Rescue Finds Homes at Gulfport's Get Rescued

Animal rescue organizations return year after year to the Gulfport's Get Rescued pet street festival to find forever homes for their furry friends.

Friends of Pep Border Collie Rescue were among the groups set up on Beach Boulevard on Saturday, Feb. 23 with puppies and dogs ready for adoption. Katie Scott was happy to report they had adopted out 11 dogs as a result of the event. Scott says that includes day-of adoptions and adoptions that followed on Sunday after the event.

"We just want to find them good homes," she said.

Friends of Pep Board Collie Rescue started in 2007 and has placed 12,800 animals from high kill shelters up and down the East Coast. Scott has been with the organization since the beginning. She and dedicated volunteers like Frieda Gilford have been rescuing animals from West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky and other surrounding states.

While the organization is based out of Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, Scott lives near Gulfport during the winter and helps find forever homes for her rescues year-round.

When asked why Scott has dedicated her life to helping animals, she replied,"You get the lists everyday and I mean you close them everyday because you can't help them all." Scott referred to euthanasia lists. "We save as many as we can," she said.

Frieda Gilford has been helping transport dogs for the border collie rescue and several other organizations since she retired in 2010.

"Somebody's gotta speak for the one's that can't speak," Gilford said.

Gilford lives in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but drives as far as Minnesota to pick up dogs that are scheduled to be euthanized. Before retiring, Gilford worked for an animal shelter for 17 years.

For more information about Friends of Pep Border Collie Rescue, check out their Facebook Page and Petfinder Account.

Related Coverage:

• Video: Gulfport's Get Rescued's Full of Puppy Love
• Photo Gallery: Gulfport's Get Rescued 2013
• Meet Our Pup; Adopted at Gulfport's Get Rescued

Editor's Note: My family adopted a puppy from Friends of Pep Board Collie Rescue at Gulfport's Get Rescued. Learn more about our new family member in my opinion article, "Meet Our Pup; Adopted at Gulfport's Get Rescued."     

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