Ohio 2009 Rescue

by Tracey Fulmer
KBTF Rescue Coordinator, Northeast

Although all seems rather quiet on the rescue front of late, we've been working behind the scenes on several rescues. One was a large rescue of 8 Kerries from an Amish mill in Ohio, where we teamed up with the Kerry clubs to ensure that each dog had a foster home (and in most cases an adoptive home). In the process of assisting on this rescue, we also got a call from a shelter in the area that had a Kerry, the unfortunate product of an animal neglect case. She's 1 1/2 years old but weighed only 20 lbs when she was picked up. Because of Linda Grisley's fast action, we were able to include Molly in this effort.

We and these lucky Kerries owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dave and Tracy Campanello who did all of the legwork, acted as the central point of contact by coordinating the entire ground operation, drove through a snow storm to pick up the Kerries, including 20 lb Molly, spent the weekend getting them all vetted and groomed and then divvied up the dogs to each rescue organization. At this point, it looks like the Foundation will be responsible for placing 5 Kerries. Many thanks to Linda Grisley and Eileen Andrade for identifying foster/adopt homes and working with Tracy Campanello to get them transported. And to Linda Grisley for following up so quickly on Molly. I'm sure you will hear more from Linda and Eileen once the dogs are settled in. (There were many others who contributed to such a large rescue, so gratitude goes out to those volunteers as well.)

Because we don't have a lot of prospective adopters or foster homes in the midwest, rescues like this one are very expensive due to high air transportation costs and the need to kennel the dogs while they are vetted and assessed prior to transport. We could not help these Kerries without your generous donations.

And we can always use more foster homes and transporters, especially in the midwest (Ohio, Missouri) where the concentration of puppy mills is the highest. Many of the "hold out" mills that continued to breed Kerries, despite the breed's declining popularity with brokers and petstores, are throwing in the towel after a dismal holiday season. While that's great news for the Kerries, we anticipate rescue activity will be picking up as these mills dump their breeding stock and unsold youngsters.

Thank you in advance for coming through, yet again, to help these Kerries in need!!