In October, National Mill Dog Rescue held its third “Ruff Life Open House” at its Falcon-area kennel and raised almost $9,000 to care for dogs rescued from puppy mills.Kim Lehman, NMDR’s volunteer coordinator, said 250 visitors attended the event, and many individuals and more than 30 businesses donated items for the nonprofit’s main fundraiser – the silent auction.Curves, Furry Friends, Smudge Dog and Car Wash, Cool K-9s Dog Training, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide, Colo., and the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad were among the businesses that donated.Tracy duCharme, Black Forest resident and owner of the Color Me Mine shop in Briargate, donated a ceramic pet dish and a gift certificate to visit her studio to paint the dish.”My son and I have spent time with the dogs at NMDR, and we are grateful for the work the folks do there,” duCharme said.The event also resulted in seven dogs finding foster homes and nine dogs adopted, Lehman said. Two Lhasa Apsos, Empress and Apollo, once shared the same kennel, but are now sharing their first “forever home.”Diamond, a young blue-eyed border collie, was adopted, too. She was rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri a few months ago and was so sick when she arrived at NMDR’s kennel, she could barely lift her head. A veterinarian saw her the day she arrived and diagnosed her as having every type of worm possible, said Theresa Strader, NMDR’s founder. Today, Diamond is an irrepressible, rambunctious puppy that wants to play all the time.According to its Web site, NMDR has rescued 3,828 dogs from puppy mills, mostly in Missouri, but also in Colorado, since Strader and a small group of volunteers started the organization in 2007.Not all of the rescued dogs make it to a “forever home.” NMDR’s kennel mascot, Chance, succumbed to cancer of the bladder a few days after the open house.In June, the dog who would be named Chance, wandered onto a local woman’s property. She called NMDR, and when an NMDR volunteer arrived at the woman’s house, she was shocked by the dog’s condition.His fur was so badly matted; it was like a coat of armor all over his body. He was thin, limping and extremely weak, Strader said.Groomers shaved his body, revealing a large burn across his belly where, for a long time, his matted fur had trapped urine.A lifetime of neglect left Chance with many medical issues, and his recovery was slow.Eventually, Chance was strong enough to leave the isolation area and become the “King of the Kennel,” where he freely roamed and continuously received hugs and homemade treats from the organization’s many volunteers.”We were the lucky ones, given the gift of this wonderful dog,” Strader said.
