SEPTEMBER 09, 2016
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
They were wagging their tails, panting and barking. Baxter, Babs, Bear and Chess are just some of the 50 dogs who left the Rio Grande Valley Thursday in search of new homes in Denver.
“All the dogs here leave adoption-ready,” said Chrissy Dijkman, Laguna Madre Humane Society vice president. “And they go straight to a Petco adoption event.” They are scheduled to arrive in Denver at 1 p.m. today just in time for the adoption fair.
Dijkman was tagging the dogs Thursday in Harlingen one-by-one while Linda Smith from Smith Ranch Kennels organized cages and stacked them three high in the large travel van.
Laguna Madre Humane Society has been driving dogs saved from the Valley streets and from being put down since 2014. Dijkman said the organization also transports dogs to Colorado every two weeks.
She said the effort is all donation-based. “If it wasn’t for Laguna Madre, I don’t know what we would do,” said Sonia Venecia, Yaqui Animal Rescue director. “We transport 50 today and there are 200 waiting, not counting the ones on the street.”
Venecia drove from Sullivan City to send two dogs to Denver that she rescued. Dijkman said 13 out of the 50 dogs traveling to Colorado were already pre-adopted.
By RAUL GARCIA Staff Writer
