| Montana town cares for seized collies SHELBY, Montana (AP) -- The collie in Pen 71 carefully nudges her gleaming steel food bowl, just enough to tip some of the kibbles to the ground. She noses the nuggets into a small hole in the dirt floor and pushes wood chips over them. "A lot of the dogs bury their food as soon as we feed them," Barb Mercer shouts over the cacophony of 170 dogs celebrating the arrival of breakfast. "They hadn't been fed in so long, they want to save it." This is Camp Collie, and Mercer is one of the army of volunteers who have cared for these animals since Halloween night, when U.S. Customs officials discovered them crammed into a reeking truck trailer at the nearby Canadian border crossing, soaked in urine and feces. With animal cruelty charges pending against the dogs' owners, this farm community town of 2,800 has the difficult task of caring for the dogs -- mostly collies -- and 11 cats. It's become a point of immense pride for them. The townspeople, and many others for hundreds of miles around, have brought food. They've brought straw for bedding. They've sent cash. And they have come in droves -- day after day, week after week, for more than three months now -- to walk, feed, groom and clean up after the collies. "It's for these guys. I love these guys," said Kerry King of Lethbridge, Alberta, who drives 200 miles round-trip four times a week. Athena Lethcoe-Harman, a nationally known collie breeder, and her husband, Jonathan Harman, have been charged with 181 misdemeanor counts under the state animal cruelty law. A mistrial was declared last month when a jury couldn't reach a verdict after a six-day trial. Prosecutors say they will try them again, but no date has been set. Lethcoe-Harman told officials the couple was moving her operation from Alaska to Arizona when they were stopped at the border crossing. She said she had fed, watered and exercised the dogs regularly during the trip and denied mistreating the animals. Sheriff Donna Matoon -- who got responsibility for the animals as evidence -- knew immediately that caring for them indefinitely would be a huge job, and called for help. The Humane Society of the United States, area humane and animal associations and the American Working Collie Association all rolled into action. Teams of eight AWCA groomers came to Camp Collie twice and spent hours bathing and combing each dog and cat. The grooming was a matter of life or death for many of the animals, AWCA President Jean Levitt said. The matting of filth on some was so heavy it was tearing their skin. The collie association has spent thousands of dollars for equipment and veterinary bills; brought in dozens of volunteers from as far away as Florida; arranged donations of food and equipment from major companies; and provided expertise almost from the first day. The AWCA also provided special collars, leashes, and stainless steel food bowls and water buckets for every dog -- and a chew toy for its pen. The dogs are housed at the county fairgrounds, in the huge 4-H Barn. The 4-H Club set up sheep pens, 4-foot steel and wire cubicles that hold two dogs each. Two local veterinarians have carried much of the load for professional care. But the bulk of more mundane day-to-day work fell to volunteers, who continue to show up every day. Marie Hellinger drives 24 miles from her farm east of Shelby, several times each week. Cindy James and Monica Crummett drive 82 miles from Great Falls. So do Chuck and Sally Cerny, and Bob Miller and Wendy Davidson. "We come on Tuesdays and Wednesdays," Chuck Cerny said as he filled water buckets with a hose. "That's when there are fewer volunteers." The volunteers work within a system set up by the sheriff's office to ensure all the animals and all the chores are done and documented. When the pens are empty while some volunteers take the dogs for walks, others rake the wood shavings out of the cage, spread lime on the dirt floor to kill odor and parasites, and put in fresh shavings. In a steamy wall tent inside the 4-H Barn's huge main room, Meredith Beckedahl and Mayme Ober, both of Shelby, wash and sterilize the empty bowls and buckets five mornings a week, sometimes more. "There is a Camp Collie smell," Beckedahl said. "It gets on your clothes. We wash our hair when we get home." Costs to Toole County have been "very low" because of the volunteers, the sheriff said. A fund at a local bank has hovered at about $70,000, with donations constantly replenishing what is spent. Volunteers say they have seen dramatic improvements in the dogs since they've been at Camp Collie. At first, some of the sick and fearful dogs snapped at the people trying to help them. That's over now. "Sometimes we'd say, 'Better stay away from that dog because sometimes he snaps,"' said Linda Hughes, director of the Cascade County Humane Society in Great Falls. "But with the kind of volunteers in Shelby, that would be a challenge, and they'd just say, 'Oh yeah?"' '"BC' used to stand for Bite Case," she added. "Now it stands for Beautiful Collie." |
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| I just love this story! From CNN News 2/18/03 Volunteer Jennifer Mitchell Walks Collies At The Fairgrounds In Shelby, MT. *Just "x" out the ad to make it go away |
| FYI: Other organizations involved in the rescue: Humane Society of Cascade Co. Flathead Co. Animal Control Toole Co. Search and Rescue Lewis and Clark Co. Humane Society Brighteyes Sanctuary Montana Animal Care Assoc. |
| Please submit any other info you may have on other volunteers and hopeful info, Contact Sadie or Lacy Thanks! Lacy |