• Address: YERINGTON, NV 89447 (map)
• Date Posted: 11/03/09
• Age: Adult
• Gender: Male
• Offered by: Shelter

Border Terrier - Medium - Adult - Male - Dog - The Gabbs Dogs

Remember the Gabbs dogs? 145 left orphaned in the desert when their owner died in May 2007. Two Nevada Rescue groups played a prominent role in their rescue (and re-rescue). Dama Wirries didnt start out to be a hoarder. She began taking in homeless animals at her home in Idaho. Over the years she saved and adopted many pets to loving homes. In 2002, Dama moved to a ranch outside of Gabbs, Nevada, and brought with her 60-70 dogs. Eventually, things began to spiral out of control. She was two hours from the nearest vet hospital, so the younger dogs werent being altered. Locals then began dumping their unwanted dogs. Dama couldnt bring herself to let the dogs be adopted. In May of 2007, Dama Wirries died suddenly, leaving over 140 dogs orphaned in the desert. Dama had said she wanted all the dogs euthanized when she died. Luckily, she left no written will. Family members contacted Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, one of the largest and most respected animal sanctuaries in the world. Even a sanctuary of this size, however, could not accommodate an influx of this number of animals at once. In November, 2007, Best Friends sent out an email requesting help from other shelters and rescue groups. Nevada groups, B.A.R.K. and Dogtown Canine Rescue were among the first groups to respond. Thirteen dogs were rescued by members of B.A.R.K. in November. Many of the dogs had to be socialized and leash trained. It was a huge task for members of small, rural organizations. But these dogs eventually became the happy endings stories that were used on Best Friends website to encourage other rescue groups to step up. Over the next few months, the plight of the Gabbs dogs caught the attention of other rescue or animal welfare groups. United Animal Nation of Sacramento, the Humane Society of the United States and the Nevada Humane Society began to monitor the situation. The Gabbs Dogs, however, were caught in a catch 22. Since they were being fed and watered daily by caretakers, and had adequate shelter, they werent in crisis and couldnt be rescued by the large groups. So while the big groups looked for a loophole that would allow them to step in, members of the local groups continued to make the trip to Gabbs to work on socializing the dogs and to bring out dogs a few at a time for placement. Eleven more Gabbs dogs found their way to Yerington. BARK volunteers also facilitated the placement of many more dogs in foster homes, shelters and with rescue groups. In January 2008, the rain came. The shelters and runs were flooded. Range cattle and horses moved in and began eating the hay houses. Dogs were escaping, running loose and being killed by predators. Paul Bruce of the Humane Society of the United States traveled to Gabbs and declared the dogs officially in crisis. Plans were made to remove the remaining 57 dogs from the ranch. On January 23rd, the big truck arrived at the ranch. The dogs were rounded up and crated. Thirty of the dogs were taken to shelters in the Bay area. The other dogs were taken to Camp Reno for a month of intensive rehab before they were released to rescue groups. BARK volunteers were involved in the dog round up and a few weeks later, participated in the capture of the ever elusive Eddie, the one dog that could not be caught on the day of the big round up. But the story didnt end there. In the summer of 2008, word went out that several of the Gabbs dogs had failed placement in the shelters and were in danger of being euthanized. Four of these dogs: Pinny, Apple, Gabbs and Joe were re-rescued by B.A.R.K. members and and came to Safe Haven . These dogs are not aggressive; the pace of the big city shelters had just been too much for them. Now they are free to complete their socialization and training on Gabbs time. The Gabbs dogs were featured on National Georaphics show "Dogtown".Pinny, Apple and Joe can all be seen on the show. Apple is the one crawling through the fence. Since being neutered, he has mellowed. To learn more about the Gabbs dogs, go http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/news/default.aspx?PageIndex=1. Check out the Gabbs dog blog at http://gabbsdogs.blogspot.com/

CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Border Terrier [Mix]
Age: Adult
Size: Medium
Gender: Male
Offered by: Shelter
Petfinder ID: 13107159

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Pet has been spayed/neutered

CONTACT:
SAFE HAVEN KENNEL | YERINGTON, NV | 775-463-1842 | barkdogsinfo@gmail.com

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