The “Great Eight” are settling in just fine at their new digs at Stray Rescue in St. Louis, Missouri.
Chewie has already become BFF with Oran, an office dog at the shelter. He likes to give Oran kisses through his kennel door. “Chewie is an absolute doll,” says Jennie Foster, Stray Rescue’s director of operations. “He has made great strides and is no longer shy and timid.”
Fatty can’t get enough love. “She’s a dream on a leash and likes to give little love nibbles,” Jennie says.
Gorda loves a good game of ball and is the most outgoing of the Great Eight. Rita, nicknamed “Meter Maid” after that old Beatles song, doles out plenty of kisses and enjoys her daily walks. Zeta is a ball of energy and loves belly rubs and playing with her squeaky toys.
Callie is by far the most gentle and laid-back of the dogs. “She loves when the volunteers sit on her bed with her,” Jennie says. “She can’t get deep enough into their laps.”
The tail-wagging Hope is getting acquainted with new dogs, whom she seems to like a lot. Justice recently helped rescue a lost dog while out on a walk with volunteers. “She’s definitely one of the shelter faves,” Jennie says.
The eight pit bulls arrived at Stray Rescue a little more than two weeks ago in a Best Friends air-conditioned van. Accompanying them aboard the “Freedom Express” were Sherry Woodard, Best Friends’ animal behavior specialist, and Jeff Popowich, Best Friends’ animal care operations manager.
Last year, the dogs were seized by animal control officers from a Spokane Valley, Washington, dog-fighting ring and held as evidence in a case that led in February to Washington state’s first felony dog-fighting convictions. After the trial, the dogs were released to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS), which desperately tried to find rescue groups to take them before a summer deadline to euthanize the dogs.
Carmel Travis, a Pullman, Washington, real estate agent and Best Friends member, collected donations and helped organize the rescue. One of the first calls Carmel made was to Best Friends’ Animal Help department. Best Friends animal help specialist Troy Lea, who’s based in St. Louis, gave her a list of rescue resources and tips on how to get the word out about the Great Eight’s plight. Troy also sent out an alert to Best Friends members and helped Carmel get a story about the Great Eight posted on the Best Friends Network’s Missouri community.
Troy was there to greet the Great Eight when the Freedom Express arrived at Stray Rescue.
“No words came, just emotions,” Troy says. “There’s that feeling of gratitude and of being so proud of our members and the organizations involved. This is the ultimate feeling of teamwork.”
Stray Rescue is now busy evaluating and working with the dogs. They’ll soon be placed in foster homes and will eventually be available for adoption.
Just like the folks at SCRAPS, Stray Rescue’s staff and volunteers have fallen in love with the Great Eight. “Some of these great – in more ways than one – dogs even seem to be curious and excited to see other doggie friends,” says Tara Schaper, a volunteer behaviorist and foster parent with Stray Rescue who’s working with the dogs. “I think they will continue to blossom and will be very happy members of new families soon. Every single one of them deserves this chance!”
All the media attention has turned the Great Eight into quite the celebrities. Recently, Tara was out walking Chewie and a woman stopped her and asked if he was the Chewie of the Great Eight.
“She got teary-eyed when I told her it was Chewie,” Tara says. “She agreed these dogs deserve this chance and was so happy to have met him.”
Written by Sandy Miller
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