From: Marilyn ( -72.174.144.59) Subject: Janet, you asked below about the dog run.... Date: April 28, 2008 at 9:28 pm PST
Well, it was quite an interesting trip! There was a dog transport (as they call it) originating east of Kansas City, MO, picking up dogs (often adoptable dogs slated to be euthanized in city shelters) and delivering them (to rescues and fosters) all the way across Kansas to Denver, and my friend had arranged to intercept the transport southeast of Denver to get the nine dogs she had agreed to take. The driver of the van, carrying around 40 dogs, was stopped for speeding in Kansas and found to have unpaid traffic tickets. So she was jailed and bailed (quite literally--and hysterically, I understand), causing a 2-3 hour delay. The woman who was driving the next leg of the trip called and said that instead of meeting them at 6:00 p.m., we should meet them at around 8:45. So anyway, we were at the appointed place when the van arrived and quickly transferred the spoken-for dogs into my Suzuki (four good-sized crates in the back of a little Gran Vitara-- yes, it was full!), and we headed back to my place, getting in at around midnight. Then we transferred the crates into my friend's little Honda (she can find space that doesn't exist!), and she was soon heading up to her place in the mountains. At about 12:50, I called to see if she had gotten home safely, and she'd just walked in the door, but still had to get the dogs into the house and settled.
Four of the nine dogs were a tiny (toy?) poodle mommy with three wee babies, only 10 days old--squirmy little whimpery things with closed eyes, and much cuter than that description--ha! They were a breeder (or puppy mill--sometimes it's a fine line) release. The owner had been in the hospital, and when she was released, the woman who had been helping with the dogs had to leave, so the owner was feeling overwhelmed and wanted to unload the babies and mommy. Someone who knew the dogs were available called my friend and asked if she could take them; she said that she could, but they needed to be gotten out of there immediately, as the owner was sure to change her mind. Well, she did change her mind, but the dogs were already on their way across Kansas. So because of some caring people acting quickly in MO and my friend's willingness to take the "family" on the spur of the moment, the little mommy's sentence as a puppy machine ends with this litter!
