By XAVIER SMERDON
A HOPPERS Crossing family is putting their life on hold to make sure that every one of man’s best friends get to live theirs to the fullest.
Kerrie Gebert and her 16-year-old daughter Kayla spend every spare minute rescuing dogs that would otherwise face certain death.
As the founders of Puppy Tales Rescue they have saved 301 dogs since they opened in April last year.
Many of the dogs come from illegal puppy farms, but even more come from people who simply no longer have the space or tolerance for an energetic furry friend.
Kerrie used to run her own business but put it on hold when Puppy Tales took off.
“We’ve just been inundated by calls and we are having to tell people that they just have to wait until we can find more foster carers,” Ms Gebert said.
“We had grand plans of travelling and things like that, but we had to put them all on hold.
“But it’s all worth it when you feel that satisfaction of watching a dog that came in miserable leave here happy and loved.”
One of the true success stories to come out of Puppy Tales is that of Ray.
The purebred Hungarian Puli would usually cost thousands of dollars but when Kerrie found him in January he was skinny, missing most of his curly hair, and was just “48 hours from dying”.
He is now back to perfect health and is simply waiting for someone to take him home.
“I don’t think many people understand how bad the situation is at the moment,” Kerrie said.
“They think that most rescue dogs are damaged and need a lot of work, but the majority of the ones that we find just need a little bit of help and love.”
Puppy Tales Rescue will be holding a foster carer information night on Thursday 19 September from 6.30pm at the Yerrambooee Community Centre.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/PuppyTalesRescue
