As I finish this short series about helping the “Lucky 5” dogs I took to Glen Highland Farm in New York many years ago, I realize that I have closed a door, and I have begun a new journey. If I have learned anything, it is that you can’t turn a blind eye to a problem, even though we would love to, but it won’t go away, and it will usually get worse. Because of a puppy mill, I have spent thousands of hours on the phone, written hundreds of letters, driven thousands of miles, and spent thousands of dollars, and this is just a drop in the bucket of “What do we do now”?
This trip literally changed my life. In a haunting way, it will never leave my mind’s eye. I say this because of the trauma I have suffered when I saw the inhumane, brutal, and ruthless way people treat their animals. To this very day, I can taste it, smell it, touch it, hear it, and the burning memory of that puppy mill will be forever locked in my mind.
We coined the dogs that went up to GHF the “Lucky 5,” which sounds rosy, and it is for them, for the rest of their life, but not for the thousands of border collies that never make it and are abandoned or euthanized because of wrong placement or bad owners. I saw things that I will never forget when I made visits to that puppy mill. The last thing I think about at night is the faces of the many dogs we left behind in a kennel, and I see “my” Dutchess, Clancy, Molly, and all of my dogs, not at my home running, playing ball, or sleeping in bed with us, I see them in the same kennel where we rescued the “Lucky 5” dogs from. By the grace of God, fortune, or destiny, my dogs came to me first. Out of the nine Border Collies we have, six were given to us from people who were looking for a “good home,” and what if my very pets had gone to a shelter, “breeding farm,” or worse, put to death! Can you imagine any of my or your dog on an eight-inch chain, unable to move and living in their own feces for months “Just to fatten them up” for breeding?...yes, this haunts me, and yes, I see the faces of my loving dogs in this inhuman kennel nearly every night, but, there is hope, but what should “we” do?
First, Help to stop puppy mills, support your local shelter, get involved there life depends on YOU!.
This has been a very emotional time in my life, but as I closed one door, one large door opens up, and it’s big. I have never asked for anything from my readers or friends, but I am asking now. I know this is hard to deal with, but there is an answer, and it’s your help… Please help me, give the Border Collie breed a loving chance, and by the grace of God, fate, or destiny, your dog at your side is with you in a warm and beautiful place and not in a puppy mill. Please help and get involved…
I worked so hard for what is right on something that was so wrong, and I feel that not only did we help rescue a total of 36 dogs, we rescued ourselves… Just a short time after I got back home to Indiana, I received a thank you note from GHF, speaking about the “Lucky 5” it read in part, “Thank you, Their world has changed forever” it was from Lillie Goodrich, the founder… and my response was... "Mine has too"… Ken
