Eleven coonhounds and one beagle made a journey from Georgia to San Diego in hopes of a fresh start.
“There’s no home for them and they get put down," said Jennifer Hendershot, who took her family on the trip to rescue the dogs. "Almost all of them get put down."
Jennifer works as an adoption counselor in Georgia where her shelter only saw 12 dogs adopted last year. The rest were put to sleep.
She wasn’t ready to let that happen to the next batch, so she loaded up her car with her husband and three kids and drove.
Rebecca Stevens runs the Four Paws Coonhound Rescue and Friends, Inc. in El Cajon.
“We found Rebecca and emailed her asking for resources and she said how many can you bring?” said Jennifer Hendershot.
Stevens has been operating Four Paws for the past nine years, and has now turned into a rescue center for all types of dogs.
She originally started her focus on rescuing coonhounds because of how badly they are treated in many parts of the country.
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“If they don’t come back from the hunt ‘oh well.’ If they don’t hunt well, they’ll take them out in the field and shoot them. Very disposable,” Stevens said.
Getting a second chance is something Stevens knows all about. She celebrates a year, cancer-free tomorrow.
“I didn’t think I was going to rescue again. That was my driving force to get well. I wanted to rescue again,” Stevens said.
Stevens says the Georgian family has made all the difference in these coonhound’s lives. It makes an impact in a problem that is still ever growing.
“It’s the beginning for these eleven dogs that were saved but then I also think about the many that aren’t.”
If you are interested in adopting one of the dogs, click here.
