Fostering for a cause

After a tattered and pregnant stray pitbull unexpectedly gave birth on an Georgia resident’s property, she and her newborn puppies were shot to death by the landowner. It wasn’t until a rescuer came by when they noticed one puppy, Fawn, that had survived the attack. She was soon brought to safety. In a few weeks, Fawn was living at the O’Hagan family’s house in Glen Rock, NJ, and they would help find a her a forever home with an adoptive family.

Since the fall of 2016, mother and daughter Robyn and Juliann O’Hagan have been providing refuge to rescue puppies by fostering them in their home, and searching for families to adopt them. 

“There’s just so many puppies in need, and there’s so many puppies destroyed, and there’s so many awful stories,” Robyn said. “We see how many dogs need homes and we see how mistreated they are.”  

Robyn and Juliann acquire the foster puppies from the agency Bow Wows and Meows, which is based in Alabama. The agency most commonly sends puppies from their base to satellite homes in New Jersey or New York, but it has also transferred puppies to other states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

It is common for the dogs to be scared and disheveled after being transported from down south.

Robyn says it takes “a good 24 hours for them to acclimate” after arriving in New Jersey. The O’Hagan’s house contains many toys and all the gear for caring for dogs. The family also has two dogs of their own, Lila and Wilma, which allows the foster dogs to socialize with other animals.

“All of us are good with raising dogs cause we’ve had dogs our whole lives, so we know the deal,” Juliann said. “We kind of have to change our schedule a bit if they’re baby puppies.”

The O’Hagans are aware of what kind of dog they will get in terms of size, color and an estimated age before they arrive, yet the specific breed of the dog is not always known. In the course of a year, the family fosters about 10 puppies. Robyn explains that they have had puppies stay in their home anywhere from a night to three months, and it can be harder for certain dogs to be rescued depending on age or appearance. In February 2017, the O’Hagans had a “foster fail” and ended up officially adopting their dog Wilma into their family, who had been previously abused before being rescued.

Although the family will host dogs in their home throughout the year, Juliann describes that they try to get the dogs “pre-adopted” by families.

“Our part of fostering is also putting the word out there to get them adopted,” Juliann said.

In order to do so, Juliann posts pictures of the dogs they’re fostering on Facebook while representatives of Bow Wows and Meows will post information on sites such as Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet.

Founder and director of Bow Wows and Meows Suzanne Moore finds that there is a demand for puppies in the north.

“Dogs down here get put to sleep by the hundreds every week, so anything that we can move out of this area saves a life,” Moore said. “We fulfill a need there to families who would like to have a puppy, and they get a bigger choice by working with rescues that are in the south.”

Moore has been rescuing dogs for 45 years and gave Bow Wows and Meows it’s name 14 years ago after her group moved from Tampa, Fla. to Seale, Ala., where she is currently located. Moore describes herself as being an animal lover for her whole life and is very grateful to those who work with her to rescue dogs.

Bow Wows and Meows primarily works with puppies and dogs that have been “beaten half to death,” “traumatized” or “need extra care,” according to Moore. The group’s goal is to save as many dogs as possible from being mistreated or going to the abundant kill shelters in the south. On average, Moore has 22 dogs in her care and has had as many as 30 at a time. Her home is equipped with multiple playpens and medical supplies that the dogs may need. Moore ensures that each dog is clean, well-fed, and ultimately safe in her home.

About twice each month, Bow Wows and Meows will place their puppies on a transport van that will travel along the east coast. Moore describes that on average there are 40 to 50 pets on one out of a dozen of transport vans, sent out of Georgia or Alabama per week. Although the group sends a transport out a minimum of two times per month, they have access to transport every friday. Moore describes the transport van will begin in the north and travel to Alabama picking up puppies from various rescue groups along the way. After completing that route, the van will then travel back up along the east coast, with the puppies that various adoptive and foster and families, including the O’Hagans, will take.

“We’re grateful for the wonderful group of people that we have in New Jersey and New York that help us with this mission to get as many animals out here as possible on the other side,” Moore said. “Any dog we can move out of this area is a saved dog.”

Before the puppies residing in Moore’s house are transferred up north, Moore has their vet work done including spaying and neutering, to prevent people from breeding their dogs. Moore transports 100 to 150 dogs a year, and in the past 14 years has shipped a total of 1,500 dogs up north.

“We try very hard to get their work done as soon as they are old enough or stable enough and move them as quickly as possible,” Moore said. “We don’t want them to get entrenched in our lifestyle and then have to pick them up and move them again.”

The group that does the transport is known as Grateful Doggies and works with various rescue groups similar to Bow Wows and Meows. Grateful Doggies departs from Fair Lawn, and the entire transfer process could last up to 30 hours.