MOUNT VERNON — Promptly at 5 a.m., on a dark, rainy morning, the Rescue Waggin’ — a large customized truck — rolled into a parking lot on Columbus Road, at the former animal shelter building. Volunteer dog rescuers Peggy Kimple and Marla McCutchen were waiting.
Both immediately set about taking dogs from the building’s kennels, one at a time, and bringing them into the small lobby. There, the dogs met PetSmart Charities employee Erin Crawley, Rescue Waggin’ transporter, who works out of the Tonawanda, N.Y., Erie County SPCA shelter.
The dogs that local rescuers hope to place on the Rescue Waggin’ must meet firm mandates for friendliness, non-aggression, socialization and good health. Kimple and McCutchen assess the dogs and videotape the behavior assessment for documentation. And when the Rescue Waggin’ arrives in Mount Vernon, its staff look over each dog before accepting them for transport to New York.
Crawley examined the ears and teeth of a dog. Checking its paws, she ran her hands over its belly, checking for problems, ignoring the smell of doggy breath and the fur flying around the room.
“OK, you’re going with us,” she said, writing the dog’s name on a red vinyl collar that she fastened around its neck. Kimple guided the dog out the door and into the Rescue Waggin’, where PetSmart Charities transporter Christina Stranges waited.
Stranges spread a blanket in a kennel, then lifted the dog into it and made it comfortable.
Foxy, a black 10-week-old Akita-mix, pranced around the room, stopping occasionally to gnaw a piece of rawhide. His foster mother, Carol Everett, who cared for him until the Rescue Waggin’ was due, had packed a paper bag with treats and toys for the trip to New York.
An 8-week-old dachshund-mix named Buster leaned into McCutchen’s arms. His mother and sister were waiting in the building’s kennels.
The PetSmart Charities Rescue Waggin’ is a project of the pet products chain PetSmart, operated by Humane Strategies, a District of Columbia nonprofit, and sponsored by pet food maker Pedigree. Covering 19 states, it’s the largest pet transport program in the country and transfers thousands of dogs annually from overpopulated areas to cities where adoptable canines are in demand. In those regions, spay and neuter mandates and programs have lowered shelter populations to the point there aren’t enough dogs for all the people who want to adopt them. The Rescue Waggin’ program has rescued nearly 20,000 dogs since 2004.
PetSmart Charities outfits its large customized trucks with 40 stainless steel kennels, room for supplies, and a double cab for the drivers’ comfort. The truck has heat and air conditioning. Drivers are trained in pet care and keep the dogs supplied with food and water. A closed-circuit video camera allows the drivers to keep watch on their charges while in transit. The truck makes a monthly visit to Mount Vernon.
More than 3,000 of the county’s homeless dogs have gone to rescue operations — Rescue Waggin’ and others that specialize in certain breeds — in the eight years since the volunteer-run rescue program began. Comparatively, few dogs are adopted from the Knox County Animal Shelter but, previously, 90 percent of the dogs there were euthanized; today, euthanasia is rare.
The next stop for Crawley and Stranges was the Stark County Dog Pound in Canton. Then they would drive five hours to New York and deliver the dogs to Lollypop Farm in Fairport, N.Y., which specializes in adoptions and rescues.
Crawley and Stranges would end their day with the two-hour chore of cleaning the truck. There’s a lot of paperwork and their job is stressful sometimes, but they said they enjoy their work.
“I like puppies and I like to travel,” said Crawley, “so this is a good opportunity. But I really like when I get to see the dogs get adopted.”
