About our group, well, Joy Martin, the broker/owner of Marr Properties, owns a barn in the Redland. Down the street from the barn, there once was an animal shelter, now closed. However, people still go and finding no shelter, dump their animals there. So, there are often strays around the barn. Typically, the most animals we had at a time was about three dogs, at least until Easter weekend, 2007, when Joy and her husband Brad where riding their horses and came upon a huge black bin on the side of the road. When they looked in, they were horrified to see it filled with tiny puppies that had no food or water and were left to bake in the hot Florida sun. People driving by would have never known any living (barely) creatures were inside. There were 8 (!) puppies in the bin, which we took to the vet, got them all their shots and had them de-wormed. We sent out an e-mail about the puppies and got a tremendous outpouring from people who were shocked by the story and interested in them. Seven of the puppies found good homes within 2 days.
One pup, Molly, had been ill so we did not try to find a home for her while we had multiple tests done; they revealed that she had a blockage and would need surgery to fix the problem. For all of our previous rescues, Joy had been paying out of her pocket for their shots and other expenses but we had never had anything this serious. So once again, we sent out an e-mail asking for help. We were thrilled that all the funds needed for Molly's surgery arrived in less then 48 hours. Molly's surgery was undertaken quickly. Unfortunately, the night after Molly's surgery, she passed away in her sleep.
The following day was very emotional for all of us and we decided that this happened for a reason and that in order to help more animals we should start a non-profit rescue group so that people can make tax-deductible donations and in that way, we can help many more animals and that’s how this organization, Marr-velous Pet Rescues and Adoptions, began. A few months ago, we started the voluminous paperwork, have already gotten our corporate papers and are now just waiting for our 501(c)3 status to come through. Five years later and hundreds of adoptions later we are still excited about what we do!
Key Largo has no other rescue groups that we know of for dogs; the Humane Society, which does not put down the animals they receive, is a wonderful organization, however.
