Helping The Hounds
EC woman finds homes for unwanted pets
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

Contributed Photo Her Baby Dog rescuer Amy Lewing shows off her Italian Greyhound Bugsy, who won "best costume" at a recent Houston SPCA competition. Lewing says dogs like Bugsy, who happen to be pure-breeds, should not be bred by amateurs.

Amy Lewing never stops trying to clean up the living mess left behind by backyard dog breeders, puppy mills and irresponsible dog owners.

"I swear to God, it makes me so mad," said Lewing, who for some years now has taken it upon herself to find loving homes for dogs abandoned by their owners.

Last year, she helped find homes for 50 dogs either abandoned, dumped or at the city's animal shelter. So far this year, she's placed another 20 to 30 dogs, she said.

Contrary to what some may believe, most of the dogs she rescues are pure-breeds, not mutts.

"I've got a cocker spaniel right now I'm trying to place," she said. "He's a nice dog. He's house-trained. He doesn't jump. You can tell he was somebody's pet, but he ended up at the pound."

Lewing has a network of rescue groups with which she maintains contact on her computer at Lewing Welding. Most of the groups rescue a specific breed of dog, providing medical care, transportation and re-homing services for the unwanted pets.

When Lewing finds a dog she thinks can be saved, she contacts the appropriate group and works with them until the dog is placed in a good home.

Lewing thinks there is a combination of reasons so many expensive pure-breed dogs become unwanted.

"People think they can get a male and a female and breed them," she said. "They do it to make money. If you think you can breed to better the breed, that's one thing. But if you're breeding just to make money, that's wrong."

She said home breeders and puppy mills create problem or sickly dogs who eventually get dumped because those types of breeders don't look into a dog's health history well enough before deciding to breed it.

One of her seven Italian Greyhounds is a case in point: a dog with American Kennel Club papers who came from breeders only interested in making money, which Lewing did not know when she purchased him.

"Unless you know the exact medical background of your dog, it's better to have them spayed or neutered," she said. "My little Bugsy is 'AKC,' but it turns out he was from a puppy mill. He has epilepsy and hyperthyroidism. Yet he's AKC registered. With those medical conditions, do you really think he should be breeding? I say no." Lewing believes there's no reason not to have a dog sterilized unless its a show dog used to improve the breed. And there's no excuse not to have the dog spayed or neutered, she said.

"If you don't have the money to spay or neuter your pet, then don't get an animal," she said. "What makes me really mad are people who don't want to spay or neuter, but then they dump their eight or 10 puppies."

The solution to the dog overpopulation problem, Lewing said, will take a shift in how people acquire and then take responsibility for their pets.

"As long as we buy from backyard breeders and puppy mills, they will think it's easy to get rid of the pups, so they will produce more," she said. "They also sell their puppies without a contract mandating the animals be spayed or neutered. This means the buyers can later breed their own puppies, and the cycle begins.

"We need to break the cycle. Don't buy from backyard breeders or puppy mills. Research your breeder, and research the breed before your purchase to make sure it is the right breed for you."