Bonnie Whiting heads Alternative Rescue Shelter out of Coeur D' Alene, Idaho where she rescues Death Row Dogs.
After the fires, floods, and foreclosures ravaged southern California the shelters had run out of room for the ever climbing dog population entering into the system. Sending out pleas for any and all rescues to lighten the load. Even the rescues were rapidly running out of room and so many dogs were being put down. Bonnie's friend Bea of "Help for Homeless Pets" was doing all she could including flying dogs into Spokane International Airport for Bonnie to place in homes up here in the north west. Three to five dogs would come at a time but with the rate of euthanasia Bonnie felt she had to do more. After taking out a loan and a tad bit of strong arming on my part the rescue road trip came in to being.
All was quiet as the clock blinked 2:33 AM on the night stand. Bonnie pulled herself from bed and started on journey that just the day before might not of happened. She gathered a few of her things, climbed into the borrowed van and made her way down the road. Her first stop was only moments away. The van rounded a corner and pulled up in front of a house with a white picket fence. I was waiting just inside and slipped out before my dogs could wake, grabbing my duffle, trusty camera, and Mac Book Pro. We both had a cup of fresh coffee for this was gonna be a long ride. We made sure the beware of dog sign was secure and pointed the rescue van south.
As we sped through Washington the sky glowed behind us in shades of purple, pink, and orange. The sun was rising as the hours and miles fell away. By 8:00 we crossed the bridge into Oregon and by 3:00 we could see Mt. Shasta telling us that California was only a stones throw away.
We drove well into the night. Stopping at last at a rest stop a few hundred miles out of L.A. where we slept until 5:00 AM. After a stretch or two Bonnie took the wheel, slipping back onto the freeway. At 10:30 we rolled into Oceanside where fellow rescuer Dave was waiting to take us to the shelter. The sight tugged at your heart strings. The place was overflowing with dogs all crying and barking for someone to take them home.
We walked from cage to cage looking at dogs and watching their temperament. If only we could take them all. Bonnie handed the behaviorist a list of dogs and said she would pick them up Sunday (Mother's day) .
A rush of relief and a sense of accomplishment filled us. Dave asked if we needed anything or directions to Carlsbad where Bonnie's Aunt and Uncle lived. They were kind enough to let us crash on their couches over the weekend. Since we had them on speed dial we opted to ask how to get to the Ocean. It had been a long while since either of us had smelt the salty air. As it would happen the shelter was only 7 minutes from the beach. after a quick detour to the nearest Taco Bell we pulled into a parking lot overlooking the water where we ate our first real meal in two days.
All the stress of rushing down four states started to lift and relaxation slowly crawled back in. So we melted back into the seats that had become so familiar to us and took in the beauty of the sea. Time seemed to just fade away. Before we knew it a few hours had past. After a short phone call we wound our way up to her family's home where we were treated like kings or I should say Queens. We talked and laughed, sharing stories and what some would call our insane game plan. More then a few people thought we were mad.
I woke to the smell of coffee the next morning. Bonnie was chatting with her uncle and the rest of the house was still asleep. There was a cup waiting for me when they noticed I was awake and we went out on the patio and talked for awhile as others started to filter in. I put the pictures I had taken from the Oceanside shelter on my little computer and showed all the sad faces to everyone. At around 11:00 we hit the road again this time headed for Chula Vista just miles from the Mexican border. Dave told us "not to bother with Chula Vista that they charged and we had more dogs then we could handle." Too much to handle my foot, we didn't drive thousands of miles for a few dogs; no sir we came down to save lives.
So on we went. When we arrived we met Linda who was kind enough to take us around the shelter. She noted all the dogs we were interested in on a piece of paper and asked if we would be up to taking a German Shepherd pup. Now Bonnie flashed on a three month old teething terror and was shocked to find a tiny, and I mean tiny pup. This poor baby weighed under a pound and still had milk teeth.
She couldn't help laughing as she said " I don't know what do you think Jen, is she gonna break the camels back? I think we can make room." Linda agreed to come in on her day off and round up all our strays the next day.
We decided to swing by Bea's house and tell her what we were up to. She was overjoyed to see us. Now that is one house that won't be broken into that's for sure. She has so many rescues there that we just stood in awe. She treated us to lunch and told us some of her horror stories. Dogs being tied up in the desert with no food or water as the area was being engulfed in flames, and burned over most of their bodies. Dogs being hit by cars and left for dead and so on.
The lengths she goes to to give these dogs a better life is amazing. Yet she was standing there, fighting back tears and calling us angelic heroes. She gave us gas money and offered to pay the Chula Vista fee before sending us on our way. She also had a dog for us to bring back. She decided to meet us at Oceanside the next day to see us off and give us little Piccolo.
We spent most of the night time hours picking out names for the dogs we were picking up in the morning. In Chula Vista we had Mojito, Chance, Prada, Chenille, Sunny, Princeton, Hi-cue, and Little baby Hannah. At Oceanside we had Daisy, Corina, Milo, Otis, Maddy, Andre, and Shiloh,
We got an early start the next day and drove the 3o odd minutes to Chula Vista and Rounded up the first pack and pointed the car North for a change and headed to Oceanside. Where things were a little more hectic but worked out well all the same. Bea arrived almost at the same time we did. So we put her to work straight away loading the dogs in the van. She handed us Piccolo and we were off. The jail break was a success but there was still 2.000 miles between us and home.
I drove the first stretch with little Andre on my lap as I passed over the Grapevine.
We stopped outside San Jose at one of my friends houses for the night and she came back with us to help wrangle. Little Andre found a home with one of her neighbors. We all piled in the next day loading up dogs and everyone's stuff.
Everyone milled around for as long as it took to hit the freeway and one by one they all drifted off to sleep.
We can't help but laugh when people asked how we managed to make it across four states with so many dogs. " Real trouble that bunch"
We drove straight through stopping only for gas and potty breaks for all.
We watched the sun rise over downtown Spokane and were pulling into the Coeur D' Alene Pet Resort whose owners were kind enough to let Bonnie board her rescues while they waited for the right home to come along. After thorough screenings every last dog was placed with a loving family and a brand new life.
If you would like to Donate you can send payment to :
Alternative Rescue Shelter
C/O Appleway Vet
420 Post St
Post Falls, Idaho 83854
