Love is in the Air

By Nancy Schuessler

What happens when a litter of newborn puppies are in urgent need of rescue? If you are Tim Mouser, a SOLR volunteer, you “put on your Superman suit” and jump into action. That’s what happened last February when Southwest Oasis Labrador Rescue (SOLR) received an urgent call about an “accidental” litter of Labrador puppies.

The puppies were only five-weeks-old – too young to leave their mother and not old enough to be fully vaccinated. But the owner was desperate. Her purebred Labrador had gotten pregnant and given birth to 13 puppies. Sadly, one had died. Two were promised to family members; but the remaining ten were in danger of being abandoned to a shelter.

So Tim jumped in his car and drove forty-five minutes to Casa Grande, where the owner lived. “You cannot let five-week-old puppies go to a shelter,” says Tim. “It’s not healthy for them. You just have to go get them and work out the details afterwards.”

Last June, Tim retired from 22 years of owning several pizza shops throughout the state. He lives with his wife in Chandler and is an experienced volunteer who has handled many emergencies. (In fact, SOLR rescued three “accidental” litters during the month of February alone!) Several foster volunteers quickly raised their hands to help – Lulu Musel, Jessica Bivens, Maren Pellant, and Shelly Dougherty. Each took two puppies, along with Tim.

The next step? All ten puppies were given a complete veterinary exam, including microchips and vaccinations, which is standard practice for all rescues we take in. “You can imagine the fun everyone had when a wagon-load of soft, squiggly, newborn puppies arrived,” says Tim. “’Clean up on aisle two’ happened almost immediately!”

Afterwards, they were loaded into Tim’s blue wagon and placed with their new foster families. As part of our agreement, we also promised to get the purebred Labrador mother spayed.

“As a rescue, you have to be flexible,” says Tim. “We have a great group of people who just say ‘Go get them and we’ll find fosters.’” According to Tim, a successful rescue must react quickly, and to do that, you need to know you have people who will step up in an emergency. It’s what an experienced rescue like ours is trained to do.

On a beautiful March morning, all ten puppies were brought together for a “Puppy Pop-Up” at Tim's home in Chandler.

A “Puppy-Pop Up” is a special adoption event, in which puppy-approved adopters can meet several puppies at one gathering. It’s a wonderful day where everyone has fun. The event is coordinated by Stacy LaFrance, a dedicated SOLR volunteer and board member.

There were six girls and four boys – playful nine-week-olds ready to conquer the world. Each got adopted by a loving family under a special program that allows puppies to go to its new family while awaiting spay/neuter. (At nine-weeks, they were not yet old enough for spay/neuters.) Once the spay/neuter is complete, the adoption becomes final.

Shades of Grey

He was a good Samaritan who wanted to save five purebred puppies from a bad situation, but he needed our help.

Don't miss our upcoming story about the "Shades of Grey" puppies -- and the man who helped save them.

More Social Media Stories!

It's not just Instagram that gets the word out about our dogs.

Our social media team works hard AND they love what they do. With a dash of creativity, a pinch of humor, a little wit, and lots of hard work, they've helped thousands of homeless Labradors!

Here's a big THANK YOU to all our social media volunteers: Michele Pleasants, Colleen O'Hara, Rhonda Burcham, Amy Woerner and Cherish Martinez. More stories about what they do and who they are will be coming soon.

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