Reflections on a first visit to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue

Kristen made her first visit to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue last weekend. She wrote about the experience for the blog:

In reflecting on Karen Good and Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue, the first thing that comes to mind is how to possibly explain the amount of work Karen puts into these animals. As I am trying to think of a way to describe this effort, it is simply unexplainable. The endless dedication she puts forth to care for these abandoned, abused and unwanted animals is amazing. There are no words that will do justice to explain just how much she does. Being there a weekend is enough to wear a person out and thinking of how Karen does this every day, twice a day, is crazy! The amount of work to run everything is neverending. There is always something that can be done and Karen never stops until the animals' needs are met.

Not only are there surrendered animals, she has her own animals to care for too. Mouser, Clover, Grandpa, Cooper, Snowball, Hazel, Shiloh, Pepper, Julie, Mamma Mia…I can’t even remember all the names but low and behold Karen retains all of this, as well as their personality traits, who has been through what, where they came from and who they do well with. These things are all second nature to her, and it isn’t just her packs, it is the same for all of those she brings in as well.

It was great to have such a sense of need from the animals, but heartbreaking at the same time. It is still difficult for me to imagine what they have been through and what the many others suffer day to day for a lifetime, which in reality is generally a very short brutal life time. They are desperately in need of TLC.

My initial desire to go to Red Lake came from my dog, Cheyenne. I adopted her from RLRR in April and have been amazed at her from the start. We often get people asking about her and telling us how beautiful she is. She has the best disposition and is the perfect match for the dog we already had, Lucky. Having her and loving her so much made me curious to see what went on up at Karen’s. After getting more involved, I started to hear the many stories of different animals. I felt the need to meet this woman. How can there be such a person? She really does exist, and I think she is making a significant difference in the lives of many.

I expected this trip to be hard and make me feel sad about how these animals are treated, but spending time there you begin to realize these are sad situations with a new lease on life. The dogs seem to know this as well. They are timid and shy at first, but when they warm up to you they do more than warm your heart.

My favorite pals from this visit were Mouser, who became my lapdog up at Karen’s house, Ollie who was the sweetest Shepherd mix who snuggled up to me after being too scared to even let me pet him at first and Estelle, who reminded me of my own Lucky baby. Of course, all the puppies are sweethearts, but to see the older dogs that have been through awful situations be so loving and gentle is a truly amazing trait and a credit to their species.

Warm eyes, soft fur, endless love and forgiving hearts-how could anyone ask for more? It grows my desire to do as much as possible to get ahead of the overpopulation problem and constant abuse these poor creatures never deserve to endure. Needless to say I know I’m not going to change the world, but if any of my effort can help save the lives of even a few dogs or cats, it will all be worth it in the end, no matter the price. I now feel a lot more purpose in my life. I look forward to working with Karen again and to the warm welcome given by the dogs living at Red Lake Rosie's Rescue.

K-