Rescuing Cleo and Mitzie from Homestead-A new life of love and trust

by Brenda Collins on Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 5:49pm ·
Chapter 2-Cleo and Mitzie-Motherhood beyond even the human level-

After battling with the authorities and their rules I made a deep serious decision. I decided to keep going back to the pound no matter what and the next trip to Animal Services I rescued 4 more which was the limit I was allowed. I recall on one of these trips there and it was Christmas Eve.  I had just returned from Orlando where I crewed the UPW Tony Robbins weekend event. The tools that I had learned from Tony over the past year had kept me focused deeply on my mission to save these animals. 

I knew that they would be closed Christmas Day so I wanted to get as many as I could out so they did not have to continue to be so frightened on this special day. 
I asked one of the workers as I was getting all of the paperwork together for the 5 that I was taking from there, a question.  “They do not kill all of these guys tomorrow, do they?” “It is Christmas day, God’s day right?”
The answer I received floored me and I thought I knew it all! “Yes, he replied and they actually bring in extra euthanasia technicians to do this.” I found the manager and asked if I could come and spend Christmas day there as a volunteer and at least in my mind, I could give some of them their last touch of love before they were killed. The answer was absolutely “No”. I had not gone thru the orientation class that was required.  I begged them and said with tears in my eyes, that I would not get in anyone's way and I would not tell anyone. The hard cold answer was still "No." Anger and frustration again filled me. This is so unjust and so horrific for these helpless animals. They do not deserve to be treated like this because of ridiculous “rules’.

As I drove away that night, I then made a daring commitment and transformation to follow my true destiny or my true purpose in life and that is to rescue as many as I possibly can handle.
A dear friend who knew the mission that I had begun came by and brought to me a beautiful but very sick 1 year old Scottish Terrier with 8 new pups only a week old. He had found them way down south Homestead area in the fields.
He was told by an old farmer that she was scheduled to be picked up by the Animal Services later that day. She had been tied to a rundown trailer down south Homestead area and someone had reported them to the authorities. She would have been immediately put to death at Miami Dade Animal Services along with her babies. Shockingly; yes they kill the puppies there too!!
We carried the extremely weak mother who could not even stand up along with her puppies into my home. I already had 7 sick rescue dogs waiting to be healed and adopted. Even though she could not even walk from severe malnutrition, she was determined to stay with her puppies. She was using all of her strength and the little bit of life left in her to her puppies.

She had become extremely ill later that night and all I could do was to just hold her and sooth her. It was around 2:00 a.m. so it was too late to even try to get her to a vet. After taking her and the pups into my bedroom, an hour later she died in my arms with her babies trying to nurse. I cried for hours for this little soul that would not leave her babies no matter what.

Now here is the dilemma I soon was faced with; the puppies could not even suck a baby bottle with the special nipple and formula I purchased the next morning. Another friend of mine who was studying to become a veterinarian said we need to find another female that possibly had given birth recently and see if we can get her to accept these little ones. I said "Where in the world are we going to get another mother with milk in her?" He replied "Are you kidding? They are everywhere down in the fields in Homestead."
He left to go down south and seek out a new mother which was not difficult for he came back 2 hours later with a medium sized female that I named Cleo. She also had 4 newborns. She did seem to have a lot of milk so we prayed she would help us with the other babies. Surprisingly, Cleo would let them all nurse her as long

A few days later, he found another mother that horrible family that had chained her up also and she had 4 new puppies. She was also in a malnutrition stage-all bones and he called me and told me he needed to get her but that they wanted $60.00 for her and the 4 puppies. I told him absolutely yes. I would give him the money. I was so deliorously happy to have a chance to be able to save the other pups along with this new young mother and pups if Cleo did not have enough milk for them all. When the new mother arrived, she was so frightened and so full of ticks and fleas. I had to communicate with the frightened mother as Cesar Millan would have and to give her a bath to eliminate the fleas and ticks. I was so amazed as to the pain and severe suffering these mother's would go thru on a daily basis. Not very much food even for her, living out in the cold and wet areas and still only focused on the survival of their babies. At first the new mother wanted to kill me. I had to wrap a large towel around her face so I did not get bit. I had already put on a bathing suit and after a few minutes with the two of us in my shower, and fully soaped up with strong flea and tick shampoo, she fully relaxed and completely trusted me. I do have to admit that I had to use a ton of Tony's reframing techniques while hundreds of ticks and flea were dropping off around my feet.  I truly believe that if we had not gotten this sweet mom out of there with her puppies, they would have all been devoured by the mass of blood sucking ticks.
After the bath, she let me gently add one at a time of the orphaned puppies to her and they started to nurse. I named her Mitzie and she began her new life of love and trust. 


Note Chapter 1 from Brenda Collins Facebook page-


We are their Voice! The "Holocaust" of our dogs..Very few know the truth-

and the Truth will set them free!
19 hours ago
Chapter 1-The beginning of Diana Peters dog rescue organization; Death 

 Row Dog Rescue(narrated by Brenda Collins)


Fact or Fiction - YOU DECIDE !!!