Volunteers run rescued dogs to safety in Canada

Beverly Hills, Mich. resident MJ Murphy will hold one of the six dogs she and her husband Mike will transport to Ontario for the Open Arms Transport program. The group met in Rossford, Ohio. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Blade staff writer Tanya Irwin has volunteered to drive rescue dogs for more than 10 years. For the last several years she has driven primarily for Open Arms Pound Rescue, where she has gotten to know many of the border agents for both Canada and the United States.

In hopes of saving them from gas chambers or harsh puppy mills, a group of dedicated volunteers transported 21 rescue dogs across the Canadian border Saturday to what they hope will be a better life.

GALLERY: Rescued dogs begin trip to Canada

The dogs — who made a stop in northwest Ohio — came from all over southern Ohio with the destination of foster homes or low-kill shelters in Ontario. Some of the dogs came from the Athens County pound, which still kills animals in gas chambers — which animal advocates say is slow, painful, and less humane than the injection used by more progressive pounds and shelters.

The group of dogs ranged in size from 89-pound Lulu, a Plott hound from the Ashland County Animal Shelter, to the tiny 5.5-pound Pomeranian named Trinket, who was traveling with her equally small Pomeranian friend named Teacup, both of whom were rescued from a “puppy mill” in Berlin, Ohio, about 50 miles south of Cleveland.

Beverly Hills, Mich. resident MJ Murphy will hold one of the six dogs she and her husband Mike will transport. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Lulu, on her way to a rescue group in Guelph, Ont., has a guardian angel named Michelle Sviatko, a volunteer at the Ashland County Dog Shelter. She helped arrange for Lulu’s transfer to the rescue group. The timid dog had not had a good life before she ended up at the shelter, Ms. Sviatko says.

“She is a very special girl,” she said. “She was a mistreated girl her whole life until she found her way into our shelter.”

Although she was adored by the volunteers, no one was interested in adopting the mild-mannered dog, so Ms. Sviatko looked for other options for her.

More than 50 drivers volunteered their time and gas money, each driving several hours with anywhere from three to six dogs in their vehicles. Many, such as Mary Sue James of Elmore, were experienced drivers and knew many of the other drivers at the transport spots.

Drivers communicate with each other and sign up for as many 45-to-60-mile “legs” of the transport as they wish via a Yahoo group called Cross Border Dog Rescue, http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CBDR/, which has almost 300 members from both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. The group, which ensures it has a rabies certificate for each dog, crosses into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit to Windsor.

Ms. James gave six dogs a lift from Findlay to Lincoln Park, Mich. Her passengers included Cupid, a female black Labrador destined for the London, Ont., Humane Society. Even with an open-admission policy that means they take any dog surrendered to it, the Canadian shelter often has empty cages and is happy to help out pounds and shelters in Ohio and Kentucky, which often are overloaded.

Ms. James started doing transports two years ago when she tagged along with a friend.

“It never fails to be rewarding,” she said. “I still think of Luke, my ‘co-driver’ in the passenger seat, as we traveled on a very snowy I-75 last winter. Every once in a while, this 45-pound beagle mix would sit up in the seat and peer out the window, as if to say, ‘How are we doing?’ He also calmed my nerves by just being there to pat when the driving was getting stressful.”

Brenda Bunn of Peterborough, Ont., monitored the run Saturday, with drivers checking in as they reached their destination and Ms. Bunn sending out emails to let drivers down the road know how the run was progressing.

Ms. Bunn started the Cross Border Dog Rescue group in November, 2006, when she was looking for a way to transport dogs who had been used in “puppy mills,” — mass-breeding operations — from Ohio to Ontario.

“The group was created to help dogs pass either way over the borders,” Ms. Bunn said. “People were joining CBDR from both sides of the border and it seemed as if more and more help was being offered to take dogs into care in Ontario but we needed a transport set up to get them here.”

Open Arms Transport volunteer and Toledo Blade reporter Tanya Irwin holds one of the dogs she will help transport to Ontario. The group met at 1122 Buck Rd. in Rossford, Ohio. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Enter Lucy Moye of Hillsdale, Mich., who joined the group in May, 2007. She volunteered to coordinate cross-border transports.

“Approximately 48 out of 52 weeks, Lucy coordinates these runs, sometimes two different runs and rarely, but it does happen, a third run,” Ms. Bunn said. “Most runs have anywhere from 10 to 25 dogs [in] each run.”

Ms. Moye spends countless hours each week sending and receiving emails about the transports and sometimes at the last minute, literally begging people to drive, Ms. Bunn said.

The majority of dogs come from county pounds and shelters in Ohio and Kentucky that typically would have a high kill rate without the help of rescue, said Debra Farrell of Lima, who co-founded Open Arms Pound Transports with Ms. Moye in 2007 to help facilitate the cross-border transfers.

“These dogs are taken from such truly sad beginnings through no fault of their own and given more than anyone could ever ask for them,” Ms. Farrell said. “They are so deserving of love, and this transport pipeline allows that to happen for them.”

Ms. Farrell said Open Arms was founded primarily in response to a “desperate need to help the dogs in the Mercer County Dog Pound.”

“However, the project grew to include dogs from other areas,” she added.

“When we started, at least 40 percent of the dogs that came to the Mercer County Pound were euthanized,” she said. “In addition, the dog warden took in between 400 to 450 dogs per year. In 2011, he took in 333 dogs. [The group] assisted 110 [and] 323 were rescued, adopted, or returned to owners. Only 10 dogs were euthanized, which means 97 percent were saved.”

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Baby, a female Jack Russell terrier mix

Baby, a female Jack Russell Terrier mix who was rescued from the Gallia County pound, is waiting to cross the U.S.-Canada border. Baby was taken into Canada by volunteers of Open Arms Transport, which takes dogs from Ohio and Kentucky shelters to shelters and rescue groups in Ontario. THE BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge | Photo Reprints

MJ and Mike Murphy of Beverly Hills, Mich., drove from Rossford to Windsor on Saturday. The couple started volunteering to drive about a year and a half ago.

“My husband and I love doing this,” Mrs. Murphy said. “Every dog has its story and to see each of them respond to the care and kindness of so many people along the way is very special.”

Every week there are puppy mill survivors, senior dogs who have been dropped at shelters, and others simply abandoned and picked up as strays, she said.

“These are dogs getting a second chance for a wonderful life full of love and happiness,” Mrs. Murphy said. “We do a tiny part by driving them a leg of the journey.”

Contact Tanya Irwin at: tirwin@theblade.com or 419-724-6066.