When I saw the pup I was interested in on petfinder.com, I knew nothing of what it meant to be a "rescue" dog and all that had taken place to bring my puppy from Alabama to Fluffy Dog Rescue in Wisconsin. I hope the following will give you a snapshot of the incredible process and wonderful volunteers that make this all possible.

For many reasons, shelters in the south are loaded with dogs. Unfortunately, these are high kill shelters with very few adoptions. The dogs do not have much time there. Lori, from Fluffy Dog, has contacts with several wonderful people in Alabama who work/volunteer or just stop by the shelters and will "rescue dogs" housing them in their own homes until they can be transported to Wisconsin and be placed in foster homes. The transport process is done by volunteers, car loads of dogs driven for a couple of hours and then handed off to the next driver. After a full day of this, the dogs are overnighted at more volunteer homes and the process repeats the next day. Another volunteer coordinates this transport process. Below is an excerpt of the transport from this month:

Leg 1: Clanton, AL to Birmingham, AL
> 55 miles ~ 50 minutes
> 7:00 a.m. CST to 7:50 a.m. CST
> 8:00 a.m. EST to 8:50 a.m. EST
> DRIVER 1:FILLED – THANKS REBECCA!
> Cell: xxxxxx
> Vehicle:
> DRIVER 2:FILLED – THANKS MICHELLE & GREG!
> Cell: 256-xxxx
> Vehicle: Suzuki Aereo—Red
> Email: xxxx
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Leg 2: Birmingham, AL to Athens,
> 95 miles ~ 1 hour 30 minutes
> 8:05 a.m. CST to 9:35 a.m. CST
> 9:05 a.m. EST to 10:35 a.m. EST
> DRIVER 1:FILLED – THANKS RICHARD B!
> Cell: xxxx
> Email: xxxxx
> Vehicle: Blue Chevy Equinox
> DRIVER 2:FILLED – THANKS LINDA A!
> Cell: xxxxxxx
> Email: xxxxxx
> Vehicle: Silver Honda Element
> DRIVER 3:FILLED – THANKS MICHELLE & GREG!
> Cell: xxxxx
> Vehicle: Suzuki Aereo—Red
> Email: xxxxx
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Leg 3: Athens, AL to Nashville, TN
> 100 miles ~ 1 hour 35 minutes
> 9:50 a.m. CST to 11:35 a.m. CST
> 10:50 a.m. EST to 12:35 p.m. EST
> DRIVER 1:FILLED – THANKS BOB D!
> Cell: xxxxx
> Email: xxxx
> Vehicle: Silver Mazda Stationwagon
> DRIVER 2:FILLED – THANKS DAWN R!
> Cell: xxxx
> Email: xxxx
> Vehicle: Blue Toyota Solara
> DRIVER 3:FILLED – THANKS MICHELLE & GREG!
> Cell: xxxx
> Vehicle: Suzuki Aereo—Red
> Email: xxxx
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There were 17 pups in this transport. They usually leave very early in the morning on a Saturday. These dogs are being handed off to the next transport driver.


This is a comment from one of the transporters "I still can't believe how beautiful, loving, and just plain great these pups on all of Becky's transports have been. And makes it even harder to understand throw away dogs :( It really is true about one man's trash being another man's treasure. And Lori is the one who turns them into treasures for us."






Two families in Indianapolis kept these pups overnight. The transport continues the next morning with the dogs arriving in Wisconsin later that afternoon.

Fluffy Dog Rescue meets the pups at a pre-determined place in Wisconsin. The first transport I went to was heartwarming, cars pulling in with lots of pups. Some transport drivers crated them, others just loaded them in the back. Sometimes, a car would pull up with a dog riding "shotgun".




Several fosters/volunteers from Fluffy Dog Rescue meet the transport and the pups head to their foster homes. This month, a meeting spot was at LA Grooming, Hartland, WI. Here eight of the dogs were given baths and off to foster care they went.

New pictures are taken, their stories are written, and they are cared for and loved while they are waiting for their forever families.

This is just one way Fluffy Dog Rescue receives dogs and as you can see it takes a village of volunteers.