At one time Randy was a one man dog rescue operation with a mission of saving the homeless pets roaming the mean streets of St Louis. After spending years begging his family and friends to take the dogs he'd saved, in 1998 he founded Stray Rescue of St Louis.
 |
| Randy Grim with a dog he's brought in to Stray Rescue for vet care. |
Since then thousands of animals have been saved from abuse and starvation. In fact, since the beginning of his rescue efforts in 1991, Randy has been credited with saving well over 5,000 feral dogs, all of which - through months of gentle loving care - have been turned into house pets and adopted by new families. Many have even gone on to become therapy animals, bringing joy to people in hospitals and nursing homes.
Obviously, Randy loves dogs. Called the Dog Man, he founded Stray Rescue so fewer homeless dogs suffer and die. His passionate crusade has evolved into two no-kill shelters with a legion of over 200 volunteers.
Stray Rescue has received numerous accolades from the American Red Cross and also has received national media attention from Animal Planet, National Geographic, the Weather Channel and Forbes Magazine. In the National Geographic feature, Mary Ann Mott wrote:
"In St. Louis, Randy Grim, founder of Stray Rescue, is out on the streets every day feeding 50 or more mutts. If these wild dogs don't die of sheer starvation, he said, diseases such as parvovirus, heartworm, or intestinal parasites usually kill them. Their average life span is one to two years. Many of the animals he sees were once "bait dogs" - smaller, passive animals used to train fighting dogs. Great Dane puppies are commonly used, he said, and wire is twisted around their legs to hold them down, so they can't run while being mauled during training sessions. "If they live, they are just discarded onto the streets," said Grim. The animals are recognizable by their missing limbs, and scars from the brutal attacks."You can find Randy cruising the roughest neighborhoods every day. Feeding packs of feral dogs, answering calls about dogs left behind in abandoned buildings, investigating suspected dog fighting rings and rescuing those he can in order to take them back to the shelter. There those dogs will be healed with Stray Rescue's form of dogma, rebuilding their minds, bodies and souls.
 |
| Rain, sleet, snow nor heat wave will keep Randy off the streets. |
“These are dogs that belong to no one, the ones animal-control experts can’t catch and humane shelters won’t deal with. They are stray or feral, either abandoned or born wild on the streets, which means they won’t come near humans and statistically won’t live past their second year. And their numbers are growing every day.
You can teach a dog to sit, but to teach a dog to trust humans again requires more than a biscuit. It takes a recipe of love, kindness, patience and understanding their issues and needs, plus a good hot dog to coax them out of their shells." Randy GrimOne man with a passionate loving vision and mission has changed the world for a whole lot of dogs! He makes true the saying:
"One person can make a difference and everyone should try. "
Though you and I may not be able to devote our lives to bettering the life of animals like Randy has, there are things we can do to make a difference. Here are just a few:
- Adopt from an animal shelter or rescue.
- Foster a pet from a shelter or rescue.
- Sponsor a pet from a shelter or rescue.
- Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
- Donate to a shelter or rescue.
- Spread the word and share adoptable pets on social media.
Blog the Change is a quarterly event where we take a day to bring exposure to our favorite animal welfare causes, and the people who are toiling selflessly to help them. Share what’s dearest to your heart, link up to the blog hop — and we’ll all read and share and help make this a better world for our furry and feathered friends!
Join Kim from Cindy Lu's Muse and me in the Blog the Change for Animal blog hop. Grab the code and link up your post!
