Kela

GRRSN parent writes to our local Heidi Harris (radio personality), after airing a show about back yard breeders and homeless pets in Las Vegas. One of her listeners, Jim, was so inspired by her show that he sent this letter to Heidi Harris.
I wanted to share it all with you as it demonstrates their 110% commitment to Kela, their adopted Golden.

While listening to your show this morning, I wanted to call in with our story, but I will not use a cell phone on the freeway (safety, not the new law).

I’d like to share our story with you about our beloved Kela. I’m certain that she was a puppy mill dog. Her original owner kept her chained to a sliding glass door in the house (we know this because he posted pictures on Craig’s List). At seven months old, somehow she managed to escape. Lied Animal Foundation picked her up, and by their policy, she was immediately spayed. When the owner showed up and was informed of this, he told them to keep her. He didn’t want her. Obviously, he wanted a brood mare — one of these back yard breeders that you quite appropriately slammed on your show. Fortunately for us, someone from the Animal Foundation called Golden Retriever Rescue Southern Nevada. They immediately came and got her and took her to their vet. Our name had just come up to the top of their list, so they called us. (This is several weeks after the extensive interview and house inspection). We rushed over to the vet’s office, and immediately fell in love with this undernourished puppy that GRRSN had named Tina. We preferred a Hawaiian name, so we came up with Kela (pronounced Kayla) which in Hawaiian means to excel. She has lived up to her name. She is a fantastic dog that we love very much. When we brought her home, she just went wild with her new found freedom to run in our large yard. The story doesn’t end there. About a month after we got her, she was being a silly puppy and running around the yard at full speed. She hadn’t learned how to stop yet, and 45 lbs of dog slammed into the side of my wife’s knee, tearing the meniscus and the ACL. After a night in ER, two months in a wheelchair and four months of therapy, she was able to return to hula dancing. What irritated us about it was friends and family kept asking if we got rid of the dog after that. Not a chance — it was an accident, and Kela needed a good home, which we have given her. 2 1/2 years later, we still consider ourselves fortunate to have such a loving dog. Kela is an important part of our family. You have my permission to share this story on the air if you like. We can’t give enough praise to GRRSN. They have found great homes for Golden Retrievers all over this Valley. I hope you can one day feature them on your show. Check out their web site at www.grrsn.org and the blog at www.grrsnblog.org.

Story by: Jim Cannell