Virginia Beach family helps keep hounds out of the pound
Hellow Fellow Basset Hound and Hounds out of the Pounds Lovers! Well, how about another feel good story to start your day? This just came across the Internet wires as Emma was at her desk.
START OF NEWS ARTICLE………..
By Irene Bowers
Correspondent
VIRGINIA BEACH
The four legs of this plane trip belonged to a basset hound.
Rescued from a shelter in the Florida panhandle, 12-year-old Kroozer needed relocation due to severe thunderstorm phobia. He also has terminal cancer.
Basset hound rescue volunteers found him a home in Pennsylvania, where stormy weather was less frequent.
Kroozer enjoyed a four-flight trip, one leg of which included a stay in Bayside with the Peter Fisher family. Pilots N Paws, a nonprofit that transports special needs rescue animals, sponsored the trip.
“I read about Kroozer on a Web site about basset hounds,” said Fisher’s wife, Alicelynn Watson. “So I volunteered to give him a Virginia Beach vacation.”
Marty Hutto, a volunteer pilot who has flown 17 dogs since joining Pilots N Paws in January, transported Kroozer from North Carolina to Chesapeake.
“Kroozer was a great traveler,” Hutto said.
Kroozer had plenty of company at Fisher and Watson’s home in Thoroughgood. The family owns two basset hounds and was fostering a third at the time.
The Fisher family, from left, Peter, Adam, Alicelynn and Emily, enjoy a moment with bassets, from left: pet Abby, foster Fred, weekend guest Kroozer and pet Bailee.
(Irene Bowers | Special to The Virginian-Pilot)
“I thought he’d be pretty fragile,” Watson said, “but Kroozer ignored the dogs and spent much of his time chasing my cats.”
Watson belongs to BassetCare, a basset welfare organization dedicated to Care, Adoption, Rescue and Education. The organization is based in Suffolk and covers an area from Richmond to northern North Carolina.
Bassets are frequently dumped when owners discover that their “hush puppy” may slobber, be stubborn or follow its nose without returning home.
“Pet owners should research what breed is good for their lifestyle,” said Deborah Strickland, foster coordinator of BassetCare.
The Virginia Beach SPCA has been supportive of basset rescue, frequently contacting them when one is abandoned, Strickland.
“They allow us to bring bassets to their adoption events, which is really wonderful,” she said.
BassetCare searches the Internet and locates dogs in animal shelters or city pounds. Identified animals are pulled, checked by vets and immediately placed in a foster home for two weeks, for assessment before adoption.
“Without fosters, we wouldn’t be able to rescue these dogs,” Strickland said. “It’s the toughest job because you take in a dog, make it a member of the family and then have to give it to someone else.”
Watson, who safely delivered Kroozer to Williamsburg for his last leg to Pottstown, Pa., is a foster provider.
“I’m more a foster failure,” she said. “We adopted our first foster, but it was a happy failure all ’round.”
Hutto, of the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake, said the cause is uplifting.
“When you look a dog in the face, that you are taking to another chance at life, you see the trust and adoration they give under stress,” he said. “You realize the responsibility and reward of what you are doing.”
Irene Bowers, bowersi@aol.com
END OF ARTICLE………….
Well, there you have it dear readers, a feel good story. I cannot believe I have never heard of BassetCare.org. Good job friends! I just added them to the rescue links page.
If you are reading this, can you take a moment and go to my rescue links page and see if I have your basset hound rescue listed? If so, can you check to see if the link is correct? We want to give the homeless hounds we love every chance to find a forever home! Thanks! Emma Rudert……..
More feeling good later…..Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma
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