Volunteer pilots, including East Hampton’s own Dr. George Dempsey, recently came to the rescue of nine puppies and their mother who had been found as strays in a rural town in New Mexico — leading to the puppies’ successful adoption by families here in the weeks since their arrival.
On Nov. 19, according to an announcement by ARF last Thursday, Jan Brentjens and Matthew Pellegrino of Four-Legged Fliers flew seven of the dogs to East Hampton Airport. Dr. Dempsey, the medical director of East Hampton Family Medicine, and David Reinbach brought the remaining two puppies and their mother by plane to East Hampton three days later.
The 10 shepherd-mix dogs had been found “scared and cold” behind a dance studio in Espanola, N.M., and were taken to the local shelter, Espanola Humane, which, according to ARF, was already “at capacity and faced with limited resources.”
Call it a case of right place, right time. Dr. Dempsey was in the area for a family reunion. His cousin, Dr. Tom Parker, just so happens to be the director of medicine at Espanola Humane. Although it took about a month to set up the details, ARF said, a new partnership was born.
In an interview with the KOB 4 “Eyewitness News” program, Dr. Dempsey predicted that the dogs wouldn’t be at ARF for very long — and he was right. “There’s a lot of demand here” for pets to adopt, he told KOB 4.
The puppies, two males and seven females, are now just over 2 months old and in good health, and have all been adopted. Zia, their mother, is also healthy — though still in the care of ARF and awaiting her new home as of press time this week. Details about adopting her, or other homeless dogs and cats, can be found online at arfhamptons.org.
“ARF’s work would not be possible if it weren’t for the efforts of shelters like Espanola — who gave these dogs extraordinary care — and the volunteer pilots who essentially erased the distance between New Mexico and New York. Stories like this make me very proud of our community,” Scott Howe, executive director of ARF, told The Star by email.
