Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch: Animals Find Local Shelter

Animals Find Local Shelter

Monday, July 27, 2009

By LAURA COX

Perfect, Liz Keller, creator of Glen Wild Animal Rescue, said to herself.
“It’s like this building was built just for us,” said Liz. “The front room is perfect for doing doggy daycare and grooming services and the back is perfect for the rescue area, which we call rescue central.”
The smooth concrete floors of the two-building complex at Pindars Corners, a former gift shop and landscaping business just beyond Oneonta’s city limits, also make for quick cleanup if one of the dogs has an accident or marks territory.
Keller has been in animal rescue and control for 25 years, most recently as director of Animal Haven Acres sanctuary, South Kortright, which closed over the winter.
Liz couldn’t let the animals go homeless – each comes with a past, be it dogfighting, abuse or starvation – and immediately began looking for a new location, using her own resources to found Glen Wild.
She’s helped by three employees, three volunteers and three young workers from the CDO Workforce, who are caring for 45 dogs and a multitude of cats, taken in locally or brought here from animal rescue units in New York City that have run out of space.
Glen Wild is surrounded by a big lawn. There’s a big fenced-in section where dogs can play for hours a day. The dogs are also given individual walks around the yard.
The idea is to train the dogs to the point where they can be adopted. But some, like a pit bull named Courage, is there permanently.
Courage was used in dogfighting and has been permanently damaged because of it. She cannot even be allowed to see other dogs, since her training would put her on the attack.
Glen Wild keeps Courage as an example of what can happen when dogs are treated inhumanely.
Once a week, and soon twice a week, Keller brings some of the animals to the Sgt. Henry Johnson Youth Leadership Academy, a low-security youth correctional facility in South Kortright, seeking to dramatize the damages of dogfighting to boys who come from communities where it is common.
“They see how Courage cannot be out and enjoying her life to the fullest with the other dogs,” said Keller.
Keller also brings the dogs into schools to teach children about pet care and how to be safe around animals, to help reduce instances of children being bitten by dogs.
To help financially support her effort, Keller plans to start a doggy daycare and grooming business for profit in the front building. In the meantime, she’s been seeking donations and volunteers to keep the effort afloat.
For more information , visit www.glenwildanimalrescue.org or call Glen Wild at (917) 553-0591.

Labels: 08-07-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:18 AM

1 Comments:

At August 26, 2009 7:35 AM, Abagale said…

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Betty

http://adoptpet.info