Tailwaggers helps find animals new homes and goes to great lengths to do so

SUBMITTED Red, a dog from the Decatur Animal Shelter, is pictured with his new family in Illinois, thanks to the work of animal rescue organizations like Tailwaggers.
SUBMITTED Red, a dog from the Decatur Animal Shelter, is pictured with his new family in Illinois, thanks to the work of animal rescue organizations like Tailwaggers.

WESTSIDE -- Tailwaggers, a local animal rescue non-profit organization in Siloam Springs which works with animal shelters in Gentry, Decatur, Gravette, Siloam Springs, West Siloam Springs and other agencies, goes to great lengths to find homes for dogs and cats, sometimes going to the added expense of transferring animals hundreds of miles to other animal rescue groups around the nation rather than seeing animals euthanized.

Just a few weeks ago, it transported animals to Colorado for placement. The organization invites animal lovers to donate to help cover the costs of such animal transfers.

One successful adoption story follows.

A few months back, the Decatur Animal Shelter, with the assistance of Tailwaggers, sent an older dog that had been impounded for several months to a rescue in Illinois. Once there, it was discovered the dog -- nicknamed Red -- was heartworm positive.

According to a post by local rescue "Spay Arkansas," it "sometimes ... takes awhile for just the right family to come along. Last summer our friends, Rescue Warriors Corp of Elgin, Ill., accepted a dog we named Decatur. He's what we'd call an Arkansas porch dog and probably had never seen the inside of a home.

"As he spent week after week at the Decatur Shelter, we received a request to help get him a home. There was a slight problem though because he's not only a senior but had one of the worst cases of heartworms we've come across.

"Thanks to kind benefactors, we were able to do his initial vetting and help sponsor his heartworm treatment. He coughed for months, getting rid of the remains of the worms that has invaded his body.

He's had many meet-and-greets but, sadly, none of the folks were seriously interested in a very 'used' model dog until today. Decatur, we hope you have the most enjoyable life a dog can ever imagine and we thank everyone who was involved in his rescue both here and at Rescue Warriors."

General News on 03/07/2018