Although this isn't an instruction manual, you might want to read this rescue story for a first-hand look at what it takes to bring one Redbone Coonhound to safety!

 

Here it is just after 5:30 A.M.  Sarge, my foster, and I are already headed north on the interstate.  In the back of the Beagle Bus is the largest crate I have with the sweetest 65 pound Redbone Coonhound I have ever met. I have been told that in Hawaiian "Leia" means Child of Heaven. Leia is well-named, as this is the second time that this "child" needed to be rescued.

 

The first email came from my friend Marsha, two weeks earlier, asking if I had any ideas how to help a fellow rescuer in North Carolina.  In January, Marsha's friend, Lisa, who operates an independent rescue in NC, had found someone to adopt Leia.  She was adopted by a 25 year old young man, whose references had all checked out fine.  Then, not six weeks later, Lisa was contacted by Pat, a Good Samaritan, saying she had found Leia as a stray....and she was 700 miles away in Punta Gorda, Florida.    Pat had her vet scan Leia for a microchip which, of course, traced back to the adopting rescue.  (Need I say again, microchips save lives!)

 

Lisa tried to call and email the original adopter but he never responded.    Unfortunately, Pat was not able to hold Leia and it seemed that she would soon have to take Leia to Charlotte County Animal Services and turn her in as a stray.  There, she would be held for 5 calendar days and, if not claimed, would be euthanized.

 

Between the SEBR adoption events, as well as 9 other dogs on my list to get to FAST, (one dog in the Panhandle and 3 adults with 5 puppies from Alabama), I didn't know which way to turn.  I thought it would be impossible to pick up Leia in the time it would require to save her.

 

So to meet the first rule of rescue, which is "keep the dog alive", we had to get Leia somewhere safe.  Sarasota is a lot closer to Punta Gorda then Tampa so I called on our great veterinarian, Dr. Corona, who agreed to take and hold Leia at his office until I could pick her up.  Pat drove Leia to Parkway Animal Hospital and placed her in their care.  While she was there I asked Dr. Corona to examine her, in anticipation that we would require a Florida Health certificate for her eventual interstate travel.

 

Meanwhile, we were contacting Pilots N Paws, Truck N Paws, Operation Roger and every rescue transporter we could think of to get Leia back to her original rescuer, Lisa, in NC.  We were not having much luck.  We could get her to Alabama or Georgia but that seemed to be it.   We also needed to find a place that could hold Leia longer term.  I called our friend Ann at Advantage Pet Center, explained the situation and, without hesitation, she agreed to board Leia until we could arrange a ride for her.   The next day I met Leia for the first time and moved her from Dr. Corona's to Ann's facility in Largo, FL.

 

What a sweetheart!  Leia has those big, brown, soft hound eyes that reach your heart in an instant.  I cannot imagine what she must be thinking after all she has been through.  How did she get 700 miles from where she was adopted?

 

Leia was a little bigger then I had expected and just barely fit in the crate I had.  Just like I do with every Beagle that comes into SEBR, I gave her a kiss and told her that she was safe and no one would ever hurt her again.  She responded with a wet lick on my face.  I gave her flea and heartworm prevention and brought her to her safe holding place at Advantage Pet Center.  Then we went back to work trying to find somehow to transport Leia back north.

 

Lisa, Leia's original rescuer, had already found a new family in Virginia that wanted to adopt Leia as soon possible.  This was such great news, and we had to start the ball rolling for her return trip.  We found a transport that was leaving in 48 hours, and who would be stopping in Staunton, Virginia... just  about 75 miles from where Leia's  soon to be new family lived.   Lisa then contacted Sally with a rescue organization nearby Staunton who agreed to pick Leia up from the Transport.  So all that was left was to get Leia to the transport, which was leaving from Clermont, Florida, about 80 miles from Tampa, at 0730 AM.

 

Leia stayed overnight with me. What a difference it is having a dog so much larger than a Beagle in my home and on walks.  It brought back memories of volunteering after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav when I would always seem to get the job of walking the Pit Bulls and Rottweilers.  Even my Beagles, who see a lot of different Beagles come through our home, had a look of surprise when Leia came home with me.  On one walk, Sarge actually got his leash tangled with Leia's because he walked underneath her.  It was a Kodak moment but I had 3 leashes in my hands and not a camera!

 

It was just at daybreak that I pulled into the rendezvous point and was pleased to see the Peterson Express Transport Services (P.E.T.S.) trailer. You may remember P.E.T.S. was on the Animal Planet's "Last Chance Highway" transporting pets from Tennessee to their adopters up north.  In fact the driver was no other then Kyle Peterson himself.  There was no doubt that Leia would be safe and well cared for until she reached her destination in Virginia.  It was time to say goodbye, so I asked Kyle to take our picture, gave Leia a hug and kiss, and wished her a happy life.    Somehow, I felt there should be a band, cheerleaders and fireworks for sending off this sweet Redbone Coonhound as she headed out to a new forever home. As Leia and the P.E.T.S. trailer head north, Sarge and I head southbound for home.

 

Just as planned, Leia arrived on time at Staunton and was met by Sally.  On Saturday Leia's new family met her and took her home.  Their 12 year old son, Devon, has claimed her for his own.

 

 

This "Child of Heaven" so appropriately named Leia, found her angels on earth.  Thanks to Marsha, Pat, Lisa, Kyle and Sally for giving me the chance to help all of you and especially to help Leia, in reaching safety in her new forever home. 

 

                       

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Recently I was asked why I volunteer my time to help beagles. I volunteer because I love to! I have not met a beagle that I haven't loved to have around me. I pray every day that each of these wonderful beagles find their FURever home. 

 

Here's a little bit of my story.  You must think that I have a lot of spare time if I'm a volunteer for SEBR. Think again.  I am a professional photographer that specializes in sports photography. I have shot the NFL, PGA and MLB since 1986. I also do weddings and social events. I barely have enough time to take a breath between photo shoots. When I am done taking photos, the real work starts.  I must edit and caption the photos...sometimes hundreds a day. This takes hours. I do eat at least once a day, and try to find time for a second meal. Not a very good habit for a diabetic, but I have learned to at least try. I recently lost 140 pounds and work out daily to maintain my weight. Still, I find time to read every FACEBOOK post for SEBR and post the responses for our organization.

I absolutely love every minute that I have with the beagles. If it is only to rub an ear, scratch a back or talk softly to a beagle that has been abused, I feel good working to help these special hounds. They actually seem to appreciate it and they are happy knowing that you are trying to help them because many of them have not been treated well nor loved.

 

When I hear that SARAH MCLACHLAN song on TV where animals are seen in the shelter, I run through a gambit of emotion.  Let me tell you, the first time I was asked to pick up and transport some beagles back to Tampa, I was devastated. I picked up three beagles at a shelter. I had to wait almost 45 minutes before they were ready, and while I waited I walked around the shelter. Looking into those cages at all these poor babies made me cry...ALOT. I am over 6'2" and now around 220 lbs. I am not soft by any means, but seeing these poor animals locked up, SCARED and crying for help, well, I could not control myself. It is a memory that keeps me going for this organization. I enjoy going to beagle adoption events, not to chat or to socialize, but I go to spend time with each and every beagle that I can. Of course one of my main jobs is to take photographs that we use on websites. But, I still rub ears, scratch backs and talk softly to our precious adoptable beagles. Whatever I can do to make any of the beagles feel special, I do. They are all so special.

My wife and I have two beagles that we love very much, BAILEY and BELLA. I spend as much quality time with our beagles as possible. I have NOT gone to major league baseball games just so I could stay home with the dogs and watch TV with them! They really enjoy lying on top of me while I watch TV.

Some people think that my volunteering is not worth my time or my effort. I say they could not be any more incorrect. My volunteering cleans my soul.

What person is not overwhelmed at the end of the week with the stress of life? Imagine what these animals have gone through in a week.  Some were tossed aside literally from moving vehicles; given up to shelters because they were too old; lived in cages or outside for their entire lives; and their human decided they were too costly to feed in the long run. After going through all that, these beagles suddenly find that they have been saved. They can still trust, they still want to snuggle and be held, they still want their ears rubbed, THEY are willing to give each of us humans another chance. Why? They are born to love and do so unconditionally.

Please consider volunteering. Do not sell yourself short.  If you can set up or guard a gate at a Meet & Greet event once every couple weeks, you are a help to them, and in turn, you will help yourself in more ways than you can imagine.

 

Cliff

 

Note:  Cliff & Charlene are fantastic SEBR fosters who have a soft spot for our middle age and senior Beagles.  As Cliff mentioned, he is a profession photographer and many of the cutest photos of our Beagles are thanks to him.  The not so cute photos are probably mine! - Jack

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RAINING BEAGLES ALL THE WAY FROM ALABAMA!

It seems these days that every email and phone call we receive tells the story of more Beagles in jeopardy.   Some are just too far away to help, some are not that far but have no transportation arrangements and some are from shelters in states that require the rescue to have a permit to pull from their shelters.  But then there are those shelters that understand, in order for us to rescue their dogs, there must be a team effort to get them out of the shelter and transported to Tampa.

Tuscumbia, AL is located in Colbert County in far northern Alabama on the Tennessee River, close to Muscle Sholes and about 650 miles from Tampa.   I am sure the staff was shocked when they arrived at work on December 28, 2011 to find one night drop box stuffed with a young Beagle momma and her pups and another containing a very pregnant young Beagle girl.  There was a note saying that Sadie had her puppies on Christmas Day but they were "unwanted".  Sophie was also marked as "unwanted", most likely because she was pregnant and due any day.  In fact, Sophie gave birth to 3 puppies just a week later on January 4, 2012.

The shelter staff must have enjoyed coming to work every day to see Sadie and Sophie care for their pups and watch them grow.  But all that changed on February 9^th when 10 more hound puppies were dropped off at the shelter.  Now, instead of 6 puppies there were 16.  If they had not had even one person interested in adopting any of the original 6 puppies what chance was there to find homes for 16 puppies.  Sadie's pups were now 6 weeks old and Sophie's 5 weeks and they were running out of time, especially with the shelter busting at the seam with puppies.  No one even wanted to think about having to euthanize puppies due to lack of space, but that is what they were facing.  A volunteer at the shelter took it on her own to try and contact all of the Beagle Rescue organizations in the surrounding states begging for someone to save Sadie, Sophie and their pups.  When we saw Tammy's email our first reaction was to say "no", but the real key was to find a foster for the 6 puppies until we could get them to our veterinarian, get them healthy, get them vaccinated and get them new homes.   

 

I do not think Sally has caller ID because she still answers the phone every time I call her.  When she hears my voice, in her heart she knows that somewhere there is a pregnant Beagle and/or Beagle puppies in jeopardy and, if she agrees to foster them, that we will try and save them.  Such was the case when I explained to her the situation at the Alabama shelter.  With Sally on board the next step was to try to get all the dogs, but especially the puppies, out of the shelter.  Unvaccinated puppies with little immunity are ripe to contract many fatal diseases in the shelter environment.  Any immunity they had from their momma was now wearing off.

Tammy was able to find a foster home for Sophie and the 6 puppies, while Sadie remained at the shelter.  We had also agreed to take a small male Beagle, Luke, who was not doing well at all in the shelter.  He was scared to death and had more or less just shut down.  No one would adopt a dog in his state and he would certainly be killed.

The word went out that the Beagles and puppies needed transport and we found a Pilots N Paws transport that was leaving from Enterprise, AL for Orlando on the next Saturday, February 18^th.   With the help of volunteers and transporters from several Alabama animal rescue organizations, on Friday our Beagles were driven the 275 miles to Enterprise, held overnight, and put on the flight to Florida the next day.  At the last moment, after several panic phone calls, we decided to leave one of the puppies that had become sick behind.  There was no room for it to be in a separate crate and isolated for the flight, so there was a real danger that it would infect the other puppies and possibly the other dogs on board.  Puppy #6 was kept by the volunteer in Alabama that had housed our Beagles overnight.

Devon and Jill, from Pilots N Paws landed at Orlando Executive Airport right on time despite the rainy weather.  After loading the 5 puppies, Sadie, Sophie and Luke I headed back to Tampa, dropped the puppies at Sally's, dropped Luke at Sarah's and brought Sadie and Sophie home with me.  The next day, after getting baths, Sadie went to be fostered by Lori in Riverview and Sophie to be fostered by Diane in Odessa.

We are never surprised when these shelter puppies start having diarrhea, vomiting, not eating, etc.  It can be a difficult transition after they had been in the shelter for so long.  But Sally watches them like a hawk and they are dewormed and medication dispensed at the first sign of a problem.   Their vet check showed only a few parasites but they had a lot of bacteria and were placed on antibiotics. The mommas, Sadie and Sophie, were in good health and seemed very glad to be free from the bonds of motherhood. Sylvia held an Ebay auction for the right to name the puppies and the winners decided on Holly Rose for our little girl and Tony, Manolo, Petey and Woody for the boys.  Meanwhile, Luke, the male Beagle is now being fostered by Ingrid & Andreas in Holiday and is learning to get rid of his anxiety and be a happy playful Beagle.

As of this writing, Holly Rose and Woody have been adopted. Wouldn't it be a fantastic way to celebrate National Puppy Day by adopting one of the remaining puppies, Petey, Tony or Manolo, or making a donation towards their care?

Happy National Puppy Day!

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Our wish has been realized. Jefferson Beagle has gone from being only able to sit in a field to being able to run in a field (OK a backyard) as a Happy Beagle!  I thought I would take you on a walk down Jefferson's path of rescue and rehabilitation.

 

It was September 15, 2011 when I met the transport from Lake County that brought us Jefferson.  What a sad little Beagle he was. When I saw his deformed feet and him walking on his wrists you just knew that he had to be in a lot of pain.  I remember the shelter had told me that he had "run away" and was picked up as a stray. I thought "run away?" he could hardly walk 10 feet.

 

 

 

 

Jeffy's overall health was poor, so our first job was to get him in a stable environment where he would get nutritional food and gain strength for his upcoming surgery.  We are lucky to have fosters like Mary Jane, a retired nurse, who has seen Jefferson through his surgery and rehabilitation.  She would put him in a carriage and wheel him down to the dog park every day, even though he was only able to sit and watch the other dogs play.

 

 

 

On October 11, 2011 Dr, Hay performed the surgery where he positioned Jefferson's feet in a normal walking position and locked them in place using metal plates and pins and grafted in some bone to strengthen the joint.  Dr. Hay explained that a dog's wrist had very little natural range of motion, so while he would walk a little stiff it would not limit Jeffy very much.

 

 

 

 

 

For several weeks, while the bone grew around the pins to lock them in place, Jefferson needed splints on his legs and his bandage to be changed every week.  Through it it all Jefferson was a real trooper as his bandages were removed, his legs cleaned, more x-rays and his legs splinted and bandaged again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day they left his legs unbandaged he started chewing on his leg and causing it to bleed before I was 15 minutes from Dr. Hay's office.  Of course that earned him the "cone", which did not make him happy at all.

 

Although he was physically now able to walk Jefferson did not understand that he could do so.  He would often sit in one position just as he had to do before his surgery.  Mary Jane learned that if she put a leash on Jefferson he would follow her, but without the leash he would just go to his bed and stay there.

 

Since Jefferson had not really walked on his foot pads for a long time they were soft and sensitive.  We also noticed that the dew claws on his front feet were folding under so the nails would jab into his pads when he walked.  Therefore, Jefferson had another surgery to remove his dew claws.

 

Then it was a matter of Jefferson learning to walk on his "new legs" and toughening up the pads on his front feet.  Mary Jane would call me almost every week excited that Jefferson had climbed the step, used the doggie door or had a play date with another Beagle.  Jefferson was learning to be a real Beagle all over again.

 

 

I believe that Jefferson is ready to find a new FURever home and will consult with Dr. Hay to make sure he agrees.   I can't help but wonder what Jefferson must think of his new legs and his new life as a Happy Beagle! 

Jefferson20120314.avi

 

               

   Blossom                 Boomer                       Brandi                       Cooper

              

         Devin                   Dixie II               Ginger II                      Gus

              

    Jackson                  Luke                      Manolo                   Petey

web site: www.sebr.org

SouthEast Beagle escue

PO Box 270631

Tampa, FL 33688-0631

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