Detroit women find refuge for soldiers' dogs
Detroit
Detroit women find refuge for soldiers' dogs
November 8, 2006
BY SHARON GITTLEMAN
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER
A Mutts and Mutts Rescue sign at Pet Supplies Plus in Canton advertises upcoming fund-raising events.
Pets need your help
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To volunteer to foster a pet or to make a donation toward building the sanctuary, call 248-705-8311, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and leave a message.
When soldiers head off to foreign shores, sometimes they leave more than possessions behind.
Their pets may have nowhere to live if their owners' friends and neighbors can't take them in.
Detroit residents Donna Law, 48, and Vikki Sebok, 46, want to remedy that.
By next spring, the two women hope to open DV Sanctuary, a place where pets of military personnel can stay while their owners are serving in the military.
To kick off the effort to raise the down payment for their dream, Law and Sebok will hold a silent auction fund-raiser, with autographed sports memorabilia, pet-care items, house-cleaning services and more up for bid.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 18 and 25 at Pet Supplies Plus, 43665 Ford Road, Canton. Auction winners will be announced Nov. 25. Donations for the sanctuary will be accepted at the store through the end of the year.
Law, who heads the Wayne County-based Mutts & Mutts Rescue, decided to create the sanctuary after she was contacted in May by a sergeant serving the Army in Iraq. He couldn't find a home for Sam, his 2-year-old Labrador mix, and ChestMutt, his 9-month-old terrier-blend puppy.
"Since 9/11, I've received about a dozen phone calls from military families asking if I would foster their pets while they were deployed to war," said Law.
Law said she searches for foster homes and suggests other groups if a spot isn't available with Mutts and Mutts Rescue.
Soldiers are asked to pay for their animal's food when they stay with Mutts and Mutts foster families, she said. "They have peace of mind their pets are being well cared for so they can stay focused on their duties."
Law's sister Lynda Knights, 45, is caring for Sam and ChestMutt.
"I'm very patriotic. I would do almost anything to help a service person -- someone helping our country and keeping it safe," said Knights of Redford Township.
The soldier's two dogs looked forlorn when they arrived, Knights said.
When the sergeant comes back, "that will be a great day. It will be a wonderful day," she said. "Then the animals will forget about us."
Pets owned by service personnel could be put up for adoption in a shelter if they have no one to care for them, said Sebok.
"It's awful. These guys are putting their lives on the line to protect our country, and they're losing their best friends in the process," said Sebok, of Michigan Coonhound Rescue. "We decided to try to find a way to help until the men and women come back to their dogs and cats."
Sebok would like to open DV Sanctuary on at least 30 acres of land between Lansing and Howell, offering plenty of room for dogs to run and play.
"I could not imagine doing what they do to begin with -- to volunteer, putting your life on the line and to come home and not have your pets anymore," Sebok said. "I couldn't imagine my life without my pets."
Other dogs would enjoy a home away from home at Law and Sebok's refuge, including those owned by people forced into a temporary stay at a nursing home or hospital.
"No pet should be forgotten, no matter what crisis your life is in," Law said.
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