Who’s That Doggy in the Window

Written by Maureen Pelisson:

When walking the streets or trails surrounding Telluride, you may encounter many owners hiking with their pure-bred dogs. But, what you may not know is that many of them are rescue dogs. Sure, there’s a huge for profit pure-bred industry in this country, but one myth that needs to be dispelled is that all rescues are mutts.

I have a mutt (spunky Maddie) so I can attest to how awesome they are, but if you want a pure-breed – go to petfinder.com, type in your location and the dog you’re looking for and you’ll be blown away by the results. There are thousands of them from the popular breeds all the way to the obscure lesser known ones.

One day last winter, I met Ivy and her dog Healy Joe or HJ as she is affectionately called. HJ is a pure-breed poodle. She has gorgeous hair, is groomed to perfection and looks like the pampered pup that she is. But, one thing you may not know about HJ is that she was rescued by Ivy from a puppy mill. She was a breeding dog that was discarded when she was no longer good for breeding anymore. When she was found, she was in a cage that barely allowed her to turn around and was so filthy her breed was almost unrecognizable, she was also standing in disgusting stale water up to her belly.

Ivy has been rescuing dogs all her life and when HJ came into her world, the first weeks and months were very hard, but hard work pays off and now you would not know HJ’s story unless you got a chance to talk to Ivy about her background. HJ is sweet, loving, gives the best kisses and is wonderful with all animals and people. Even dogs that have a rough start can be rehabilitated and deserve that chance.

The Telluride Animal Foundation has been working diligently to ensure there are less and less HJ’s until when hopefully there will be none. But, that won’t be a reality until people realize that they can get a perfectly awesome purebred dog from a rescue or at the local shelter. One quick search for Labradors on petfinder.com in the 81435 zip code generated 53 results within a 100-mile radius.

To rescue your next pet and save a life – go to petfinder.com and support the Telluride Animal Foundation telluridanimalfoundation.org so we can continue the work of saving animals worldwide. And, that puppy in the window could be from a puppy mill, so don’t shop, adopt!