Rhonda Paglia, Children's Author: Rescue Road Warriors in news!

Check it out! Rescue Road Warriors in the News - Bloomburg!

NEW! Children's story - "Duke 'n' Matt, Rescue Road Warriors"

Nonfiction: for kids & families - LOVE pets?

Want to rescue a dog? Prefer to adopt-a-pet? This book is for you!!

Duke 'n' Matt Softcover book - Amazon

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Rescue dog, Duke, tells
his story about his
adoption, and what it's
like to be a Rescue
Road Warrior!

Rescuers relay dogs

to safety

By Leon Bogdan - Press Enterprise Writer

Published: August 20, 2014

BUCKHORN — An animal-rescue network that frees dogs from puppy mills and “high-kill” shelters made a pit stop here last weekend while shuttling dozens of canines to better homes.

In all, 63 dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes were transferred from one caravan of vehicles to another during a brief layover off Interstate 80.

The pets were rescued from mills in Missouri and from Southern states that have few laws in place to protect animals and regulate shelters, advocates say.

“Missouri is the puppy mill capital of the country,” said Keven Creegan, 45, of East Stroudsburg. He and wife Janet picked up a carload of dogs here for the next leg of a transfer trip to foster homes and shelters in New York and New England.

The group — known as the Rescue Road Warriors — has found help north of the border as well. One older hound had a family waiting in Canada.

“We’ve driven in snowstorms with dogs. Through tornado warnings. All kinds of weather,” Janet Creegan said.

“We love dogs. We have seven of our own back home,” her husband added.

The vehicles taking part in the transfer met in a large lot behind Cracker Barrel restaurant.

8,000 saved

The Road Warriors group is a nonprofit founded in St. Louis about five years ago by Kerin Hanson, a no-kill advocate who uses social media like Facebook to coordinate logistics for rescues nationwide.

Hundreds of volunteer drivers have transported roughly 8,000 dogs and cats to designated safe locations since the organization was founded.

For drivers like Ashley Hargraves of Bloomsburg and Helena Maciejewski of Berwick, their work with the Animal Resource Center in Bloomsburg led them to volunteer as shuttle drivers three times so far. They learned of the effort through Facebook.

“We love animals. And these dogs are going to good homes,” said Hargraves, who has no dogs of her own due to rental restrictions. However, her husband is eager to find a new home where they can have pets.

60-to-75-mile legs

She and Maciejewski, her future sister-in-law, transported five dogs from Milesburg to Buckhorn during the recent transport.

On arriving in Buckhorn, about a dozen more vehicles from the Stroudsburg area were waiting to take the dogs to the New York border. Some of the pets were headed even farther north, to Connecticut and Maine.

“Every dog is designated to a rescue shelter or foster home, so even if you like one of the dogs in need of transport you wouldn’t be able to keep it,” Hargraves noted.

The drivers all work with a “run list” that sets times and destinations along with specifics on which dogs will be transported in which vehicle. Volunteers drive an average of 60 to 75 miles.

Most have cages to transport the dogs, but Hargraves and Maciejewski set blankets down.

Anyone interested in volunteering or animal adoption can visit www. rescueroadwarriors.org or email dawgcr8@gmail.com.

From author, Rhonda Paglia

Author Rhonda Paglia
and her dog, Bella [who is not
a puppy mill dog.]

"Duke 'n' Matt, Rescue Road Warrior" is a REAL-LIFE story kids are going to love! Kids will learn about rescue dogs, what it's like to be a Rescue Road Warrior, and how these modern-day heroes help dogs in need get to their new adoptive homes and safe shelters. This book has special learning pages, key vocabulary words and definitions, a map page, and questions for kids to answer.

For kids 3+, reading level grades 2 - 4. For more information and updates, check out: Grammy Pags Stories. "Duke n' Matt ~ Rescue Road Warriors," is Rhonda Paglia "Grammy Pags" fifth children’s book and is curently available from Amazon - soft cover and Kindle.