For Immediate Release:
Contact: Emily Laurie
elaurie@pethelpers.org
(843) 906-7557
PET HELPERS’ VOLUNTEERS SAVES NINE PUPPIES
Pet Helpers: Helping Puppies in Need
Charleston, SC - A woman came to Pet Helpers with a stray dog she found roaming the streets where she lives. She thought she was doing the right thing, but in reality nine puppies’ lives were at risks. You see, the dog she brought in had signs that she had just given birth; she was lactating with milk. A dog that has just given birth needs to be with her litter because the “Mama Dog” provides nutrients from her milk and protection and warmth from her body. Pet Helpers’ Director of Operations, Kristin Kifer, and Pet Helpers’ Volunteer, Erin Hauhn, discussed the possibilities of what could happen to these puppies if they were not found in time.
“It’s very crucial that a mother dog is either rescued with her puppies or that she stays where she is found so that she can care for her litter,” says Pet Helpers Executive Director, Suzanne Carr. While deeply concerned about taking “Mama Dog” back to the woods where she came from, they knew puppies lives were at stake. They went back to the area and released “Mama Dog” and for the next few days, Kifer, Hauhn, and Carr combed through the woods trying to find her pups but to no avail. Pet Helpers’ Volunteer, Erin Hauhn, didn’t give up though.
Erin and her husband, Joe Hauhn, spent every day looking for the dog and her pups. They even left food and water out each night to make sure “Mama Dog” had enough food to keep healthy. Days went by and still no trace of “Mama Dog.”
About a week later, Erin went out to feed “Mama Dog,” which she now fondly calls Honey. To her luck, Honey was there, out of hiding, and looking for the food Erin and her husband have been leaving behind. Erin took matters into her own hands and decided to follow her into the woods. It was a crazy goose chase but Erin and her friend Rebecca, who was with Erin the time Honey appeared, were able to follow Honey back to her hiding spot, which was under a house.
Of course Honey was way back in the corner, in the narrowest part of the crawl space. Erin called her husband Joe and he came out and saved the day! Joe belly crawled in, scooped up the puppies and brought them all out to safety! They took them home, gave them nice warm baths and a good place to sleep! In total, there are seven males and two females! Erin and Joe are taking care of the puppies until Pet Helpers’ new shelter is ready to open. These nine puppies will be the first “residence” to occupy a “room” at Pet Helpers’ new Adoption Center and Spay/Neuter Clinic. Without volunteers and caring people like Erin and Joe Hauhn Pet Helpers’ would not exists.
“Our volunteers give us hours of their own personal free time, all because they want to make a difference,” said Carol Linville, President and Founder of Pet Helpers. “I can not thank them enough for their hard work and dedication. Because of people like Erin and Joe, it gives me hope and faith to continue the work I do.”
Pet Helpers has consistently been a leader in working to stop pet overpopulation, address animal cruelty, and shelter all animals taken in until adoption. Please visit our web site at www.pethelpers.org to learn more about our programs, pets, and how you can help with our Capital Campaign and become a “Pet Helper Partner”!
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“The magnitude of the animal suffering is overwhelming,” said Jane Garrison, Pet Helpers Board Member and trained animal disaster worker, after only one day in New Orleans.
Sirens roared in the background as she reported her experience by cell phone to Suzanne Carr, Executive Director of Pet Helpers as Garrison rode into the city for day two of the grueling door-to-door rescue of pets left behind when their owners fled the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
Garrison left for New Orleans on September 4th after receiving a call from Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Laura Malone, Executive Director of the Louisiana SPCA. Both requested her assistance as one of a small group of volunteers that have been authorized to enter homes where evacuated residents have indicated they left their pets.
On Tuesday, Garrison and three HSUS DART (Disaster Animal Response Team) members entered 20 houses. In all cases the pets were without food, or it had been rendered inedible by flood waters. The pets were frightened and hungry but the team managed to rescue 28 animals, including cats, kittens, dogs, two chinchillas and a rabbit.
One home was on fire but the dedicated team went in as firemen poured water down on them and the house so they could rescue a dog trapped inside. They were successful, but another family dog was too frightened to come out from under the porch. The team was going back to try again. The progress is slow, “We still have 1,500 houses to search, and we often must break windows, doors or walls to get to the stranded animals. These pets are trapped and they are going to die if we don’t get to them soon,” Garrison pressed.
Volunteers with animal skills are needed as are material donations. Garrison indicated a great need for small flat bottomed boats, crates of all sizes, Kevlar gloves and walkie- talkies. The rescue of animals in New Orleans is being coordinated by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry. If you would like to volunteer your time to work in one of the Emergency Animal Shelters, please call toll-free (888) 773-6489 between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, or send an e-mail to Katrina@ldaf.louisiana.gov with your name and contact information, level of experience (e.g., veterinarian, veterinary assistant/technician, animal control worker, lay volunteer, etc.), and indicate any specialized skills you may have. Material donations may be sent to this address:
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry,
5825 Florida Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
ATTN: Katrina
In response to the many calls to Pet Helpers and other area animal welfare organizations, Humane Net, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit coalition of local rescue groups, has set up a relief effort to assist in the rescue of animals in the most impacted areas of Hurricane Katrina. For more information on KARE ( Katrina Animal Rescue Effort) visit Pet Helpers’ web site at www.pethelpers.org
Pet Helpers is also pursuing specific information from the Humane Society of the United States to determine how the Charleston rescue community can best help animals from the disaster. It is likely that they will be asked to provide foster care and possibly place animals in adoptive homes. If you are interested in helping with this effort please contact Claudia Hawkins, Director of Operations, at the shelter at 795-1110.