STAGECOACH, Nev. (KOLO) – This time of year, animal shelters find themselves overwhelmed as pets given as holiday gifts are returned when families realize they can’t handle the responsibility. One local rescue organization is stepping up to ease that burden while giving some of the area’s most vulnerable dogs a second chance at life.
Based in Stagecoach Nevada, Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation (WARF) focuses on saving high-risk dogs, often ones that would otherwise face euthanasia. When the dogs aren’t coming from high kill shelters, they get dogs from Washoe County when they get too full. Their mission is simple: when you adopt a dog from WARF, you save two lives.
“We always tell our adopters they save two animals. The ones they bring home, and the ones they free up a space for,” said Samantha Wood, president at WARF.
One of the biggest challenges for shelters is the difficulty some dogs face in showing their true personalities. When confined to a shelter environment, stressed and scared, a dog may appear antisocial or unapproachable — making it harder for them to find their forever home. WARF understands this, which is why they focus on giving these dogs the opportunity to thrive outside of the stressful shelter environment.
“By increasing their sociability it’s really making a world of difference by integrating them together and getting them to trust each other and show they can be with other dogs,” said Donna Coombs, the director for WARF.
A recent private donation has enabled WARF to take its mission a step further by hiring a dog trainer. Chris Nichols, a dedicated trainer with Best Life K9 Academy, works with dogs who have been labeled “unadoptable,” helping them develop the skills needed to interact with other dogs and people. These dogs, often considered too difficult to place in a home, are now getting the training they need to increase their chances of adoption.
“We’ve taken so many dogs here that have failed their evaluations, or who were deemed unadoptable, and they almost never are,” Wood said.
One dog in particular, Lucky, embodies the success of this program. Found tied up in the desert and left for dead, Lucky had already experienced the worst of humanity. After being rescued by a pair of ranch owners, Lucky was sent to WARF when he couldn’t get along with the other dogs on the ranch. Thanks to his training, Lucky’s behavior has improved dramatically. Now, he’s able to socialize and play with other dogs — something that would have been unimaginable when he first arrived at WARF. In a heartwarming scene, Lucky is seen playing with Phoebe, another rescue dog in the shelter’s play area. to outsiders, it may look like just two dogs enjoying a game of fetch, but for Lucky, it’s a whole new chapter in his life. And for Phoebe, who was once far too shy to be around other dogs, it’s the opportunity to show her true personality — a quality that will help her find her own forever home.
“Each dog that comes in is a blank slate. I don’t concern myself if they’re abused, fearful, aggressive, or worry about what happened in the past. I’d rather concentrate on what’s in front of me and work with that,” Nichols said.
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