Cooperative Living March/April 2020 - 13

Rasta works on a chew toy outside
the kennels on the Mecklenburg County
property of Don and Ellen Koch.
came forward and he became the
custody of Sweet Virginia Barn Cats.
They knew he'd be tick-borne positive
for at least two diseases. When Romeo
got in their car for an emergency run to
a Durham, N.C., vet, they figured they
were staring at $1,000 in medical bills.
" There's a lot of faith that comes into
this, " Burnette says softly. " I'm a believer
and every time we need money, it comes
through somehow. It always does and
that's what's kept us going over the last
four years. "
For Romeo, a spa day at Betsy's
it would dearly love a small one. The
board of directors consists of Burnette,
Cassie Boyd and their mothers, all
members of Mecklenburg Electric
Cooperative.
As Burnette's multi-tasking
wingwoman, Boyd holds down regular
jobs, takes online college classes, and
designs logos, crafts and spreadsheets
for the nonprofit. Once, she climbed
into an air-conditioning unit with a
dress on to rescue a kitten.
" It's not just a matter of helping
animals; it's helping people to
help animals. "
- Holly Burnette
" When she came on board, the
chemistry of the group took off like a
missing puzzle piece, " Burnette says.
" From scooping poop to medicating
animals to using her guest bathroom
as an isolation unit to bottle-feed sick
kitties, she never says no. Without her,
the rescue would truly fall apart. "
Romeo already was falling apart. In
late January, Boyd found a shepherdRottweiler
mix who had called it quits
near a highway amid a patch of dead
weeds and discarded coffee cups. He'd
been bobbing in and out of traffic to the
point that his toenails were nubs, worn
down by pounding the asphalt.
He was anemic, covered by 30 ticks,
no tag, no collar, no chip. Burnette and
Boyd called him Romeo, reported him
to animal control, as they always do, and
posted missing dog messages. No one
co-opliving.com
Boarding Kennel & Grooming in
Clarksville, one of Burnette's partners,
was what the doctor ordered. After an
invigorating bath, he shook his coat,
smiled and shook it again. His
treatments are progressing well.
THE KENNEL MASTER
Don Koch always knew he'd leave
New York and Long Island, where
he grew up and practiced law for 30
years. The burly, Santa-bearded Koch
thought it was too crowded, too full of
everything. Now, his home near Buffalo
Junction, Va., is full of fidos.
Koch and his wife Ellen work with
Burnette and Boyd fostering forlorn
canines. A few pens with stopgap roofs
proved unequal to the task, so last year
he built a heated and air-conditioned
kennel with runs for five dogs.
" We were getting some heartwormpositive
dogs and when
they're treated it's important
to keep them in a climatecontrolled
situation, " he says.
" I thought five kennels was
going to be enough but it's
not. I could build another
five kennels and fill them
right up. "
Koch's kennels are not
always filled with displaywindow
quality animals.
Burnette says she often
encounters the saddest of
situations - a dog that lost
an eye or a leg in a fight or
has behavioral issues.
" We're not afraid of long-term fosters.
We're focusing on quality versus
quantity because we only can do so
much, " Burnette says. " We're willing to
invest the time in these dogs that are not
going to stand a chance of getting out of
a kill shelter because they're not pretty. "
Take Rasta, a matted mess of a
retriever mix with dreadlocks so long
that they conjured up Rastafarian
images. He was found subsisting on
road scraps, wandering near a gas
station with a " Brother, can you spare
a dime? " look on his drawn face. He
went unclaimed at Mecklenburg County
Animal Control and would have been
on the euthanasia list had not Koch and
Sweet Virginia Barn Cats taken him in.
Two days later, he licked Koch's hand
for the first time.
" There are some days when I sit in the
corner and go play with my marbles, "
Koch jokes. " We have six dogs of our
own; we may have a dozen dogs around.
There are times when it does get a little
overwhelming, but you just move on.
Grab a roll of paper towels, clean up
the mess and go on. "
CRUSADER
The cats peek out from the woods as
Burnette and Boyd approach the colony.
They're Tolkien creatures; only their
beaming eyes are visible as they evaluate
whether friend or foe is drawing near.
Burnette checks the status of the colony
center - a series of hollowed coolers
with straw beds where cats can take
refuge during inclement weather. When
(continued on page 39)
Donated food can
be lip-licking good.
For more on Burnette's mission, visit
facebook.com/sweetvirginiabarncats
March-April 2020 | Cooperative Living | 11
http://www.facebook.com/sweetvirginiabarncats http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living March/April 2020
