This past fall we had some very special visitors to the Welcome Center! Heather & Bob Raasveld brought their very large family to visit from Las Vegas. Although, instead of strollers and car seats, they had collars and leashes!

Heather & Bob are used to getting a lot of attention with their family. They have five Italian Greyhound and Italian Greyhound mixes, and welcome the opportunity to talk with people about animal rescue as all their dogs have been rescued from various neglectful situations. According to Heather, “her dogs are ambassadors for rescued dogs” and people need to understand that rescued dogs can be purebred and make great pets.

Talking to people about animal rescue is not new to Heather. Everywhere she goes she has a list of rescue groups in her area and is not shy about passing it around! Until recently Heather was involved in beauty pageants with her platform being animal rescue.

Now, let’s meet the family!

From left to right – Coco is anywhere from 2 – 6 years old, and was rescued back in June of last year from Southern California, and Heather & Bob gave Coco to each other as a 10 year anniversary present. (Maybe that could be the new 10th year gift! A rescue animal!)

Next is Polly, who is about 13 – 14 years old. She was rescued in 2001 from a shelter, and needed to get out of the shelter that day, so Heather & Bob stepped in. Almost as if she knew the limited time she had, Polly stuck her little paw out of the cage as if to say “please help me!”

Lucy is the baby of the family at 11 months old. Heather & Bob took her when they received a call from their vet, Lucy had been dropped off with severe medical problems. After 7 weeks of recuperating from a probably abuse situation, Heather & Bob took her home.

Raven is about 6 or 7 years old, and is the newest member of the family. Heather & Bob rescued Raven last year after she had been abandoned in a Nevada desert where she had lived for 6 months in a septic tank. It took three grown men to finally humanely trap Raven.

Penelope is their original greyhound, who they got in 1998 as a tiny little pup. It was Penelope who took Heather & Bob on the road to greyhound rescuing.

Many Thanks and Many Roos to Heather & Bob for all they have done, and all that they will undoubtedly continue to do!

Written by Linda Blauch & Jennifer Johnson
Photograph by Linda Blauch

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