Nonprofit Rescues And Assists Animals
I’m Your Huckleberry Rescue and Adoption is a new nonprofit adoption program covering McDonald and Newton counties.
Beverley Bartley of Pineville, president of the organization, explained how it got started.
“There was a need in this area,” she said. “The shelters seemed to be always full, and people were still finding dogs and cats. We didn’t think building another shelter was an option. People knew I had a lot of dogs, and my friend Debra Parnell, she was getting animals dumped on her road, and I was getting animals dumped on (my) road. So we decided to set up this 501(c)(3), really just to get them off the streets and get them safe.”
The organization is fosterbased, she said. Volunteers foster the animals while the organization gets them spayed or neutered and vaccinated. The group also tries to train the animals.
“We try to leash train, potty train, train them to go in a crate. Because we find that, if someone’s going to adopt a dog, they want some of that training in place,” Bartley said.
“We are always looking for fosters. We pay for everything — all the veterinary bills. If someone can’t afford the food, we’ll pay for the food as well if they’ll foster the dog.”
She said the adoption fee is $100, and the organization requires a veterinarian reference and another reference.
“We put a lot into these dogs,” she said. “We take them off the streets. They tear things up. This is why they’ve been dumped. For $100 you get a dog that’s had all that sorted out. It’s crate trained. It will ride in the car.”
Bartley said the group works in conjunction with local veterinarians and also networks with shelters and breed-specific rescues that can help find a home for any dogs of a particular breed that it rescues.
“It’s about finding the best place to showcase these animals,” she said.
“We rely completely on donations and fundraising. We’re doing a poker run on the 28th” of October. Registration for the event starts at 9 a.m. at the Jane Walmart, and the ride starts at 10 a.m. The cost is $15 per vehicle and $5 for extra passengers. The fee includes lunch. The last stop will be at the community center in Pineville at
noon, where lunch will be served.
Bartley said the nonprofit’s name came from a line in the movie, “Tombstone,” when Doc Holiday says, “I’m your huckleberry.”
“Apparently, it means ‘I’m the man for the job,’” she said.
Bartley hopes people will bring dogs to the rescue.
“If somebody picks a dog up and they take it to a shelter and the shelter is full, what are they supposed to do with these animals? Hopefully, they bring them to I’m Your Huckleberry.”
She said the organization got its nonprofit status in July. Since then it has taken in nine dogs and has found homes for five.
She said it can feel like a losing battle.
“Until the puppy mills are more strictly regulated and until the backyard breeders are regulated, this problem is ongoing and endless. However, there’s a place in Springdale called Spay Arkansas. They do affordable spaying and neutering. Joplin Humane Society also does affordable spaying and neutering and shots. With that starting up, if you can get the message across to people to spay or neuter their animals, the situation would definitely be improved. And if people would stop buying puppies from pet stores, the puppy mills would stop breeding. So adopt, don’t buy.”
To adopt or foster a dog, call 417-456-9195. Monetary donations may be mailed to I’m Your Huckleberry Rescue, P.O. Box 62, Pineville, MO 64856.