Boo Boo, a Jack Russell terrier mix, loves to run. Now, he’s getting his share of stretching his legs at a temporary care center while he awaits transport to a rescue group in New York. (Boo Boo and Rex Yancey pictured on left.)
Boo Boo is one of roughly 160 dogs rescued from a variety of Midwestern puppy mills who are moving on to better lives in the New York area, made possible through Pup My Ride, a transport program within Best Friends’ Puppies Aren’t Products campaign.
“Every morning and afternoon Boo Boo waits patiently for me to take him outside,” says Rex Yancey, a Best Friends marketing employee who volunteered to help the dogs as they transition from puppy mills to foster care. “I started taking him for walks and a run because he wouldn’t go to the bathroom in his kennel.”
As Boo Boo ran with Yancey across a lawn that’s outside a horse barn which serves as a temporary care center for the rescued dogs, he could not have looked happier. Boo Boo held his head high as he looked up at Yancey running beside him.
“He’s a great little dog,” Yancey says. “He’ll do well in a home.”
Volunteer caregivers like Yancey spent most of the second day at the care center helping take dogs to and from a medical station in the barn where a local veterinarian examined, de-wormed and then vaccinated the dogs in preparation for the trip to New York.
The breeds of dog on this transport are varied and include Yorkshire terriers, Pomeranians, bull mastiffs, pugs, Chihuahuas, cavalier King Charles spaniels, bassets, miniature pinschers, golden retrievers, boxers, schnauzers, cocker spaniels, poodles, Malteses, bichons, Brussels griffons, a West Highland terrier, lots of shih tzus and cairn terriers, and even a white-with-red chiweenie – a so-called designer breed (Chihuahua-dachshund mix).
“The reason these dogs are so prevalent in puppy mills is because they’re popular and sell well in pet stores,” says Kelli Ohrtman, campaign specialist for Puppies Aren’t Products. “But there’s also a rescue dedicated to every breed out there, and if more people went to [breed rescues] and adopted them, then we wouldn’t see so many in puppy mills.”
As Jana Morris cleaned a kennel, she noticed a small blonde beagle nearby quietly observing the neighboring dogs in their respective kennels. The beagle was “a little mouthy when she arrived,” Morris says. “She’s fine now. When I open her kennel door and sit on the floor in front of it, she walks out and curls up on my lap and falls asleep.” (On right: Volunteer Jana Morris spends time with a recently rescued puppy mill dog.)
Louis the basset and Buddy a terrier mix had something different in mind. They got to jog outside on the grass just after a rain. “They loved it,” Morris says.
The dogs were also able, for part of the third day, to simply sit with their caregivers, for one-on-one attention, as preparations were made for the next day, November 17, for their trek inside a heated transport vehicle to New York.
Boo Boo and the others are just a ride away from New York rescue groups where they’ll be placed in forever homes with people who want pure bred dogs but don’t want to buy from puppy stores, which typically obtain dogs from puppy mills.
That’s what Pup My Ride is all about, Yancey says, preparing the former puppy mill dogs for new lives. “I’m thrilled Boo Boo is going to New York, knowing he’s going there to get a good home,” he says. “I’ll miss him, but I’m happy for him.” (On left: Boo Boo and Yancey just after a run.)
For More Information
Pup My Ride is a Best Friends program to get dogs out of shelters and puppy mills and into areas where they are most likely to find their forever homes. We deliver the pups to local partners with highly successful adoption programs capable of finding homes for many dogs at a time.
Participating Rescue Groups
Pup My Ride demonstrates that when caring people work together, we get closer to creating a world with No More Homeless Pets. Along with Best Friends, each of the following groups participated in the Pup My Ride rescue. Please contact them directly to donate supplies, money and your time, or to learn more about dogs available for adoption.
How You Can Help
- Help rescue more dogs from puppy mills by donating to Puppies Aren’t Products campaign to fund future Pup My Ride programs.
Photos by Gary Kalpakoff, Best Friends photographer.