NOTE from BOSTON TERRIER NETWORK: This is the second part of our four part interview with Debbie Rappuhn, the founder and president of HEART OF ALABAMA SAVE RESCUE ADOPT (HASRA) And a former Shoals Woman of the Year. They are located at 4101 Highway 72 in Killen, Al 34545. You may contact her at Email. I decided to ask if I could come visit her new sanctuary. I was amazed. HASRA started their sanctuary less than a year ago on bare ground.  Interview dated July 2014.

Q: What struggles have you overcome?

Debbie: “I volunteered at the animal shelter for 5 years. I know this will sound like a joke, but this is the truth. I had been fighting the county commission, the mayor, and the city board for years trying to get more money for the shelter. I tried to get more help for the animals, a new shelter and so much more. I went to meetings and asked for meetings. They were tired of me fighting for animal rights.  They banned be from volunteering at the shelter. The only reason they did was that before I left on a 4am transport that morning I had left Wal-Mart shopping bags in the break room.“

Q: Did this become another turning point for you?

Debbie: “After being banned, I knew I could not stop saving the animals and HASRA had planned to build a kennel one day down the road. We decided this was the time. We decided to dig our heels in and just do it. It has been a very tiring and exhausting trip to get to this point. Yet this has been the best thing that has happened to us as a group. We love what we are doing and not having to deal with the city and county politics or indifference of city officials. This was not planned, But Oh such a good thing to make us get started.“

Q: From your experiences there, Debbie, you and your group of volunteers took a leap of faith without skipping a beat; you just went right into your current amazing project, HEART OF ALABAMA SAVE RESCUE ADOPT (HASRA) Sanctuary. Tell us more about what you're doing now.

Debbie:   “I have a long list, basically anything that has to do with the animals, from buildings, and plans for the HEART OF ALABAMA SAVE RESCUE ADOPT (HASRA) Sanctuary. “

 Debbie may be the president of HASRA, but she is hands on. She has developed a remarkable active group of supporters and fans… Her lists of what her volunteers have accomplished in a very short time, and continue to add; goes something like this… They have volunteered to help with fundraising, build the buildings, kennels, dog runs, plumbing and electrical work. When I ask her what she had done, this was her reply.

Debbie: “I help build and paint the kennel buildings, lay rock, rake rock, Lots of rock LOL, clean up all surrounding areas, because I am a perfectionist. People make fun of me because I pick up any tiny piece of trash as I am walking the dogs.“ 

The morning I arrived at the Sanctuary, one of Debbie’s volunteers, Robin, was already there cleaning the kennels; sanitation is very important to them. Everything was being washed down and sanitized. The cement flooring were designed to funnel the water away from the pens and into well-drained collection points. There were several men busy working with painting an electrical wiring. Each pen was covered with canvas and many had water misters ready to use. Looking at the smiling happy faces of the dogs as they rushed the gate to greet me, told me this was a happy place for them. Inside the main building, I discovered the hub of this operation. The groups of puppies, separated in large open pens, but away from each other for their safety until old enough to have had all their shots. Fans were safely positioned to help keep the air moving through the area. In addition, all around the outside pens the adult dogs were playing and prancing in joy of having a new human to check out. There was work areas for medication and office work.

 The sanctuary has received not only donated building materials, but also landscaping rock and grass sod. It is very important to Debbie that all of the dogs have an opportunity to run free in the newly sodden grass, which surrounds the kennels on three sides.

Like most experienced people working with rescued dogs, Debbie knows the importance of telling the story in photos not just words “We transport the dogs, twice a month, to a professional photographer to take pictures. “

PART ONE: INTERVIEW WITH DEBBIE RAPPUHN PRES OF HASRA

NOTE from BOSTON TERRIER NETWORK: This is the first interview in a four part series of inspiring people in North Alabama, on the front-lines of animal rescue. Our first interview was with Debbie Rappuhn, the Founder and President of HEART OF ALABAMA SAVE RESCUE ADOPT (HASRA) And a former Shoals Woman of the Year. They are located at 4101 Highway 72 in Killen, Al 34545. You may contact her via E-Mail. I decided to ask if I could come visit her new sanctuary. I was amazed. HASRA started their sanctuary less than a year ago on bare ground.  Interviewed dated July 2014. 

Q: What inspired you to get involved with rescuing animals?

Debbie: “Five years ago, my daughter had to have community service hours to be in the National Honor Society. She picked the Florence/Lauderdale Animal Shelter to volunteer. I told her she could, but then found out I would have to volunteer with her because of her age. I had been to the animal shelter to donate food over the years and tried to explain to her that I could not go in there and volunteer because it would hurt too much."  Debbie continued, “AND THEN IT HIT ME! I was being so very selfish and thinking only of myself. I could be strong through the hurt and still give the dogs and cats some love while pushing my hurt at seeing them there, aside. So we started volunteering two hours a week on Fridays.”

Q: What would you say was a turning point for you?

Debbie: “Within a year, I found that I was doing it all. I redid the puppy room, the kitchen, the laundry room and made a cat habitat. I then found myself working 7 days a week painting, building and designing.  However, I could not stop there. I started a rescue program, a foster program, and a volunteer program.“  Volunteers created and manage the shelter’s Facebook page, posting pictures of adoptable animals and sharing news about pets who need medical care, inviting followers to donate. Rappuhn and her parents,who are in their 70s, created large, fenced-in play areas for shelter dogs, and Rappuhn found someone to pour concrete, so the pens would be easier to clean.

One day she met a volunteer who came in occasionally to send dogs to rescues she’d connected with online. Rappuhn decided to try it: She started taking pictures of dogs at the shelter, and sending them out to rescues with brief descriptions. During this time, the shelter turned around the number of animals from being “put down”. She gained a following of friends and supporters that made what happened next possible. During this time, Debbie and her volunteers reached out to rescues, identifying and alerting them of the owner releases and strays that matched their type of dog or cat that was at the shelter.

The statistics tell the story of what the group had accomplished since Rappuhn came on board. In 2009, the shelter handled 6,209 animals, adopted 1,000, and euthanized 4,735. In 2011, with the advent of the group’s new programs, there were 5,067 animals handled, 1,300 adopted, and 3,288 pets euthanized. And in 2012, the final figures were 4,627 handled, 2,533 adopted, and 987 euthanized. “She has brought it all the way to where we’re hovering around 20 percent [euthanasia] for dogs and cats. And it’s basically because of social media,” Vinny Grosso, shelter manager at that time stated.  “It was a grim, dark, gloomy place, and now it’s a place of light. There’s new paint, there’s paintings on the wall.”

Rappuhn’s volunteer group, Heart of Alabama Save Rescue Adopt (HASRA) now transported dogs to groups as far away as New York City, using a new, $17,000 van given by PetCo, and has built an extensive foster network. The group, which has a core of 15 volunteers, also transported cats to several Pet Depot and PetCo stores in the area that have agreed to give HASRA cage space. But Rappuhn’s was not done yet. Her latest focus had her pushing for a new shelter, with a goal of the city, the county, and private donors each paying a third of the total cost. “It’s not easy for me, because I am so passionate, and I want it done yesterday, and sometimes I say more than I should,” she says. “I’m just fighting.”

"It's such a rewarding experience. They're saving lives," she said. "Not last week but the two weeks prior we did not have one animal put down for two weeks. That is astounding for a shelter." In fact during her last year as Director of volunteers, officials removed the gas chamber from the shelter and now euthanasia is done by injection, which is considered a more humane way of putting animals down.

An event happened in January of 2014  that caused a change in direction for her and her non-profit 501(c)3. You can read one side of the story from online news reports dated during this time. But that did not slow her down. Instead, according to Debbie, her group just started working on a long held dream and caused it to come into being a reality much sooner.  A No-Kill sanctuary built from the ground up. This new facility is where we interviewed her in July 2014. 

Q: Debbie, what does the president of HASRA do?

A: Debbie: “I clean the dog pens, give vaccines, take pictures, post the dogs on our Facebook page, Email pictures and other information to rescues all over the U.S.“ Debbie’s list was long. ”Answer questions on FaceBook, post lost/found pets, transport pets to their rescue’s meeting points, trim dog nails, remove ticks, give baths, and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the dogs we have taken in. I take long walks with the dogs and play with them and donated toys.“

Q: What does your organization do?

A:  Debbie went on to explain her mission and struggles to getting where she is now.  "We are a No-Kill, 100% Donor funded 501c3 non-profit organization. I used to think that I could save ALL the animals. However, the longer I have been doing this the more I came to realize that I can save just so many while ensuring that their lives will never be what it used to be. So now our goal is to save as many as I can. Our wonderful volunteers work tirelessly to prevent animal cruelty and exploitation. We actively work on spay/neuter and vaccination programs, adoption, foster and rescue programs as well as education and training..”

 Heart of Alabama Save Rescue Adopt (HASRA)

Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

sources:

online: The ASPCA's Animal Sheltering magazine, May/Jun 2013

online: Florence animal shelter en route to becoming no kill shelter Posted: Feb 17, 2012  By Marie Waxel 

WARNING from BOSTON TERRIER NETWORK:

This is a true experience from the inside of an animal shelter through a manager's eyes. Have your tissues ready... You will need them.

 I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a pound manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will. First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal centre for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people, you do not even know.

 That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my pound when it is not a cute little puppy anymore. How would you feel if you knew that there is about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the pound purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my pound are purebred dogs.

 The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving that does not allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my six dogs! "She's tearing up our garden". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her. we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog". Odds are, your pet will not be adopted. How stressful do you think being in a pound is? Well, let me tell you, from the moment you drop it off, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family. Sometimes a little longer if the pound is not full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies.

Your pet is confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I do not, your pet will not get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.

 If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, staffy, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door. Those dogs just are not adopted, it does not matter how 'sweet’, or 'well behaved' they are.

 If your dog is not adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter is not full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long.  Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment.

 If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed, because shelters just do not have the funds to pay for even a £100 treatment.

Here is a little euthanasia 101

For those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down". First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it is strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink  stuff". I hope that your pet does not panic from being restrained and jerk. I have seen the needles tear out of a leg and  been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all do not just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. When it all ends, your pet’s corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? You will never know and it probably will not even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and cannot get the pictures out of your head. I deal with everyday on the way home from work. I hate my job, I hate that it exists. I hate that it will always be there unless people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter. Between 60 thousand animals die every year in UK pounds. Only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can. owever, rescues are always full, there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.  My point to all of this; DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE! Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope maybe I can change one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a pound, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my pound and say, "I saw this, and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT 

"About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my pound are purebred.” 

NOTE from BOSTON TERRIER NETWORK: This is a real up close view, from a dear friend, who sees shelter pets every day. Do not forget to go and hug your shelter volunteers and staff. They are our front line in this never-ending endeavor to save our fur friends.  No not every shelter manager is this caring some have given up, been beaten down. Could you do this job and stay positive as Gill? my eyes fill with tears every time I read this...