Rescue Spotlight

A small group of dedicated, hardworking, passionate people can make a difference in a big world. One small group of people in Lyndonville, Vermont is changing the lives of Pugs in several states around the United States—Green Mountain Pug Rescue. BestBullySticks.com had the opportunity to speak with Karen Powers about how the rescue began, it’s 11 year history and how you can help Green Mountain Pugs. 

When & Why did you start? 
I started GMPR in early 2001.  I had been volunteering for a new England based pug rescue and thought it would be nice to have a group for pug meet ups and education on the breed.  At my first gathering it was obvious we were starting a rescue, too.

What's different about your rescue? 
This is a hard question, as all rescues work so hard to save lives.  We are a small group of Board Members making decisions in Vermont.  But we take in pugs from puppy mills as far away as Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas and as south as Georgia.  We do whatever vetting needed.  We do surgeries on the pugs as needed too- most rescues just don't have the capabilities to do this.

What is the greatest success story or "win" that your rescue has had? 
There have been so many pugs we brought in with heartworm that got better through treatment here to be adopted out and adored and spoiled by their new homes. Or one senior pug that got ran over by a car, brought into vets to be put down as the family could not afford the vet bill.  The vet called us up and we took custody of him and did a lot of work on him - costing $4,000.00 by the time it was done. Miraculously, while he had tire tracks on his side- there was no broken bones or internal injuries.  Just his mouth was a mess.    He lost his lower jaw in the process but could still eat fine with his special diet of soft foods in meatball size.  Big John, as he was called, went on to live several years loved and adored adopted by a very special friend to GMPR.  His will to live was simply amazing and donations came in to help cover some of his costs.  Sadly we lost him this year, but his memory lives on in our hearts!

What's the most rewarding thing about working at your rescue? 
Our pug social that we host yearly, seeing the puppy mill survivors not scared and cowering but flourishing and happy; tails just a wagging!  And seeing adoptions happen with one of your special fosters, when you thought it would be with you forever!  There are many days like this!  This helps us get through the worst when we get in so many puppy millers that are a mess medically and emotionally so bruised.

What can people do to help your rescue?
If you live in NH, VT or around Albany NY area, we definitely need fosters to continue our mission.  Volunteering at events, helping transport pugs when needed, make crafts to sell at our silent auctions, definitely need graphic artists help, too!

Congratulations to Green Mountain Pug Rescue on winning 2^nd place in BBS’s recent “Every Dog Has Its Day” Charity Photo Contest. The money they won will be going to help pay vet bills for the 9 Arkansas pugs rescued on 8/24/12. One of these pugs, Angel, is pictured to the right. These pugs had severe flea dermatitis, infections, ear and eye issues. One of the pugs is losing both eyes.

If you’d like to find out more on Green Mountain Pug Rescue, visit their website or Facebook. 

Large hearts sometimes come in big packages. That’s what we at BestBullySticks.com know for a fact, especially in the case of North Mississippi Great Dane Rescue. We have the honor of highlighting this great rescue for the second time this year and we’re truly amazed at NMSGDR. They aren’t a big rescue. They don’t have endless resources. But just as the gentle giants they rescue, NMSGDR has big hearts and a willingness to love unconditionally. They get the job done. Here is their story. 

When & Why did you start?
While our official start is April of 2010, we began our operations in 2009 due to a need in the community for help saving Great Danes in need.  A couple of ladies who would become our future officers, Trista, spent 2009 helping out a few Dane families in need, fostering their Danes short term or fostering Danes found by the local shelter until they could be reunited with their families.  In early 2010, one of those ladies received a call regarding a puppymill raid in rural Tennessee, and many of the Danes were being housed across the Mississippi River in West Memphis, Arkansas.  Those same ladies stepped up to help without batting an eye, and it was at this time that they decided to commit to starting a rescue in the North Mississippi/Memphis area.  Since April of 2010, NMSGDR has been in official operation, growing every day in volunteers, friends, and happily ever after stories!

What's different about your rescue?
We love the efforts of all rescues, particularly the Dane-specific ones, and respect our fellow rescues, as this is not an easy work or way of life.  We do pride ourselves on being special needs friendly, though!  We cannot turn down a white Dane no matter what space (or lack thereof) we have.  For those who may not know, Danes who are mostly white, are generally born blind, deaf, or both.  This is usually done through the breeding of Harlequin to Harlequin or Merle to Merle breeding, which could easily be avoided.  Many of these special needs babies find themselves in homes that do not understand them, as many of them are given away or sold at a cut rate, unfortunately, often not bringing the best families.  Many are beaten, neglected, or dumped prior to coming to rescue. We love love LOVE matching deaf Danes with amazing families and watching these once broken and misunderstood babies blossom and thrive.  Since our official inception in 2010, we have placed at least 7 Deaf Danes with amazing families!  That’s about 8% of all of our adoptions!    Read more

If your dog is your baby then you understand the love and care put into raising a well-adjusted and happy dog. But what if your dog didn’t have you, then who would care for your baby? One rescue in Evansville, Indiana proves that sometimes it does “Take A Village” to raise a dog and bring them closer to their forever homes.

BestBullySticks.com spotlights It Takes A Village Canine Rescue, the winner of our most recent 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway, and a rescue that runs the only no-kill shelter in their area. We talked with It Takes A Village’s Kelly Miller to learn more about this wonderful rescue.

When & Why did you start?
We started about 2 years ago to fill a need for rescue in our area. The numbers were astounding and we wanted to help cut down the drastic amount of euthanized animals.

What's different about your rescue?
For our city, we are the first and only no kill rescue, so our grand opening was a fairly historic event! We also operate a Thrift Shop out of the front of our rescue to serve as a fundraiser, which is a different concept for our area. Read more

It’s pretty easy to figure out. Just about all of Best Bully Sticks company branding features an adorable little pug. So when Pug Rescue of Florida won our 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway, it just sort of made sense. We have a soft spot for pugs because they helped launch our company, so we loved having the opportunity to donate to Pug Rescue of Florida. Read more about this rescue below.

When & Why did you start?
Pug Rescue of Florida is the result of the merger of two rescues about three years ago: Tampa Pug Rescue and Orlando Pug Rescue and Adoption. We exist for the sole purpose of finding caring, safe, and loving permanent homes for rescued, displaced, and homeless dogs of the Pug breed regardless of age or condition. PROoF operates through an organized network of volunteers and sustains itself through both fund-raising efforts and the generous financial support of private individuals and commercial entities.

What's different about your rescue?
We cover most of the state and have volunteers all over. Last year we helped 355 pugs. Home checks, vet checks and reference checks are done on all foster and adoptive homes. We also use a pug kissing booth at our events!

What is the greatest success story or "win" that your rescue has had?
Our greatest success story would be the adoption of some of our special needs and senior pugs like Cubby who had spinal surgery and Captain a senior blind and deaf sweetheart of a boy who both found their forever homes just this year.

What's the most rewarding thing about working at your rescue?
The most rewarding thing would be finding forever homes for pugs who might not have had a chance at a happy life or have a second chance without the help of our all-volunteer base.

What can people do to help your rescue?
What can people do? We always need foster homes. However, since not everyone can foster, funds for medical expenses of course, as well as donations of food and flea and heartworm preventions. We also need transport volunteers to get pugs from one area to another, or from a foster home to the vet. Some of our foster homes are unable to get a pug to the vet during the week due to work etc. so that’s an area where transport is needed.

Our 10th annual Pugsgiving, is a fundraising/adoption event being held on November 10th this year. We currently need items for raffle and silent auction baskets; anything at all. It doesn’t even have to be dog related.

Thank you to Pug Rescue of Florida for their dedicated work and service to the animals of their community.

We have another 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway in a couple weeks! Stay tuned to the BBS Facebook Page for our announcement!

Best Bully Sticks has the opportunity to highlight a very special animal rescue who’s main goal is to save “Death Row” dogs. Eleventh Hour Rescue starts many days like this:

Our day begins with logging onto our computer, only to find we have a mere 161 emails to read before finishing our morning cup of coffee. Some of the subject titles read, “Senior Hound, last day is today,” “Overflowing with Puppies,” “13 more left, please help,” “Shy girl, and 3 legged beagle due to be gassed Tuesday.” Imagine having such a death sentence being held over your head, opening email after email, seeing the faces of fluffy, highly adoptable puppies, a scared little Shepherd curled up in the corner of a dirty kennel, a Labrador with just a blur behind him where the camera couldn't capture how fast his tail was wagging.

Sometimes, well... no, most times, our eyes are welled up with tears, and the thoughts of: Where are we going to put them?  How will we pay for the transport?  What if one is heartworm positive, how will we pay for the treatment?  This is when we take a deep breath, email our volunteers, start brainstorming about fund raising ideas, rebalance the checkbook, and just end the morning with an emailed response of 'We'll take them all', backed only with one thought...

'We'll figure it out'.

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We talked with Elyse Langsett, EHR's Fundraising Director, after they won BBS’s most recent 1-Day Animal Shelter/Rescue Giveaway on Facebook. She elaborated on how this New Jersey rescue was started, their struggles and their successes. Read more