Rescue runners getting dogs out and adopted

An El Paso animal shelter is running a unique program to get dogs out of cages, into the community, and hopefully adopted.

The Animal Rescue League has been expanding a program it started just a year ago, called the Rescue Runners.

“Anyone who’s even been to a shelter will tell you that it’s heartbreaking just to walk down the rows and see the dogs jumping at the cages,” said Ileene Pina, volunteer coordinator. “They just want to get out and play.”

Run by shelter volunteers, the Rescue Runners started out as an occasional thing, but has now become a regular event.

“What it really does is it mellows them out,” said Erron Reid, owner of Dogon’ Wild Training Center and a shelter volunteer, “and it kind of teaches them what to expect from people. Because when they’re stuck in the cages for a long time, what will happen is they just expect to get fed by people. And if they get that time with people, they start to understand that we can depend on them to take us for walks and do things that are fun.”

It’s an opportunity for the runners and the dogs to get out, get some exercise, and hopefully get the dogs adopted.

“We get adopters into the shelter that are coming specifically for a running companion,” Pina said. “A dog that can be active with them in an active lifestyle. And so when we tell them ‘Oh yeah, this dog is also a member of the Rescue Runners crew, and they know how to run on a leash and can do 4, 5 miles a day,’ they’re like ‘Oh wow, OK, yes, I’ll take that dog.’ It really seals the deal for them.”

And by also getting out into the community, it lets people see these dogs out of their cages. It’s been a success for the Animal Rescue League, with over 100 dogs adopted because of the program over the last year.

If you want to know more about the program, how you can help or to adopt, you can visit the Animal Rescue League’s website at http://www.arlep.org/.