When most people think about rescue they think about the rescue groups and the adopters. The middle link can often be left out of the discussion. Every rescue group has a cherished list of transporters that they depend on to get the dogs where they need to be. Transporters often pull dogs from shelters and help deliver them to the rescue groups, and they also deliver them to their new families. They dedicate their time, their gas, and the wear and tear on their tires to insure the babies get to their destinations.
The Promised Land Dachshund Sanctuary is no different than all other rescuers and we have been blessed with many wonderful transporters over the years. They make the process so much easier because they allow me to move dogs around a huge state without having to be away from the sanctuary for hours and hours.
They deal with frightened, ill, or injured dogs on the way to the rescuers with no time to get to know the dogs ahead of time. If they are in the beginning or the middle of the rescue chain they miss out on the happy meetings of the dogs and their new families. Their anonymity does not overshadow their importance to either end of that chain, however. The rescuers could not place dogs outside of their own areas without these selfless volunteers, and the new families would be restricted to adopting from their own areas as well.
Because I have done some transporting of my own, I know that the trips do not always go as planned. My car has been vomited on, peed on, and pooped on. I have had seats torn, carpet ripped, and interiors that smelled from the trip for days after it was all over. On one harrowing trip years ago I looked up to see all the cars in front of me swerving off the road. When my line of sight focused in on the problem there was a toddler standing in the highway. I, like everyone else on that road, ended up in the ditch. No one was hurt, but I suspect we all lost a few days off the end of our lives from the terror we experienced. How many stories like this are out there that no one ever hears?
So today I would like to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful people that have helped transport dogs for me over the years. I hope they know in their own hearts how valuable they are to the overall process of saving as many dogs as possible. Their stories don’t make it to the rescue webpages, and I would guess we lose a wonderful insight by allowing their anecdotes to go untold.
The Promised Land Dachshund Sanctuary 