Bluff community looks for places to provide foster care to animals

by Dudley Beck
Bluff Animal Rescue Committee (BARC) President
Karen Walker was headed home from an evening walk past the old swimming hole when she noticed a dog high up on the bluff above Locomotive Rock.
When she saw the same dog at the same spot the next day, she called me. I was on my way to Monument Valley (that story to follow). While I was gone, Karen and Peter drove up past the electrical station up near the gravel yard at the top of Cow Canyon.
They walked a mile or so west along the bluff until they saw the dog. Food and water enticed the dog to follow them back to their truck. After 3.5 weeks, that sweet dog is still in foster care in their house thanks to Karen and Peter.
They are still evaluating the fit with their four dogs and two cats. And then there were eight. This story begins when I received a call from Amy Duckmiller of Monument Valley advising me of a pregnant dog hanging out at the Welcome Center.
I met Amy there at 11 a.m. where we located the mom dog lying in the shade. With the usual offer of food and water, Amy was able to get a collar and leash on the dog.
She was lured into a carrier with more food and then transported to Dusty Paws where she planned to spend one day and night prior to transport the next day to foster care arranged in La Sal.
I checked on her the next day at 7 a.m. She had crawled back into the open carrier and had whelped five puppies. By the time of transport, she had eight. Wow! That was quick.
Can you imagine what would have happened to the puppies if I had arrived one day later after she whelped outside the Welcome Center with other stray dogs lurking about?
There have been 15 other strays this month near Bluff now in foster care – one at Four Corners Regional Health Care center, one at the Red Mesa Chapter, two more in Monument Valley, three more near Red Mesa, and eight at White Mesa.
BARC has administered 13 vaccinations this month and arranged for one cat neuter. To support all these fosters, BARC has traveled 825 miles to deliver 1,522 pounds of dog food. At the time of this writing, there is a stray that has been wandering around Bluff for two weeks. The Bluff community still needs places to provide foster care.
Let us be clear. A place to foster (a fenced location) is not the same as providing foster care which includes feeding, water, vaccinations, cleanup, and arranging for spay or neuter, all of which BARC will provide if someone will provide a foster location.
In lieu of a foster location, the Town of Bluff Council will need to provide an alternative for this stray and the ones to follow. That won’t happen until they get this issue on their agenda. Special thanks is due to all these fosters.