Working to save Red

By JESSIE HORTON

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

ERATH COUNTY (July 1, 2015) — Working together, a group of women who lead five major rescues in the area saved yet another abused animal last week. And with their help, Red Roosevelt – a pit bull that lost his tail and was left on the side of the road in the Dallas area – has made his way to Stephenville.

While helping ensure Red is cared for and safe is important, Jennifer Buck-Aikman said the best part was seeing the organizations come together for the good of the animal.

“I’ve been doing this a while and it’s a movement led by women,” she said. “While that can be a great thing because we’re natural caregivers and have big hearts, it can mean for a lot of drama and arguments. Seeing this come together reminded me why we do this – to help these animals.”

Red's tail before surgery Monday. — Red’s tail before surgery Monday.

Red's tail after surgery on Tuesday. — Red’s tail after surgery on Tuesday.

Buck-Aikman, who is the founder of Angels and Outlaws Second Chance Bully Ranch, said she worked with Nancy Stephenson of Cody’s Friends out of the Dallas area, Christy Wilson the founder of AFFT, Heather Davis the founder of Good Times Rescue and Angie Ford Isaacs of Apollo Support Rescue to save Red.

“We all got together. Nancy was the one who heard about the dog originally because he was found in Mesquite. Then the rest of us worked to find a vet who could do the surgery Red needed and a couple of the rescues donated funds and worked to find him a foster near a vet who could care for him,” she said. “It was just really great to see a bunch of rescues working together to accomplish the same goal. You see rescues and people who work for those rescues saying bad things about one another and putting each other down, and this just reminded me how good things can be when we all work toward a common goal.”

On Tuesday, Red made it to Erath County, where the group of women found him a foster, and to Dr. Joe Cannon of Green’s Creek Vet Clinic, who will do the aftercare for a discounted rate for the rescues.

Red with foster host Jessica when they met at Green's Creek Vet Clinic. — Red with foster host Jessica when they met at Green’s Creek Vet Clinic.

“We couldn’t do this without the hard work of vets like the one who did the surgery to remove Red’s tail and Dr. Cannon here in Stephenville. They both make what we do a little easier,” Buck-Aikman said.

While helping Red was the main goal, it just reminded the rescue founder why she’s doing what she’s doing.

“It costs so much – so much time, so much money, so much energy – but it’s worth it to help Red, to help them all really,” she concluded. “We’re all passionate about what we do, and it’s really good when we can all work together because there are thousands of dogs out there like Red and only a few hundred of us.”