our pets: SAVED BY THE VOLUNTEERS
Haller’s Lucky Dogs:
Local woman leads the charge to save urgent-list canines
BY MEL W RHODES
S
62
ometimes, when things come
down to the wire, all that stands
between destruction and reprieve
is selfless intervention. A pack of
lucky dogs on the urgent list at
Weatherford/Parker County Animal
Shelter recently escaped death
because volunteer Deborah Haller
rolled up her sleeves, and worked
tirelessly to get them out. The 40 to
70-pound pooches, various mixed
breeds, were picked up Thursday,
Aug. 10, the culmination of an inter-
vention that began July 29.
“These dogs had to be out imme-
diately,” said Haller. “We were so
full that we had no space left, and
we had a bunch of dogs, really nice
dogs, that hadn’t been adopted out.
And I had an hour to find a place for
them.”
Haller posted photos of the
dogs and via Facebook connected
with a Pennsylvania woman, Alana
Hoffmeier, who is awaiting non-profit
status for her rescue operation, and
wanted to pull the animals before
E-Day (Euthanization Day). Hoffmeier
decided to adopt the dogs outright,
said Haller, paying for all the associ-
ated costs. But this interstate rescue
was not as simple as it might sound.
“Because we didn’t know her, and
it was her first time to do it through
our shelter, the shelter manager had
to limit her as to how many dogs she
could take,” Haller explained. “So
we had to go through another rescue
group, and use their nonprofit status.
So she adopted eight of the dogs, and
two she pulled as rescue animals,
through another rescue group.”
As the rescue mission played
out, Hoffmeier was busy finding the
canines homes. But, because she was
a one-person rescue operation and
in Pennsylvania, she did not have
anyone local to collect the dogs and
put them in
foster homes or
with boarders
until she could
come for them.
They had to be
out of the shel-
ter.
“I had to
figure out a
place for every
dog to go to
here locally
until she got a
transport van or
truck to come
pick them up
and take them to
Pennsylvania,”
said Haller.
This meant
Haller had to
take each dog
to the vet for a
health certificate
and vaccinations
they needed
to travel to the
Northeast. Three of the dogs tested
heart worm positive and medica-
tion had to be administered before
they could travel across state lines.
Ultimately, she found two foster
homes and boarded the rest between
three kennels. She said Ring Leaders
Kennels was especially helpful —
“phenomenal.”
“I have six dogs,” Haller said,
“so I couldn’t keep them myself.
Actually, I had one dog at home for
an hour, and my husband was getting
pretty nervous that the dog might not
leave.”
Another shelter volunteer, Kristi
Tilghman, drove one of the dogs, Sly,
to an adopter in Kentucky.
At length, after much effort and
nail-biting, and even pickup time
Deborah Haller
setbacks, the dogs, six of the seven
transported being pit-bull mixes,
were collected at Holland Lake Park
and carried away to the Quaker State
and new lives. One animal, Peyton,
stayed behind, having been adopted
locally, and a vet deemed another
too elderly to travel and recommend-
ed euthanization.
“I had a lot of sleepless nights
worrying about this,” Haller admit-
ted. “This is normally something that
a rescue group takes care of them-
selves.” Haller coordinated the opera-
tion and five other volunteers assisted
her in various capacities.
Asked why she went to such
lengths for these ownerless animals,
Haller said, “I have a tremendous
love of dogs. I feel like they are