RAGOM Volunteer Stories

RAGOM Volunteer Stories

On the Road AGAIN and AGAIN–Scott B is RAGOM’s Transporter Extraordinaire. Read his endearing story: “My most memorable transport was Nelly 18-013A, who came from an auction. The foster thought she was pregnant because her stomach was distended. The vet said she wasn’t pregnant; she was in heart failure. Her damaged heart was beating over 300 times a minute, making the abdomen fill with fluid and her life fragile. We had to save her.

The St. Paul veterinarian cardiologist said her congenital heart abnormality caused severe arrhythmia. Then we discovered that only two vets in the country could perform the surgery that she urgently needed. We drove Nelly to the vet in Cincinnati, who operated on Nelly on that Tuesday.

We left our house on Sunday at 4 a.m. and drove straight through to Cincinnati—700 miles. Poor Nelly was pretty lethargic, and we had to carry her out of the van for her to relieve herself.

Nelly’s cardiologist from the Twin Cities flew to Ohio to observe her surgery. They shaved her all the way around from the back of her head to halfway to her tail. They took her off the drugs and put an EKG jacket on her.

We called every hour on the hour to receive updates. Nelly endured a five-hour surgery. We were relieved to know the operation was a success. It was pure joy when we picked her up on Thursday and saw her tail go wild. To view this level of energy back on this little puppy so soon was amazing. When I think of Nelly today, I am grateful that RAGOM stands behind every dog that comes into their care and gives them a second chance.”

SCOTT’S START

“Our daughter who fostered for RAGOM inspired us to follow in her footsteps. When we took in our first foster, Leon 13-402, his temp fosters told us everything about him and also described recent rescues and transports. I thought transporting sounded exciting, so I signed up for the training,” Scott said.

For seven years, Scott Blomgren has been the never-ending transporter for dogs who need a forever home. He is on the road all the time for RAGOM. The number of miles that he has driven could probably take you around the world. He is the ultimate road warrior in the pursuit of saving dogs.

“When we found Leon a forever home, we jumped right in again with a puppy, Levi 14-012, who was with a temp foster in Burnsville. I signed up for a transport to Albert Lea, and on my way home, I picked up Levi. The foster cried when transferring the dog to my care and it struck me how quickly the foster had become attached to this dog that was in their care for a just short time,” said Scott.

Within the first two years, the Blomgrens fostered 15 dogs in two years and fell in love with each one of them. In the last several years, Scott now focuses his volunteerism on transports, leading him to transport dogs coming into Chicago from Turkey or rescuing them from all corners of the Midwest.

Scott simply looks at all these dogs that need help getting from point A to point B, and he’ll do whatever he can to make that happen. The volunteers enjoy reading his “arrived notices” to let the team know about the dog and sometimes funny road stories. Scott truly loves goldens and his transports. What a dedicated volunteer.