Rescued pooches Beantown bound

Rescued pooches Beantown bound

Last Hope Canine Rescue, WM Animal Shelter help rescue dogs find new homes up north

news@theeveningtimes.com

A pack of pet lovers from Boston with Last Hope Canine Rescue and Rescue Road showed up at the West Memphis Animal shelter last week to rescue dogs and deliver a big donation. The group transported the pups to New England last week to be fostered until adopted. The pet transfer pointed to the different culture north and south.

Around here too many unwanted pets are turned into animal services. In Boston there is a shortage of dogs compared to the number of households wanting to adopt dogs. So when Last Hope contacted West Memphis Animal Services director Kerry Sneed the match making was on.

“Rescue Road is the feet on the ground,” said Sneed. “They come here and prepare our dogs for to go to Boston where they are fostered and ultimately adopted.”

Last Hope is volunteer run and foster based. No one receives a salary. The group has no facility, so all the dogs live in homes of foster families until adopted.

“Boston doesn’t really have a stray dog problem,” said Last Hope Medical coordinator Steph Phenix.

“We are here for five days visiting six shelters in Arkansas.”

Last hope delivered a much needed gift to the animal shelter. Group funds delivered a supply storage shed to the animal shelter.

“We fund raised for projects and one of them was the storage shed here,” said Phenix.

“We will put all of our dog and cat food and supplies in this one central location allowing us more shelter space,” said Sneed. “The idea that there are too many dogs in the mid-south and not enough in the urban northeast shows a contrast in culture.

“Wherever you have an over abundance of anything you have a lack of appreciation for it,” said Sneed.

“Because there is such an abundance the pet population has less value here.”

Sneed stressed the need for more education about spaying and neutering to prevent unwanted pets and Phenix gave West Memphis Animal Control kudos.

“Dogs may be more of commodity in the South than they are in the North,” said Phenix. “Here you may need a dog for herding or a hound for hunting, maybe a lab winds up gun shy and so it is surrendered. In Boston you don’t really need a dog for a commodity but we need them for pets. One of the great things about Kerry and the team at West Memphis animal shelter is they really work hard to educate the public.”

By John Rech