RESCUE RAILROAD

Submitted by jerleen1 on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:31.

Today I went on my first run of the Rescue Railroad.  I was invited to ride shotgun on one leg of the journey to Mansfield, Ohio and back to Cleveland with three of the original twelve little dogs that first started out on this run.  The engineer of this particular leg was Ted Thelander of Near West Neighbors in Action. 

I believe that six of the canines were transported by one driver all the way to New York and the other six were divided into two groups for convenience of the transporters.

 There was the cutest chocolate lab/mixed that I adored, and there were two brothers that for some reason got on each others nerves and were at each other's throats.  There were a couple of really sweet black dogs but I have to tell you, little Charlie stole my heart.  I really would have brought him home and Ted Thelander tried to arrange it so that I could adopt this precious little dog.  He curled up in my arms as soon as I picked him up and the little fellow crawled up like a little baby and slept all snuggled up right under my chin all the way to Cleveland.   It broke my heart to let him go.

This was one of the most organized net works I have ever seen - all done and paid for by volunteers giving of themselves to arrange and manage a safe life saving journey for these friendly and loveable creatures.  The people I met involved in this task were some of the warmest and friendliest individuals that I am so glad I got to meet.

We reached our destination back in Cleveland around 5:00pm or so and lovingly handed over our cargo to the next relayers who would be continuing on the next leg which I believe would end up in Erie, PA., and from there they would be handed over to another set of transporters and so on until they reached New York.

All I have to say is that if somebody says I can have Charlie, I going after him.

 

 

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Submitted by jerleen1 on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 22:41.

 

Saving dogs from euthanization

Submitted by lmcshane on Sun, 09/06/2009 - 01:03.

  Thank you Jerleen for your compassion and for helping this worthy effort--it's hard to understand the coordination of this network, but I assume that the adoptions are coordinated to save dogs facing immediate euthanization. 

It saddens me to see any animal in distress.  We are really not fair to keep pets unless we make a commitment to love them as family.  There are too many people who don't even make an effort to care for their own family, let alone a pet.
 

Yes, Laura, this network is

Submitted by jerleen1 on Sun, 09/06/2009 - 08:19.

Yes, Laura, this network is made up of 15 legs and coordinated by many volunteers who are focused on the committement they made to saving the lives of many dogs and cats.

Yesterday three drivers (engineers) met at the in the parking lot of Wal-Mart's in mansfield, Ohio.  Two of the engines were from Cleveland, Ted Thelander of Near West neighbors in Action and Amanda Jacobs from Jones Day, both of which were transporting three dogs to Cleveland.  All six  had made a leg of the journey from Columbus with a really nice lade named Manuela who .

Ted and Amanda then transported the six dogs from Mansfield to Bob Evans parking lot in on Rockside Road and engineers Martha Chandler and Melissa Manzie would see to it that they had a safe journey to Erie, Pa., where they would be handed over to other engineers for another leg of the journey from Erie Pa, to Fredonia, NY, and then from Fredonia to Buffalo NY and then on to Rochester, NY., and then on to Syracuse, to Herkimer, to Schenectady, NY, to Bennington, VT, to Brattleboro, VT, to Concord, NH,

One individual volunteered to transport six of the dogs all the way to NY by himself.

Here's the neat thing about all of this, there are contacts lined up all along the rail in case of emergencies.  Each transporter comes equipped with water, poop bags, food, treats and toys.  They begin the journey after being vaccinated and neutered or spayed.  Other information provided is name, sex, breed, weight, age and a Health Certificate.  So you can clearly see the kind of networking that takes place in saving these animals and all by volunteers.  They are either set up to go to permanent homes or foster homes. 

Can you imagine what communities could do with that kind of networking and support?