What do we do at Diana’s Grove Dog Rescue
by Cynthia Jones,
co-founder and co-owner of Diana's Grove

Diana’s Grove Dog Rescue is part of a.... Well, what is it? A movement, a network, perhaps a vision, a dog’s dog-day-afternoon dream of food, care and safety. We are one point in a network of people who care for abandoned and homeless animals by responding to a need with the resources that we have. We respond by opening our homes, by putting up another pen to keep a litter of pups safe. We respond by saying yes to one more dog or cat who finds itself in need - at times, in desperate need.

We are one of many places and groups that are a part of what I call the grass roots animal rescue movement. We don’t have a facility. We aren’t funded or paid by the city or the county. No buildings, no vet on staff, no employees, no office staff, kennel staff or even a kennel - and still, we save lives, lots of lives. We placed 217 dogs last year. The year ended with 45 dogs in our care. We saved 263 lives in 2005. We will save a lot more this year.

Now that’s not many compared to the thousands of dogs and cats that are placed and cared for each year at a large Humane Society facility; but, being grass roots, we are one of many. Put ten of us together and we save a thousand dogs. Put 20 of us together and we change the face of animal rescue and welfare in our part of the state. Put 1,000 of us together and we are the force of compassion living in countless small communities across the country. There are 246 Missouri shelters and rescue groups listed on Petfinder, a web-based service that lists shelters and adoptable pets. Petfinder makes it possible for grass roots rescue groups like ours to find homes for the animals we love, care for and rehabilitate.

If we don’t have a facility or even a kennel, what do we do? Each grass roots group is different. Some are networks of foster families, some are individuals who take in one litter of pups at a time, but most are similar to us - just people opening their homes to abandoned pets. And, at times, great kindness and good fortune enable us to pour concrete and make pens that are safe because they can be sanitized. Good fortune and a generous donation enable us to build a sheltered area for housing or put in a fenced play yard. Good fortune enables us to care more effectively for the animals that we rescue. Adoption fees enable us to spay, neuter, vaccinate and feed the dogs in our care, and provide medical care and long term rehabilitation for the less fortunate dogs.

Last year we built twelve pens. Four of the pens have concrete floors; the rest are floored with pea gravel. I wasn’t a fan of concrete before I did the dog rescue work, but now I know that concrete saves lives. Here at the Grove puppies, small dogs, and dogs that require medical or emotional rehabilitation live in our pens. Between 20 and 25 larger dogs live like normal country dogs, but country dogs that have more playmates than most.

They live in our cabins and the main house. They go in and out through the dog door. They curl up under the dining room table. They sit on the couch - oh, yes, they do - and watch television with the family at night. They hang out in the office and nest under my desk. My small two-room cabin houses 15 to 19 dogs each night. The living room has 5 crates. The bedroom has 5 more crates and a king-sized bed that holds 2 people and 4 to 6 dogs. That is a peek into one home at the Grove, where every household has a dog...or two.

I am often asked where and how we get our dogs. Years ago, we found most of our dogs sitting on the side of the road waiting to die, or in the woods waiting to be saved by a passing humanitarian. We still find lost or dumped dogs on the side of the road, but not as often. Now, we get calls. People are referred to us by the county sheriff, or a local veterinarian. People who care seek help for a dog they found or who finds them. They find us. We take in and place about 25 dogs a month.

They call us because the shelters are full. They call because maybe, just maybe, we can say yes. Minnie sits at the door of an empty house. No food, no water, her family moved. The neighbor can’t stand to watch her wait for the people who won’t come back. Pixy’s companion went to a nursing home. Constance stopped on her way home from Ironton to check the latch on the car’s hood and two pups came running out of the wood, “Finally,” Nutmeg said to his sister, “we’ll be safe. Someone will feed us.”

It is a grass roots movement, just people responding with compassion to the face waiting there on the side of road. Petfinder, that internet adoption service that lets groups like ours find homes as well as dogs, began by setting up a website for a cluster of East Coast shelters. They said if their service placed one dog a month, it would be worth the effort. Now, we are one of over 8,000 shelters and grass roots groups listed on Petfinder. Petfinder just celebrated their 10,000,000 th - yes, their ten millionth - adoption. One in ten dogs in American homes found their family through Petfinder. Together, we do make a difference.