"Texas 72" Rescue Update and Fundraiser
11/19/2014

The Irish Wolfhound Club of America and the Irish Wolfhound Foundation have been faced with a monumental task dealing with this unprecedented rescue of over 70 Wolfhounds. The South Central Irish Wolfhound Club and all their hard working rescue folks took possession of the “Texas 72” in late September through the Houston SPCA. We thank the SPCA for trusting us with the care and placement of these hounds. What better way than letting people experienced with this breed facilitate this huge rescue, the magnitude of which we hope never to see again.

The South Central Club, as the local representatives of the IWCA, where involved right from the beginning, even working in the SPCA kennel while awaiting the legal process to conclude. Remember they were dealing with 72 hounds, most of which had never been handled. While at the Houston SPCA hounds were vaccinated, wormed, and heartworm tested with over 20 testing positive. The overall condition of the hounds was poor; they were heavily matted and seriously underweight. Most of them had to be shaved down in order to check for skin issues and simply free them from the matting. Once released, hounds where then moved in small groups to Colorado, New Mexico, & Texas, leaving 33 to be eventually moved to a private boarding facility in Houston. We were able to move 10 hounds from the boarding facility to Virginia in mid-October.
As of today we can report that all of the hounds are now in permanent homes or in foster homes. Going forward we will still need monetary support to help get these hounds placed in their forever homes. Many to date are still recovering from upper respiratory issues, some are being treated for heart worms, and all are improving from their overall poor condition. Again, many have been placed, but many more are still in foster homes while recovering and awaiting spay/neuter.

Donations already received have been impressive; to date the Foundation has received over $45,000.00, thank you to all that have donated! With that said, most of that funding has been distributed for the first phase of this rescue, including transport, boarding, and medical cost. All of this costs money and the bottom line is we need more donations. At this time we estimate needing an additional amount almost equal to what we have already received in donations, i.e. about $45,000.00 more. It is staggering but a true realization. We are receiving reimbursement requests from many of the IW rescue groups’ and individuals nationwide on a weekly basis, this could continue for months.
A bright spot in all of this is the generosity of our community; the Foundation has been approached by an anonymous breed fancier that has proposed a fundraising challenge to help us raise the money needed. Starting immediately all donations designated by a donor for the “Texas 72” will be matched dollar for dollar up to a total of $5,000.00. This wonderful offer could net a total of $10,000.00, a great start in achieving our goal in raising the funds needed going forward.

With this challenge we encourage anyone to donate an amount that you feel comfortable with, no amount is too small, and all donations sent to the Foundation are tax deductible. Donations can be sent to the IWF Treasurer, David Milne, 150 Creek Road, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 or by visiting the IWF web site www.iwfoundation.org/ and click on the red Donate tab located on the right hand side of your screen, remember to designate your donation to the “Texas 72”.

We thank you in advance for your consideration; we desperately need your help.

Sincerely,
Doug Marx – President, Irish Wolfhound Foundation
Patricia Cobb – President, Irish Wolfhound Club of America
Jean Minnier – IWF & IWCA Rescue Coordinator