*Please note: everything written here is from what I witnessed, heard at the clinic, and found online. If any of my facts are incorrect, please let me know and I’ll correct it immediately. This is a long post, so hang onto your pants.
As many of you know, I had the opportunity earlier this month to travel up to Red Lake, MN. Animal Ark and Akin Hills Pet Hospital are putting on multiple spay/neuter/vaccination clinics throughout the year for the reservation, and I tagged along on this one to do a photo project. The more I’d hear about Red Lake and the work that Karen is doing up there, the more I wanted to see for myself, and document it for myself and others.
SARAH AND A NEW FRIEND
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In 2005, national news covered a high school shooting in Red Lake, the teen killing 9 people and them himself. A teacher at the school, Karen Good, had had enough of the violence that she saw toward both people and animals amongst her nation, and shortly after that, Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue was born. Since then, they have rescued over 2,000 animals with help from volunteers, Twin Cities shelters and vets, grants and donations.
I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived. It was a very foggy late afternoon, giving the already run-down community a palpable sense of sadness and foreboding. We saw many dogs along the side of the road, looking for food or standing sentinel at the edge of their driveways. It was hard not to stop and pick them all up. There were a dozen or more dead ones in the ditches.
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Some of the animals came in with injuries, which the vets took care of as best they could. Some had to come back to the cities for x-rays or additional care. Owners need to agree to surrender their animals before any are taken off the reservation, which can sometimes be a hard sell. I’m happy to say that most people do the right thing and let their dog or cat go to get the care it needs. Many dogs had mange, were malnourished, and two puppies had parvo. It’s not to say that *all* the dogs were in such rough shape, many came in that were clearly loved and well cared-for, and that was wonderful to see. The cats seemed well-cared for, as I’m sure most of them live indoors.
Many of the dogs up there are some mixture of Lab, Shepherd, Rottweiler, Chow and Pitbull. It was interesting to see some different breeds come through…. there were a couple of Pugs, some little Yorkie-looking mixes, and Poodle mixes.
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For as foggy and dreary it had been the past couple days, I was happy to see the sun come out at Karen’s. It was symbolic, really. What she’s doing really is a light in the darkness. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. Again, I didn’t know what to expect at her facility, and was impressed with what they have and what they’re doing. There’s a cat house that used to be Karen’s actual house, and some great shelters built for the dogs. They are built up on cement slabs to get them off the ground, with both and indoor and outdoor enclosure for each. For dogs who are lucky enough to find Karen in the dead of winter, this must be heaven.
There are a few resident dogs that live at the rescue, with no intention of leaving. They live outside, and would be miserable indoors. This is what they know, and they have a place to keep warm, someone to give them food and water, and they are definitely very happy. And they’re no dummies…. one of the girls likes to set up camp right next to the dryer vent at the cat house :)
KAREN AND THE TEDDY BEAR PUP
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LINK TO http://sarahbethphotography.com/blog/archives/362 TO READ THE REMAINDER OF HER BLOG POST AND TO SEE A SELECTION OF HER PHOTOS.
3 comments:
Special thanks to all the people who make RLRR possible. It takes a whole team of people the local committee, the metro committee, our vet teams, clinic volunteers, rescues, transporters, RLRR Petfinder fosters, and financial supporters Lawson Family Fund and many others.
thank you for sharing my post! this trip to red lake was an amazing experience, and hopefully the first of many treks up there to do more work!
It started with just Karen and Polly, just the two of them, rescuing animals and buying dog food with their own money, using their own blankets and towels, and it's just incredible how much it's grown. My mother saw a dog get killed on her own porch by other dogs. It was undoubtedly over a female in heat. That used to be common around here when I was growing up in the 70s. Now it's very uncommon. This is awesome work, all of you! Thank you so much!
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