with Bernadette Spade in Miami. The mission was officially in motion. Transportation was the next issue that
needed to be addressed. Would the dogs be traveling via air or ground?
26 THE NEW BARKER
When we initially contacted Jeff
Bennett of Pilots N Paws, he immediate- ly agreed to pick up the dogs for us in Miami, and transport them to Tampa by way of Orlando. It was agreed that staff from OWAR would drive to Orlando to pick up the dogs from the airport. However, as the saying goes, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” What seemed to initially fall into place
over the course of a few days, began falling apart at the last minute. Nobody said this would be easy, but quitting was definitely not an option, although there were brief moments when the notion was consid- ered. There were lives in the balance, and several people were full-in. To toss that aside would mean never being able to call on any of these people for help again. Command center was my office and a
cell phone, which was filling up fast with text messages from several people offering their services, advice, encouragement and, most of all, offers to help with the trans- ports.
When Jeff, our pilot, realized how big
the dogs were (he thought they were pup- pies), he called to say his plane would not be able to handle the additional weight. Prior to committing to our transport, he had already committed to transport another group of dogs. We were to be pig- gybacking with Jeff, which is often the case in animal rescue. But, safety is number one for the humans and their charges — no exceptions. So, it was back to the draw- ing board and more phone calls. The dogs would now have to be transported by car, meaning a bigger commitment of time, distance and gas for the volunteers who promised to see the mission through. Meanwhile, we were still coordinating
the release and pick up of our Miami 5 from MDAS. There would be no time for fosters, so this was a delicate balancing act: pull the dogs late in the day, house them for a few hours, begin the transport very early the following morning. It was through our network of dedi-
cated volunteers and animal advocates that we were introduced to Isabel with Coastal Boxer Rescue. Since she lives in Miami and is familiar with MDAS protocol, having already pulled many dogs, she would be our go-to person for springing the Miami 5. Comfort Kennels in Hialeah heard about the mission, and volunteered to house the
Freedom ride - Loba and Cail, sprung from Miami-Dade Animal Services.
dogs overnight, then have them ready for transport the following morning. Isabel had a small window of time
after getting off work to get to MDAS before they closed. The size of her car and the size of the five dogs would necessitate two trips from MDAS to Comfort Kennels during Miami’s infamous drive- time traffic. Plus, no one had any idea of the temperament of the dogs. And, did we mention it was storming in Miami? When Isabel arrived at MDAS, she
was told one of the Miami 5 had been adopted. She was asked if there was any way she could take a puppy. We placed a call in to OWAR, who gave us the thumbs up to pull the puppy.
Continued.g
Marielena and Buddy getting ready for the trip to Tampa.
www.TheNewBarker.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
