Over the last four years, we as a nation, a community, and as people have experienced a lot of change. With those changes have come many heartbreaks, challenges, extreme difficulty, and hope for the future. Unfortunately, our DAWGS family has not been immune to these changes. We have lost dear friends including my husband and co-founder Mark, been faced with zero volunteers (due to Covid restrictions), a significant loss in donations (again, due to Covid), a tremendous increase in animal surrenders, and most recently a terrible health set-back requiring surgery and an unknown road to recovery for myself. As we have always done for the last twenty years, we have put the animals in our care first. We have continued to work diligently to save the lives of at-risk animals in our area, this has been possible largely because of the generosity of our supporters, and their tenacious refusal to give up on those in need. We are eternally grateful.
With all of that said, DAWGS is going to follow those winds of change, with the hope of making a broader difference. What does that mean? Well, due to my health we will be closing the physical shelter. Every animal currently in our care, will be placed with a rescue, a foster home, or a forever home, all of which have been or will be vetted to the standard we have always held our transport partners. We will continue working on the problem of animal homelessness, by facilitating low-cost spay and neuter clinics, focusing on rural areas throughout the state of Texas and our surrounding communities. We will also continue to help facilitate transports from high- kill shelters to areas of the country that have a need for animals, and the ability to get them into amazing forever homes. Our goal has always been to make a difference in the lives of animals and children. With that ideal in mind, we have saved the lives of over 27,000 animals, and we aren’t stopping there.
Please know that this journey isn’t over, and that this choice has been painstaking and well thought out. We aren’t giving up, and we know that all of you will not either. In that vein we are working on a campaign that will ensure the placement of the remaining babies in our brick-and-mortar care. Our campaign will be called “Super Size Me”. We have an almost equal amount of adults to puppy ratio. Our plan is to transport each puppy with an incredible adult “chaperone” to our partners across the US.
Thank you for all of your love and support over the last twenty years. We have shared so much in this effort to make a difference, and we are so thankful for every step. We are leaning into change, as difficult as that is, with the hope of doing more for animals in need.
Sincerely,
Diane Trull
Co-Founder/Owner
Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary