Best Friends Animal Society of Kanub, Utah, has issued a call for experienced dog handlers to help prepare shy, fearful and aggressive dogs for adoption.
The dogs were rescued after Hurricane Katrina.
Those who work with special-needs dogs are the special forces of animal rescue, says Michael Mountain, president of Best Friends. We know that with good, patient care, these dogs can be saved. Mostly, these are dogs who need help with social skills before they can be placed into the average family home. They are healthy and, in the right hands, good-natured.
Best Friends will pay travel and accommodations to its rescue center at Tylertown, near New Orleans. Trainers will work with Best Friends behaviorists there to select dogs to take back with them.
Best Friends said it will continue to support these trainers, including support for the dogs medical care, as they work with the dogs.
After all these dogs have been through, and after all the work that heroic volunteers have put into rescuing and caring for them, we will not allow them to be killed simply because there are too many of them, and because people may be afraid of them, Mountain said.
For more information visit the Best Friends website.
Posted: March 2, 2006, 3 p.m. EST