Interview with NRRO Humane Sociey Director

I asked Dave Pauli, Director of the Northern Rockies Regional Office (NRRO) of the Humane Society of the United States, to tell us a little about what is happening. Watch the blog in the next days and weeks to learn more about what's happening, the hope and dreams of the NRRO.

Here is some of Dave's response to my question: What animal successes are you most delighted with for the 2006 year at the NRRO?

"Hi Sandra... thanks for this opportunity. With four people covering 8 western states it is often difficult to take time to talk about the exciting work being done!!!! I just returned last night from a week in Idaho and Utah networking with folks on a variety of exciting issues....but will take a few moments this beautiful cold Montana morning to answer your questions.
1. What are some of the successes from HSUS NRRO that you are most delighted with (from last year)?
A good and difficult question... which I will answer in several ways. The NRRO is a regional office that tries to a) be a niche filler that brings truly needed resources to people needing them while b) providing long term help to the larger populations of animals while c) still being there for cruelty or rescue missions for individual animals that need help in any emergency or disaster. IT is truly tough to pick the best examples as each of the hundreds of requested interventions every year are special in their own ways. But for 2006 I think:

My favorite 2006 niche filling project was an expanded " Habitat for Hounds" pilot project where we went to the Ute Mountain Ute native nation in Colorado and supplemented our annual Rural Area Veterinary Services Spay Clinic with a host of pre-event through post-event services. The NRRO Colorado State Coordinator Colin Berry started by arranging a series of "Certified Rez Dog" adoption convoys where she networked with locals and they drove adoptable healthy rez dogs from the extreme Southern Colorado reservation to the Denver Metro area to help "rehome" some of these quality hardy and intelligent rez dogs before the event. Our team then attended the multi-day HSUS spay clinic but concentrated our efforts going door to door in the tribal housing areas giving vaccinations, puppy wormings, and front porch humane education. We also distributed free dog houses and built custom coated cable runners to give people wishing to protect their family pets a way to humanely tether a dog so that it could go from their back porch to other shaded or protected areas. This also helped to get one more dog restricted from joining the free roaming groups of loose dogs. We also accepted and brought home another dozen and a half other puppies or special case dogs for rehoming in CO, WY or MT. This Habitat for Hounds project greatly increased the community impact of a standard HSUS spay clinic because we were able to identify and transport some of the truly needed and targeted dogs into the clinic for surgeries, while bringing humane education, puppy wormings, general first aid and improved shelter to dozens of dogs that would not have been presented to the temporary veterinary clinic."

Check in later, to read more of Dave's reply.