Q-C group hopes to find ‘parents' for abandoned and abused dogs
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By Christine Mastalio | Sunday, October 15, 2006 |
Dogs of all shapes and sizes mingled in the Klemme Klassic Kar parking lot Saturday, joining their owners at a fundraiser for K9 Kindness Rescue Inc.
The nonprofit Quad-Cities organization seeks to place abandoned and abused dogs from across the nation with foster and adoptive “parents” in the area. Since the group started more than two years ago, it has helped more than 200 dogs.
“I just like dogs, and I hate to see really good dogs put to sleep,” K9 Kindness volunteer Laurie McCune of Moline said.
McCune started as a foster parent to two 9-year-old black labs and will be adopting one of them soon. Their previous owners were no longer able to take care of their pets.
“One’s owner had to go into a nursing home, and the other family moved out of state and couldn’t take him with where they were going,” McCune said. “A lot of people don’t want to adopt big, old dogs.”
Many of the organization’s dogs have seen harder lives than McCune’s aging labs. The unofficial spokes-dog for K9 Kindness is Chesney, a three-legged coonhound who was dragged behind a truck. K9 Kindness paid for Chesney’s vet bills and found an adoptive home.
“I’ve learned more than I wish I ever knew,” said Debbie Fraker, president and founder of K9 Kindness.
Fraker is in touch with rescue organizations around the country and has viewed photos and videos of dogs piled up in a landfill, rotting in trash bags, starving to death and, the worst horror of all, dogs going through the gas chamber.
Such states as Tennessee and Georgia do not use lethal injection to euthanize aging or unwanted dogs. Instead, the animals are sent to a gas chamber.
“They slowly suffocate, screaming and clawing at each other,” Fraker said. “It’s the most inhumane thing you’ve ever seen.”
After her mother’s beloved rat terrier died in a car accident, Fraker got online to look for another dog. She said she was amazed at the number of homeless dogs and decided to found her own organization, which is now connected to local and national rescue operations on the Internet.
K9 Kindness also encourages all pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs.
“People think it will be cute to have just one litter of puppies with their dog,” Fraker said. “They don’t realize so many dogs don’t have a home at all. We don’t need one more litter of puppies.”
Kimberly Pines Veterinary Hospital spays or neuters all dogs that come through the program, updates their shots and attends to other health needs.
“A lot of people think (spaying and neutering) will change their dog’s personality, they think they’re going to get fat afterwards,” Joyce Werning, doctor of veterinary medicine, said.
In reality, a male dog will become less aggressive after being fixed, and the procedure can help prevent breast cancer in female dogs. Proper diet and exercise will combat the animal’s slowed metabolism, Werning said.
Saturday’s event included a raffle and silent auction to help raise money for vet bills. K9 Kindness currently needs $5,600 to pay medical costs. It charges $150 to adoptive parents, but most of the money will come from donations, Fraker said.
The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.
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