Tails From The Front: Saving Dogs, One (And Sometimes More!) At A Time

It's the four-legged members of a family who suffer most when a family loses its home, has to move suddenly, experiences a major illness, or any of many different misfortunes.  But fortunately there is a dedicated network of individuals who volunteer their time to help animals in overcrowded shelters find rescue and safe harbor somewhere else.  Emails fly, Facebook pages are filled with photos and pleas, and with luck a rescue group across the country says yes, we may have a foster home available.  Send that dog our way!  And the transport begins. 

 More emails, more Facebook pleadings, and a tag team of volunteer drivers sets out with precious cargo- another dog saved from death row in a rural downstate shelter. This will be a blog about all the behind the scenes activity that gets a dog from a place where they have no hope of getting out alive to a place where they will be loved, placed in a foster home, given good veterinary care and lots of love, and then adopted out to a great new family.  There will be some tears- some of the dogs are not in great shape- and there will be lots of joy when they get adopted and we see them give their first kisses of happy joy to their new families. These are the tales from the front of animal rescue- or more accurately, the "tails."

 The photo is of Candy, now called Kona by her new family.  Kona's family lost their home and surrendered her to a rural shelter where her age ( 7) made her unadoptable and thus slated for euthanasia.  She was a lucky one - a volunteer downstate lobbied for her, another volunteer pulled her from the shelter, a Winnetka lady drove her from down state to Dr. Wagner at Becker Animal Hospital in Northfield, who graciously provided the veterinary care Kona needed to be adoptable.   Kona found a foster home near us, and was adopted out to a great family who adore her.  Yay, Kona!