Have you ever looked at the hair bunnies running around on your floor and thought “I really need to vacuum today?” Then, something more urgent comes up and the vacuuming is postponed to another day. Then you get sick and the vacuuming is postponed again. Just when you are getting the vacuum out, you are notified of a death in the family - so the vacuuming is put on the back burner. Then one day, you turn around and you are met with a dozen hair rabbits surrounding you in a threatening way! This (or some version of this) has happened to most of us … even those of us who normally have immaculate houses and stable lives.

A family who deeply loved and cared for their Bassets over a period of several decades had some of those hair bunnies come into their lives in the form of age, illness, and misfortune. Slowly, over a period of several years, the health issues of the family became overwhelming and they realized that they were in crisis -  and so were there bassets. As an act of love, they contacted their local basset rescue and tearfully arranged to relinquish their beloved dogs.

We are highlighting this case as this is exactly how Basset lovers and rescue SHOULD work together. Crises can hit someone at any time and in any situation.

A call came into rescue stating that a family was in crisis and that many Bassets needed to come into rescue at one time. The total count was 11 Bassets - and a 14-day notice to remove the hounds had been given to the family. The local rescue was full and low on foster homes and resources, so there was no room at the inn during this crisis.

An appointment was made for the intake coordinator to see the hounds and evaluate them. What she saw at the initial meeting made it crystal clear that time was of the essence for these hounds and the family. A midnight call for help went out. Over the course of the next week, emails and phone calls flew, resources were gathered, assistance was asked for and a team was put together. At this time we have to thank the movers and shakers who put this together and made it happen, and it became a coordinated effort between Arizona Basset Hound Rescue, DaphneyLand, and the Basset Hound Club of America.

Our team on the ground went in, assisted the family with the surrender and goodbye's to the hounds, bathed, groomed, cleaned, and provided immediate vet care at the scene. One hound was immediately transported to the closest hospital in life-threatening crisis. Another hound was critical and went home with members of the team. Both of those hounds are now in their forever homes. The team then transported the hounds to a local well-equipped boarding facility and medications were begun. Nutritional rehab was started immediately and evaluations, while blood testing results came back, were arranged. These hounds were in serious health crisis. The hounds were then transported to DaphneyLand where the costs would not be as high and where they would be in Basset-specific daily care.

We released the hounds that were transported to Daphneyland from isolation, having finished their 30-day quarantine and medication rounds. The improvement in most of these hounds was remarkable but, sadly, two of them were lost who had such severe cases of Valley Fever and Tick Fever that they could not recover - despite the excellent quality of medical care and love that was lavished on them. After another month of medical treatment and socialization, the remaining dogs were finally ready to be spayed and neutered. We put out a plea to our donor base to raise these funds. Over the next six weeks, funding was sufficient to have all of the dogs spayed and neutered and ready to find new homes.

We are pleased to introduce you to the "Arizona Specials": nine dogs that would not be alive today but for the cooperation of two rescues, BHCA (the national breed club) and its members, the BHCA Foundation, and hundreds of Basset lovers who donated whatever they could to assure these hounds a chance for a happy and healthy life in a forever home.