The Road to a New Life

During a short stint with the Census this summer, our crew would hold our daily meetings at a local restaurant  which was right off the interstate.  I took to parking in the back as it was a nice shady and grassy area and we were having a lot of hot sunshine here in Tennessee.

One morning as I was parking behind the restaurant in the shady, grassy area, I spied a couple of cars over to one side.  There was, what appeared to be husband and wife walking two big dogs.  Being a gregarious dog person myself, I decided to walk over to meet them and their dogs. 

They were a friendly couple and loved talking dogs, but these two were not theirs.  These dogs were coming from a kill shelter in Alabama where they had  been scheduled to be killed.  They had been rescued by one of the many rescue groups that operate nationally, pulling dogs from the many kill shelters.

Once out of the shelter the dogs will be quickly transferred by volunteer transport drivers to foster homes in the same state until they can be checked out by a local vet to make sure they are Heart Worm negative, get their shots and  obtain a health certificate.  Once they are cleared for travel they are then set up on a transport to either their new forever home or to a foster home until they can find a forever home.

 These two good looking and very happy dogs were some of the lucky ones that were gotten out before they were killed and were now on their way to the Northeast where they had a new forever home waiting at the end of their trip.  Evidently the transports are set up with a series of volunteer drivers who drive about 75 to 125 miles each to meet up with the next driver and and completing the Road To a New Life.  This is a real lifeline for many dogs who would otherwise be euthanized, as I would find out later.

Since being in Tennessee, I have been shocked at how badly dogs and cats are treated down here.  Over all they do not believe in spay and neutering so there is an endless supply of dogs and cats to be put to death in the kill shelters all over the South.  Many owners drive their unwanted animals out into the country and literally toss them out of their vehicles and drive off leaving them to fend for themselves depending on either the generosity of strangers to feed and care for them or a long slow death from starvation.

Fortunately there are a lot of good hearted souls who spend their own time and money to feed, spay - neuter and seek health care for many of these animals but in the last few years it has become very evident that we are fighting a loosing battle.  The shelters are killing and ever overwhelming number of animals and no one wants to pass a law requiring a license and spay or neutering.

I am so thankful that I have come in contact with some of the most amazing and kind hearted individuals that I have ever meant.  They have established a miracle network of rescuers, fosters, transporters, transport coordinators and all the rescue groups that rescue and find homes for dogs of all breeds and even the wonderful, lovable mutts that have no clear linage. 

Since I am retired, we have started our online store in hopes of building up a business that will allow us to help more of these wonderful rescues.  It is a costly endeavor when you are on a fixed income, but one we feel is well worth what ever we can do to help this problem.

 The crew from The 3rd-Hill Emporium.

Below is Miss Cleo who, as you can see helps me when I am sitting in my chair working on my computer.  She likes to hold down my paperwork for me and she is very good at it.  My partner found her at the store he worked at on a cold and rainy morning.  She was a tiny, water soaked and half froze.  He picked her up and found a warm box for her then called me to come out in the cold and rain to get her and find her a home.  Being a sucker for cute cats, I did, on both counts.  She has been with us about 8 years now and just a cute as the day she found us.

This is Lady, our beautiful 3 legged Husky.  She was in need of a leg amputation as someone had shot her in the leg with a small caliber rifle, destroying the bone.  By time we had heard about her, gangrene had set in and they were getting ready to euthanize her.  Two sponsors had made funds available but they were still about $150.00 short.  We offered to pay the balance, the euthanasia was stopped and the next morning she had her gangrenous leg removed.  The following day was Sunday so on Monday I made a trip back to the vets office to see her for the first time.  When I walked into her pen, she slowly got up, hobbled over to me and placed her head on my knee like a perfect lady, hence her name.  For the last 9 or 10 years she has been a loyal and loving member of our home and a great friend to our rat terrier and later to all the other members of our pack.  Like me she is getting old.  She is almost blind but still loves her belly rubs and hearing me tell her she is a pretty girl.  I worry about her a lot and fear that it will not be long before she leaves us and that will leave a terrible hole in my heart.
Until next time
 Roy