Houston has been a total whirlwind! We arrived last night and got right to work on snuggling the soda pop puppies and photographing the few dogs that are still available for adoption! All of the dogs are so crazy sweet and just want to be loved and adored (mission accomplished.) We went out to dinner with a generous donor who is helping fund the rescue efforts and filled our car with supplies that had been donated from dog beds to food, treats to toys! We were blown away by how much was given. There are so many hands in making all of this happen from the feeders to the rescuers, the coordinators to the donators, it’s absolutely amazing to see the involvement of so many in order to get these pups into better living conditions!
Thursday morning we got ready and headed into the corridor area of Houston where we were able to feed numerous dogs all over town from bouncy labs to tiny little mutts. So many of the animals were kind and loving, you could tell they weren’t sure what to think of humans but once they realized we wouldn’t hurt them, they would come and eat. Some seemed happy and healthy while others seemed sick and starved. It was heartbreaking to get back into the car and not take them with us.
We met a mechanic named Willie who loves animal and has taken in 11 dogs and numerous cats over the years. He pays to rent out a lot where he has made a home for the animals and he cares for them with so much compassion. He has been an amazing partner to the rescue in providing a temporary place for dogs to stay while the rescue figures out a plan of fostering or adopting. What an incredible piece of the puzzle to meet. The team Larissa works with has a feeding route complete with a guide that has photos of the dogs and where they are staying. The team goes out daily and feeds these dogs and sends out feeding notes so everyone can know where they are and how they are doing.
The team will wait until they gain the dogs trust and then they come up with a game plan on how to get them off of the streets and into the homes of people who will love them. They also focus on the at risk dogs (mostly including the litters of pups and any dogs that are showing signs of sickness.) On our route we encountered a tiny kitten that was all alone, so we took her with us on the rest of our journey. She was so adorable and cuddly! After a few hours of feeding the homeless dogs we grabbed our rental vehicle and headed home to pack up and start the trek back to Wisconsin (which we are still en route! I am typing from the back seat with three dogs in my lap (one in a puppy sling, who knew?) I can’t wait to see them meet their new owners, it’s their lucky day! They were so quiet and resilient throughout the night, now that the sun has come up, so have the pups and we have a chorus cheering us on as we drive.
Thank y’all for the support, both prayerfully and financially. We can’t wait to get these dogs into their loving owners arms. I am so excited to share the video and photos as I get them edited, so please stay tune and help us spread this message! We will be periodically posting updates on the 20 hour cross country trip, so make sure you follow along on Instagram: @jennakutcher and check out Paddy’s Paws page to see where we are and how we are doing!
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