Our Collie Rescue Group doesn't take on mixes, except when they do:) Ruly was out of time at the shelter and is obviously part smooth collie. The rest of his DNA probably involved some hound, but it's anybody's guess.
Ruly was called Max, as are half the dogs in this world, and he went to join the 9 collies at our area coordinator's farm. A couple are hers, the rest are returning guests as she dog-sits for prior rescues. Max/Ruly was described as exhausting; wearing out the patience of the older dogs with his relentless rough play and lack of manners.
I stayed quiet on the sidelines of the email-group discussion about him, keeping my twitchy trigger-finger away from the buttons that would draw attention to me. We still have a lot going on after our move, not to mention having a business to run.
Ruly is in his third week with us. He's learned to walk on the leash, improve his meet and greet skills with other dogs and make the most of relaxing in front of the office fan. He relaxes a lot, as my biggest and best rule of dog-training is to keep them as tired as possible.
Ruly's good with cats and kids and a great companion in the car. He's been deemed adoptable and his picture is on Facebook and on the rescue website. Unfortunately, he's being eclipsed by a story from Texas. A woman there had a history of hoarding; breeding collies but never relinquishing them to homes. The initial count of undernourished dogs seized from backyard cages was over ninety. Two pregnant bitches have whelped thirteen and ten pups respectively, over the weekend. Four frightened dogs who've been hiding in the back of their igloos were finally spotted and counted, bringing the total to 120.
There was a hearing earlier today and a judge signed them all over to be cared for and adopted out by Houston Collie Rescue, which is great news. Sometimes dogs can be in legal limbo for months or years before they get a chance at a normal life in a loving home.
At the hearing, it came to light that there are an additional three dozen collies that were hidden at the hoarder's father's house, then transferred back to her since. Concerned neighbors had called in to say that they could still hear dogs barking at her home.
For once an animal abuser was taken away in handcuffs. She had done this before in 2007. Fifty five dogs were taken from her at that time. The current numbers were produced from the ten dogs she hid and kept back then.
Many rescue organizations have reached out to share this load. The financial outlay so far is close to $50,000. The Collie Club of America has donated $10,000 and some pet-food companies have sent supplies. Pilots for Paws are waiting to schedule flights, as needed, to transport dogs across the country. Vets are vaccinating, evaluating and treating all the dogs. Every one has been bathed, micro-chipped and given a name.
We don't yet know how many of these dogs will be allocated to California. If they do come, I've signed up to take two.
