Shelter rescues 41 dogs destined for death in Houston
Fumble, Jumper, Liddel, Cactus and Pecos wrestled in their crates, ripped apart newspapers with their teeth and nibbled on toys Wednesday at the Humane Society of Delaware County.
Those are perfectly normal dog activities, but ones they might not have been enjoying for much longer if not for a dog lover from Delaware County.
Forty-one dogs from Houston, including those five, escaped being euthanized after they were rescued by the Delaware shelter.
Natalie Yeager was the driving force behind getting the dogs, ranging in age from about 2 months to 4 years, from Texas to Ohio. She lived in Houston for about five years, working at the Harris County Animal Shelter.
“Houston’s one of the worst parts of the country for stray dogs,” said Yeager, now the intake coordinator at the Delaware shelter.
During her time in the Lone Star State, she volunteered for a nonprofit organization called K-9 Angels Rescue, which focuses on saving dogs that would otherwise be euthanized in shelters.
About a month ago, Yeager was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post from the K-9 Angels about how various puppies were looking for homes.
“There was just so many puppies, and I was getting frustrated not being able to bring them in here,” Yeager said. “There’s so many there and I need some of them here.”
She talked with Mary Tipton, the intake coordinator for K-9 Angels, and arranged for the dogs to come to the Buckeye State.
HOW TO HELP
Of the remaining dogs from Texas up for adoption, puppies younger than a year old cost $212, which includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, microchip, heartworm test and dog license. Dogs older than a year are $137, including the same services. The dogs are available at the shelter on a first-come, first-served basis. The Humane Society of Delaware County is at 4920 Route 37 E., Delaware, Ohio .
In a trip that lasted about 25 hours — with multiple stops along the way — K-9 Angels arrived in Delaware with the dogs on June 29. The fuel and truck rental for the trip cost about $2,500, Tipton said. K-9 Angels is entirely volunteer-based and covered the cost of the trip.
“We crammed as many in the trailer as we could without being inhumane to the dogs,” Tipton said.
Having the Humane Society of Delaware County take the dogs has been a huge help to K-9 Angels.
“It means we have 41 less dogs that we have to place here,” Tipton said.
The Humane Society of Delaware County rescues dogs locally from places such as the Delaware County Dog Shelter and shelters in Fairfield, Pike and Franklin counties.
“Different areas have different demands for different dogs,” Yeager said.
For example, one shelter might have a hard time moving Labrador retrievers, so they would move those dogs to a place where the need for that breed is high, she said.
Transporting rescue dogs across state lines is not unheard of, although this was the first time for K-9 Angels.
“A lot of transports are from the south to the north,” Yeager said.
Part of that has to do with climate. Also, there are fewer dog-breeding cycles in Ohio, unlike Texas, where they breed year-round, Yeager said.
As of Thursday morning, 10 of the dogs had been adopted. The rest are either currently up for adoption or will be soon.
“There’s nothing better than getting people into their local shelters,” Tipton said.