Saunders County Lost Pets: Saving the lives of strays
We have all heard that a dog is man’s best friend. Dogs are smart, fun, goofy, and extremely loyal. But what about the strays who have lost their homes? Do they still have a chance to be somone's best friend? According to Deborah, the founder of Saunders County Lost Pets, they absolutely do. Saunders County Lost Pets is making a tremendous difference in the lives of stray animals in Nebraska. They take in strays and try to find the best possible solution to the animal’s situation.
Saunders County Lost Pets was founded after the unexpected loss of Deborah’s two dogs. Before Deborah opened her shelter, any stray that went unclaimed in Saunders County was sent to be euthanized. Here’s Deborah’s story as to why she started her program:
“We were laying sod in our yard and the dogs got out and ran past the neighbors house and were never seen again. I searched for months and months and visited all shelter and vet offices within 60 miles. Search friends and my family drove every country road and followed up on every lead. They were not ever seen again. Elliott my chocolate lab was my first baby. He was 8 years old and my life long friend. Immediately following my loss, I began rescuing the strays that went unclaimed in Saunders County. I wanted to control what was happening in my life and turn my painful loss into something I could tolerate. I wasn’t able to change my circumstances, but I could change what was happening to the unclaimed strays.”
After what happened with Elliott, Deborah began working with local veterinarians. She became the go-to person that they would contact when a stray needed to be picked up. She began using her own resources to help give each and every stray the vet care that they needed, offering to pay out of pocket for their vaccinations and any other health issues the animals were having.
Since then, many volunteers have come forward to help support the rescue’s philosophy of health care and control of the unwanted pet population. SCLP is an all volunteer organization and they adopt out approximately 150 pets each year. For the month of March, ten percent of Beer Paws sales will go towards this life-changing shelter in Nebraska.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/SCLPrescue/
http://www.saunderscountylostpets.com/