July 11, 2025 • 33 mins
Join us for a heartwarming episode as we sit down with Lisa Krohn from New Orleans Bulldog Rescue! Lisa pulls back the curtain on the daily operations of this incredible organization, sharing invaluable insights into the unique needs of bulldogs and the profound impact they have on these lovable pups and the wider community.
From their adoption process to fundraising efforts and some truly unforgettable rescue stories, you'll get an insider's look at what it takes to make a difference. Whether you're a devoted dog lover, a bulldog enthusiast, or simply curious about the dedicated world of animal rescue, this episode is packed with inspiration and wagging tails. Tune in and prepare to be charmed!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dixie (00:02):
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today's guest is Lisa Krohn, theVP of New Orleans Bulldog Rescue.
Thank you so much for joining me todayI am excited to hear You're very welcome
to hear about all the work you do.
, I understand you work with aNew Orleans Bulldog rescue.
(00:25):
You foster kittens and you do TNR,
Lisa (00:28):
A little bit of everything.
Dixie (00:30):
Yeah.
It's a big difference too, goingfrom bulldog to kittens to TNR.
It's a lot.
Lisa (00:35):
Yeah, it's a very
wide range of knowledge, to be honest.
Dixie (00:40):
So to start, what first drew you into the world of animal rescue?
Lisa (00:45):
So it would be 2006.
I had moved into this house about twoyears before that and I was feeding
some outside cats and I had one of myoutside cats come to breakfast with her
leg dangling and three kittens in tow.
Once I fixed her leg, theneighbor decided to adopt her.
And then my mom's wallpaperlady, Yogi Johnson did rescue.
(01:09):
So she helped me find the three kittenshomes and that was the end of it.
I started fostering for Yogi'sGroup PET adoption services.
And I was with them for close to 10 years.
And then I moved on toBulldog Rescue on just a whim.
Just they were on Facebook askingfor anyone that would like to
(01:31):
foster a dog on the euthanasia list.
And I jumped on this little, I don'tknow, it was marked like a Catahoula,
but it ended up being like a little.
She like a sheep dog of some sort.
So I fostered Delilah who Ithink recently just passed away.
She actually ended up in New YorkCity with her mom and I met Michael
(01:51):
that way at Arc Animal Hospital,literally vetting the dog that I had
just pulled off the euthanasia list.
And then I just slowly startedfostering dogs for him.
First two dogs I fosteredweren't even Bulldogs.
One was Delilah and onewas a little MinPin mix.
'Cause at the time I owned amin pin and I was partial to
the little black and tan dogs.
(02:13):
And and then right before MardiGras pulled this bulldog and I named
him Chunk and he was a rock star.
Like I'd only had himfor less than a week.
And we took him out tothe Mardi Gras parade.
I.
In the city for Barcus and he walkedwith us and had a great life as well.
One of our friends adopted him andwe got to see him all the time.
(02:36):
He'd come to our events once a monthand you could see chunk running through
the crowd trying to hunt me down to lookfor me because he could, hear my voice.
He knew I was there.
So I started my adventures withanimals . I own cats and I own dogs.
Being in the animal world for, oranimal advocacy world for 19 years,
all of my friends are animal people.
(02:57):
So I'm like, oh, I had one of my outsidecats unexpectedly pass away, and I
just happened to be having dinner withRachel Goyette who runs Jefferson, SPCA,
and I was like, I need some kittens.
She's I have some for you.
And the next day they were havingtheir crawfish boil at Jefferson Feed.
So I went and had crawfishwith everyone at Jefferson Feed
(03:18):
and came home with kittens.
Pretty much how, every year Ifoster a set or two of kittens.
I think it's great for my big catsto have little cats in the house.
I have a new adult cat this year,Simon, and he is great with the babies.
He's licking them and cleaning themand also having to be reminded that
your, he's 14 pounds and they are 1.5
(03:39):
pounds.
But besides that, it'sjust day in, day out.
Caring for the animals that are here.
I've got some long-term fosters.
Bulldog rescue took a year offfrom pulling dogs, unfortunately,
because our vet bills were just.
Out of control.
Bulldogs are not cheap dogs to ownand they are not cheap dogs to pull
(04:01):
from the shelter and get healthy.
It takes a lot of money.
And our adoption fees, obviously theyare not your normal $150-250 adoption
fees, but it still doesn't cover thethousands of dollars that we spend
on dogs just to get them healthy.
So that's where we are.
I got my first dog this week , I hadn'tpulled a dog in almost 11 months.
(04:24):
I.
But we took a nice chunk off of our vetbill, but I got a little Frenchy this
week from one of the shelters in St.
Bernard or the St.
Bernard Animal shelter, I should say.
Poor little guy was hit andpinned underneath a car and had
a broken pelvis and he's prettymuch almost recuperated from that
and has a meet and greet tomorrow.
Get him in and get him out.
(04:44):
So really quick.
Usually when we have cute littleadoptable, perfectly healthy dogs, there's
really nothing wrong with him other thanhe's just recovering from a broken pelvis.
But one of our alumni, put the bugout there that they were looking
for another small dog, 'cause oneof theirs just recently passed away.
So We're gonna meet tomorrow.
Hopefully, fingerscrossed he'll find a home.
(05:04):
Yeah.
Mainly we've been concentrating on someof these dogs that have just been sitting
in rescue the most, like non adoptableor not running off the shelves kind of
adoptions, I had a dog named Petey andI got him from the Baton Rouge Animal
Shelter, and he was eight weeks old Petey.
Just found a home.
He's been with me almost five years.
Oh,
wow.
Now he lives
on Long Island.
(05:25):
He has two sisters that have severemobility issues with spina bifida
and two brothers who are prettymobile, but also has spina bifida
and he has spina bifida as well.
Fully mobile and, limps a little bit.
I think there was some issues withone of his hips, like the way that
it was shaped, but besides that, hismain issue is that he leaked urine and
(05:45):
feces and it was unpredictable, whichmakes for a mess that's not a normal.
Dog, and a lot of people look at thatand oh, I don't wanna deal with diapers.
'cause it's like having a babyand he also can't diaper 24 7.
'cause then you've run therisk of getting infections.
So it it like tore me up to drop himoff on transport, but it was like, oh
(06:07):
my gosh, I've had Petey for five years.
This is amazing.
He's getting a great home.
I wanna live on Long Island.
Dixie (06:13):
Yeah.
That's a wonderful story.
Now, you said that you couldn't keep himin diapers all the time, and I understand
that, but what would you do would youkeep him like crated to keep things clean?
Or how did you combat that situation?
Lisa (06:26):
He was either diapered in the house for short periods of time.
And then he was crated and in hiscrate there was multiple pee pads.
'cause he likes to nest.
So he just, crumple 'emall up and sleep on them.
And I'll put pee pads underneathhis crate and we would just clean
up and he messes that he left.
If I was in the yard with him, Iwould run with him and get him to run
(06:48):
the business out more or less Uhhuh.
But besides that it was justcleanup, loose in the house
means he had to wear a diaper.
You leave the house, youhave to wear a diaper.
So lots of bathing, lots of cleaning,lots of mopping and pee pads.
So he spent time in the yard, inthe kennel or in the house Diapered.
That's pretty much, how he lives.
Dixie (07:08):
Yeah, I've seen some cats have that before too.
It's actually seems like it's a prettycommon issue where they'll leak the
urine or possibly leak the poop.
Lisa (07:17):
Yeah, it is, and it seems to be a common issue in Bulldogs.
Unfortunately, they have some majorhealth issues, but yeah, that's
actually how Petey found his home.
Someone reshared his informationto a specific spina bifida Facebook
group, and they reached out to usbecause we don't normally do adoptions
outside of a two hour radius of NewOrleans because we're all volunteers.
(07:39):
So I can't say, oh yeah, I'lladopt a dog to you in Nashville.
But I do home checksand like to deliver my.
my pets personally.
I have one, one day off a week, sothat means I would spend six hours
driving to Memphis or Nashville,drop off the dog and come home.
That's, it's just not feasible.
So we always stick with a, like a twohour radius and you have to come to
(08:00):
any event, you've, gotta do a homechecks, vet checks, all the basic,
stuff that most rescue groups do.
We do cover our heartworm treatment.
A lot of our dogs sometimeshave eye issues and skin issues.
So some of those things, if they'rein treatment when they get adopted,
we do continue like a recheck and,try to find our dogs' homes once.
(08:23):
So doing the vet checks is extremelyimportant to call and make sure that
the current dogs are on prevention.
That is a major.
Major, red flag if you have animals, youdon't have them at heartworm prevention.
And then everyone has to befixed in the home as well.
We do not adopt dogs to homesthat have unfixed animals.
Even if there's no intent inbreeding in our animal is fixed.
(08:45):
It just changes the dynamic in thehousehold to have an unfixed animal.
And we just don't do it.
It's just not something we do.
We always advocate for spayand neuter across the board.
Like we've had one incident in the doghad, like a cardiologist report stating
that he couldn't be sedated, and that wasthe only time that we've let a dog go to
a home that had another unfixed animal.
Dixie (09:07):
Yeah I can agree with that too.
I'm the same way with that.
I think they all need to bespayed and neutered just to be
responsible for the pet ownership,
Lisa (09:14):
yeah, it's better for them health wise and better for, the giant hole
that we're all, digging ourselvesout of with all the unwanted animals
that we already currently have.
It's just the only way we're gonnafix that is to educate people and
to spay and neuter your animals,even if there's no intent on having
a litter is just responsible.
(09:36):
I still run across people that are like,oh, your dogs aren't gonna have babies.
And I'm like, absolutely not.
Have you been to theanimal shelter lately?
Have you walked aroundat the animal shelter?
I just can't wrap my mind around someof the things that people still think
when it comes to animals and the waythey perceive the animal shelter.
(09:58):
It's just nonsense to me,
I've also been around for a while.
It's not like I'm just learningabout these things, I've
been doing rescue since 06.
That's almost 20 years.
That's almost half my life.
Uhhuh.
That's a long time.
I don't know how else to live my life.
So I I have a dog room and I havekittens running around in the bathroom
(10:19):
currently getting, some playtime.
'Cause I have one of my dogsloose, so we're slowly doing
kitten doggy introductions.
Dixie (10:27):
Yeah.
And it's good that you have the dogsto introduce the kittens to, because
there are a lot of people that theydo wanna adopt kittens and they
wanna ask, are they dog friendly?
Now, for somebody likeme, I don't have any dogs.
I always have to say, I don't know.
Lisa (10:40):
When they're kitten, it takes a bit of time to get 'em used to dogs.
But having dogs in the house definitely isa plus when you're adopting out kittens.
Dixie (10:49):
Yes, definitely.
I agree.
Definitely agree.
Now, how does the Bulldog rescuehandle when people don't have a vet?
So you can't call a vet for a veterinaryreference if it's like a new owner,
Lisa (11:01):
usually the process would be that they have to establish
with a vet and then send a likewellness check visit receipt to us.
It's in our contracts that within14 days, any animal, whether you
have a vet or not, needs to see.
A veterinarian just to make, do a wellnessvisit, just to make sure that everything
(11:22):
that we're giving you medically iscorrect and that your vet can look at
that information and do a wellness visitbefore you have an issue or an emergency.
Your vet doesn't wanna seeyour dog when it's, on its way
out or needing serious care.
They want to visit with yournew pet when it's happy,
healthy and, having a good day.
We always require a vet visit, butfor people that do not have a vet,
(11:44):
they have to send receipts to us.
And most of the time that just basicallyproves that they're buying heartworm
prevention and that they're beingresponsible, because that's one of
the main things that we require is,you've gotta be responsible, gotta have
heartworm prevention, and to prove thatto us, I just need a simple receipt.
Dixie (12:03):
How long has the New Orleans Bulldog Rescue been around?
Lisa (12:08):
So Michael Schachtman . Started the group after Sula a
pit bull rescue disbanded, andI believe that was close to.
2010 Uhhuh.
So I think we've beenaround for 14 or 15 years.
'cause Michael had been doing this forabout a year and a half before, but he
(12:29):
was with SULA before that, so he waspulling pit bulls which we still love.
We are All Breed we reallydon't just stick to bulldogs.
My forever foster, who's 14 yearsold, is laying on the floor and she
has a little blue nose pit bull.
And I've got a personal dog that'sa pit and then an English bulldog.
If it's on that breedrestriction list, I'll take it.
(12:50):
Thank you very much.
Dixie (12:51):
It's good to know that the New Orleans Bulldog
rescue is not breed specific.
Lisa (12:56):
No, we are not.
Dixie (12:57):
Yeah, I know a lot of times when people put that, people are
like, oh no, it's strictly a breedspecific thing and I don't think
a lot of people understand that.
Rescues are very flexible whenit comes to rescuing animals.
Lisa (13:10):
Absolutely.
I feel like the breed specificdogs, the Frenchies and the English,
they do bring out the crowds.
But then once you're out there,you might fall in love with this
little bulldog mix or another pitbull or any other dog that we have
available for adoption at the time.
So it's definitely a big drawto have English bulldogs and
(13:31):
English, available for adoption.
But I find that people come out andthey meet these dogs and they're
not like the dog that they, isa good match for their family.
And then we have this otherdog that's perfect for them.
And just with a little bit of timeof with them spending, with the
dog and, us encouraging it, weusually can make a great match.
And that's the main reason why we requirepeople to come to adoption events.
(13:54):
Come out, meet all the dogs.
You're looking at a dog, you'rejust looking at its picture.
You might have, or you might nothave even read the description about
the dog, but the look of the dogis what people fall in love with.
When you actually get there, you'd besurprised what you're actually drawn to.
What is the best match for your family.
And we always tell people it'snot first come, first serve.
(14:16):
I remember we had an incident at oneof our very first Christmas events.
It was like our first bigevent that I participated in.
And it was a man and he was insistentthat he was the first one at the
event and he was adopting that dog.
And I'm like, I'm sorry sir.
That's not how it works.
And he was furious, absolutely furious.
Michael had to step in.
And I don't even remember, whatdeescalated the situation, but I know
(14:40):
that he was just insistent that hewas their first and the dog was his.
I'm like, that's just nothow it works, unfortunately.
Dixie (14:46):
Yeah, I see.
I run into that on social media if I'mtrying to help people with kittens and
one thing that I absolutely cannot standto is when like a rescue offers to help.
And they're like, oh, I'll think about it.
It's if a rescue is offeringhelp, let 'em take the kittens.
But what they'll do instead isthey'll be like, oh, I already
(15:07):
promised one or two to the personwho said that they wanted them first.
And it's really?
Lisa (15:13):
I'm just shaking and I'm, literally just shaking my head.
Dixie (15:16):
I know.
' Lisa (15:16):
cause I just don't understand, if a rescue is offering to help,
that is like a guarantee that they'regonna back the animals that you
found until they find a forever home.
Whether it's financially or whether it'sjust at, doing the social media work
and advertising the animal on Petfinder.
It's just, I don't know.
(15:38):
Back in the day that's how Istarted with Bulldog Rescue.
I.
Follow through.
That's all I did.
I committed to an animal and thisrescue that I'd never even met,
stepped up financially, and I'vebeen with them, for the last, I think
I, 12 years, 10 years, a long time.
I should have looked atthose dates beforehand.
(16:00):
It's been a
while.
I can't even remember.
So technically I'm the vice president.
I handle intakes, so if you send in asurrender request I will look at it.
If we've got a fosterhome that's a good match.
If know, I try to set up the intakes,mostly try to pull our dogs from shelters.
Most people just text me, from theanimal shelters and ask for help.
(16:24):
I know most of the people that workat the local shelters and, like
as far as like Baton Rouge downin Chalmette, things like that.
Most of the time they just have my phonenumber and I work closely with them.
I just get the details.
I, get some pictures.
I run it by Michael and let him knowwhat we're looking at commitment wise.
Usually it's medical stuff that Michael'sworried about, but now I have a specific.
(16:47):
Criteria for animals that I can pull andhelp so that I don't dig ourselves into
a huge financial hole and halt things.
But rescue's always that way.
It's always gonna be how much timedo I have to go out and advocate
for the animals and raise money?
We do an online auction.
Now we're doing it twice a yearwhere we basically just auction
(17:10):
off items that have been donated.
And the money comes straight tous and we just ship the items
out to people all across thecountry to whoever, buys the item.
They just bid on 'em online.
And then we usually have merchandise,which we have just reordered some
t-shirts and, we always have ourdonation button on Facebook and,
you can donate through Venmo.
(17:31):
We have all the things.
It just gets away from you when you'rehelping dogs and you're not looking
at what's in the bank account andwhat the vet, has on their tally.
So yeah it can easily get outta control.
But it's, we've been around a long time.
We just took a little break, but we'renot down and out, I still have dogs here.
(17:51):
Un unfortunately, I had twodogs come back in November.
Their dad that's had some medical issues.
So I've got, two dogs here that werein a home for almost five years that
are now looking for homes again.
Either together or separately.
But that's just, in the lastyear we've been pushing some
of our long-term fosters.
We got Petey adopted into a great home,and then cobalt and Susie came back.
(18:15):
And then, like I said, I just this weekwent down and pulled a new Frenchie.
So poor guy doesn't evenhave a name at this point.
. Just the one they gave him at theshelter and he doesn't know it
and I don't particularly like it,so we're just going with here.
Your dog.
You're a good boy rightnow, so come on, dog.
That's what I tell him.
Come on, dog.
And he's smart.
(18:36):
He got the routine literally in a day andhe knows how to open the crate that he
is in, so he has to be, locked in there.
Dixie (18:42):
Nice.
Lisa (18:43):
Very smart.
He was, he watched me close the crateone time and then was scratching
out the door like two minutes later.
I'm like, oh, he figured out thathe could just push the crate up.
It's just a crate that drops down andit's supposed to lock in place, but
it didn't stay in place apparently.
Uhhuh.
Yeah,
so that happened.
Unfortunately, I've got, a coupledogs with storm fearers currently
(19:04):
and I just put extra clips and extrazip ties, got cameras in that room
and just monitor when I'm not hereand make sure everybody's okay.
Especially 'cause it's summer showers.
Dixie (19:14):
Yeah.
Lisa (19:15):
It's constantly having a thunderstorm around
Dixie (19:18):
yeah.
It's amazing how smart they are too.
'cause they will figure it out fast.
Lisa (19:23):
Yes, Uhhuh.
I've got a couple they canopen kennels, including the
one that's laying on the floor.
She's in a very thick, likealmost steel bared kennel.
And her lock drops down and slidesback and she can undo both of them.
Dixie (19:37):
Wow.
Lisa (19:37):
In
record time.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing to behonest, because this is her store
kennel, the same exact kennel.
This is the third one.
Just because she's got storm fearsand when she's younger she just
destroyed the crates trying to get out.
When she gets out, shedoesn't do any damage.
It's just that when I leave the house,everybody needs to be kenneled 'cause
everyone doesn't always get along.
(19:59):
And I bring new dogs in from the shelter.
I have no idea, if anotherdog is gonna break out.
And then I've got two loosedogs in one room and not home.
When I've done rescue for a long time,I've got all the bases covered to make
sure that I keep everyone safe includingmyself, but mainly the animals, like
when I'm not here and I can't supervise,everyone's kenneled in their own separate
(20:21):
kennels and I just make sure everybody'scalm before I walk out that front door.
I don't leave the house whenthe dogs are going berserk.
I've got a nice routine whereeverybody's in their kennels, at
least 10, 15 minutes before in caseanybody's got separation anxiety.
When they hear me hit the buttonon the door, usually it's, if they
know that this is the routine,they know I'm about to leave.
(20:42):
Everybody seems to begood with that routine.
I just keep it the same way with mykittens even I, they go in and out
of a large dog kennel that's in thebathroom, that's like their nighttime.
I co I cover 'em at night.
I'm trying to teach 'em nighttime andsleepy time, so they're not at their
new homes running crazy at night.
They're already used to the fact thatthey have to be sleeping at nighttime and
(21:03):
they're up and playing during the day.
And when I go to work, they goback into, their dog kennel when I
come home, they come out and theyeat, and we do it all over again.
The dogs go out, the kittens get out.
It's just a constant revolving who'sin the house and who's in the yard.
Dixie (21:17):
What do you do if you have to evacuate for a hurricane?
Lisa (21:22):
That hasn't happened yet.
I've only had smallerhurricanes to deal with.
I've got a very large generator in thebackyard and three air conditioning units
and , for Ida, I stayed I had way too manyanimals at that point in life to evacuate.
I've got less animals now, but withthe equipment that I have now, I can
(21:44):
stay here, run the refrigerator, runeverything that I need to just as long
as I can get gas for the generator andthat hasn't seemed to be a problem.
My family also stays, so I've got mybrother and my parents seven minutes from
me, and everybody is on the same page.
Everybody checks in.
Then my brother will come over and help meget the generator and the AC unit's going.
(22:05):
Usually I stay.
The last big storm that I leftfor was Katrina, and at that
time I did take my animals withme, my two dogs and my two cats.
And then I haven't evacuatedfor a storm since then.
Dixie (22:17):
Yeah.
To be honest, same with me.
I stayed for Ida as well.
We had the generator.
Makes sense.
Lisa (22:21):
Yeah, I technically have two generators, but one of them will run
the, my house and the neighbor's house.
It's massive.
It tells me what percentage I use.
I've never used more than 20%of the battery at one time.
I'm thankful for that thing is a Macdaddy, but it is heavy to Manhandle
and to move around and it can'tsit out there If it's not running
(22:43):
well, it might be able to now.
But Petey used to eat the wires.
I had to repair both of the generatorsbecause once you turn them off,
Petey is like, oh, that thing was,that giant thing was making noise.
And he would chew onthe wires and the hoses.
He liked to eat the hoses.
Don't know why.
Random dog things.
Dixie (23:02):
Uhhuh.
Yeah.
They eat anything.
Some of 'em anyway.
Lisa (23:06):
Yeah.
Definitely.
Dixie (23:08):
That's what I like seeing to keep those posts where they show the
vets on what they pull out of the dog'sstomachs and sometimes it's just amazing.
Lisa (23:15):
Yeah, that is absolutely interesting to watch.
'cause I've had a dog that cameto me from Baton Rouge and what
was in his stomach was not partsof things that were at my house.
So wherever he came from, beforehe was at the Baton Rouge shelter
or at the Baton Rouge shelter waswhat was in his stomach poor guy.
And he did have to have it extracted.
(23:36):
Piece of like plasticblack mat or something.
I don't even know.
I don't have a mat like that.
So it definitely didn'tcome from my house.
Dixie (23:43):
So how is your setup for your kittens?
Lisa (23:46):
So currently my kittens have a large dog kennel that sits up
on top of my bathroom cabinet.
So it makes my.
Bathroom, basically just kitten land.
The sink is inaccessible at thispoint and they've got a litter box
in there and they've got a stuffedthe animal and their food and water.
And then , their wet food andwater and their dry food go in
(24:07):
and out of the kennel with them.
And I feed like mom and baby catand frisky's kittens mixed together
as per what Rachel sent home.
And we do a little bitof forti flora in there.
And sometimes I put some thrive ontop, a little baby kitten thrive.
And then when I have the dogs loose inthe house, everyone except for Rhonda,
usually they are locked into the bathroomand there's like a larger litter box
(24:33):
for the adult cats in there and toysand then their food and water are down.
And then whenever I finish rotatingthe dogs as, as long as I'm
gonna have some peace and quiet.
In the house, dogwise, I'lllet the kittens come out.
And they storm the door like it's,Armageddon is running out like maniacs.
They're right at eight weeks old.
They know their names.
It's Cheeto, Dorito and Frito.
(24:54):
Two little redheads and a little buff guy.
They're all boys and that's, basicallymy process with them is let them have
as much out time from their dog crate.
The minute that I'm up in themorning, they hear me in the bathroom.
'cause that's one ofthe first things I do.
Let the dogs out and then I go to thebathroom and that's when they come out
and I mix their food and the minute thattheir food is mixed, they're storming
(25:15):
back into the bathroom when I call them.
And then that's pretty much how their daystarts and we just do it all day long.
They come in and out of the bathroom whenthe dogs are going in and out and, when
I leave they're in their dog kennel andwhen I sleep, they're in their dog kennel.
They're just so little at this point.
I can't misplace them in the housebecause I've got to move the dogs around.
So it's all very controlled by me justto make sure that everyone is safe and
(25:40):
that the kittens, are gaining weight.
We're going in for our kitten shots.
Dorito wasn't feeling well lasttime, so he did not get his
second round of injections.
We just finished with our antibiotics.
So I'm hoping this week to get Dorito in.
Excuse me, and have hissecond set of kitten vaccines.
Once they get two pounds, they'llget neutered and move hopefully
(26:02):
to Jefferson feed for adoption.
If not, I will just hold ontothem , as long as need be.
That's what you do whenyou volunteer to foster.
At least that's what I do whenI volunteer to foster it, is
all the way through the end.
Even if I've got that dog forfive years or these kittens for
five years at my house it's just,
i'm committed and that's the mostimportant thing is that, I signed up to
(26:25):
make sure that these guys got adoptedand that's how it's gonna be, whether
it takes a couple weeks or five years.
That's just how I am.
I guess it's a good quality to have.
I'm definitely committed to myanimals every, and I've got,
this one takes heart meds.
That one, gets bronchitis.
The bulldog's got, a micro orbital eye.
(26:45):
I've got a cat with no eyelids.
He also has stomatitis.
Simon got his entropion fixed this year.
I adopted a cat from Trad Dat Cat, and Iwas told that he had herpes in his eye.
And I was like, okay, likeit's not a big, huge deal.
Like we'll just continue to treatit well, didn't get any better.
And we went to the eye specialistafter we'd seen my vet twice and
(27:07):
done some expensive meds as perwhat Rachel was telling me, they had
used similar with a similar, issuewith the cat with herpes in the eye.
And that didn't work.
So the eye specialistis no, he has entropion.
So then we got that fixed.
That's just what you dowhen you have an animal.
You have an issue, you fix it.
(27:27):
Absolutely.
Or you do your best to maintainit or treat it or whatever.
Rhonda's heart meds are $130 a month andI go and pick them up every single month.
That's just because she needs them.
She's got a left ventricle issue.
She's 14 years old.
Whoever had her tied to a tree on a twoinch, or not two inch, I think it was two
(27:49):
feet, maybe it wasn't very large rope inthe backyard for two years of her life,
didn't give her heartworm prevention.
So by the time we got her andsaved her, she had enough damage
onto her heart that she's got anissue with her left ventricle.
Over the years that unfor it, itfortunately has not changed, but she's
still on an expensive heart med twicea day for years now, and she'll be
(28:13):
on those meds until she passes away.
And hopefully that's no time soon.
Oh my old girl.
Dixie (28:19):
And how old is she
Lisa (28:20):
14.
Dixie (28:21):
Wow.
Yeah.
Lisa (28:22):
She's still spry.
She'll still jump all over my dadwhen my dad comes to cut the grass.
And she still sounds ferocious.
If she's loosened, she,you knock on the door.
And that's, that's the mainthing I need you to know.
We got dogs here whenyou knock on my door.
Dixie (28:37):
Wow.
14.
And she's got heart problems.
That's amazing.
Lisa (28:41):
Yeah, she's been around for a long time.
She's been relatively healthy Besidesher heart issue she's had a hematoma in
her life and the latest thing was a UTI.
And she's been extremely healthy.
But obviously, we trytake care of our animals.
We feed quality food, everybody.
Sees the vet when they need to getstheir heartworm prevention on time.
(29:02):
We, I just do what a responsible petowner should do for their animals.
I just, happen to own more cats thanI do dogs, but I run a dog rescue,
I tell people that and they laugh.
I'm like, I didn't even have a bulldogin my home as my personal pet for five
years when I was doing bulldog rescue.
So my first bulldog I adoptedafter I'd already been with
(29:23):
this rescue for five years.
Dixie (29:24):
Huh.
Lisa (29:24):
And
that was Monty.
I'm on my third now.
So I had Monty and Lucy who bothhad serious behavior issues.
Monty much less than Lucy, Lucycouldn't even hardly leave the house.
It was very.
Very one-sided relationship.
But I was her mama.
I nursed her back to health and handfed her When she got pneumonia, she was
(29:45):
down to 34 pounds and spent a coupleweeks in ICU over at Metairie Small.
And yeah, I was pretty muchthe only one that could handle
her and that was fine by me.
Unfortunately, she didn't live very long.
It was only 18 months from thedamage that was done to her heart.
She had, serious heart problems.
(30:07):
When it was time I took her in andstayed with her and it was time.
So I only had her for 18 months.
But the.
Trail on social media and Craigslist.
I think she had at least four ownersand was heartworm positive for at
least five years before I got her.
Dixie (30:22):
Oh, wow.
Lisa (30:23):
'cause
after we posted about her, peoplecame out of the woodwork going,
I saw this dog on Craigslist.
I saw her on Facebook two years ago.
She was heartworm positive.
Then someone gave her away on Craigslist.
At that point I knew that she had someserious issues along her life, uhhuh
with humans treating her horribly.
You could tell, you couldn'ttouch the broom in the house.
(30:44):
If you grabbed the paper towels,it was on like Donkey Kong.
She would come after you sometimescoming out of the bathroom.
If you were holding something inyour hands, anything didn't matter
what color, just holding somethingin your hands, your dirty clothes.
She'd get up and go out of her wayto charge you just because she could.
No other reason.
I couldn't figure out a rhymeor a reason to what set her off.
(31:06):
Just knew that I couldn't carrythings around in the house much
and she was loose, or I runthe risk of her charging me.
So
she never hurt me, but
she definitely showed me that Iwas not in charge of this house.
Dixie (31:17):
Yeah.
That's sad.
Even sad though.
Lisa (31:18):
Yeah.
And it wasn't her fault.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It really wasn't.
And she let me do all the things to her.
Like I could clean her wrinkles in eventhe most girly spots and she would let me
Dixie (31:28):
so how many pets do you have.
Lisa (31:30):
So I own two dogs and four cats.
Three are strictly inside and oneis still from my shelter TNR days.
I had to relocate her here.
Thankfully I relocated her here 'causeshe ended up with a diaphragmatic
hernia repair that needed to be done.
But she's my last outside cat andthat, that's it, four cats, two dogs.
(31:50):
But I'm just one person that's morethan enough for just me to handle.
And then I've got thethree dogs here in rescue.
Technically four 'cause of Rhonda,but she's my forever foster.
Unfortunately, she's, she doesn'treally go to events and she needs
a very specific home and with heartissues at the age of 14, I don't
think that she's gonna go anywhere.
(32:11):
She's technically my dog.
She sleeps in bed with me.
Dixie (32:14):
Thank you, Lisa, for joining me today to talk about your role
with New Orleans Bulldog Rescue andeverything that you do in animal rescue.
We will be back next week with Lisa tofinish up our conversation about some of
the things that she has experienced inanimal rescue, and we'll also discuss TNR.
(32:34):
So we hope to see you next week.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
A hundred percent goes to our animals..
Thanks for listening.
And that's all the time wehave for today's episode.
If you are in animal rescue, or ifyou know someone that has a story that
(32:56):
should be told, please contact us.
We would love to haveyou or them on the show
. Thanks for listening, and pleasejoin us next week as we continue to
explore the world of animal rescue.
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today's guest is Lisa Krohn, theVP of New Orleans Bulldog Rescue.
Thank you so much for joining me todayI am excited to hear You're very welcome
to hear about all the work you do.
, I understand you work with aNew Orleans Bulldog rescue.
(00:25):
You foster kittens and you do TNR,
Lisa (00:28):
A little bit of everything.
Dixie (00:30):
Yeah.
It's a big difference too, goingfrom bulldog to kittens to TNR.
It's a lot.
Lisa (00:35):
Yeah, it's a very
wide range of knowledge, to be honest.
Dixie (00:40):
So to start, what first drew you into the world of animal rescue?
Lisa (00:45):
So it would be 2006.
I had moved into this house about twoyears before that and I was feeding
some outside cats and I had one of myoutside cats come to breakfast with her
leg dangling and three kittens in tow.
Once I fixed her leg, theneighbor decided to adopt her.
And then my mom's wallpaperlady, Yogi Johnson did rescue.
(01:09):
So she helped me find the three kittenshomes and that was the end of it.
I started fostering for Yogi'sGroup PET adoption services.
And I was with them for close to 10 years.
And then I moved on toBulldog Rescue on just a whim.
Just they were on Facebook askingfor anyone that would like to
(01:31):
foster a dog on the euthanasia list.
And I jumped on this little, I don'tknow, it was marked like a Catahoula,
but it ended up being like a little.
She like a sheep dog of some sort.
So I fostered Delilah who Ithink recently just passed away.
She actually ended up in New YorkCity with her mom and I met Michael
(01:51):
that way at Arc Animal Hospital,literally vetting the dog that I had
just pulled off the euthanasia list.
And then I just slowly startedfostering dogs for him.
First two dogs I fosteredweren't even Bulldogs.
One was Delilah and onewas a little MinPin mix.
'Cause at the time I owned amin pin and I was partial to
the little black and tan dogs.
(02:13):
And and then right before MardiGras pulled this bulldog and I named
him Chunk and he was a rock star.
Like I'd only had himfor less than a week.
And we took him out tothe Mardi Gras parade.
I.
In the city for Barcus and he walkedwith us and had a great life as well.
One of our friends adopted him andwe got to see him all the time.
(02:36):
He'd come to our events once a monthand you could see chunk running through
the crowd trying to hunt me down to lookfor me because he could, hear my voice.
He knew I was there.
So I started my adventures withanimals . I own cats and I own dogs.
Being in the animal world for, oranimal advocacy world for 19 years,
all of my friends are animal people.
(02:57):
So I'm like, oh, I had one of my outsidecats unexpectedly pass away, and I
just happened to be having dinner withRachel Goyette who runs Jefferson, SPCA,
and I was like, I need some kittens.
She's I have some for you.
And the next day they were havingtheir crawfish boil at Jefferson Feed.
So I went and had crawfishwith everyone at Jefferson Feed
(03:18):
and came home with kittens.
Pretty much how, every year Ifoster a set or two of kittens.
I think it's great for my big catsto have little cats in the house.
I have a new adult cat this year,Simon, and he is great with the babies.
He's licking them and cleaning themand also having to be reminded that
your, he's 14 pounds and they are 1.5
(03:39):
pounds.
But besides that, it'sjust day in, day out.
Caring for the animals that are here.
I've got some long-term fosters.
Bulldog rescue took a year offfrom pulling dogs, unfortunately,
because our vet bills were just.
Out of control.
Bulldogs are not cheap dogs to ownand they are not cheap dogs to pull
(04:01):
from the shelter and get healthy.
It takes a lot of money.
And our adoption fees, obviously theyare not your normal $150-250 adoption
fees, but it still doesn't cover thethousands of dollars that we spend
on dogs just to get them healthy.
So that's where we are.
I got my first dog this week , I hadn'tpulled a dog in almost 11 months.
(04:24):
I.
But we took a nice chunk off of our vetbill, but I got a little Frenchy this
week from one of the shelters in St.
Bernard or the St.
Bernard Animal shelter, I should say.
Poor little guy was hit andpinned underneath a car and had
a broken pelvis and he's prettymuch almost recuperated from that
and has a meet and greet tomorrow.
Get him in and get him out.
(04:44):
So really quick.
Usually when we have cute littleadoptable, perfectly healthy dogs, there's
really nothing wrong with him other thanhe's just recovering from a broken pelvis.
But one of our alumni, put the bugout there that they were looking
for another small dog, 'cause oneof theirs just recently passed away.
So We're gonna meet tomorrow.
Hopefully, fingerscrossed he'll find a home.
(05:04):
Yeah.
Mainly we've been concentrating on someof these dogs that have just been sitting
in rescue the most, like non adoptableor not running off the shelves kind of
adoptions, I had a dog named Petey andI got him from the Baton Rouge Animal
Shelter, and he was eight weeks old Petey.
Just found a home.
He's been with me almost five years.
Oh,
wow.
Now he lives
on Long Island.
(05:25):
He has two sisters that have severemobility issues with spina bifida
and two brothers who are prettymobile, but also has spina bifida
and he has spina bifida as well.
Fully mobile and, limps a little bit.
I think there was some issues withone of his hips, like the way that
it was shaped, but besides that, hismain issue is that he leaked urine and
(05:45):
feces and it was unpredictable, whichmakes for a mess that's not a normal.
Dog, and a lot of people look at thatand oh, I don't wanna deal with diapers.
'cause it's like having a babyand he also can't diaper 24 7.
'cause then you've run therisk of getting infections.
So it it like tore me up to drop himoff on transport, but it was like, oh
(06:07):
my gosh, I've had Petey for five years.
This is amazing.
He's getting a great home.
I wanna live on Long Island.
Dixie (06:13):
Yeah.
That's a wonderful story.
Now, you said that you couldn't keep himin diapers all the time, and I understand
that, but what would you do would youkeep him like crated to keep things clean?
Or how did you combat that situation?
Lisa (06:26):
He was either diapered in the house for short periods of time.
And then he was crated and in hiscrate there was multiple pee pads.
'cause he likes to nest.
So he just, crumple 'emall up and sleep on them.
And I'll put pee pads underneathhis crate and we would just clean
up and he messes that he left.
If I was in the yard with him, Iwould run with him and get him to run
(06:48):
the business out more or less Uhhuh.
But besides that it was justcleanup, loose in the house
means he had to wear a diaper.
You leave the house, youhave to wear a diaper.
So lots of bathing, lots of cleaning,lots of mopping and pee pads.
So he spent time in the yard, inthe kennel or in the house Diapered.
That's pretty much, how he lives.
Dixie (07:08):
Yeah, I've seen some cats have that before too.
It's actually seems like it's a prettycommon issue where they'll leak the
urine or possibly leak the poop.
Lisa (07:17):
Yeah, it is, and it seems to be a common issue in Bulldogs.
Unfortunately, they have some majorhealth issues, but yeah, that's
actually how Petey found his home.
Someone reshared his informationto a specific spina bifida Facebook
group, and they reached out to usbecause we don't normally do adoptions
outside of a two hour radius of NewOrleans because we're all volunteers.
(07:39):
So I can't say, oh yeah, I'lladopt a dog to you in Nashville.
But I do home checksand like to deliver my.
my pets personally.
I have one, one day off a week, sothat means I would spend six hours
driving to Memphis or Nashville,drop off the dog and come home.
That's, it's just not feasible.
So we always stick with a, like a twohour radius and you have to come to
(08:00):
any event, you've, gotta do a homechecks, vet checks, all the basic,
stuff that most rescue groups do.
We do cover our heartworm treatment.
A lot of our dogs sometimeshave eye issues and skin issues.
So some of those things, if they'rein treatment when they get adopted,
we do continue like a recheck and,try to find our dogs' homes once.
(08:23):
So doing the vet checks is extremelyimportant to call and make sure that
the current dogs are on prevention.
That is a major.
Major, red flag if you have animals, youdon't have them at heartworm prevention.
And then everyone has to befixed in the home as well.
We do not adopt dogs to homesthat have unfixed animals.
Even if there's no intent inbreeding in our animal is fixed.
(08:45):
It just changes the dynamic in thehousehold to have an unfixed animal.
And we just don't do it.
It's just not something we do.
We always advocate for spayand neuter across the board.
Like we've had one incident in the doghad, like a cardiologist report stating
that he couldn't be sedated, and that wasthe only time that we've let a dog go to
a home that had another unfixed animal.
Dixie (09:07):
Yeah I can agree with that too.
I'm the same way with that.
I think they all need to bespayed and neutered just to be
responsible for the pet ownership,
Lisa (09:14):
yeah, it's better for them health wise and better for, the giant hole
that we're all, digging ourselvesout of with all the unwanted animals
that we already currently have.
It's just the only way we're gonnafix that is to educate people and
to spay and neuter your animals,even if there's no intent on having
a litter is just responsible.
(09:36):
I still run across people that are like,oh, your dogs aren't gonna have babies.
And I'm like, absolutely not.
Have you been to theanimal shelter lately?
Have you walked aroundat the animal shelter?
I just can't wrap my mind around someof the things that people still think
when it comes to animals and the waythey perceive the animal shelter.
(09:58):
It's just nonsense to me,
I've also been around for a while.
It's not like I'm just learningabout these things, I've
been doing rescue since 06.
That's almost 20 years.
That's almost half my life.
Uhhuh.
That's a long time.
I don't know how else to live my life.
So I I have a dog room and I havekittens running around in the bathroom
(10:19):
currently getting, some playtime.
'Cause I have one of my dogsloose, so we're slowly doing
kitten doggy introductions.
Dixie (10:27):
Yeah.
And it's good that you have the dogsto introduce the kittens to, because
there are a lot of people that theydo wanna adopt kittens and they
wanna ask, are they dog friendly?
Now, for somebody likeme, I don't have any dogs.
I always have to say, I don't know.
Lisa (10:40):
When they're kitten, it takes a bit of time to get 'em used to dogs.
But having dogs in the house definitely isa plus when you're adopting out kittens.
Dixie (10:49):
Yes, definitely.
I agree.
Definitely agree.
Now, how does the Bulldog rescuehandle when people don't have a vet?
So you can't call a vet for a veterinaryreference if it's like a new owner,
Lisa (11:01):
usually the process would be that they have to establish
with a vet and then send a likewellness check visit receipt to us.
It's in our contracts that within14 days, any animal, whether you
have a vet or not, needs to see.
A veterinarian just to make, do a wellnessvisit, just to make sure that everything
(11:22):
that we're giving you medically iscorrect and that your vet can look at
that information and do a wellness visitbefore you have an issue or an emergency.
Your vet doesn't wanna seeyour dog when it's, on its way
out or needing serious care.
They want to visit with yournew pet when it's happy,
healthy and, having a good day.
We always require a vet visit, butfor people that do not have a vet,
(11:44):
they have to send receipts to us.
And most of the time that just basicallyproves that they're buying heartworm
prevention and that they're beingresponsible, because that's one of
the main things that we require is,you've gotta be responsible, gotta have
heartworm prevention, and to prove thatto us, I just need a simple receipt.
Dixie (12:03):
How long has the New Orleans Bulldog Rescue been around?
Lisa (12:08):
So Michael Schachtman . Started the group after Sula a
pit bull rescue disbanded, andI believe that was close to.
2010 Uhhuh.
So I think we've beenaround for 14 or 15 years.
'cause Michael had been doing this forabout a year and a half before, but he
(12:29):
was with SULA before that, so he waspulling pit bulls which we still love.
We are All Breed we reallydon't just stick to bulldogs.
My forever foster, who's 14 yearsold, is laying on the floor and she
has a little blue nose pit bull.
And I've got a personal dog that'sa pit and then an English bulldog.
If it's on that breedrestriction list, I'll take it.
(12:50):
Thank you very much.
Dixie (12:51):
It's good to know that the New Orleans Bulldog
rescue is not breed specific.
Lisa (12:56):
No, we are not.
Dixie (12:57):
Yeah, I know a lot of times when people put that, people are
like, oh no, it's strictly a breedspecific thing and I don't think
a lot of people understand that.
Rescues are very flexible whenit comes to rescuing animals.
Lisa (13:10):
Absolutely.
I feel like the breed specificdogs, the Frenchies and the English,
they do bring out the crowds.
But then once you're out there,you might fall in love with this
little bulldog mix or another pitbull or any other dog that we have
available for adoption at the time.
So it's definitely a big drawto have English bulldogs and
(13:31):
English, available for adoption.
But I find that people come out andthey meet these dogs and they're
not like the dog that they, isa good match for their family.
And then we have this otherdog that's perfect for them.
And just with a little bit of timeof with them spending, with the
dog and, us encouraging it, weusually can make a great match.
And that's the main reason why we requirepeople to come to adoption events.
(13:54):
Come out, meet all the dogs.
You're looking at a dog, you'rejust looking at its picture.
You might have, or you might nothave even read the description about
the dog, but the look of the dogis what people fall in love with.
When you actually get there, you'd besurprised what you're actually drawn to.
What is the best match for your family.
And we always tell people it'snot first come, first serve.
(14:16):
I remember we had an incident at oneof our very first Christmas events.
It was like our first bigevent that I participated in.
And it was a man and he was insistentthat he was the first one at the
event and he was adopting that dog.
And I'm like, I'm sorry sir.
That's not how it works.
And he was furious, absolutely furious.
Michael had to step in.
And I don't even remember, whatdeescalated the situation, but I know
(14:40):
that he was just insistent that hewas their first and the dog was his.
I'm like, that's just nothow it works, unfortunately.
Dixie (14:46):
Yeah, I see.
I run into that on social media if I'mtrying to help people with kittens and
one thing that I absolutely cannot standto is when like a rescue offers to help.
And they're like, oh, I'll think about it.
It's if a rescue is offeringhelp, let 'em take the kittens.
But what they'll do instead isthey'll be like, oh, I already
(15:07):
promised one or two to the personwho said that they wanted them first.
And it's really?
Lisa (15:13):
I'm just shaking and I'm, literally just shaking my head.
Dixie (15:16):
I know.
' Lisa (15:16):
cause I just don't understand, if a rescue is offering to help,
that is like a guarantee that they'regonna back the animals that you
found until they find a forever home.
Whether it's financially or whether it'sjust at, doing the social media work
and advertising the animal on Petfinder.
It's just, I don't know.
(15:38):
Back in the day that's how Istarted with Bulldog Rescue.
I.
Follow through.
That's all I did.
I committed to an animal and thisrescue that I'd never even met,
stepped up financially, and I'vebeen with them, for the last, I think
I, 12 years, 10 years, a long time.
I should have looked atthose dates beforehand.
(16:00):
It's been a
while.
I can't even remember.
So technically I'm the vice president.
I handle intakes, so if you send in asurrender request I will look at it.
If we've got a fosterhome that's a good match.
If know, I try to set up the intakes,mostly try to pull our dogs from shelters.
Most people just text me, from theanimal shelters and ask for help.
(16:24):
I know most of the people that workat the local shelters and, like
as far as like Baton Rouge downin Chalmette, things like that.
Most of the time they just have my phonenumber and I work closely with them.
I just get the details.
I, get some pictures.
I run it by Michael and let him knowwhat we're looking at commitment wise.
Usually it's medical stuff that Michael'sworried about, but now I have a specific.
(16:47):
Criteria for animals that I can pull andhelp so that I don't dig ourselves into
a huge financial hole and halt things.
But rescue's always that way.
It's always gonna be how much timedo I have to go out and advocate
for the animals and raise money?
We do an online auction.
Now we're doing it twice a yearwhere we basically just auction
(17:10):
off items that have been donated.
And the money comes straight tous and we just ship the items
out to people all across thecountry to whoever, buys the item.
They just bid on 'em online.
And then we usually have merchandise,which we have just reordered some
t-shirts and, we always have ourdonation button on Facebook and,
you can donate through Venmo.
(17:31):
We have all the things.
It just gets away from you when you'rehelping dogs and you're not looking
at what's in the bank account andwhat the vet, has on their tally.
So yeah it can easily get outta control.
But it's, we've been around a long time.
We just took a little break, but we'renot down and out, I still have dogs here.
(17:51):
Un unfortunately, I had twodogs come back in November.
Their dad that's had some medical issues.
So I've got, two dogs here that werein a home for almost five years that
are now looking for homes again.
Either together or separately.
But that's just, in the lastyear we've been pushing some
of our long-term fosters.
We got Petey adopted into a great home,and then cobalt and Susie came back.
(18:15):
And then, like I said, I just this weekwent down and pulled a new Frenchie.
So poor guy doesn't evenhave a name at this point.
. Just the one they gave him at theshelter and he doesn't know it
and I don't particularly like it,so we're just going with here.
Your dog.
You're a good boy rightnow, so come on, dog.
That's what I tell him.
Come on, dog.
And he's smart.
(18:36):
He got the routine literally in a day andhe knows how to open the crate that he
is in, so he has to be, locked in there.
Dixie (18:42):
Nice.
Lisa (18:43):
Very smart.
He was, he watched me close the crateone time and then was scratching
out the door like two minutes later.
I'm like, oh, he figured out thathe could just push the crate up.
It's just a crate that drops down andit's supposed to lock in place, but
it didn't stay in place apparently.
Uhhuh.
Yeah,
so that happened.
Unfortunately, I've got, a coupledogs with storm fearers currently
(19:04):
and I just put extra clips and extrazip ties, got cameras in that room
and just monitor when I'm not hereand make sure everybody's okay.
Especially 'cause it's summer showers.
Dixie (19:14):
Yeah.
Lisa (19:15):
It's constantly having a thunderstorm around
Dixie (19:18):
yeah.
It's amazing how smart they are too.
'cause they will figure it out fast.
Lisa (19:23):
Yes, Uhhuh.
I've got a couple they canopen kennels, including the
one that's laying on the floor.
She's in a very thick, likealmost steel bared kennel.
And her lock drops down and slidesback and she can undo both of them.
Dixie (19:37):
Wow.
Lisa (19:37):
In
record time.
Yeah, it's pretty amazing to behonest, because this is her store
kennel, the same exact kennel.
This is the third one.
Just because she's got storm fearsand when she's younger she just
destroyed the crates trying to get out.
When she gets out, shedoesn't do any damage.
It's just that when I leave the house,everybody needs to be kenneled 'cause
everyone doesn't always get along.
(19:59):
And I bring new dogs in from the shelter.
I have no idea, if anotherdog is gonna break out.
And then I've got two loosedogs in one room and not home.
When I've done rescue for a long time,I've got all the bases covered to make
sure that I keep everyone safe includingmyself, but mainly the animals, like
when I'm not here and I can't supervise,everyone's kenneled in their own separate
(20:21):
kennels and I just make sure everybody'scalm before I walk out that front door.
I don't leave the house whenthe dogs are going berserk.
I've got a nice routine whereeverybody's in their kennels, at
least 10, 15 minutes before in caseanybody's got separation anxiety.
When they hear me hit the buttonon the door, usually it's, if they
know that this is the routine,they know I'm about to leave.
(20:42):
Everybody seems to begood with that routine.
I just keep it the same way with mykittens even I, they go in and out
of a large dog kennel that's in thebathroom, that's like their nighttime.
I co I cover 'em at night.
I'm trying to teach 'em nighttime andsleepy time, so they're not at their
new homes running crazy at night.
They're already used to the fact thatthey have to be sleeping at nighttime and
(21:03):
they're up and playing during the day.
And when I go to work, they goback into, their dog kennel when I
come home, they come out and theyeat, and we do it all over again.
The dogs go out, the kittens get out.
It's just a constant revolving who'sin the house and who's in the yard.
Dixie (21:17):
What do you do if you have to evacuate for a hurricane?
Lisa (21:22):
That hasn't happened yet.
I've only had smallerhurricanes to deal with.
I've got a very large generator in thebackyard and three air conditioning units
and , for Ida, I stayed I had way too manyanimals at that point in life to evacuate.
I've got less animals now, but withthe equipment that I have now, I can
(21:44):
stay here, run the refrigerator, runeverything that I need to just as long
as I can get gas for the generator andthat hasn't seemed to be a problem.
My family also stays, so I've got mybrother and my parents seven minutes from
me, and everybody is on the same page.
Everybody checks in.
Then my brother will come over and help meget the generator and the AC unit's going.
(22:05):
Usually I stay.
The last big storm that I leftfor was Katrina, and at that
time I did take my animals withme, my two dogs and my two cats.
And then I haven't evacuatedfor a storm since then.
Dixie (22:17):
Yeah.
To be honest, same with me.
I stayed for Ida as well.
We had the generator.
Makes sense.
Lisa (22:21):
Yeah, I technically have two generators, but one of them will run
the, my house and the neighbor's house.
It's massive.
It tells me what percentage I use.
I've never used more than 20%of the battery at one time.
I'm thankful for that thing is a Macdaddy, but it is heavy to Manhandle
and to move around and it can'tsit out there If it's not running
(22:43):
well, it might be able to now.
But Petey used to eat the wires.
I had to repair both of the generatorsbecause once you turn them off,
Petey is like, oh, that thing was,that giant thing was making noise.
And he would chew onthe wires and the hoses.
He liked to eat the hoses.
Don't know why.
Random dog things.
Dixie (23:02):
Uhhuh.
Yeah.
They eat anything.
Some of 'em anyway.
Lisa (23:06):
Yeah.
Definitely.
Dixie (23:08):
That's what I like seeing to keep those posts where they show the
vets on what they pull out of the dog'sstomachs and sometimes it's just amazing.
Lisa (23:15):
Yeah, that is absolutely interesting to watch.
'cause I've had a dog that cameto me from Baton Rouge and what
was in his stomach was not partsof things that were at my house.
So wherever he came from, beforehe was at the Baton Rouge shelter
or at the Baton Rouge shelter waswhat was in his stomach poor guy.
And he did have to have it extracted.
(23:36):
Piece of like plasticblack mat or something.
I don't even know.
I don't have a mat like that.
So it definitely didn'tcome from my house.
Dixie (23:43):
So how is your setup for your kittens?
Lisa (23:46):
So currently my kittens have a large dog kennel that sits up
on top of my bathroom cabinet.
So it makes my.
Bathroom, basically just kitten land.
The sink is inaccessible at thispoint and they've got a litter box
in there and they've got a stuffedthe animal and their food and water.
And then , their wet food andwater and their dry food go in
(24:07):
and out of the kennel with them.
And I feed like mom and baby catand frisky's kittens mixed together
as per what Rachel sent home.
And we do a little bitof forti flora in there.
And sometimes I put some thrive ontop, a little baby kitten thrive.
And then when I have the dogs loose inthe house, everyone except for Rhonda,
usually they are locked into the bathroomand there's like a larger litter box
(24:33):
for the adult cats in there and toysand then their food and water are down.
And then whenever I finish rotatingthe dogs as, as long as I'm
gonna have some peace and quiet.
In the house, dogwise, I'lllet the kittens come out.
And they storm the door like it's,Armageddon is running out like maniacs.
They're right at eight weeks old.
They know their names.
It's Cheeto, Dorito and Frito.
(24:54):
Two little redheads and a little buff guy.
They're all boys and that's, basicallymy process with them is let them have
as much out time from their dog crate.
The minute that I'm up in themorning, they hear me in the bathroom.
'cause that's one ofthe first things I do.
Let the dogs out and then I go to thebathroom and that's when they come out
and I mix their food and the minute thattheir food is mixed, they're storming
(25:15):
back into the bathroom when I call them.
And then that's pretty much how their daystarts and we just do it all day long.
They come in and out of the bathroom whenthe dogs are going in and out and, when
I leave they're in their dog kennel andwhen I sleep, they're in their dog kennel.
They're just so little at this point.
I can't misplace them in the housebecause I've got to move the dogs around.
So it's all very controlled by me justto make sure that everyone is safe and
(25:40):
that the kittens, are gaining weight.
We're going in for our kitten shots.
Dorito wasn't feeling well lasttime, so he did not get his
second round of injections.
We just finished with our antibiotics.
So I'm hoping this week to get Dorito in.
Excuse me, and have hissecond set of kitten vaccines.
Once they get two pounds, they'llget neutered and move hopefully
(26:02):
to Jefferson feed for adoption.
If not, I will just hold ontothem , as long as need be.
That's what you do whenyou volunteer to foster.
At least that's what I do whenI volunteer to foster it, is
all the way through the end.
Even if I've got that dog forfive years or these kittens for
five years at my house it's just,
i'm committed and that's the mostimportant thing is that, I signed up to
(26:25):
make sure that these guys got adoptedand that's how it's gonna be, whether
it takes a couple weeks or five years.
That's just how I am.
I guess it's a good quality to have.
I'm definitely committed to myanimals every, and I've got,
this one takes heart meds.
That one, gets bronchitis.
The bulldog's got, a micro orbital eye.
(26:45):
I've got a cat with no eyelids.
He also has stomatitis.
Simon got his entropion fixed this year.
I adopted a cat from Trad Dat Cat, and Iwas told that he had herpes in his eye.
And I was like, okay, likeit's not a big, huge deal.
Like we'll just continue to treatit well, didn't get any better.
And we went to the eye specialistafter we'd seen my vet twice and
(27:07):
done some expensive meds as perwhat Rachel was telling me, they had
used similar with a similar, issuewith the cat with herpes in the eye.
And that didn't work.
So the eye specialistis no, he has entropion.
So then we got that fixed.
That's just what you dowhen you have an animal.
You have an issue, you fix it.
(27:27):
Absolutely.
Or you do your best to maintainit or treat it or whatever.
Rhonda's heart meds are $130 a month andI go and pick them up every single month.
That's just because she needs them.
She's got a left ventricle issue.
She's 14 years old.
Whoever had her tied to a tree on a twoinch, or not two inch, I think it was two
(27:49):
feet, maybe it wasn't very large rope inthe backyard for two years of her life,
didn't give her heartworm prevention.
So by the time we got her andsaved her, she had enough damage
onto her heart that she's got anissue with her left ventricle.
Over the years that unfor it, itfortunately has not changed, but she's
still on an expensive heart med twicea day for years now, and she'll be
(28:13):
on those meds until she passes away.
And hopefully that's no time soon.
Oh my old girl.
Dixie (28:19):
And how old is she
Lisa (28:20):
14.
Dixie (28:21):
Wow.
Yeah.
Lisa (28:22):
She's still spry.
She'll still jump all over my dadwhen my dad comes to cut the grass.
And she still sounds ferocious.
If she's loosened, she,you knock on the door.
And that's, that's the mainthing I need you to know.
We got dogs here whenyou knock on my door.
Dixie (28:37):
Wow.
14.
And she's got heart problems.
That's amazing.
Lisa (28:41):
Yeah, she's been around for a long time.
She's been relatively healthy Besidesher heart issue she's had a hematoma in
her life and the latest thing was a UTI.
And she's been extremely healthy.
But obviously, we trytake care of our animals.
We feed quality food, everybody.
Sees the vet when they need to getstheir heartworm prevention on time.
(29:02):
We, I just do what a responsible petowner should do for their animals.
I just, happen to own more cats thanI do dogs, but I run a dog rescue,
I tell people that and they laugh.
I'm like, I didn't even have a bulldogin my home as my personal pet for five
years when I was doing bulldog rescue.
So my first bulldog I adoptedafter I'd already been with
(29:23):
this rescue for five years.
Dixie (29:24):
Huh.
Lisa (29:24):
And
that was Monty.
I'm on my third now.
So I had Monty and Lucy who bothhad serious behavior issues.
Monty much less than Lucy, Lucycouldn't even hardly leave the house.
It was very.
Very one-sided relationship.
But I was her mama.
I nursed her back to health and handfed her When she got pneumonia, she was
(29:45):
down to 34 pounds and spent a coupleweeks in ICU over at Metairie Small.
And yeah, I was pretty muchthe only one that could handle
her and that was fine by me.
Unfortunately, she didn't live very long.
It was only 18 months from thedamage that was done to her heart.
She had, serious heart problems.
(30:07):
When it was time I took her in andstayed with her and it was time.
So I only had her for 18 months.
But the.
Trail on social media and Craigslist.
I think she had at least four ownersand was heartworm positive for at
least five years before I got her.
Dixie (30:22):
Oh, wow.
Lisa (30:23):
'cause
after we posted about her, peoplecame out of the woodwork going,
I saw this dog on Craigslist.
I saw her on Facebook two years ago.
She was heartworm positive.
Then someone gave her away on Craigslist.
At that point I knew that she had someserious issues along her life, uhhuh
with humans treating her horribly.
You could tell, you couldn'ttouch the broom in the house.
(30:44):
If you grabbed the paper towels,it was on like Donkey Kong.
She would come after you sometimescoming out of the bathroom.
If you were holding something inyour hands, anything didn't matter
what color, just holding somethingin your hands, your dirty clothes.
She'd get up and go out of her wayto charge you just because she could.
No other reason.
I couldn't figure out a rhymeor a reason to what set her off.
(31:06):
Just knew that I couldn't carrythings around in the house much
and she was loose, or I runthe risk of her charging me.
So
she never hurt me, but
she definitely showed me that Iwas not in charge of this house.
Dixie (31:17):
Yeah.
That's sad.
Even sad though.
Lisa (31:18):
Yeah.
And it wasn't her fault.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It really wasn't.
And she let me do all the things to her.
Like I could clean her wrinkles in eventhe most girly spots and she would let me
Dixie (31:28):
so how many pets do you have.
Lisa (31:30):
So I own two dogs and four cats.
Three are strictly inside and oneis still from my shelter TNR days.
I had to relocate her here.
Thankfully I relocated her here 'causeshe ended up with a diaphragmatic
hernia repair that needed to be done.
But she's my last outside cat andthat, that's it, four cats, two dogs.
(31:50):
But I'm just one person that's morethan enough for just me to handle.
And then I've got thethree dogs here in rescue.
Technically four 'cause of Rhonda,but she's my forever foster.
Unfortunately, she's, she doesn'treally go to events and she needs
a very specific home and with heartissues at the age of 14, I don't
think that she's gonna go anywhere.
(32:11):
She's technically my dog.
She sleeps in bed with me.
Dixie (32:14):
Thank you, Lisa, for joining me today to talk about your role
with New Orleans Bulldog Rescue andeverything that you do in animal rescue.
We will be back next week with Lisa tofinish up our conversation about some of
the things that she has experienced inanimal rescue, and we'll also discuss TNR.
(32:34):
So we hope to see you next week.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
A hundred percent goes to our animals..
Thanks for listening.
And that's all the time wehave for today's episode.
If you are in animal rescue, or ifyou know someone that has a story that
(32:56):
should be told, please contact us.
We would love to haveyou or them on the show
. Thanks for listening, and pleasejoin us next week as we continue to
explore the world of animal rescue.
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