Group effort means victory for Virginia animals.
By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends NetworkLila Wills, President of
Virginia PAWS, and Teresa Dockery, Chief Operating Officer of the
Margaret B. Mitchell Spay/Neuter Clinic have been colleagues in the animal welfare movement for years. It was that association that brought them together recently to become vital components in shutting down a Virginia puppy mill. The success of the project was a result of their work as well as the activism of our Best Friends Network members.
After a fire destroyed Dogwood Kennels in March, the owners planned to re-build. Immediately, Wills began working with the Bland County officials to create a conditional use permit (CUP) for the new facility. The
CUP was issued in July; however, it included provisions that protected the animals; including an evacuation plan for both people and dogs, a sprinkler system, climate control, and age limits for the dogs being bred. The facility was given 120 days to comply with these conditions. However, in an effort to avoid those animal safeguards, the owners applied for a permit to operate in nearby Giles County. Through activism Wills successfully campaigned against it and the secondary permit request was denied. Dogwood Kennels was left with a large stock of dogs and no legal way to operate.
Wills had been in contact with other organizations, including Best Friends, regarding the creation of the CUP and rather than allowing the dogs to go to auction, a suggestion was made to purchase the dogs. Wills set up an undercover buyer to approach the kennels and the operation was on and off again repeatedly. Success finally came last Friday night, when all the animals were transported by Best Friends out of the puppy mill. The following morning, two triage teams were set up to examine the animals to determine any immediate medical needs and to ready the animals for transport. Dockery commented, “Our job was to see if there were any animals that needed to be treated right away.” Fortunately all of the animals were deemed healthy enough to travel.
In addition to the veterinary exam, each of the animals had to be identified, photographed, vaccinated, microchipped, and issued health certificates.
A lot of time was spent on planning and setup prior to the animals’ arrival, the system ran flawlessly, and everyone was out and on their way to Pets Alive in New York by 5:00 p.m. that same evening. Despite the rescue operation taking less than 24 hours, three litters of puppies were born in that short time period.
“None of this would have been done without the many organizations and volunteers working together to make this happen” stated Wills. “I think that the teamwork between Theresa Dockery, Virginia PAWS and Best Friends was paramount to the success of this operation.”
Dockery said, “It was a great project,” and while this rescue effort helped save many dogs, it was not the normal day-to-day operations for either organization.
“We’re really about education and the humane animal bond,” says Wills of Virginia PAWS. Their organization developed a spay/neuter program with the
Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. For almost seven years the third and fourth year students operate on the animals provided by Virginia PAWS. They gain hands-on experience in spaying and neutering surgeries and the university does not need to purchase laboratory animals. In this program, Wills states “The community wins, the students win, and the animals win.” Together, the partnership sterilizes approximately 300 animals per year at no cost to the animals’ guardians.
Virginia PAWS also works with
Angels of Assisi and the
Pulaski County Humane Society to help in providing sterilization services for the four county area their organization covers.
In addition to their spay/neuter work, Virginia PAWS also takes part in pet therapy, education in schools, and a library reading program. They are also involved in animal friendly legislation and were honored, along with
Grace the therapy cat, by the Virginia Legislation with a commendation bill. They also organized a successful listserv, which includes many Southwest Virginia humane organizations, rescues, and animal welfare individuals. Through the network, now “everyone works together.”
The Margaret B. Mitchell Spay/Neuter Clinic opened in 2005 and has been responsible for the spaying and neutering of over 18,000 animals. The clinic is named in honor of Margaret Mitchell, who was the Founder of the
Bristol Humane Society. After she had crossed, she left a portion of her estate to the shelter, which used the funds to establish the clinic. Luckily, they were able to purchase a 6,000 square foot medical clinic, which was easily converted.
Now the clinic services eight counties in the Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee region. Dockery says, “Our goal is to reach the people who would not otherwise have the funds to spay or neuter their animals.” The surgeries are subsidized and they “work with people based on their income.” The organization not only reaches in to targeted communities, but also operates closely with area shelters and rescues.
Not only were 179 puppy mill dogs saved last week, but many more animals are helped every day thanks to the assistance of these two fabulous organizations.
For more information: •
Putting Cruelty Out of Business•
The Roanoke Times: Giles supervisors reject commercial dog kennel•
The Truth About the Pet Trade campaign•
Spay/Neuter Fever! communityHow you can help:• Support animal welfare organizations like
Virginia PAWS and the
Margaret B. Mitchell Spay/Neuter Clinic.
•
Donations to the Best Friends Rescue Fund help make efforts like this possible.
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Photos by Clay Myers