Feel-Good Friday: Border Dogs Edition

The Biden border crisis presents catastrophes of a humanitarian nature and national security risks. For animal lovers, one story that is beginning to get widespread news coverage is the crisis created when immigrants cross the southern border illegally and leave their dogs behind.

What happens to the dogs? 

They are left to fend for themselves. Some are abused. Many stories are coming out now about border dogs being rescued and it does a heart good. 

Take, for instance, the Big Dog Ranch Rescue (BDRR). It is a non-profit dog rescue organization that is based in Florida. From its website: 

Big Dog Ranch Rescue was founded in 2008; since then, we have saved the lives of more than 59,000 dogs and counting. Our mission is to save 5,000 dogs every year, to heal and place them with loving families and to educate people about the proper care for dogs and the importance of spaying and neutering.

Our Mission is to Rescue, Rehabilitate and Educate until every dog has a loving and safe place to call home. We believe we can, and we will see an end to dog homelessness and abuse through legislative efforts, hard work and strategic partnerships near and far. We will never give up and we will never back down from the needs of all heartbeats because every life matters.

Sounds good, right? 

BDRR is on a mission to rescue dogs on the Texas-Mexico border. It reports that border dogs are discarded dogs that are hit by cars, shot, and attacked with machetes as they try to survive on the streets. One of its recent trips to Texas included a rescue mission at Colony Ridge outside of Houston. I first wrote about Colony Ridge in September 2023.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slammed Texas officials for allowing the housing development that caters to illegal aliens to grow, created by a big donor to Governor Abbott. Some in the Texas Legislature have called for an investigation. 

BDRR described Colony Ridge as a “shanty town.” It said more than 70,000 illegal aliens live in squalor like in a third-world country. Abandoned dogs were starving and freezing when the dog rescuers. Corpses of dead dogs were everywhere. They rescued all they could. BDRR said the situation is dire.

The non-profit shows that the Texas side of the border is dealing with an influx of migrant dogs. It is raising money, buying equipment, and collaborating with other animal organizations to save as many dogs as possible.

We’ve already made strides by purchasing a 16×24 shed for independent rescuer, Zully Valsquez, featured prominently in our video. However, our work is far from over. We urgently need to outfit this shed with the necessary insulation, flooring, electrical wiring, plumbing, air conditioning, and kennels. These modifications are crucial to transforming these spaces into climate-controlled shelters, offering a safe refuge for mothers and their puppies until they can be safely rescued. These missions are vital for providing shelter, and medical care to these dogs and removing them from harm’s way. 

In an exciting collaboration, PAWS CHICAGO has joined us to launch a mass mobile spay-neuter program, addressing the root of the problem and preventing future generations of dogs from facing the same nightmare. Big Dog Ranch Rescue is gearing up to return to the Texas border next week, committed to rescuing dogs left behind at the border.
 

An Army veteran who served in Iraq and Bosnia, John Rourke, owns a moving company in Jupiter, Florida. He’s a married father of four. He took time to come to Texas with BDRR last month. 

“In the majority of the cases they let the dogs go and most of them are not spayed or neutered,” Rourke explained.

He says after the migrants cross into the U.S., they’re not allowed to keep their dogs in the temporary facilities in Texas set up to house migrants, so often they let the dogs loose.

“It’s really a public health crisis because no community should have hundreds of dogs or thousands of dogs running through the street. We just kinda try to go to those areas and scoop the dogs up,” Rourke said.

He said they got 94 dogs during that trip last month. Rourke is coming back to Texas. On the next trip, they hope to rescue 40 more dogs. The dogs go to Alabama for quarantine, then eventually to Palm Beach County (Florida)  for extra medical care.

Fox News reporters who cover the Biden border crisis every day have observed the situation with the border dogs for a long time. One independent reporter adopted one of the dogs. 

⚡️ FNC reporter Matt Finn reports on the border crisis in Eagle Pass, Texas, where abandoned dogs are in need of food, water, and shelter. National Guard troops and TV crews are helping, but more needs to be done. https://t.co/aJWgW6GFku pic.twitter.com/biQaq0G4Ax

— RiskMap (@RiskMapOfficial) January 18, 2024

Bella was just under three pounds when we rescued her from the border. She’s now over eleven pounds! pic.twitter.com/1Bvo8VZxMU

— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 27, 2024

God bless these people. They are angels on earth.