From Our Readers - February 2011

It has always amazed me how trusting a collie can be, even after unspeakable cruelty and neglect. This happens every day in what we think of as our modern, educated and civilized country. Tri-State Collie Rescue (TSCR) knows all too well the reality of what people do to their pets. “Spring” is just one of many stories we have to tell. 

 

In July of this year, an emaciated, sable collie – hardly recognizable as a dog – wandered into the backyard of a home in Springville, Alabama to eat cat food. The family searched the Web for rescues and found a marvelous woman named Brenda Shreve from Decatur, Alabama. A friend of Brenda’s who lived nearby picked up the dog and cared for it overnight, then drove halfway to meet Brenda the next day.

 

The dog was near death. The poor girl was defecating tree bark, evidently her only food source. Severely dehydrated and starved, she was still sweet and willing to trust people despite her condition. 

 

Brenda never gave up on the collie. It took four months to nurse her back to a stable condition before she could be transported to Kentucky to a Tri-State Collie Rescue foster home. 

 

Indeed, it took a host of angels that summer to save the dog. The logistics of delivering “Spring” to her foster home in Kentucky from Alabama involved six dedicated transporters and a little over 400 miles – a long and expensive journey to save just this one collie.

 

Too many purebred collies are found as strays, in dog shelters or in humane societies. TSCR’s mission is to end the indiscriminate breeding practices of irresponsible breeders, to educate the public about the lifetime responsibilities of caring for a pet – including the necessity of spaying and neutering – and to promote the return of the undying love and devotion collies offer their owners. 

 

Spring now looks like a beautiful sable collie with silver accents. She is probably 7 or 8 years old, but it’s hard to be sure due to her neglect. (She might be much younger.) Her coat has mostly grown back, but she has very poor vision due to micro-ophthalmic (very small eyes) disease, a recessive genetic disorder avoided by responsible breeders. Happily, with good nutrition her eyesight has greatly improved. She is being taught good manners in the home of experienced and compassionate foster mom Martha Raymer, the TSCR adoption coordinator and director for the State of Kentucky. 

 

Martha reports that Spring is very sweet and loving with people, dogs and cats. She likes car rides, even though she probably sees very little out the window. She likes walks, but bumps into your leg as her way of tracking your whereabouts. She loves her chew bones and carries her toys around the house with pride. She is fascinated by the ice and snow this winter – probably the first this Southern belle has ever seen! Martha says Spring has been a joy to foster.

 

The list of needy collies is enormous and endless, and the most wrenching decisions TSCR has to make daily is to turn down a request to save a collie. We are in constant need of homes to serve as a healing way-station on the journey to a forever home. 

 

Welcoming a homeless and gentle collie into your home could be the best thing that ever happened to you and your family. This sweet and intelligent breed wants nothing more than kindness, good food and a warm place to lay its head. If you can give a collie a secure, quiet place to rest and recuperate, it will learn to trust again. This, in turn, makes the animal more adoptable and increases its chances for a permanent home.

 

The benefits of being a foster parent are life-changing: You are saving a beautiful creature from loneliness, hunger, abuse or worse. You can personally watch a collie blossom into a confident, loving companion, and experience the joy of being appreciated, unconditionally. 

 

To become a foster parent, call our TSCR Volunteer Chair at (574) 514-9098 or go to www.TriStateCollieRescue.net and complete a foster parent application.

 

If you are unable to foster a collie in need, we have many other ways to help. We invite you to consider transporting, Web updating, fundraising, event planning, donating, or the ultimate gift – adopting a collie. Follow our adventures on Facebook and see our adoptable dogs on Petfinders.com.

 

The Highlands is undeniably a pet friendly neighborhood. The next time your home is ready for a dog, please consider rescuing a collie! 

 

 

Although it is always gratifying to see media attention given to the cause to save the Hogan’s Fountain Pavilion in Cherokee Park, there were a few minor inaccuracies in the story printed in your January issue. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify how the landmarking process is expected to go forward in relation to the “TeePee” Pavilion.

 

Contrary to what your article stated, we do not have to get permission from the “property owner” – the citizens of Louisville are the owners of the parks and the park structures. This stipulation will also eliminate the need for the $500 fee, once we can get someone who represents Metro Louisville to support our application. There is also no need to have “the property formally mapped” – the Commission requires the use of a LOJIC map which is readily available online.

 

That leads us to one last bit of faulty information in the article relating to the landmarking process. The article stated that when the pavilion is officially declared a landmark “the city would be forced to set aside funds to maintain it.”  After dedicating nearly a year trying to rescue the TeePee, I sadly believe that there is no way to “force” the city to do anything about this unique and stunning piece of architecture. Or at least not while their “wish list” – the Hogan’s Fountain Master Plan, funded by the Olmsted Conservancy, and based on a 17-year-old city-wide plan for the Olmsted park system – remains unaltered. This Master Plan is the reason why virtually no maintenance has been performed on this pavilion in all the years following the establishment of that plan. However, once official landmark status is obtained, it is more likely that Metro Council members will vote to appropriate funding in the general budget specifically for the pavilion, perhaps even voting that the substantial amount of income generated from renting the pavilion will be earmarked for its upkeep, as well. It is not out of the range of our goals, at this point, to have the Master Plan altered to retain the current pavilion and eliminate the plan to replace it with two new structures, which would cost significantly more than repairing and maintaining the one we have. 

 

And perhaps the TeePee’s official designation as a Louisville Landmark, along with some education on the value of preserving post-modern architecture, will finally get the Olmsted Conservancy to stop making up new reasons to get rid of it every time their old reasons are shown to be full of holes. Perhaps they will even do what they were created to do – to partner with regular citizens who are working to benefit an Olmsted park.  Maybe then we will all have more time to work on getting rid of the real scourge of Cherokee Park – Chinese honeysuckle.  Ironically, the bane of Cherokee Park is a plant that was highly promoted by the illustrious Frederick Law Olmsted, who was, after all, just another human being who wanted people to enjoy the parks.