Over the last two months there have been two big rescue efforts for collies.  One was in Kentucky, where a breeder had over 50 dogs and the other was in Houston, Texas where 50 dogs were confiscated from a breeder by the ASPCA. Thankfully, these dogs were saved as they lived in kennels and had very minimal human interaction - that's no way for a collie to live. 

 

Linda Z, our Director and Rescue Liasion for the newly formed national Collie Rescue Foundation, coordinated the release and transport to collie rescues across the US.  You can read about the Texas efforts at http://www.collierescuefoundation.org/news.html

 

CRI took in collies from each of those efforts.  We currently are still looking for homes for Jordie and Angel.  Jordie came to us from Kentucky and Angel came from the Texas seizure.  We want to thank the CRI volunteers: (Beth Davis, Annette Miller, Colleen Duffy, Brad Lafferty, Jon Ortega, Judy Porter who helped rescue these guys).  All of the dogs that we took in were absolutely wonderful and thankful to get individualized attention and two square meals a day.

This month, our volunteer spotlight shines on Annette Miller who has been rescuing collies for over 12 years.  She is truly the backbone of Collie Rescue!

Annette routinely fosters two or more collies, transports her fosters to the ends of the earth and back (including a regular 2 hour drive half way up to Chantilly!), and even grooms every collie in her care! Lucky for CRI, Annette owns her own grooming business, Canine Bath Shop, in Bedford, VA. I'm always excited to meet a collie who has lived with Annette because, without fail, they will always look beautiful and smell great! In addition to helping CRI, this true animal lover also fosters all other dog breeds for the Bedford Humane Society and has served on their Board in every possible position.

Annette is a member of the Collie Club of America and an active volunteer for the Collie Health Foundation. CRI also owes a heartfelt thanks to Ed, Annette's husband of 44 years, as Ed introduced Annette to our favorite breed. As if Annette was not busy enough, she also has two children, three grandchildren, and four collies! Annette, thank you for all of your generous contributions and your support of Collie Rescue. Many, many lives have been touched because of you.

 As a child, I fell in love with collies thanks to the stories written by Albert Payson Terhune.  Terhune was an author as well as a dog breeder and journalist.  He is best known for his novels depicting the adventures of his beloved collies. He also owned the well-known Sunnybank kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's collies. Lad, A Dog was one of his most popular books, and you can still buy it (try amazon!)!

 

You can learn more about Terhune and his collies by visiting http://www.sunnybankcollies.us/

 

As Tommy spent more and more time with us, he never seemed to grow weaker. Quite the opposite, in fact. - every day he grew stronger! We were a little worried initially after his leg was amputated, because he seemed dejected and despondent. But gradually his depression changed, and we knew he was going to be ok.

 

Since Tommy was such a unique dog, he needed a unique family to call his own. A family who would love him for who he is, and give him the caring and support he would need to live a happy and carefree life. There are few people who would open their home to a dog who has been through what Tommy had been.  However, we found the perfect family in Billie Schaeffer and her husband, John Williams.   Collie Rescue had been working with Billie & John for a few months, and in that time we discovered their huge heart and love for all animals. Besides being a true collie lover, Billie also had rescued many hamsters that had been abandoned. We knew from the moment Billie, John and Tommy met that they would be happy together. Now, months later, Tommy has finished his treatments, has settled into his new home in Alexandria, and continues to get stronger. His is truly a story of strength, and he has been an inspiration to us all.