When RAGOM learned in August 2016 that a notorious Missouri breeding operation was planning a dog auction, the entire RAGOM community sprang into action. Our plea for help and donations was broadcast on a Thursday, and by auction time on Saturday, 243 people—volunteers, adopters, and friends of RAGOM—had contributed an incredible $32,000.
A team of volunteers, organized on short notice, hit the road Friday afternoon to arrive in time to bid at the auction on Saturday. Meanwhile, the intake team worked frantically to secure fosters, temporary fosters, and transporters for all of the dogs that would hopefully be heading for Minnesota.
On Saturday night a RAGOM caravan rolled into town with nearly 30 wonderful dogs saved from the commercial breeding life (two moms and their puppies would arrive later when the pups were old enough to travel). They were met by a clean-up and welcome crew, foster families, overnight temporary fosters, and transporters.
Over the next few weeks our very busy volunteer teams reviewed adoption applications from waiting families, did home visits, answered questions, provided support to fosters, and drove dogs to vet appointments. Many of the dogs were placed with waiting families so quickly that their profiles never appeared on our website.
The work continues as one by one these dogs find their forever homes. Volunteers had to sort through confusing and inaccurate microchip records to ensure all dogs were correctly identified and documented in our database. Now that moms and puppies have arrived, our volunteers organized shifts to help foster homes bathe, clean up after, and socialize the pups.
By the time all of the auction dogs have found wonderful forever homes and are living the Golden Life, we estimate that more than 350 RAGOM friends and volunteers will have touched their lives and made their new beginnings possible. We are thankful for the tremendous “village” we have as part of the RAGOM family!