UPDATE 3/09/03 on the Montana Collies

Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt

*Permission to crosspost*

Unbelievable sacrifices have been made by animal lovers everywhere to help with the care of the Montana collies and the other animals belonging to the Harmans. The horrific experiences these animals were forced to endure touched a common nerve in all of us. Dedicated volunteers take time off from work and travel thousands of miles in the middle of winter to Shelby in order to participate in this rescue. What began as a collie rescue – the collie community taking care of our own – soon became an all breed rescue with persons of every breed and mixed breed sending us donations, and traveling to Shelby to work right alongside us. The cat people sent us donations to support the cats, and thousands of dollars in supplies for the dogs! The sheltie community stepped right up and not only provided for the two shelties, they donated funds for all of the animals and assured us they are prepared to provide loving homes as well. Horse people and bird people and zoo people and people who don’t even have animals are donating time, funds, and supplies for this rescue mission. A group of volunteers from the Midwest tried to drive to Shelby and got buried in a snow storm – twice. They were forced to spend several days of their volunteer time in a hotel while their car was being repaired after sliding off the highway into a ditch. When the car was repaired, and the storm blew over, they started toward Shelby again, only to get caught in another more severe blizzard. One of the women, a retired Navy nurse, called to assure me they were going to try again...for the animals.

One such dedicated group rides the Helena Collie Trolley regularly to maintenance groom the animals, and assist with chores. Presenting:

March in Like a Lion!
By Thea Sperline

March, in like a lion! Will it leave like a lamb? It is snowing, temperatures are cold and the wind is blowing. You might think that it is the dead of winter instead of being on the brink of spring. As I sit here watching the snow softly drifting to the ground, I am pondering the activities of this past weekend.

The Helena Collie Trolley did make a trip to Shelby on Saturday morning, March 1. The 5 of us are all intent on spending the day brushing collies to make sure that their coats do not get into tangled mats again. The sun was shining when we left Helena, but by the time we got to the Canyon between Helena and Great Falls we were in blizzard conditions. The determined driver kept on trekking, as the weather report was promising clearing of the weather ahead. We eventually came upon the snowplows and a long line of vehicles trudging along behind. Our trolley took a break about half way through the canyon to reassess the situation, ultimately we decided to proceed, the dogs need brushing and we NEEDED the dogs. The snow ended a few miles north of Great Falls and it was clear sailing the rest of the trip. By the time we got to Camp Collie (a little later than hoped for), the dogs had all been fed and were ready for fun time. We were joined at Camp Collie by some fellow groomers from Lethbridge, Canada.

We broke out the grooming tables and set them up in the middle part of the barn. It was cooler in this part of the barn, 40 degrees or so, which is OK. It is good for the dogs to be in a cool location, they seem to handle the stress of being on the tables and being groomed in a cooler climate. We are all prepared for the cool temperatures anyway with several layers of clothing. Then we found the brushes, and selected a dog for brushing. We sought out the ones that appeared to need the attention the most. Some of them are blowing coat, the less experienced groomers learned how to identify those dogs.

While we are brushing out coats other volunteers are walking the dogs. Once in a while a walker would recognize a dog on the table and come over to say hello and give a special hug. Then a visitor would come over and be just amazed at all the hair on the dogs and how we were able to so quickly get the hair back in order. We talk to them about the grooming requirements for a collie, sometimes I offered them the brush, especially if they expressed an interest in acquiring a collie, so they could see for themselves that it is not that difficult. What an opportunity it was to educate those folks, so many do not have any concept of how to brush a full coated dog like a collie. I talked to them about how important it is to get the dead blowing coat out and the difference between the normal shedding and the blowing coat. They continued to be amazed.

It is coming up to noontime and there is a new security procedure in place. All dogs are brought back into the building. No one is allowed in or out of the barn for a short while. The dogs are being counted and recounted to make sure all are present and accounted for. Once the count is done then the walking of dogs can continue and visitors once again come and go. There are not as many visitors as there once were. The number of volunteers has dropped also. I am grateful to AWCA for helping with the cost of hiring individuals to do the daily hard labor.

The end of the day comes, another lock down and count. The volunteers say good night until the next meeting. The grooming team has made notes of which collies got brushed along with comments of any unusual findings. The notes are given to the SAR members. This time we are staying on the grounds in a borrowed RV, which we greatly appreciate. We hadn’t planned far enough ahead this trip; the hotels are overflowing because there is a basketball tournament in the area. We go fetch a bite to eat and return to Camp Collie, we visit a while about the dogs, the upcoming hearing, and the article in the paper about the Arizona destination. But we are tired, it is an early night, by 8 pm we are all soundly sleeping with collie fuzz in our hair and their many licks on our cheeks to remind us of the day’s activities.

Sunday’s activities are much the same as the day before. We are two groomers fewer so we did not get as many dogs brushed today. We met some more new friends. Another volunteer joins us in the brushing regimen. The noon lockdown and count comes off on schedule, all is good. A couple of us work on some of the older puppies for an end of trip treat. Then, before we know it, it is the end of the day. We pack up our equipment, load the collie trolley, then we make one last stop before starting our return trip to Helena. We go to the Search and Rescue building to help with the cleaning and feeding chores. Panache (Athena’s “service” dog and mother of the litter born Nov. 1) looks well, happy to have a little attention. Scruffy, a rough coated blue merle, looks well, though still has many medical problems. There is another adult dog that is recovering from having a lump removed from its neck and he is doing well also. The puppies are getting big, they are now 3-1/2 months old, they just want to play and play, I cuddle with them over the ex-pen, they tug at my hair, and lick my ears. All the cats look healthy and frisky, the new kittens have their eyes open, they must be close to three weeks old. The terrier is under lock and key, only one of us knows where the key is, and that person lets him out of his crate for a short walk and to clean the crate, then with fresh food and water back in he goes. He is healthy and happy. Everyone at the SAR building is healthy and happy.

It has started to snow as we begin our journey home. The storm is moving in a southerly direction, so we drive out of the snow into clear weather, the rest of the journey was uneventful. When I get home, I say hello to everyone, all eight of my dogs have to sniff and snort to learn of my activities. I take a long soaking bath then cuddle up with my undersized tricolor lap collie and watch TV for a short while before heading for the bed. She lifts her head every once in a while as if to check to see if I am really there, sniffs and licks my cheek, then snuggle back down into my arms. I can only hope that the Shelby collies will someday have the love and security that my dogs have been blessed with.

In total we brushed out 71 rough coated collies. We did not trim or clip any hair except on a few dogs that had excessive fecal accumulation. We did not clean ears or clip toenails. On average we spent 30 minutes on each dog, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the condition of the coat. We will recheck the ones that are blowing coat on our next trip. In the meantime God bless all of you who support our loving volunteers while we help these collies to be healthier and happier.

Thank you Thea, and hugs to all who ride the Collie Trolley.

Calmly,
Jean Levitt, President AWCA
Lisa King, AWCA Director AWCA Rescue
Officers and Members of AWCA

If you would like to assist AWCA with this rescue effort, you may send a check to:

Bethany Burke
AWCA Treasurer
2807 Lee Trevino Court
Shalimar, FL 32579

Make the check out to AWCA and in the memo area note: collie rescue-medical, collie rescue-stainless steel, or collie rescue-general.