Kids Save Hundreds of
Dogs Against Odds

4th Graders in Dalhart, Texas start no-kill sanctuary, taking in more than 1,300 dogs in 19 months

By Claire Loebs Davis (updated 10/15/04)

Naysayers insisted it couldn't be done: There were just too many homeless dogs, they said, you can't save them all.

But against all odds, and with the help of a remarkable army of children, Diane Trull and her husband, Mark, are proving them wrong.

The Trulls are the founders of the Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary (DAWGS), an animal sanctuary in the Texas panhandle near the tiny town of Dalhart - population about 7,200.

Before DAWGS began about 19 months ago, Dalhart was euthanizing about 600 homeless dogs every year at the city pound. But DAWGS has changed all that, turning Dalhart into a no-kill town virtually overnight.

It all started with the disarming innocence of Diane Trull's fourth-grade reading classes.

Among the materials Diane asked her classes to read was the local newspaper, and within the local newspaper were pictures of some of the dogs at the pound awaiting adoption.

"What happens if the dogs aren't adopted?" asked some of the students in Diane's classes. She answered that they were destroyed.

"Why does that have to happen?" the students inquired. She had no good answer.

"Well, can't we do something about it?" Diane replied that yes, maybe they could try.

So began DAWGS, a no-kill rescue that takes in the unclaimed dogs from the city pound, as well as owner surrenders. Since it began in March 2003, the organization has taken in about 1,300 dogs, found homes for more than 900 of them, and is currently caring for over 300.

Diane and Mark admit that the scope of their project is far larger than they ever imagined, and that it has turned their lives upside down. They have not had a day off since they started, and frequently start work shortly after dawn and finish long after midnight.

"I had no clue what I was getting into. I've always loved animals, but until I got involved in this, I didn't know anything. I didn't know there were that many dogs at the pound, I had no idea they were putting down 600 dogs a year," Diane says.

But she and Mark also say that now they couldn't imagine their lives without DAWGS.

"The kids look at us for leadership every day, and the dogs depend on us for their lives. Once you step into it, you can't walk away. You just go 'Oh, my gosh' sometimes, but you can't walk away," she says.

DAWG battles odds with few resources
Everything DAWGS has accomplished has come against tremendous odds.

Most of the start-up costs for the venture came from the Trulls' personal money and credit cards. DAWGS still receives no government money, no grants, and only modest contributions.

"It's a daily struggle," admits Diane. "There are some days when we don't know how we are going to do it, and then it just falls into place, or we make do until we can get it done right."

The majority of the labor at the shelter comes from elementary school students - a dedicated core of Diane's original fourth-graders, as well a few dozen more children who participate sporadically.

Although they also have some dedicated young male volunteers, the Trulls describe their typical workers as cute 10-to-13-year-old girls, who cheerfully work long days in the heat, cold and mud, and casually tote around 50-pound bags of dog food.

The Trulls also have a couple of steady adult volunteers and receive a lot of assistance from their adult daughter, Katie. However, Mark says that most adults - including those there on court-ordered community service - find that the work is too hard, and don't return after the first day.

But the kids keep coming back without complaint.

"It's really a job," admits 12-year-old Molly Kruse in a solemn understatement. Molly works at the rescue nearly every day, sometimes for as long as 12 hours a day - feeding, watering, cleaning, and playing with and caring for the dogs.

Asked why she does all of this work rather than spending her time at easier pastimes, Molly's answer is simple: "I love dogs and I love animals, and I just want them to have lives just like we do."

Exposing best and worst of humanity
As the number of their canine charges steadily increases, the children fight both man and nature to care for them.

They face scorching, humid heat during the summer, bone-chilling temperatures and snow during the winter, and this spring, 18 days of severe thunderstorms that ripped apart large chunks of the sanctuary. When an epidemic of canine parvovirus hit the shelter, several children stayed up at all hours nursing puppies back to health.

"We are getting it done because of the kids," says Mark, a corporate recruiter who works from home. "I had five kids out there with me yesterday, and they were mud from head to toe, and they weren't whining, they weren't complaining."

"Most kids that age would rather be sitting at home watching TV, or doing something fun, but they are out there in the mud and the poop ... Day after day they show up, whether it is 110 degrees or a blizzard, they are out there," he says.

Until recently-increased security measures, the children had the added horror of arriving at the sanctuary several mornings only to find that people had snuck onto the property at night and killed some of their beloved dogs.

"I think that probably is the hardest thing for me," says Diane. "It isn't the hard work, it isn't dealing with these kids and all these dogs, it's dealing with that piece of humanity that is so horrible, and trying to explain to kids why people are like that, and that it isn't OK that they are like that, and please don't be like that (yourselves)."

But Diane says she also sees the other side of people. The Trulls have been assisted by rescues in Amarillo and Colorado, an area company now donates all their dog food, they receive great support from the local veterinarian and hardware store, and many people in their community contribute food and supplies.

"There are lots of wonderful people out there who truly get it and truly love animals," Diane says. "In June, we had 18 days of storms, a set of tornadoes that basically hovered over the shelter. They destroyed parts of the shelter, lifted the puppy kennels off the ground, and all the food got destroyed. But the next day, we had people showing up with carloads of food and blankets."

Every life counts
The Trulls concede that their facilities are makeshift and "somewhat embarrassing" when compared to more polished sanctuaries.

Their shelter is located on 2½ acres just outside of town, on abandoned land given to them by the city. Mark started the venture by building 12 dog runs, and says he has been pretty much building nonstop ever since.

"We don't have amenities, we don't have all the things most shelters have, we are out there just winging it," he says. "Sometimes we wonder what all of this would be like if we had the desire of our kids, and the resources to do it right."

But even with their scarce resources, the Trulls try to do things right. All of their dogs have shelter from the sun and the weather, and they try to pair them all for companionship and give them plenty of playtime and socialization.

Everybody gets vaccinated as soon as they come in, and spayed or neutered as soon as finances allow. With the help of a generous discount and running tab from their local veterinarians, Diane says they have altered about 75 percent of their adult dogs. Although the vets in their area do not perform pediatric spay/neuter, no dog is adopted from DAWGS without already having been altered, or, if the animal is too young, a substantial deposit pending spaying or neutering.

Realizing that the constant flow of dogs will not stop until the population is brought under control, Mark is also trying to convince the city to institute a modest spay/neuter program. And when people come in with puppies, the Trulls try hard to convince them to get the parents altered.

One of the primary tenets of DAWGS is that it doesn't just take in easily adoptable dogs. With the exception of a handful of vicious dogs and a couple who were too ill to be saved, the organization has taken every dog that has gone unclaimed at the city pound - mixed and pure, young and old, homely and lame, sick and injured.

The DAWGS mission statement says it all: "We strongly believe that every dog deserves the opportunity to live its life as part of a loving and caring family. All dogs are equal in our eyes, and each one has a special gift to give."

It is a mission that is fully embraced by DAWGS?s young volunteers.

Alix Allen, 11, explains why she is determined to stick with her work at the rescue. "I like doing it, and if there's no more help, there's no more rescue, and if there's no more rescue, then the dogs will just get killed. . .(and) the dogs don't deserve to die if there isn't anything wrong with them," she says.

Mentoring key part of DAWG mission
Although many of the original child founders have stuck with their commitment to DAWGS, Diane and Mark also encourage new classes of fourth graders to get involved. They say this is a vital age for children, and a good time to teach them about compassion and commitment.

"I worry that we are raising a generation of kids who think someone else will take care of (all the problems)," Mark says. "I think you have to give back to the community and it is pretty hypocritical to have a parent or a leader sitting on the couch with the television clicker preaching to kids about commitment and sacrifice."

Mark says they emphasize to the children the importance of having well-rounded lives, and insist that they keep up their grades, do their chores at home, and maintain outside interests beyond the rescue.

Diane says she feels a huge responsibility to lead the children by example.

"The kids are going to follow whoever steps into that role of leadership, so if you choose to step into it, you have a responsibility to make sure you teach the right things and set the right example, because it is going to stay with them," she says.

She says that frequently it is the kids who keep her going.

"Sometimes you come home in tears and ask, 'What are we going to do?' And then the next day is a better day, and you just keep going, because if you don't, what is going to happen to all those dogs, to all those kids?"

Dogs at DAWG Need Your Help
Although determined to persevere, come what may, the Trulls worry about how they will get their 350 dogs through the winter - last winter, they had only 100. They are in need of volunteers, donations, and supplies to help them build better facilities.

But at the top of Diane's wish list are good homes for her dogs.

"The thing I want more than anything is for people to adopt my dogs. They are wonderful dogs and they love kids, because they get lots of attention from kids," she says.

Although DAWGS draws adopters from all over the region, and takes its dogs to area rescues and for adoption days at PETsMART stores, its canine population remains on the increase as more people hear about them and bring them more dogs.

With more than 300 total dogs, DAWGS has dozens and dozens of puppies under five months old, and many purebreds, including Labrador Retrievers, Australian Shepherds and Border Collies - in addition to a large assortment of what Diane calls simply "Texas dogs."

Diane says the kids name each of the dogs and that they each have particular favorites - but there are a few sad cases for whom everybody has special love. She worries that some of these dogs will never find homes.

"We have a couple we will probably have for a lifetime, but they are loved all that more. People don't see the beauty of them, they walk right by, and the dogs try so hard, too," she says.

There is Nettie, a 1½-year-old pit bull mix who came into the shelter pregnant and starving.

"Everyone will tell us how ugly she is, but we think she is just a beautiful dog, and we just love her to death," Diane says.

Then there is Suzy Q, a two-year-old Australian Shepherd born with a deformed leg and rejected because she wasn't any good for breeding.

"Her owner just decided she wasn't worth her time, but she's great, she gets around just fine, and she is good with the other dogs," says Diane.

And one of the particular favorites is Shaggy, a 10-year-old Chow who came to the rescue with a serious injury that has left an ugly scar on his back.

"He was pitiful when he came in, but the kids took special care with him," Diane says. "I think he must believe his full name is 'Poor Shaggy.' We think he's precious, but he is old and he's got that big scar.

Everybody just walks by him, and you can see the kids thinking 'But what about Poor Shaggy?'"