VIP Rescue Florida has established partnerships with ani-
mal services and shelters in fourteen Florida counties. Through word of mouth, the rescue group has managed to develop and maintain a strong volunteer foster network - one of the most critical and difficult aspects of running a successful rescue. Time management is another important skill to have for
running a rescue. “Time management. It's how we, as a small group, can be so efficient. It’s saved my butt more times than anything else,” said Terri. As an example: Within 48 hours of taking in a rescue, VIP
Rescue will have had the dog groomed and vetted. Medical care is administered, if required, and a foster home is selected, depending on availability and the condition of the dog’s health. Pictures are taken (depending on the situation), a bio is developed then uploaded onto the VIP Rescue Florida website and social media. It doesn’t matter if one dog is taken in or 10 dogs are taken in, the process is always the same - just multiplied. VIP stands for Very
Important Poodle. Poodles have always been Terri’s favorite breed. However, lately the organization has changed its focus a bit. “We are encoun- tering so many smaller dogs and lots of puppies that are either abandoned, owner sur- rendered or part of hoarding situations,” said Terri. “I just couldn’t turn the other way and allow them to be lost in the shelter system.” When we visited with Terri earlier this year, the rescue had
thing, say something,” said Danielle. All of the dogs were filthy, flea infested, and full of worms.
After all of the initial veterinary and grooming care had been completed, everyone settled in at Terri’s home. Once the pup- pies were weaned and eating solid foods, they were transported to a foster home whose volunteer has experience with puppies. Corrin Smith has been working in rescue for about 18 years. “I’m a country girl, so I’ve been rescuing sick, injured or home- less animals all my life,” said Corrin. She figures she has fostered around 800 dogs over the last 18 years, starting in her profes- sional career as a police officer - first for the Tampa Police Department and then for St. Pete Beach. “On duty, when- ever there was an animal involved - domestic abuse, abandoned house - I was the officer who scooped up the pet,” said Corrin. “My ser- geant would say, ‘you need to take that dog to animal servic- es.’ Of course, the dog would end up riding in my car throughout my shift.” Her life really changed
Photograph to the left - four of the puppies belong to this momma, Tinsel (shown above) all fostered by VIP Rescue Florida. One of those puppies (far left in the photograph) immediately stole the heart of our editor.
when someone mentioned her name to Grady Judd, back when he was a captain for the Polk County Sheriff ’s Office. The department received a tip about a puppy mill in Polk County. Back then, there was not a team in place to handle animals from a raid of this
just taken in two female Schnauzers, a mother and daughter from Pasco county. Each of the females had just delivered a lit- ter of puppies - eight total. Danielle Yoho with Racing 4 Rescues was contacted by a friend of a friend, who had heard about the conditions under which the two nursing moms and their pup- pies were living and knew it couldn't be a good situation. Seven people living in a trailer, all of them smoking. Their plan was to sell the puppies to pay for drugs. People who work in animal rescue tend to find one anoth-
er. Danielle knew of Terri’s rescue work and her solid network of foster volunteers. “Racing 4 Rescues takes in larger dogs, German Shepherds. We’re not set up for small dogs or tiny pup- pies,” said Danielle. The two moms and only seven of the pup- pies were delivered to Terri. “It broke my heart when I learned one of the puppies had been left behind,” said Danielle. She immediately contacted the owners and convinced them that they did not want to keep that puppy, who was soon reunited with her siblings at VIP Rescue Florida. “I am just so thankful that someone had the courage to reach out and say ‘this isn't right, but I don’t know what to do about it.’ If you see some-
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magnitude. “Grady reached out to a mutual friend of ours who was a cop. He told Grady ‘I know a person who will go in, get the dogs, keep the necessary records throughout the investiga- tion and make sure they're all vetted.’ We pulled 68 dogs from that raid,” said Corrin. “The breeder moms, that was the worst. They had been so overbred, that one of the females died after her ovaries burst right in the car,” said Corrin. The case remained open for two years. That means two years of fostering the dogs, raising them from puppies, nursing them all back to health, as best they could. During an open investigation, dogs, as property and evidence, cannot be spayed or neutered. “Thank God we won the case. I just could not imagine
sending those dogs back to that place, especially after we had all lived with them for two years,” said Corrin. “The great thing about Terri is, she never rules anything
out,” said Corrin. “We always seem to find a way to take in more dogs, get them vetted, learn their personalities and then get them successfully adopted. I love working with Terri because of her total commitment to these dogs. It's non-negotiable. We don’t have fundraisers, no fancy balls, no ‘how wonderful are we’ parties. What we do have is a great group of volunteers who have been doing this for a long time. We have great relationships with our veterinarians who know Terri’s true dedication to the dogs.”
Continued.g Spring 2017 THE NEW BARKER 25
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