Woof Wednesday -- Beagles who need rescue

In trying to make sure I post weekly, I've decided to add a new section on beagles who urgently need rescuing. They are, sadly, not hard to find in America. Many beagles are given up because they are no longer able to hunt or breed, no longer of use to a research laboratory, or just because they are too old. They all need good homes.

Beagle Freedom Project, which I've talked about in a previous blog post, is helping many beagles who have been wrongly discarded find new homes.

One of their most urgent charges is Molly:

Listen to Molly's heart breaking story:

From speaking to numerous veterinarians who have seen Molly and local rescue organizations, this is what we believe may be Molly's background...

There is a testing lab in North Carolina and Molly spent her entire life of 7-9 years in South Carolina as a breeder dog. In South Carolina there are hunters who have beagles exclusively and keep them in wire rabbit hutches. Molly was most likely kept in one of these tiny cages and forced to have litters twice a year, each year, for her entire life.

They are given no medical care other than a "country vet" that comes by yearly to administer rabies vaccines by NC/SC Law. Once they are physically unable to have babies, they have outlived their usefulness and are dropped off a few miles away, often in the woods, to wander until they are attacked by another animal, hit by a car, drop dead for a number of ailments or are rescued. Some breeders will spray paint "DO NOT RESCUE", "DO NOT SAVE" or simply X them in orange spray paint so that people cannot take them to animal control or to a shelter. Luckily, someone saved her anyway.

Molly may have been a breeder dog whose puppies were sold to laboratories but we cannot say for certain. In any case, Molly has undergone the worst conditions of any animal and was almost put to death a second time as she was on the PTS list aka Death Row in the animal shelter. Today, Molly is free and with her foster in North Carolina but has a long road ahead...

Molly still needs a lot of help. She has glaucoma in one eye that is causing her pain. She also has heartworm, four tumors and a hernia. She is getting help, but Beagle Freedom Project needs money to help pay for her care, and she needs a permanent home.

Beagle Freedom Project says you can donate for Molly here: http://beaglefreedomproject.org/donate

Then there's Frankie:

This poor boy was found in the country as a stray, mostly likely set loose because he was no longer of use to hunters. He is currently in a temporary foster home, but he comes from a high-kill shelter in Owensboro, Kentucky. He needs a permanent home. You can find more info about Frankie on the Petfinder website.

Now if you are not near any of these poor animals, there are ways to get them and transport them to you if you want to adopt them. There are groups like Pilots n Paws that will fly pets to forever homes. You can apply for transport here.

As always, Petfinder is a great reference if you're looking for groups in America or Canada. You can also use beagle.rescueshelter.com to find groups in other countries.

Since I'm from Florida, here's a list of Florida rescue groups for beagles:

First Coast Beagle Rescue -- Jacksonville, FL
Southeast Beagle Rescue -- Tampa, FL
Tampa Bay Beagle Rescue -- Tampa, FL
Ziggy Beagle Rescue -- Palm Bay, FL

Don't forget to check out Life With Beagle via Twitter and on Facebook.