LAUREL KINDER

Thursday, 02 March 2017 20:30

Laurel Kinder is the founder of Kinder for Rescue and Project Flying Chihuahua — which flies dogs from crowded kill shelters out West to no-kill shelters back East. She has saved nearly 30,000 animals.

DDD: How did Project Flying Chihuahuas get started?

LK: It started about seven years ago. We noticed that they were killing young, healthy dogs in the animal shelters and we thought there must be something else we can do about this. So my daughter — who lived in the Boston area – told me there were only three dogs in the animal shelters there. So we started picking out places that were experienced Humane Societies that received dogs and started Project Flying Chihuahuas. And we’ve flown between 25,000 – 30,000 animals.

 

Amazing! How much does it cost to fly one Chihuahua?

Around $200.

 

And are they met at the other end by families?

We work with other Humane Societies. We usually fly them overnight so that they’re in their sleeping time and we fly them non-stop red-eyes. Then they get picked up in the early morning and taken in and vetted. Our Humane Societies do applications meet and greets with other dogs’ family members and they oversee the adoption process.

 

Where do most of these Chihuahuas wind up?

In New England.

 

Is that because there just aren’t many Chihuahuas in that area?

The first flight we ever did made national news so they had a hundred people waiting. They now have people asking for the dogs at these places and we fly every week.

 

Wow. So your daughter said that there were only three dogs in the shelter in Boston. Why do you think that is? Do the people in New England do a better job of spaying and neutering?

They do.

 

Well hopefully the rest of the country can catch up to New England. And not just in football. Now let me ask you about adoption. Some people who I’ve tried to encourage to adopt have become discouraged because they say there are so many hoops to jump through. Why is that?

Well, many people want to adopt from a rescue because then they have a place to return the dog, without having to go back into a shelter. So yes, there are more hoops in going to a rescue versus walking into an animal shelter, who’ll give a dog to just anyone. But if you are an appropriate animal adopter you’re not gonna have a problem. Some people get ridiculous and fanatical and that’s giving rescues a bad name but we’re looking for people who are long-time owners who will give their dogs the proper medical attention. And if you can’t jump through a hoop it looks like you have something to hide.

 

Speaking of medical attention, you also provide low-cost health care for dogs and cats, correct?

Yes, we have a clinic to help rescues and people keeping dogs in homes. We give them a financial break so they can afford to get a medical care, emergency surgeries for broken bones. Things like that.

 

What about teeth?

We do 10-15 dentals a week at a flat rate of $250.

 

I read that you also have a sanctuary for seniors and unadoptable dogs. What do you mean by “unadoptable”?

Personality disorders. We try to fix them but some of them are not fixable. Sometimes it’s hard to socialize them, so we get them set up in kind of a home environment out there. Most of the dogs out in the sanctuary do go to the adoptions. But some of them — if they’re on heart meds, things like that — we don’t stress them out and take them out there anymore.

 

Yeah, even my dog – who I’ve had for thirteen years — gets freaked out when I take him to an adoption event.

I’ve got one girl out there and she coughs a lot and we’ve tried everything. We can’t get her to stop coughing — even outside of our own clinic. So I’m not gonna take her out there anymore.

 

I know that the shelters in Los Angeles have fewer animals euthanized now than a few years ago. Why do you think that is?

A lot of it is due to these flying programs. When I set up our flying program, people all over started copying it. Some did it poorly, some did it well. Bottom line: You really need to know what you’re doing with this. I don’t send to rescues I send to established Humane Societies.

 

Where else do you fly dogs to, besides New England?

Basically New England and New York.

 

Do people in New York ever fly dogs out here to the West Coast?

No. But there is one guy bringing in dogs from Korea, which baffles everybody in the rescue community. Why is he bringing dogs in when we’re flying dogs out? And I think he’s a little bit about getting his face in front of cameras and publicity. He used to use my clinic, so I scanned the dog and its story was completely different than what he told the people. So there are some very shady so-called rescue people.

 

How important is fostering?

A lot. Cause you have to socialize a dog somewhere. Then you can kinda tell us about the dog – like he’s potty-trained, he’s not good with people coming through the door… We just find out things.

 

Exactly. He’s good with cats. She’s bad with kids. He’s horrible with wrapping up interviews… Oh, wait… that’s me. Thanks so much for taking the time, Laurel.

 

www.Kinder4rescue.org