To the rescue

Marvelle the rescued basenji
Originally uploaded by siegel_jackie.

The other day I took some time off to help my sister transport a rescue dog on her penultimate trip to her forever home. I was amazed by the dedication and coordination of all the volunteers that helped bring Marvelle from Texas to her new home in Chico.

Marvelle (who has probably already been renamed by her new parents, which is fine since she didn’t respond to Marvelle) probably started life in a puppy mill in Texas. She is probably about seven months old. She is a beautiful tri-colored basenji.

A volunteer from BRAT (Basenji Rescue and Transport http://basenjirescue.org) drove her from Texas to southern California. Another volunteer took her from southern California to Harris ranch (about 400 miles round trip up I-5.) Another volunteer then drove from San Jose to Harris ranch (again about 400 miles round trip) to bring her to his home. We drove from Sacramento to San Jose and brought her to Davis (200 miles round trip) where her new parents met us to take her to her new home in Chico (200 miles round trip) A lot of time and gasoline, and a whole lot of love went into bringing her to a family that will cherish and understand her.



Basenjis are often abandoned or given up for adoption. They are beautiful dogs but do not make good pets for families that do not understand the breed. Years ago my sister wanted a dog and did a lot of research into what breed to get. Basenji it was. Dollar was a pound puppy, twice rejected but then my sister came along and gave him a good home. Dollar passed away a number of years ago. My sister got involved with BRAT, first fostering dogs, then helping coordinate adoptions. She also helps write the first doggie (person) descriptions of the dogs awaiting adoption. Makes one want to adopt each and every one of them.

A salute to my sister and all dog rescue volunteers.