The South Shore News & Tribune
Apollo Beach Couple Ready To Rescue
Tribune photo by LOIS KINDLE
Hillary Stewart's latest foster dog, Riley, a 6-month-ols vizsla, came from a backyard breeder in trouble with animal services.
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Published: June 11, 2008
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APOLLO BEACH - When Hillary Stewart and her husband, Michael, head home from their jobs each day, they have four foster kids waiting for them - only these are not the two-legged variety.
The Stewarts most certainly are foster parents but their charges are all sorts of canines that come to them from rescue operations needing to find temporary quarters for the abused or abandoned animals.
In 2004, a Jack Russell terrier named Pike was the couple's first foster dog. He came to them through Russell Rescue, a national service that works with local animal shelters to place animals before they have to be euthanized.
Pike had been abandoned by his owners for his hyperactivity, which the breed is known for.
"He adjusted really well for us," Hillary Stewart said. "We took Pike to a doggy day care to settle him down some, and we fell in love with him. So instead of finding him a permanent home, we decided to keep him and get him a companion dog to wear him out."
That dog's name was Kip, another Jack Russell, who kept getting passed over because he was the runt of the litter.
Then came Nitro, so badly abused by his owner in Miami, he has people issues to this day.
"We kept him because no one would have adopted him," Hillary Stewart said. "He would have been put down."
The Stewarts don't keep all their foster pups. Over the years, they've fostered and placed six dogs in the area, one in Texas and one in California. Now they're working with UnderDog Rescue of Florida, a Palmetto-based service.
Recently, the Stewarts got another dog, a 6-month-old vizsla that Hillary Stewart is crazy about. In fact, she's keeping her.
"Riley came from a backyard breeder in trouble with animal services," she said. "She smelled worse than road kill.
"I can never say no. Rescue groups can only work if people are willing to help."
As she waits for a female Jack Russell that is coming from a puppy mill being shut down in Georgia, she wants to get the word out that more foster parents are needed, as well as potential owners.
"People are really starting to understand the whole puppy mill problem, thanks to people in the news like Oprah Winfrey shedding light on it," Hillary Stewart said. "The Humane Society estimates more than 90 percent of the dogs sold through the Internet and in retail stores come from puppy mills. What a price people are paying for them.
"For that reason alone, I hope adopting a rescue dog seems more appealing to people now."
For information on UnderDog Rescue, call (941) 713-6531, (941)722-0308 or (941) 729-8290.
Hillary and Mike Stewart are the owners of the Give a Dog a Bone dog and cat specialty store in Apollo Beach. You can reach them at (813) 641-3734.
Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 731-7459 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.
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