Providing Hope and Security for Small Dogs in Need
Laurie Weston feels blessed to not only help find homes for surrendered, abandoned, neglected and abused dogs, but also to be there for homeless dogs.
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STORY AT-A-GLANCE
Today’s Pet Game Changer is Laurie Weston, a dog rescuer who volunteers with a nonprofit in Dallas, TX called Recycled Pomeranians and Schipperkes Rescue
Laurie was bringing home strays at a very young age, so dog rescue was a natural fit once she was older and learned how to deal with feeling emotionally overwhelmed
Laurie introduces us to Checkers, her forever foster dog; she let him slip through her fingers once, but never again
Laurie’s wish for every pet owner is that they commit to their animal companions for a lifetime, and never abandon them
Today my guest via Zoom is Laurie Weston, who was nominated for a Pet Game Changer award by Karen S. Laurie works for a nonprofit organization, Recycled Pomeranians and Schipperkes Rescue located in Dallas, TX. I asked Laurie to kick off our chat by talking about what inspired her to begin rescuing dogs. She explained that her passion for animals began when she was very young.
Breed Rescues Can Be a Remedy for ‘Rescue Overwhelm’
“Even as a young person, I was always dragging home stray or wounded animals,” says Laurie. “It wasn't until later in life that I was in a position to start doing something about it other than having my own pets.”
Laurie explained that when she was in high school, she brought home a severely wounded, sick animal, realized she couldn’t help it, and decided to take it to a veterinarian. The same sort of thing continued to happen — she’d take in animals she found and then do her best to try to find people who wanted to love and care for them.
Laurie went on to adopt a small Poodle and years later, a Pomeranian, but she still wasn’t prepared to take the leap into rescue because it felt so overwhelming.
“I would go to animal shelters and emotionally just freeze up at the sheer need,” she explains. “And then, oh maybe 10 years ago, it occurred to me, ‘Well, wait a minute. Maybe if I focus on just smaller animals, I won't be so overwhelmed, and I can do more.’
And then it even got more specific when I got connected with Recycled Pomeranians in Dallas. At the time I was living in California, and I just loved their mission. They had been around since 1996, founded by Sherry and Melissa.
I made a few trips there, once just to meet them and adopt a dog and then a couple more times with my husband. I volunteered for a day or two, holding animals, walking animals, until we ended up moving to Dallas.”
Laurie explains that focusing on just one or two breeds was important.
“That focus makes it not so overwhelming and you have an opportunity to do more because, you get to know the breed really well,” she says.
“You learn about certain family dynamics that are a good fit for the breed or for dogs at a particular life stage. Things really took off from there. It's been seven years now that I've been volunteering with Recycled Pom. I usually foster the older dogs and dogs who've been wounded, sick, or in a hospice situation.”
Checkers Arrives, Departs and Returns Forever
I asked Laurie about the lovely little dog on her lap. His name is Checkers.
“Checkers is an example of a dog that I feel,” she explains. “He was a foster that I was taking care of. Because my fosters tend to be older and maybe not the really cute dogs, many tend to stick around for a long time. I've had fosters for as long as a year and a half, even longer. So, I just assumed that would be the case with Checkers.”
Laurie goes on to explain that she was at an adoption event with Checkers, and a woman who was approved to adopt was interested in him. At the event, to give him the best chance to impress a new forever family, Laurie had remained at a distance from Checkers because he was so bonded to her. When the woman said she wanted him, the situation sort of caught Laurie off guard, but she helped finalize the adoption process, and Checkers went to his new home.
“He's the one that got away, is how I felt about it,” says Laurie. “It doesn't happen often, but he was the one that got away. Then a year ago, I got a call from our vice president, Holly, and Holly said, Laurie, we've got a big black and white Pom at the Garland shelter. Can you go pick him up?
I said, ‘Sure, I'll go get him.’ And something inside me said, ‘Is that Checkers?’ I asked Holly and she didn’t think it was. Well, I got there, and it was Checkers. He’d had a fever of 104 the night before from being out in the heat. He was in liver failure. And he was six pounds overweight. He should have been around 12-13 pounds and he was 19.
He recognized me right away. We got him to the veterinarian. He had to stay there for three nights. Later we learned that apparently his owner, the woman who adopted him at the event, she had passed away from COVID and the family didn't know what to do. They took Checkers to the shelter in Garland, but somehow along the way, during all the grief and confusion and social distancing, he probably was left in a car outside.
When I got him back to our house, my husband leaned down to him and said, ‘Don't worry Checkers, you never have to leave.’ So, he's my forever foster. We got him on the right medication and appropriate foods. Within six months there was some improvement. His liver values were still not good, but he desperately needed another dental.
About four months after the dental, he was acting a little strange, so I took him to the vet and to my surprise, his blood work came back perfect. So, this is Checkers, alive and well with good blood work.”
Caring for Dogs at the End of Their Lives
I asked Laurie what she loves most about her rescue work. She said one of the things she’s most proud of is getting past her fear of taking on very sick fosters or dogs at the end of their lives.
“I have a girl now, Gigi, who has tumors and it's a day-to-day thing,” Laurie says. “I'm just keeping my eye on her quality of life. Is she having big chunks of her day that are enjoyable? It's not just about a diagnosis, it’s about her quality of life, and spending quality time with her so she can bond and feel safe with me.
And while it’s really sad, my hope is that she’ll pass away in my arms, held by someone she knows, and I can whisper to her. She can feel my touch and I can release her and look forward to seeing her someday knowing that I served her as well as I could.”
Thankfully, there are awesome people like Laurie to be there for dogs at the end of their lives. I'm also an old dog girl. I would much rather take the 16-year-old that has just a few days left, than the 6-year-old, because I know more people will gravitate toward the younger dog.
Whether a dog has minutes, hours, days, or weeks left to live, it’s such a gift to be able to offer that animal more love and more caring and more support than perhaps he’s ever had in his life. It makes for a lot of heartache, but it's a tremendous opportunity to love something in a way that maybe it hasn't been loved before. And I love that Laurie can do that.
If you’d like to learn more about Laurie, you can visit her nonprofit’s website, Recycled Pomeranians and Schipperkes Rescue, or their Facebook or Instagram pages.
“Our website is a great place to get specific information, like foster and adoption applications, dogs available for adoption, and items the rescue needs,” says Laurie. “The Facebook page is a fun way to tap into the heart of the rescue. Sometimes you'll see — fortunately it hasn't happened in a while — but suddenly we'll get a call and there'll be 40 dogs coming into our rescue from some puppy mill that got shut down.
That might be an opportunity for someone who is interested to stop by and be willing to hold a dog while someone else does something for it or to it, or meet other volunteers.
You'll also learn about events. For instance, we recently volunteered for the Lone Star dog show here in Dallas, and we needed an army of volunteers because while we cleaned the pens at the show, all the money that was earned went to support the rescue. Those would be two great ways to kind of dip your toe in the water and see what's going on with our rescues.”
Please Commit to Your Pet for His or Her Lifetime
Finally, I asked Laurie what one thing she would like the world to know about the amazing work she’s doing.
“Please consider your commitment to a pet to be for that pet’s lifetime,” she answers. “There are lots of opportunities to care for an animal, to have an animal in your home, to build a bond through volunteering or fostering, where you don't have a lifetime commitment. And there are opportunities to adopt an older animal and make a commitment that's going to be maybe several months to a few years.
If you have an animal of your own and you’re struggling for any reason, reach out to your community for support. We beg of you, don't abandon your animal. Please don't.
Everyone's going back to work now after the shutdown, and the rescues, the shelters, are overwhelmed. I think people forget that you can work and have a pet. It's just a matter of educating yourself on how to best care for your pet in your situation.
Just know that your pet loves you and would rather see you in the evening while you're responding to emails or having your dinner than end up in a shelter and have to go through all of the stress and the heartache of losing their family and home.”
Healthypets Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own veterinarian or doctor. Dr. Karen Becker cannot answer specific questions about your pet's medical issues or make medical recommendations for your pet without first establishing a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Your pet's medical protocol should be given by your holistic veterinarian.