I wanted to take a quick moment to tell you something really exciting and interesting that happened late last week. One of our co-founders/volunteers, April (many of you know her), is our PIT BULL queen! J She has a terrific heart for pit bulls in our community. Many, many are put to sleep simply because they are misunderstood and not cared for (neutered/spayed) as they should be!! April met a wonderful Staffordshire terrier at our favorite animal shelter (HI SHERRY!) – and could not turn away from him. He is a big, strong, healthy, alert, happy pit bull who had been turned into a shelter with the very great possibility of death!! April has no room in her own home for another staffy – so she began the task to find a home (and FAST) for this great guy. She placed an ad on her Facebook page and other sites asking if anyone wanted to adopt TANK!! – and immediately a family from Ft. Lauderdale, FL said “ME ME ME!!!!” – and April went into overdrive! How do we get this great dog from Warsaw, IN – all the way to Florida?!?! We immediately contacted one of our favorite dog transports (May Heckman, with Minnesota Boxer Rescue - www.mnboxerrescue.org) who put us into contact with another transport (Kathy Smola –www.whitepawsgsr.com/) who said “Yes! I will transport this dog!!” – but before we could commit “TANK” to transport we had some work to do. April took Tank to be neutered and UTD on all of his vaccines. We do NOT send a dog to his forever without being altered and UTD! THEN, she had to figure out how to get a HOME VISIT worked out all the way in Florida. A home visit is critical – especially with the distance and the breed!! We knew we wanted someone impartial to go to this home and make sure that Tank would not be put into a position where he would suffer or be neglected in any way! This is where it takes an interesting twist!! The transport (Kathy Smola)put our “home visit” need on a website – and April immediately had about 10 people call or email her. They said they would LOVE to take their time, their gas – and go to a strangers home for a stranger in Warsaw, IN… for a PITBULL!! These people don’t know us – but these wonderful people wanted to do ANYTHING that was needed to be done to save another really great dog. So, the prospective adopters had a visit from a stranger and her dog – and answered a lot of probing questions. The home visitor came away from the visit with a grade card (A+) and a smile. So, the long of the short – Tank is headed to Florida next week!!! What an amazing country we live in. People from all over the USA are JUST as committed to rescuing good animals as we are!!! And, rescuing good animals is not as easy as you would think it is. But these strangers made it easier and successful! ODTR will be putting our name on that website and will volunteer to do home visits too! We ALL have to do what we can do!!! April is just thrilled and so are we! TANK gets the best life! Living in Florida on a beach… sounds pretty good right now doesn’t it? J
UPDATE!
Then on to downtown Indy with our Big Tank. Meeting the first leg of Tank’s transport to Florida was a sweet moment. Here was this wonderful woman who had never met us – or Tank – sitting in the cold blowing snow waiting for a PIT BULL! She got out of her SUV and immediately she smiled at our sweet boy and bent down to get bully kisses. She took him by the lead and walked him in the deep snow (yuck) and made sure he had a potty break before loading him up to make the long drive south. Every 2 to 3 hours I got an email telling me where Tank was and how he was behaving (always perfectly). It was decided not to crate Tank for the long trip – to help with the travel soreness that we all get when cooped up for too long. Tank was sitting beside or behind the driver – relaxed and as happy as a boy could be. Also, Tank was the only dog in the transport (until later in the day when they picked up 2 smaller dogs who hitchhiked their way down south too!). Every person that signed up for the transport did so out of the kindness of their heart. Each person on this “underground railroad” spent their own gas, their own time – for a dog that they knew was living his final chance in life. They knew that Tank was at a high kill shelter – and they knew that pits are not adopted easily due to their bad press. Many of the people on this transport had never transported a pit bull – yet not one person hesitated or balked at the fact that our bully was uncrated!! Every couple of hours I got email that said, “I love this dog!” – or, “I had a hard time not kidnapping Tank!” Tank even had a slumber party late Saturday night!! A stranger opened their home for this overnight guest from Indiana. They fed and played and worked out his kinks from the long day of travel. He got lots of hugs and kisses – and back rubs before turning in for the night to prepare for another long day. Sunday morning dawned NOT quite as early for Tank – and a little bit warmer too. But he had no less love and enthusiasm for the next leg of transport… and the next… and the next. All in all – Tank met, loved, changed the lives of about 20 new friends that dedicated part of their weekend to making sure our boy made it to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Some said they cried when they drove away from him. Tank is a beautiful dog and a sweet, sweet soul. I wish you could have ALL met him before he moved to Florida and into the arms of his new Best Friend, Jimmy!!! What an honor and privilege to be a small part of Tank’s journey. He is a beautiful, gentle, kind hearted tank of a dog. My life has been changed because of the kindness of complete strangers. Working in rescue can harden a person’s heart. But meeting all of these wonderful people really did restore my spirit and faith. God Bless you Tank! You deserve this!!! And best wishes to Jimmy in his wonderful and long life with Tank. And a VERY SPECIAL thank you to everyone that had a part in this rescue. From the sweet lady that volunteered to do a home visit – to every person that took Tank to the next part of the transport… Thank you. Thank you so very much.
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