Animal House's Dash for Dogs Helping Save Animals

Lady Bug was beaten, starved and used for bait in dogfights. Her body was so infested with hookworms that her red blood cell count was almost non-existent. She was at the top of the list to be euthanatized at the shelter down south.

“It’s the worst case of abuse and neglect I’ve seen,” Animal House Shelter founder Lesley Irwin said.

Animal House saved Lady Bug and has nursed her back to health. But the vet tells Irwin, who is fostering Lady Bug, that the pitbull mix may have only six months to live due to a severe kidney infection.

“That’s what kills me,” Irwin said, tearing up and looking away as she sat in the lobby of the shelter recently. “She may only have six months to know human compassion.”

“To me, it’s unacceptable for any living thing to never know any love or compassion,” Irwin said. “It’s just disturbing to me.”

Animal House Shelter has struggled to continue rescuing animals, like Lady Bug, while donations and adoptions have gone down in recent years, Irwin said. To date, the shelter has rescued 16,000 animals, she said.

Which makes fundraisers like this weekend’s Dash for Dogs all the more important.

Animal House is hosting its first annual 5k run/walk and family fun day Sunday, June 5 at Citizens Park, 511 Lake Zurich Road, Barrington.

A safe place

Irwin gets 300 e-mails a day about abused and neglected animals that need to be saved. Animal House shelter, in its seventh year at its Huntley location, rescues 30 to 40 animals a week from all over the country.

“We are always at capacity,” she said.

Every Tuesday, volunteers drop off animals being rescued from shelters where they would have been put down. The animals come from everywhere, particularly downstate. “There are so many (animals) being euthanized like crazy in southern Illinois,” she said. “We have two to five days before they are put down.”

“It’s a mad dash to get them healthy when they come to us,” she said, adding each animal gets a complete check up, a bath and as much food as they want. The animals often have underlying medical conditions as a result of abuse or neglect, like heartworms and fleas, that must be treated, she said.

“When they come to us, they are a mess,” she said.

The animals get vaccinated and quarantined for two weeks then get micro chipped and spayed or neutered, Irwin said.

From the moment they arrive, the animals get lots of love, attention and socialization, she said. This gives adoption counselors the opportunity to determine the best family for the animal, she said.

Families who come in must meet with the counselor who will match them up to a pet, she said.

Marcus Bunda is a counselor. He is working with Lady Bug’s son, Beetle, in socializing him. Beetle, like his mom, was used in dog fighting.

“He’s had no human socialization, (just) neglect,” Irwin said. “We are trying to teach him about hugs.” Animals will shut down emotional when abused or neglected, she said.

But watching an animal transition from a scared dog to a friendly, family dog makes the staff feel they are making an impact, she said.

Bunda said Beetle is starting to warm up and will be a loving dog and good with children. For Bunda, it’s hard to see animals suffering like Lady Bug and Beetle.

“It’s hard but it is also a relief to have them here because they are safe here,” he said.

Finding a home

Adoptions took a big hit during the economic downturn, dropping by half from about 300 a month, Irwin said.

Donations also dropped while Animal House tried taking care of the animals arriving on its front door, as families who were left unemployed could not longer afford to take care of their pets.  Last year was the most difficult, she said.

“We did the best we could,” Irwin said. “We got our foster homes stocked up. We have a good network. We all kind of hung in there and things turned around.”

Lately, things have been bouncing back a bit. Adoptions are up by about 75 percent, she said. Animal House did a lot of promotions, like discounting adoptions, and fundraisers.

“We knew it was hard (for people to give donations),” she said. “It was amazing how many people stepped up. We saw a really amazing outpouring of compassion from the public.”

Irwin and her staff hope the public supports its weekend fundraiser, Dash for the Dogs.

The day begins with the 5k run check in at 8 a.m. The cost to register is $25 for preregistration and $30 the day of the race. The race starts at 9am followed by the rest of the day’s events.

Irwin and her staff expect about 300 people to participate in Dash for the Dogs.  The fundraiser is an all day event with pet vendors, children’s’ games, activities and food.

The Dog House of Barrington is co-sponsoring the family fun day and is supplying volunteers. Animal House started out in Barrington and has close ties to the community there.

The 5k race has been a longtime goal for Irwin. Animal House has been busy doing many fundraisers and the staff constantly thinking of new, fun ways to raise funds, she said.

“We are 100 percent privately funded so we need community help to keep the place running,” she said.