Anything for hounds of Arkansas – By TOM SCHRECK
Howllo Fellow Hound and the AK 11 Lovers:
I just found this article and it is written by the famous author
Tom Schreck
START OF THE ARTICLE
Anything for hounds of Arkansas
By TOM SCHRECK
First published: Thursday, July 3, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, a puppy mill owner in Arkansas decided to get out of the business. He still had 11 basset hounds he used as breeders and when he called the Ozark Mountain Basset Hound Rescue Organization, he let them know they had seven days or he would take care of them on his own.
The problem was that there was no room in the Ozarks for the hounds. You see, operating a dog rescue operation can be an impossible task. There are too many dogs, not enough volunteers or money, and not enough people willing to adopt a rescue.
But dog people are a fanatic bunch, and they don’t take it lightly when some of their own are being mistreated. Phil Guinn of the Ozark rescue group called around to the informal network of basset hound rescue organizations. One of those calls came to Gary Penney, president of All Bassets Cherished, the New York state basset rescue.
In no time, he had foster homes arranged for all 11 hounds and three members were in a truck driving to Arkansas. They got the bassets, dubbed them the “Arkansas 11” and immediately took them to a vet where they were spayed and neutered and treated for a host of ailments caused by the conditions they had lived in. The bill is over $3,000 and it’s climbing.
The cost never matters to these people. They’ll find a way to pay for it.
You should know a little bit about basset hounds. They score the absolute lowest in obedience and they have a certain aroma that never really goes away, no matter how often you bathe them. They steal your food, bark incessantly and may eat your furniture. They climb in bed with you and hog the center.
There’s something else about the basset hound. They love people unconditionally.
My wife and I live with Wilbur and Riley. Wilbur barks at three in the morning and has eaten three separate holes in our leather love seat. He does what he wants when he wants.
One of the things he wants to do the most is go to work with me at Wildwood Programs. Wildwood serves people with developmental disabilities, and though Wilbur has no interest in doing anything I ask him to do, he’ll do everything the kids want him to. He helps quiet kids socialize, he calms stressed kids down and he provides companionship for kids who don’t feel like exercising. He also goes with adults in our programs to visit old folks, where he joins them on the couch while they read.
Riley visits veterans at the VA, where he steals lunches, knocks over cups of coffee and generally makes a racket. Nobody seems to mind.
Basset hounds remind me that couches, sleep and my own self-absorption aren’t nearly as important as I think they are.
I write a murder mystery series where a rescued basset hound is the protaganist’s sidekick, and you can guess who winds up the hero most of the time. The basset hound is the main character’s moral compass.
Not everybody gets the basset hound thing, but they should. The people at All Bassets Cherished get it. When the call came from Arkansas, there never was any question about what they’d do.
Tom Schreck is director of communications at Wildwood Programs. He is the author of the murder mysteries “TKO” and “On the Ropes,” featuring Al the basset hound.
END OF ARTICLE
Wow, what a great Saturday Morning read. Great work Tom! Your books are pawsome!
More Later….Cat, Chaps and Emma
