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Shades of Grey
By Nancy Schuessler
The man who called our rescue had an unusual request. If he purchased a litter of five purebred puppies, would we be able to find them good homes? The puppies were being sold by an inexperienced breeder, and the man was worried. He had seen where the puppies were housed and it was not good.
Jason Sommers and his wife, Kristina, have been saving dogs for several years. They usually save shelter dogs that are running out of time and about to be euthanized if not adopted. They often adopt the dogs themselves or foster and rehome them. “But you can only do so much,” says Jason.
After one of their beloved shelter dogs passed away after 15 years, they learned about some Labrador puppies for sale and decided to take a look. “As soon as I saw the trailer where the breeder lived, I knew I was taking all the dogs,” says Jason. “It was not a good situation.”
The breeder was asking $1,000 per puppy – less if Jason was willing to forego AKC papers. Jason wanted all five puppies to be safe, so he told the breeder he had a buddy who was also interested. Between the two of them, he said, they’d buy them all. “My buddy can take three, and we’ll take two.” They settled on $500 per puppy.
Once they got home, Jason and Kristina started looking for a well-respected rescue that could help rehome the dogs. They settled on Southwest Oasis Labrador Rescue.
What impressed them were the reviews. “We liked the fact that there were people who complained about SOLR being too hard to adopt from because their requirements were too stringent. It gave us confidence in SOLR’s judgement. We knew all the pups would go to great homes.”
So they joined SOLR and fostered two of the pups – Molly 12 and Stormy 2.
Sam Richter and Riky Ringer, who've already fostered 31 dogs for SOLR, took on the other three. In late March, a special adoption event was held at the Sommers' home, where all five pups met with puppy-approved adopters.
Jason and Kristina say that their experience with SOLR has renewed their faith in rescue work. “Just knowing there are still good people out there who are trying to do the right thing is refreshing. It’s brought new life to us.”
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