Many people are traveling from Southwest Florida to Wisconsin this time of year. But this trip for a Fort Myers animal rescue was different.
The president of the Guardians of Florida Animal Rescue of Fort Myers drove to Wisconsin and filled her van with 18 adult beagles, then drove back to Southwest Florida. Those beagles were rescued from Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin,
Fifteen hundred beagles were released from a commercial facility that supplies beagles to animal testing laboratories. The dogs were then disseminated to rescue organizations all across the country.
Dana Bursch, one of the co-founders of the rescue said the first order of business is to get them acclimated to a new environment.
“They’ve really lived inside their whole life. They’ve never really seen the sun or the grass. So it’s a big adjustment,” she said.
They will all have bloodwork done to assess their health, and will be spayed or neutered.
She said, “We’ll have volunteers spend time in the yards with them, socializing, just sitting with them, so they get used to other humans in there. Knowing that this human isn’t going to grab you and poke you with a needle or anything like that.”
Some could be ready for adoption in two to three weeks, but it depends on how they do. Some may go into foster care first, Bursch says.
If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with the dogs, or put in an application to adopt, go to gofar.dog.
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