Puppies saved by MOMS rescue from hunters shooting unwanted animals in the woods of Georgia.
If I come back as an animal in my next life (and given my behavior, I’m pretty sure that’s a given) I hope I end up somewhere near the blueberry fields of New Jersey and Karen Talbot LaSasso. Because the founder of M.O.M.S. Animal Rescue is one ferociously impassioned protector of animals, and I reckon I just might need that.
You can teach an old dog new love.
Where would our world be without moms like Karen, who took a simple school project and turned it into a statewide cause, a puppy caravan of 1000 miles, a nonprofit, a documentary film, and new life for hundreds of helpless animals?
Working hand in paw...
It all started in October 2008, with “Paws for a Cause” at St. Joseph Elementary School in Hammonton, New Jersey when instead of another coat drive, Karen decided to help the children rescue animals from very high-kill shelters in Georgia. Horrified at the million dogs and cats that were being cruelly executed in Georgia each year, Karen organized the 3-month “Paws” project to raise awareness and money for the transport of more than 100 dogs and cats, meet the rescued pets in the early hours of the morning when they arrived in New Jersey, and foster them until permanent homes could be found.
Small victories
But Karen and her animal-loving kids couldn’t stop with “Paws.” Through the spring, the children kept working with local shelters to bring animals up for adoption and raised money to send 700 pounds of dog and cat chow to Georgia shelters that were killing animals for lack of food. And then the big idea came: Making of Miracle Stories (M.O.M.S) was founded in May 2009, and work on the Georgia Puppy Caravan road trip began.
Off to Georgia!
On August 19, 2009 over 100 cars, Animal Rescue Flights, 7 private planes, 22 tons of dog food, a documentary crew, and a boxcar truck filled with donations pulled out of New Jersey and headed to Summerville, Georgia for “Empty Out a Georgia Shelter Day.” And that’s exactly what the kids and moms did in this small town on the northwest border of Georgia and Alabama where “Deliverance” was partly filmed.
An empty shelter & 140 saved animals!
They took 140 cats and dogs that were hours from execution, carried them to safety, and with the help of animal rescue operations from all over the country, set them up with veterinary care and in quarantine until they were well enough to travel north to be adopted in permanent homes. 16 of the animals were so sick they died, but as Karen says proudly, “They died in someone’s loving arms, not on a cement slab, and they were surrounded by love.” And MOMS left not one animal behind.
Hit by a car and left for dead, Molly is now mended, adopted & happy.
But Karen LaSasso is hardly done yet. As long as animals are suffering, and children can feel compassion, Karen LaSasso is going to be out there helping children to experience the power of being a voice for the voiceless.
A foster pup from Summerville who got too loved to leave.
“Once a child saves an animal’s life and holds it in his or her arms, that child is forever changed,” she says. “I want every child to experience that.”
Frankly, I wouldn’t put it past her. The documentary premieres August 19 in Philadelphia, and you can donate to M.O.M.S Animal Rescue by calling 609-665-1224, or email Karen at themomsrescue@yahoo.com.
What Gives 
What an amazing story…it inspires me that an every day person can make something like this a reality.
The wonder of the human heart is now just being realized. The human heart center, we will some day find out, is more powerful than any technology.
Solutions of the heart are out there for ways to reclaim the balance and harmony that is possible in this world of ours.
Children like these are the way-showers of future solutions.
Thank you children for opening your hearts so that your hearts can help open you to a more beautiful future for all living beings on this home we call Earth.
The Divine is in everything if we but look with the eyes of the HEART and science of compassion.
Hello there. I am the manager of the farmers market in Hammonton (www.hammontonfarmersmarket.org). I am having a “Gone to the Dogs” market day on August 6th and wondered if M.O.M.S. and other organizations would be interested in cosponsoring this day with me? The Dog Day was a huge hit last year and I hope to make it even bigger this year with education about animals being key. We currently have participation by the arts center in town doing a live nude drawing with kids, (it’s a dog) and the photography club is going to do pet and pet with family portraits. We’d like to do some sort of dog show as well. Any ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?
Cheers,
Celeste
Hi Celeste- Actually Linda Cashan has already asked me to come on August 6, 2010. Would not miss it! Would love to meet you. My phone number is 609-665-1224. I have put my number out all over so I realize it will be posted here as well. Our website is http://www.themomsrescue.com. Looking forward to meeting you
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! There is NOTHING in life more innocent than children and animals! “If we as adults, could only learn to take more cues from children and animals, WHAT A WORLD WE WOULD LIVE IN!” Until I take my last breath I will fight this cause so that perhaps in my son Matthew’s generation, our nation’s unwanted shelter animals will all have a home and be loved. We certainly did not get it right in our generation so maybe just maybe if we provide the education, awareness and resources to children we will also be giving them the power to make change in their future! Our documentary and live on-stage performances of the music of the doc is set to take place on August 19, 2010 at the Trocadero in Philadelphia. Please join us and help support our next generation of animal rescuers!! I would love to have Betty acknowledged that night for leading by example of how to make the significant difference in the life of one for 365 days. This is our mission everyday with animals. We may not save them all but we do make the significant difference in the lives of the ones we do save! Thank you again,Kar
I adore you Karen LaSasso! I am forwardin this story to friends and family. I love animals and have always had animals to care for.
I had just this last week received an email from Change.org about the torture of farm animals. In particular the story profiled the Conklin Dairy Farm in Ohio. The abuse of their cows etc. is so appaling that it made me physically sick. I am stunned that this goes on in our country. I’m not a country girl but a city girl. How a country treats the least of them so goes the country.
Reading this I felt so sad: “a million dogs and cats ‘euthanized’ in Georgia!” ??
and so mad: “Hunters shoot unwanted animals in the woods of Georgia!??”
and also inspired that instead of weeping or fuming about it, a mother and a group of school children 1000 miles away- in another State – managed to save so many animals.
(So empowering for the children, especially those who were part of the “Empty Out a Georgia Shelter Day.”)
Karen is an angel, as are all of the students helping her. What a tremendous story, and to see that it has blossomed into an ongoing campaign to save shelter animals is incredibly heartwarming. I’m sharing this with all of my friends and on Facebook too!
Another day, another wonderful charity story from you Betty. xoxoxoxo