German teacher by day, a dog rescuer at heart
Many of the stories start out lousy.
In one, a dog named Hope, a Canaan mix, was hit by a car in Jordan and left for dead as a puppy. He had multiple broken limbs that needed surgery and had rods inserted in one of his front legs.
Another involves a Saluki in
Qatar named Oscar who was tortured and set on fire, losing a leg in the process.
Kobe, another Canaan mix in Saudi Arabia, also was tortured, losing part of a paw and an ear.
Their stories actually have happy endings.
Oscar may be getting by on three wheels but is living the good life in Las Vegas. Kobe, now named Coby, is enjoying life with a family in the Washington, D.C., area and has a big yard to scamper in. Hope, now named Copper, is taking long walks with his family in downtown Chicago.
Palos Heights resident Jen Fischer has 300 more stories like that, all with happy endings.
Fischer, a German teacher at Shepard High School in Palos Heights, helped start an organization called Traveling Tails that has rescued dogs from horrific conditions from Qatar, Oman, Jordan,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and even some in the United States. She said that since 2019, there have been 320 dogs rescued and given to good homes.
“It’s heartbreaking to think about what’s happening with these dogs overseas,” Fischer said. “They just don’t have people advocating for them like we have here,
where there are so many groups. We have so many rescues. Over there, there are no laws against animal cruelty or animal abuse. The stories are just horrendous. It’s just bad.”
Taking a dog out of squalor and into a happy home across the ocean is not a simple task.
Once a group overseas notifies Fischer that a dog is available, it starts a process that involves getting the dog microchipped, following United States Department of Agriculture rules and regulations, using a customs broker, getting a Border Patrol stamp of approval and several other steps. That includes a 30-day wait after a dog gets rabies shots and other vaccines. A vet must enter a health certificate on the dog before it is allowed on the plane.
Even when all of the paperwork and heath inspections of the dogs are finished, there are a few other snags that can pop up.
Tilly, a German spitz mix who was neglected in Qatar, got off a flight and wasn’t too keen on getting into a car. She had to be coaxed via a treat.
Most of the pooches are flown into O’Hare International Airport in Chicago or Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. and have found homes all over the United States.
To get the dogs to their new homes, Fischer’s group has a team of volunteer drivers.
“People actually spend their whole weekends driving dogs to their rescues,” she said.
The adoption fee is $350 for one dog and $500 for bonded pair of dogs, often initiated by people visiting the group’s website at ttdr. org. Fisher said half the money goes to rescuers overseas.
Fischer was born in Elmhurst and moved to the south suburbs at age 2. She graduated from Shepard, later obtained a degree in international business, married Peter Fischer and the two lived in Germany for a few years.
After moving back to the
United States and settling in with a job teaching German at her alma mater, she took in a couple of rescue Salukis named Danica and Nigel, and that changed her life.
“I’ve always loved dogs,” she said. “But I have to admit that I wasn’t the crazy dog lady that I probably am now. Getting Danica was the first step in turning me into a crazy dog lady. I love this breed and I love the Salukis. I wanted to help them out and get a few more over here.”
She said Salukis are friendly and loving dogs, and she can’t understand how in some places they and other dogs are treated “like they are rodents or varmints.”
She said she is proud of the number of dogs she and her team have helped save, giving happy endings to sad stories.
“This is really rewarding, especially of you see where some of these dogs come from,” she said. “When they find their best life here in a loving home, it’s really … well, there’s nothing better than that.”