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Original Hollis crew - Clay
and Lilia along with (left to
right),
Bohde (Pom), Hannah
(Boxer/Rhodesian),Tina (Basenji
mix), Madison (Chow/Shepherd mix),
Blue Lou (Bassett), Jake (Schnauzer)
and Presley (Shih Tzu).
Of our original crew, only Bohde,
Hannah and Presley are still with
us.
This photo ran in the Lake Highlands
and Lakewood Advocate.
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We did not start out to run a
dog rescue - it just kind of happened
............
In 1993, we began to look for a house
after living in a condo and wanted to
stay in the White Rock Lake area. After
much looking, we found a house facing
Flag Pole Hill. We were the 5th couple
that put a contract in on our home and
we ended up with a home that faces the
park, is a stones throw from the lake
and is on the street that crosses the bike
trail. So we moved in with our 2 pets -
Bridget Bardog, a Cairn mix, and Ginger
Rue, a yorkie.
What an interesting part of Dallas! We
are a couple houses up from a working
stable and the neighborhood has a look
and feel of being in the country but
is minutes from downtown. There are
deer, red fox, coyotes, peacocks,
falcons, armadillos, possums, nutria, skunks
and
every snake imaginable in the park.
People
ride
horses
in this
park
daily. We like to sail and have a small racing
boat at the White Rock Boat Club and can
be there within 3-4 minutes after walking
out of the house. At the bottom of the
hill, the bike trail crosses our street
and there is now direct access to the
Lake under Northwest Highway with the improvements to Northwest
Highway flood plane.
Anyway .......... within a few months,
we started finding dogs in the park.
Some were neighborhood dogs that had
gotten out but some were not. A friend
that was visiting took a jog in the park
and found a litter of Boxer/Black Lab
pups, we found 3 Chows walking up the
hill, there was an 8 week Pomeranian puppy chasing
his tail in the road and so it went. We
would find their homes and if not, vet
them and find homes for them.
On June 19th, 2001, at 3 in the morning
a hound of some sort was howling in our
driveway. After a couple of rounds of
howling, Clay got up and tried to catch
him and put him up for the night. It was
a Bassett Hound that would come up to him and
just as he was about to put a leash
on him, would run down the hill about 20 feet.
He led Clay down the hill until Clay
gave up and went to bed. The next day,
my neighbor called telling me one of my
dogs was out. I ran out and found a
small old, white dog laying in my
neighbor's yard. I turned to him and
asked him how could he possibly think
this was my pet?? I scooped him up and
took him to the vet. I called Clay and
told him that I had found an old dog in
dire circumstances and he advised me to
take him to the vet and do "what needed
to be done". This dog could not raise his
head, had milky white eyes,
NO HAIR and
was dreadfully thin, just barely 6 lbs.
The night that he was taken to the vet,
the hound that was in our yard, appeared
again howling at 2 am. Clay got up
again, and this time, he let himself be
caught very easily. He had been trying to lure
us down the hill to help his friend!
The vet informed me that this was not an
old dog but a 5-6 month old Shih Tzu
puppy! They could not get an IV
going easily and his blood was a dark,
thick brick red. This was a Wednesday -
we stopped by to visit him and he looked
so dreadful, we honestly believed he
wouldn't make to the weekend. We did not
take any pictures of him because it was
just too painful but with him being such a
young dog, there was no other choice
than to try to give him a chance. On
that Friday, he made a turn for the
better - he could eat and finally lifted
his head! On Saturday afternoon, I
got a call and the vet indicated that
the dog had a staph infection in both
eyes and in order to save his sight, he
would need a graft in both eyes THAT
EVENING.
Where do you find a veterinary eye
specialist on Saturday at 5 pm?
They had contacted the Trinity Mills
Animal Hospital who has an eye
specialist on staff, Dr. Robert Munger.
He was out working on horses in Ft.
Worth and agreed to come in on Saturday
night to work on "Presley". Our niece
and nephew named him ..........
you know what they say, once you name
them ...... He got double cornea grafts
which required drops and a strip of
medicine in both eyes every 3 hours for
14 days. Oh, he didn't have hair because
he had mange and a skin infection which
required a daily medicated bath for 7
days and then every other day for
another 2 weeks. We took bets as to what
color this little dog would be - he is
mostly white with apricot spots!
He weighed 6 lbs and his normal weight
would be 13 lbs. The hound
was a Basset also had mange but had only
lost 50% of his hair and weighed 28 lbs.
when we
found
him. His
normal
weight
was
around
50 lbs.
6 weeks out, this dog had gained weight,
begun to get peach fuzz hair and the
milky white film on his eyes
dissipated and he could see! Once he
gained 5 lbs., we discovered he had a
umbilical hernia so off to surgery he
went again. $4,400 in 2001 dollars
later, he completely recovered, sleeps
on my pillow and I often refer to him as
"my reason for living". He is spry and
full of personality - he is mistaken for
a puppy and is now 13 years old. His
best friend and running buddy, Blue Lou
the Bassett, passed last year of
stomach cancer. Oh ........... did I
mention that June 19th is my birthday?
This is the only birthday that cost
me money but it was well worth it!
So, after this experience with Blue Lou
and Presley, we realized that people
dump dogs out at the Lake and with a
little TLC, these dogs are fabulous pets
and deserve a chance. We have worked
with several rescues and fostered for
the SPCA Pet Haven program. The dogs in
the Pet Haven program are pets that need
a foster because the owners are sick or
are in transition. Some of these dog
come from clients of the Genesis
Shelter. Women in this program will not
leave an abusive situation if they
cannot take their pets with them - this
program gives the opportunity to get
back on their feet and keep their pets.
Some dogs from this program stayed with us one or two
weeks and others have stayed up to 3
months.
We continue to find dogs at the Lake and
discovered that the average citizen does
not get a lot of help if they find an
animals. We started "White Rock Dog
Rescue" to help animals abandoned at the
Lake and will help anyone that asks for
assistance. We can help promote the
animal, get low cost vetting, training
and possible fostering. Every personal
pet of ours has been a foundling and
could not be a more wonderful pet!
Hannah, our big dog, socialized all the
dogs that came into the house - she is
12 now and is slowing down but she gives
it the college try :)
We have a wonderful network of people
that help us in our rescue efforts and
we place about 120 dogs per year in new
homes. We always need fosters,
volunteers to work with the dogs, web
and marketing help as well as help at
events. So ........ |
CAN YOU
HELP?
VOLUNTEER
OR
FOSTER
AND MAKE
A
DIFFERENCE
IN THE
LIFE OF
AN
ANIMAL.
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