AAP Migration Database

This month, we’d like you to meet Road Home Animal Rescue, an amazing organization based in Crossville, Tennessee. This outstanding group not only saves the lives of countless pets, but their work helps save the lives of domestic violence victims, too. How? In 2002, Road Home founder Howard Loftin realized that battered women are much more reluctant to leave their abuser if they’re forced to leave a beloved pet behind. In many cases, when a victim of domestic violence does leave a pet behind, the abuser uses the threat of harming the pet as a tool to lure the woman back into the dangerous environment. In response to this phenomenon, Loftin created a division of Road Home Animal Rescue called the Safe Haven Program, Tennessee’s first (and only) animal shelter devoted to providing a safe, temporary home for the pets of domestic violence victims. Since its inception, the program has helped over 1000 animals, and they now serve 48 counties in East Tennessee. No matter how full their park-like sanctuary is or how low funds get, Road Home has never turned away a domestic violence victim in need.

Road Home has many wonderful pets for adoption, which you can view here. Visit http://www.roadhomerescue.org/ for more information about Road Home Animal Rescue and to learn how you can support their work by making a tax-deductible donation or volunteering your time! You’ll also find information there about the Road Home and Great Creatures benefit concert, to be held August 12th at Blue Cats in Knoxville, Tennessee.

We’d like to thank Howard Loftin and Road Home Animal Rescue for the incredible work they do on behalf of homeless pets and domestic violence victims. We’re so proud to have this group in the Adoptapet.com community!

Meet Animal Lifeline, our Heroes of the Month! The folks at Animal Lifeline, based in Pennsylvania, do so many different things for animals that it was difficult to decide which aspect of their work to feature. They see themselves as a “rescue to the rescuers” and, through various fundraising activities, they are able to supply many private and municipal animal rescues and shelters with food, transportation, spay and neuter assistance, grant and medication procurement, kennel equipment, and just about anything else you can think of. They operate on the principle that people working together can accomplish great change, and they and their legion of volunteers are proving the truth in that statement.

In addition to their outreach, fundraising, and an extremely innovative spay/neuter program, Animal Lifeline has spent the past year building an animal shelter in the very poor community of Clay County, West Virginia. After hearing about terrible conditions at the existing shelter, they jumped right in, getting land donated and renovating a rustic shelter from the ground up. Volunteers from the Philadelphia area supplied most of the manpower. “Our volunteers do everything they can for the community,” says Animal Lifeline founder Denise Bash, “There have been friendships made that I dare say should last a lifetime. People from home send supplies to needy families, food for volunteers, and shelter and animal care supplies. It really is amazing how much more vested people are when they know where everything is going.”

Continues Bash, “There are plenty of ‘Clay Counties’ in the United States. Places where a ‘dawg’ lives on a line, cats are in even worse shape, there is no vet in the county, people are poor, and animals are destitute. Do you leave? Do you pretend it’s not happening? We have chosen to stay. There are many people in Clay who care deeply for animals. By investing in this community and teaching them, giving them the tools they need, Internet, shelter, feed, adoption outlets, grant procurement, we are saving countless more animals then we could on our own.”

This wonderful story comes to us from Jennifer Munch, a volunteer for
Pueblo Collie/Sheltie Rescue of Colorado:

The dog rescue group that I volunteer for, Pueblo Collie/Sheltie Rescue
of Colorado (“Collie-rado”) got a senior female sheltie from the Pikes Peak
Humane Society in Colorado Springs, about an hour north of here. The
shelter director called us directly when the sheltie came in because
this dog was old, and the director knew she would do very badly in a shelter
environment, and possibly die or never be adopted.

The director of Pueblo Collie/Sheltie Rescue, Hope Hemperly, went to get
this little dog from the shelter. Hope called me from the road and
asked me to meet her at a parking lot to get a photo of the sheltie for our
website. I took quick photos of a scared, confused sheltie as the light was
fading, with Hope holding her. This poor dog, whom we named Jade, was shaking with fear and her eyes showed confusion. She had obviously not been groomed in some time, and she had a case of “collie nose,” an auto-immune disorder.

The setting sun did not do much for the best photo either. Jade eventually blossomed into a lovely senior lady in her foster home. But the photo that ran on Adoptapet.com was my fairly lousy photo when Jade did not look her best. And yet…. a woman named Pat halfway across the country near Seattle, Washington, was looking at the Adoptapet.com website late one night. That photo really spoke to her.

Something in Jade’s expression reached out and grabbed Pat. Yup, this
has a happy ending! Jade was adopted to Pat, who has the honor of being the
adopter living the greatest distance away in our group’s 28-year history!
Jade was renamed Kelli, and Pat adores her… and even bought her
several rain outfits for the Seattle weather!

Pat is exactly the type of adopter whom we hope to find at Pueblo
Collie/Sheltie Rescue. Kelli is a true family member who is cared for
physically and every other way, adored forever and understood as her own
being. Thank you, Adoptapet.com, for helping to bring about such a love
match!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Munch, Volunteer

Disclaimer:  Information contained in our blog includes our friendly advice for getting along with your new pet! Our lawyers asked us to let you know it is not provided as professional or legal advice on specific situations. Though we have lots of experience and the best intentions, Adopt-a-Pet.com and our blog authors cannot accept any responsibility for any injury or damage that you may cause yourself, your pet, or property by following our advice. As much as we’d like to be there to help you in person, Adopt-a-Pet.com has no control over your use of the information and advice provided by Adopt-a-Pet.com.  Here’s some more important stuff we need to say… All information in this manual is provided without any warranty, express or implied, as to its effect and completeness.  Such information and advice should be used as a guide and modified to meet the specific needs of your pet.  Please use the materials and information at your own risk, and only in combination with professional advice.  By receiving such information and materials from Adopt-a-Pet.com, you agree to bear all risk associated with the use of such information and materials and agree to hold harmless Adopt-a-Pet.com, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents from all claims arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the information or materials received from Adopt-a-Pet.com. Phew! Now we can say thank you for adopting a new pet, and you can get back to the fun stuff!