The Catawba Indian Reservation

I know, I know… I am a few days late.

As you could see from the pictures and post on Facebook, last Friday we had the good fortune to participate in a team effort to fix thirty-two animals from the Catawba Indian Reservation.

Huge kudos to the Committee for Responsible Pet Ownership in York County (CRPO). This is a consortium of rescue groups have managed to put aside whatever differences they might have as individual rescues to accomplish the task of fixing as many animals as they can in York County. Hats off to the entire group. (I’ve listed them below.)

We got involved when they sent out a plea for help for the animals on the reservation. Although we are still struggling to stand our ground financially our team decided it was the right thing to do to help these cats and dogs so we donated the day. CPRO made all the arrangements with the owners and organized the transport (no small task). We met down in Rock Hill at 7:30 Friday morning, caravaned into the reservation, picked up and loaded nine chihuahuas, six hound mixes, two terrier mixes, one brindle puppy, one (huge) pit bull, one very pregnant chocolate lab mix and twelve cats (or assorted shapes, sizes and ages).

Both of our veterinarians, all of our medical assistants and Jacqui were waiting to welcome the transport which arrived at the clinic around 10:00. It took over an hour to do the pre-op checks, pre-medicate the dogs and check in all the cats. Surgery didn’t start until after 11:00 and we didn’t finish cleaning and getting everyone settled for the night until after 7:00. It was a long day.

That said, none of us minded the hard work. We all agreed that never had we met a lovelier group of animals. So sweet and uncomplaining. Not a peep out of a one of them. The pit bull, Blue growled a bit before we started but was easily won over. The other dogs wagged their tails, stuck their paws out of the kennels and just wanted to be cuddled. Our guess was that quite a few had never spent the night inside, much less in a strange kennel in a strange building, but no matter they were all quiet and appreciative of the attention.

I went back at around 9:00 p.m. to check on everyone, in particular, our very pregnant mama who we were pretty sure was going to have puppies any minute. Everyone was sleeping (until I woke them up) and enjoyed the mid-evening snack I provided.

When I arrived back at the clinic Saturday morning at 7:00, the staff had already loaded up everyone up and…. our mama had given birth to nine puppies!! Two more were on the way. The CRPO folks arrived at 8:30 to take everyone home - all equipped with post-op instructions and pain medication.

I must admit to being sad to see them all go. We do good work and meet incredible people here every day but these animals have a special place in my heart as do all of the members of the CRPO. I feel very fortunate that we had the opportunity to connect with them and hope that we will be able to work together again soon.

P.S. (One of the dogs, Summer lives on a chain outside and we are looking for a home for her so PLEASE let us know if you have suggestions for her.)

• The Committee for Responsible Pet Ownership
• Animal Adoption League
• Cloud Nine Rescue Flights
• Dogs Deserve Better
• Kerry’s Cats
• Project Safe Pet
• Richardson Rescue
• Animal Relief Foundation

-Cary Bernstein, Executive Director