This is What Rescue is All About.
I first saw dog #27164 when someone posted her picture on Facebook with a caption that said she only had a few days left until she would be euthanized. She had been surrendered to Floyd County Animal Control in Rome, GA, a high kill shelter, and they euthanize every Wednesday in order to make more room for the incoming animals. My first impression of #27164 was that she was a beautiful dog and looked similar to my other rescue dog, Mali. What a shame it would be for this dog to be euthanized. Over the next week or so, she kept popping up on my Facebook page. I tried to ignore her because, after all, I was already fostering two puppies and had two dogs of my own. I knew I couldn't talk my husband into letting me foster one more and I knew that the local animal shelter where I volunteer was completely full. And, how was I going to get a dog from Rome, GA to Orlando, FL? And, only GA approved rescues can pull from GA Animal Control so I didn't even know how to go about rescuing her.
On Tuesday, the day before she was to be euthanized, I saw an urgent plea on Facebook to save dog #27164 because tomorrow was her last day. I couldn't believe no one had stepped forward to save her. I knew there was a network of GA rescues who will pull animals from high kill GA animal shelters and transport them to FL, but I had no idea how to contact them. I decided that if I was meant to save dog #27164, I'd be able to rescue her from the animal shelter and find her a ride to Orlando. I contacted one Facebook 'friend' and asked if she knew how to rescue a dog from a GA shelter. She gave me the name of someone who does this all the time. I contacted her and as soon as she heard I was with a well-known local rescue, she approved us rescuing #27164 and she was on her way to FL.
I still had to figure out how to break it to my local rescue or my husband that I was rescuing a dog from GA. I live by the mantra that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission, and this was no exception. #27164 was already on the truck headed for Florida before I talked to the Executive Director (ED) of the local rescue. In fact, the woman who was transporting had worked with our rescue before and called the ED to tell her #27164 was on her way. Needless to say, the ED was not too happy with me, but I knew she would not say no once she was in route.
When she arrived in Orlando, a rescue volunteer met the truck and drove her to the shelter. I went to the shelter to see her the next day and she was the sweetest dog, but she seemed sick. The ED said that she had an upper respiratory illness, but they were giving her strong drugs to treat the illness. Over the next two weeks, she got worse and worse, to the point where one of the shelter staff told me she didn't think she was going to make it. She was just too sick when she arrived. My husband was afraid she would pass away without a name so he named her Rainey, after MaRainey who was a Blues singer from GA.
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