"Stray Rescue of St. Louis partners with IDA's Project Hope to save lives."

Our Project Hope team is ecstatic over our recent partnership with Stray
Rescue of St. Louis. I had the pleasure of meeting Randy Grim at our
Guardian Awards Ceremony last Halloween. I marveled at the work that Randy
and his team had undertaken. Everyone knows what a tough go it is to rescue
dogs and cats that have spent any time on the streets, let alone many who
were born to the plight. Little did I know that Stray Rescue of St. Louis
would come to Project Hope's rescue in less than a year's time.

Project Hope has been home, stop-over, and haven to hundreds of animals.
Sadly, many of our dogs, like the ones SRSL aids, have been considered
"unadoptable" by the potential guardian base we have been reaching. Sharpi
and Ruffles were among our group of "residents" at PH. They, and their
comrades came from a pathetically typical abuse case. Each one was tethered
in some fashion, one to a truck, one to a utility pole, one to a wagon, one
to the two sides and bottom of a fallen in dog house, and Ruffles to the
seat of a pickup truck that had been dumped on the hillside. These
unsocialized dogs of mixed breed, mostly Chow Chow mixes, and Sharpi the
Sharpei x had little to zero chance of getting an accepting home.

On a couple of blessed trips to other shelters our "adoptable" dogs were
accepted. This made more room for us to care for the dogs that would likely
not make it past the entry area of most shelters, but this did nothing for
our "unadoptable" loves. It's true that Sharpi can be really tough on other
dogs. Ruffles defines timid. Yes, and our hounds, "black" dogs, and
notorious lab mixes, were they never to have their very own guardians? 

Hurricane Hysteria came along and dogs that our team wouldn't have been able
to get anyone to take were suddenly being flown and driven across the
country. For many of these dogs the hurricane was a lifesaver. I know that
our PH team rescued and transported animals that had clearly been victim to
abuse and neglect long before the storm hit. Many of these dogs were pit
bulls, one was a little man Chihuahua. His eyes were in horrible shape.
One burst after his rescue and Dr. Figaro of FL, and our Dr. Abernethy
removed the little guys eye. 

I guess I've made a point. What I am really getting to is the remarkable
team from Stray Rescue of St. Louis that initially came down to bring us
supplies for our rescue and relief work, and stayed a few days to help.
They left us with a promise that would take 50 of our PH dogs, sight
unseen. They wanted to make it possible for us to give newly rescued dogs
somewhere to rest until they could be reunited, or placed. This group, and
only this group, took each and every dog that needed their help, without
exception. Then they didn't stop at 50. They kept coming with relief
supplies and sorely needed goods for our sanctuary, and then leaving with
their caravan rich with dogs and cats bound for the promise of hope we
dreamt of for them. Not happy tears nor a party could do justice to the
elation they brought to PH. 

Our Project Hope team has many people to thank for our existence, or ability
to perform wonders, but it will be a staggering task to match the love,
compassion, and unbridled generosity of the folks that make Stray Rescue of
St. Louis who, and what they are.

Our Unbridled Thanks! 

Contact IDA for further information on how you can help:

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd.
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone: 415-388-9641
or email ida@idausa.org

For additional ways you can assist Project Hope's sanctuary
and rescue efforts
Contact: Doll Stanley
Phone: 662 237 0233 Fax: 309 276 0494
E-mail: help@project-hope.net