One click can help rescue more dogs

LILBOURN Mo. -- Laura Holloway wants your vote. In fact, she wants your vote often, even daily.

Holloway's SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance is in the running for a $10,000 grant from the Animal Rescue Site, an Internet site which focuses the power of the computer to assist abandoned and unwanted animals.

That kind of money, Holloway said, would go a long way for a rural-based program which rescues dogs from certain deaths then finds them new homes.

For more than three decades, Holloway has worked to rescue abandoned animals. She began as a volunteer with rescue programs in Dallas and Memphis, Tenn. In 2001, when she moved home to Lilbourn, she started SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance.

"Lord knows I had no idea of how great the need was for it," Holloway said. "There are so many dogs being put down, so many being dumped in the country. People who didn't want their dogs were just turning them out. That's sad."

She said many of the dogs she has rescued are not mutts but well-bred, even expensive animals. "I've gotten dogs that people have paid $1,200 for and then just thrown them away. It's just pitiful," she said.

Working with area communities, Holloway's phone rings often with reports of abandoned dogs or an animal control officer who has found a dog. She estimates some 1,000 dogs have found their way to the SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance in the past year.

It is an intricate operation to rescue, care and adopt out the dogs.

Holloway and her foster parents, who take in the dogs, begin their work by checking the animal's health. The dogs receive veterinary care including all needed shots and are spayed or neutered.

She and the foster families learn a bit about the animal's personality, which will be added to Holloway's profile as she tries to find a home for each dog. It will note whether a dog is crate trained, leash trained and how it responds to commands. She laughs and said, "Sometimes I have to say this one is bossy."

Her computer profiles go out to some 1,000 contacts, who in turn use their contacts to place an animal in a home, where it will be properly cared for.

To reach these new homes, Holloway works with a network of drivers, who will transport animals for a leg of their journey to their new homes. Nearly every weekend, she fills her van with animal carriers to begin the first leg from her home traveling to Cape Girardeau, where she meets with volunteers. They drive the next leg perhaps to Kansas City, maybe to Chicago, where the next volunteers are met for their part of the journey.

The group also makes use of airplanes. Several volunteer pilots transport the animals as they wing their way cross country.

Holloway admitted she gets attached to the animals as she opens her heart and home.

"Sometimes it is hard to let them go," she said. "But if I keep them, then I can't save any more so I have to let them go."

Many times she will hear from the dogs' adoptive families. Often, they want to know the story behind their new pet and where it was found. The new families also send stories and photos of the dogs in their new homes.

She has pictures of one of her dogs going hiking and canoeing with his new owner. One owner wrote about his adopted pet's skill in agility competitions and another dog even wears its own tutu now and has taken up dancing with its new owner, she said.

"It's amazing. I'm grandma to all these dogs," she said with a grin.

Holloway picks her way across her penned-in backyard, responding to barks and happy licks as she walks. Calling each dog by its name, she offers a pat and a smile, occasionally she will sternly correct a dog's behavior.

She is tackling a job that pulls at her heart. She is also tackling a problem that breaks her heart -- abandoned, unwanted animals.

Sikeston veterinarian Dr. Stephen Williams describes Holloway as having "a heart of gold for dogs."

Working with her and the SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance, he said he has been amazed by the number of pets she has rescued and found homes for, particularly in northern states. Williams said he is also impressed with the care Holloway and her foster families provide.

He noted one rescue by Holloway involved 17 Cavaliers, a breed of dog he compared to a cocker spaniel.

"This is one of my favorite breeds," he said. "But these 17 had never been outside of the home, they were living in a filthy environment and were wild as coyotes."

After just a week of care, Williams said the animals already were becoming calm and adjusting to people. "It is just amazing what with a little human kindness and care will do."

Like Holloway, Williams said Missouri needs more pet owners who properly care for their animals. In particular, they both emphasized the need to spay and neuter pets. Williams has even suggested an ordinance dealing with the issue to the Sikeston city council.

Until then, however, there are more dogs to rescue. And to help Holloway in her mission, a computer vote can go a long way in providing some of the needed funding. Williams said she has his and his staff's vote.

To vote, go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge and type in SEMO Animal Rescue in the "Search and Vote for a Shelter" box.