Kuwaiti Canines Arrive At Local Shelter

By Stephanie Kaye

Animal shelters in the D.C. region often take in abused or abandoned animals from other states. But when staff from one local group got a call from Kuwait, they had the resources to step in and help with their farthest-reaching rescue to date.

This is the second of three groups of dogs being sent from Kuwait. They have been flying in the cargo hold of a commercial flight, in transit for about 20 hours.

"We know these dogs must want to get out of those crates!" says Jim Monsma, the Rescue League's director of communications.

Monsma says the International Humane Society contacted the Rescue League after a fire at their shelter in Kuwait.

"There was one animal shelter in the entire nation of Kuwait," he says. "It burned down and tragically most of the animals in the shelter perished."

Monsma paces back and forth in a nearly constant state of excitement, even though he's been waiting for the dogs to appear in customs for almost four hours. But he says it's nothing compared to what the new arrivals have experienced.

"The dogs that we've gotten so far have just been the sweetest things," he says. "And if dogs are resilient, these are poster-puppies for resiliency."

Finally, ten crates followed by a chaperon who came over with the dogs bursts through the double-doors, with shouts of "Yay! They're here," and plenty of kissing sounds in their direction.

Monsma says the Kuwaiti canines will be ready for adoption soon. The shelter will be taking in a total of 22 dogs from the Arabian Peninsula, with the final group expected to arrive in the next two weeks.