SEBASTIAN — When Jacque Petrone, founder of H.A.L.O. Rescue in Sebastian, received a phone call last month about a stray, pregnant dog in Palm Bay, she was prepared to foster the dog and her litter-to-be and see them through adoption. Little did she know, her new litter of 12 would become the first in an onslaught of puppy litters that H.A.L.O. Rescue would save in the coming four weeks.
Petrone said on average the organization would take in approximately three pregnant dogs, per year. In less than 30 days, H.A.L.O. has swooped in to rescue five pregnant dogs who would eventually give birth to a total of 41 puppies.
“We have 30 to 40 foster homes right now, and every single one of them is full of either kittens or puppies,” Petrone said.
Though Petrone was able to step up and take on the first litter, she had to reach out to volunteers and approved pet fosters to take on the following four that would trickle in.
The second litter, given birth by a pitbull mix named Diamond on April 19, was taken on by a H.A.L.O. Volunteer who texted Petrone after the five puppies were born.
“She texted me, ‘It was so much work than I expected, but it was worth every minute of it,’” Petrone said.
Another animal lover in the county caught word of a pregnant hound dog in North Carolina who was scheduled to be euthanized.
“She asked me if we would help with the dog if she drove up to North Carolina to get it. Of course we said yes,” Petrone said.
And on May 19, Alluna the hound gave birth to 11 puppies, litter number three.
Litter number four was born in a scrap yard in Vero Beach, by a mother dog who had been dumped on the property. H.A.L.O. found out about the mom and her nine pups, in just enough time to save their lives, but it would prove to be a challenge.
“We had to get a fork lift to get the car they were hiding under,” Petrone said. Each of the puppies were hiding in spots just out of reach of their rescuers and they were all terrified, Petrone said.
The mother dog, now named Annie, was possibly the most scared of the bunch.
“I had to chase her down for a while,” Petrone said. “She went into an open field, and I was scared she was going to get away from me. She went to dart, and I screamed out ‘No! Stop!'”
Petrone said the sound of her voice yelling at the dog frightened the dog so much, it rolled over into a submissive position, and Petrone was able to walk up to it. The reaction led Petrone to believe the dog came from an abusive background.
Petrone said she approached the dog, but she was too afraid to move, and had to be carried out of the field.
Lastly, H.A.L.O. was called to take in a Jack Russell and her puppies abandoned in West Palm Beach, a litter of four bringing the puppy total to 41
From her experience over the last month, Petrone said several lessons can be relayed, starting with educating the public on spay and neuter options.
H.A.L.O. provides low-cost vouchers that provide the spay and neuter service at $30 per cat and $50 per dog.
Though the puppies are cute and Petrone and her volunteer fosters are happy to help them, it all comes at a cost.
“The drain it takes on the shelter and on the animals is huge,” Petrone said.
Secondly, alerting the shelter as soon as a stray dog is discovered is essential in giving the animals the best chance of survival.
Prior to the scrap yard rescue, Annie had been eating birds and sustaining her nine babies off of her own milk at great physical cost to herself.
“She did such a good job as a mom,” Petrone said. Additionally, the dog and her puppies were full of fleas and plagued with worms, a condition they would not have had to endure if H.A.L.O. had been alerted to the situation earlier.
Finally, spreading the word about adoption is key. Now, all of the puppies are thriving in loving and caring homes.
According to Petrone, the puppies are on track to becoming ideal family pets.
“But don’t forget about the moms,” Petrone said. “Sometimes we have the moms adopted with one of her puppies, and that’s really great when that happens.”
As for Petrone and her 12 Rhodesian Ridgeback-Boxer mix puppies – now well-known on Facebook as the “Dirty Dozen” – she is happy to announce that eight are already spoken for. Four more still need to be matched up with permanent homes.
The goal, Petrone said, for all of the litters is to find safe and caring homes before having to process them through the shelter. Moving from foster care straight to the adopter is easier on the animal’s physical and emotional health, and is lighter on the shelter’s resources.
To find out more about the puppies or other animals up for adoption, contact H.A.L.O. Rescue at (772) 589-7297, or visit them at 710 Jackson St., in Sebastian.