MEET A SEBR VOLUNTEER

Volunteer Spotlight- Lori and Kevin Cullen

 

Lori, Mollie, Katie, Kevin

Hi!  We are Kevin and Lori, the proud parents of Mollie and Katie and volunteers with SEBR. Having moved to the Tampa area recently with our girls and seeing how they so enjoy our large fenced backyard, what other conclusion could we come to but to foster other beagles. Both of our girls came to us through beagle rescues and it was the best experience and decision we ever made. Had someone before us not opened their home and heart to my two angels, they would have never entered our lives. I thank them every day for saving my girls. 

 

We are currently fostering 2 SEBR dogs, a male puppy and 2 year old female.  Both have blended well with our family and created a bit of chaos at the same time. However, when they find their forever home my house will feel empty until we are blessed with another SEBR foster dog.

 

My first time fostering was for a young male named Jericho.  He was scared and sick when I picked him up from the shelter. In just a few short days he was thriving!  He was jumping and mixing it up with my dogs. To watch Jericho come out of his shell and shine was a reward I cannot explain. Then the day came, he found his forever home and I cried. I swore I could not do this again. It was too painful for me to let him go. But then it arrived.  The text message with a photo of him on his way home with the perfect couple. The constant emails of his new adventures and the blog his daddy created just for him. I could not have wished for a better choice, he is loved and he is happy. We all met at a park recently and Ripley (Jericho's new name) is healthy and happy. What more could you ask for as a foster, but to do it again and again and again.

 

Fostering is a rewarding experience. To know that you helped make a difference and made a family complete is an amazing thing.............

 

Come visit us at one of our events, share in our joy. You will never regret it.

 

Kevin - Lori - Mollie - Katie

 

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  BEAGLE OF THE MONTH  

Silly Sweetie and her beautiful puppies 

2/14/2011

I cannot imagine going through life so fearful it would cause you to crouch and crawl instead of walking, and that the slightest noise or movement would cause you to panic. But that was the plight of Silly Sweetie the day she came to SEBR.   

Silly Sweetie and her 4 pups came from a rural kill shelter in Georgia and were supposed to be rescued by another organization who backed out at the last moment.  Their time was up at the shelter so, when we heard their story, SEBR stepped up and agreed to bring them to Florida.   When I met the transport in Ocala they handed over 4 beautiful happy and playful puppies and their momma, Silly Sweetie, who was extremely frightened and ready to bolt at the first opportunity.  While the puppies, already 9 weeks old at that time, went to a foster I brought Silly Sweetie home with me.  It was a challenge to even get her out of my truck and into the house.  Once she actually slipped out of the collar she came with and bolted but, luckily, I had a second slip lead on her. So here we were, both lying flat on my lawn, Silly Sweetie in a panic and me determined not to let the slip lead get loose so she could escape.  Once inside the house she ran to a corner and just stayed there for several hours.  We never will know what happened to put such a sweet dog in such distress but she panicked, that first night, at every sound and movement.  She was actually happy to run into a crate and pressed herself as far to the back as she was able.

3/02/2011

Silly Sweetie was not too excited about having a leash on, a first, and we did not see any evidence of her going potty for well over 24 hours.  She kept very low to the ground and would drop and dig in after just a few steps. Without warning she would bolt, do the alligator roll and anything else she could think of to run. But day by day, with the help of our "House Beagles" she is starting to trust a little more and learning to live in her new world.  At times she acts like the happy sweet dog we want her to be but then a noise or movement will cause her to go into panic mode.  I am confident Silly Sweetie will overcome her fears but it will be in her own Silly Sweetie time.  You will not see Silly Sweetie available for adoption on our web site yet, as we want to give her a little more time and maybe move her to another foster home so she is exposed to even a wider variety of new experiences.  We are sure that there will be someone out there to take Silly Sweetie into their home and hearts and finish turning her into the sweetest, relaxed and loving dog she can be.

To see a short video of Silly Sweetie showing how much she has improved in 2 1/2 weeks click here.

Silly Sweetie came to us with four cute, happy and active 10 week old puppies.  They are a noisy bunch always woofing at each other. We wonder what they are saying?  They have the greatest Beagle howls when they are hungry.  When their crate door is open it is hysterical to see them try to squirm out all at the same time.  The puppies love to get outside and explore, trying to eat anything that moves or does not move. From the beginning they were determined not to soil in their pen and will yell/howl when they want to go out.  That little Beagle howl is so funny!  These guys will be housebroken very quickly.  Their foster, Sally, had the honor of naming them and chose Miss Barbie, Miss Salt, Mr. Kissy Face and Mr. Waggy Tail.  After they were spayed/neutered each went to a separate foster home and we began to see their individual personalities. As of this writing Miss Barbie and Miss Salt have gone to their "furever" homes and Mr. Kissy and Mr. Waggy are looking forward to a family to kiss, lick and love forever

BARK IN THE PARK 2011

The Humane Society of Tampa Bay's "Bark In The Park" was held Saturday March 5th in Tampa.  We had, of course, beautiful Florida weather and there was a huge crowd.  We met a lot of great Beagle owners and potential adopters and even had a few Beagle Lovers taking to us about joining the SEBR Team.  All of SEBR's adoptable dogs were in attendance and they enjoyed themselves and got on very well with the other dogs and people who stopped by to say hello.

The celebrity guest this year was Rescue Ink, New York from the TV Series.  Sylvia got "Big Ant" from the show to pose with her, Mike, Sylvia's foster Banks and Sylvia's sweet Taffy (Shall we say her back is to the camera).  Rescue Ink drew big crowds and were in the Tampa area for the entire weekend participating in other animal rescue events and fund raisers.

On a personal note, whenever I need extra crates for a transport all I have to do is call the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and they never turn me down.  That is, of course, on top of all the other wonderful work they do, including running a free food bank for dogs and cats.

 Please visit our website to see all the available dogs looking for their "furever" homes.  Or click on a picture below for more information . 

Banks

Buddy

Ginger

Pluto

Mr. Kissy Face

Mr. Waggy Tail

Rosie

Valentine

web site:    www.sebr.org

phone:       Toll Free: (855)-4ABEAGLE (422-3245)

Mission Statement