No More Homeless Pets News Read more news from the week
of August 8, 2004
Kayenta Roundup Rescue GroupsThese rescue groups took in the
dogs, puppies and cats from the
Kayenta rescue roundup:
Blackhat Humane SocietySt. Johns, Arizona
Arizona Humane SocietyPhoenix, Arizona
Colorado 9 Lives RescueColorado Springs, Colorado
Denver Dumb Friends LeagueDenver, Colorado
Humane Society of Boulder ValleyBoulder, Colorado
BONES RescueCovelo, California
Colorado HumaneEnglewood, Colorado
Bitsy McClain (individual)
Cedar City, Utah
Rescue on the Rez
Working together on the Navajo Nation to save dogs and cats
By Barbara Williamson
The power of animal rescue groups working together was dramatically demonstrated when Best Friends Animal Society and other rescue groups collaborated with the Navajo Nation to save 40 dogs, 26 puppies, and three cats.
The rescue effort was the first time the Navajo Nation animal control officers worked with the rescue organizations as four Best Friends staff members drove groups of animals to Colorado, California, Arizona, and Utah to the groups waiting to provide haven.
Sherry Woodard, Best Friends dog behavior expert, got a grasp of the challenges the Navajo Nation faces when she participated in the Spay/Neuter Partnership in Shiprock, Arizona. (Details are on the website for Desert Animal Companions, a resource for all the rescue groups doing work on the Navajo Nation.)
The problem on the Navajo Nation is immense. Funding for animal control is sparse; the people often live in rural areas and in poverty; they have little to spend on their pets; the concept of spaying/neutering is new; and it is a rare pet who is wearing a tag (much less microchipped).
"The next location for the Spay/Neuter Partnership was going to be in the community of Kayenta. I heard stray dogs were going to be rounded up there and destroyed. I wanted this to be a rescue instead," Sherry said.
The first step was getting the permission and cooperation of the Navajo Nation. Since there is no animal control facility in Kayenta, animal control officers Anthony Daw and Dale Lucero in neighboring Tuba City offered to take in the dogs that were rounded up until the rescue groups could move them. Patty Finch of PETsMART Charities and Frank Ramsey, who is working with Kayenta Township to open an animal shelter there, obtained the necessary permissions from the Navajo Nation.
"We had to be very organized," Sherry said. "Best Friends' Dogtown is at capacity, but other rescue groups were able to offer space to the dogs." The rescue operation also got three cats in the bargain. "While the group was organizing the rescue, three cats came into the shelter and we didn't want to leave them behind," Sherry said.
As the dogs were brought in, Sherry checked the behavior of each one. All of the dogs were given names. "Once they were named, they started to show their personalities to us," she said.
Russ photographed every dog and sent the photos to Rose Moonwater, who manages the Desert Animal Companions website. Rose forwarded the dogs' descriptions and photos to the rescue groups to help them decide which dogs they were best suited to help.
"Rose was amazing. It was like she was watching from above," Sherry said. "She was never more than a phone call away every 30 to 40 minutes. She found the rescue groups. She gave us exact driving directions. She found our lodging and emergency veterinary care when we needed it."
Russ said, "Rose would call us with directions to someone's barn, where we would spend the night. Then the next day, she'd give us directions to the rescue group where we were taking the group of dogs."
Before the Best Friends staff's epic week was finished, they had relied on the kindness of strangers to provide lodging for them and the animals, accepted donations from tearful people who met them on the way, and connected with caring people at the rescue groups who opened their doors for animals who would have had no chance at a good home otherwise. "People came out of the woodwork to help," Russ said.
Also amazing was the excellent temperament of these stray dogs, who probably had never had a home of their own. "They have experienced life and nothing can scare them. They have had to learn to rely on scraps from people, so they are socialized," Sherry said.
Exhausted but happy, Sherry said this joint effort proved to her, "It can be done. It takes more than one community. All we have to do is look past our differences and focus on the goal of No More Homeless Pets."
For more details and photos from the Kayenta rescue operation, see the Desert Animal Companions website.
