Keeping the Zipper Zipped!!!

I’ve come to appreciate the value/power of a visual over the spoken or written word.  When I tell people we transfer 25 – 30+ dogs every Tuesday night to Dumb Friends League they respond with luke-warm enthusiasm in their voices - - then I show them a board that has 4 weeks of transports - - names of every dog - - the organization that brought them to us – and their weight.  Then I get an excited response.

Part of our success has been we keep the zipper zipped - - ie we have a rotation of municipal shelters/rescues who know which week they’re scheduled for transport and an agreed number based on Dumb Friends’ needs and the other Oklahoma shelters/rescues who are in the same “que” for transport.

Yes - - it is very hard to explain to someone who wants us to add “one more” that they just found, someone dumped, they need to rehome.  Every dog who leaves on transport has been fully vetted and passed a BARC test (think reasonable good manners for a teenager). If we pull one of the dogs off – we’ve broken our agreement with our partners.  It works so well because we honor our commitment to our partners and Dumb Friends League honors their commitment to us.

It is a zipper effect.  On Wednesday-Friday – the paperwork is completed, approved, ready for transfer.  Monday and Tuesday - the vans, pickups, SUV’s, trucks arrive at scheduled times to unload their homeless pets that have been approved (everyone - - and I do mean everyone)- -  has jumped through the required hoops and we rarely have a hiccup that stops the zipper. One exception is the weather - - it can be perfect here and terrible in Colorado - - or, occasionally, the reverse.  Then the transport is delayed until weather clears. Kennels are full, music is piped into the kennels to help calm them, dogs get to go outside – weather permitting - - until we get the “all clear”.

More than 4,000 dogs (and some cats) have found a home because of our partnership with the Oklahoma municipal shelters/rescues who rely on us and our relationship with Dumb Friends League.  We have a very good zipper.