619-822-3296 
We love meeting people on our journey and one particular one has stood out.
Shelley Mules from Whitewater, WI has been traveling with 3 dogs since December. They left Wisconson on December 1, 2014. Her trip started with a few mechanicals in her 1990 Allegro 37′ RV. Pulling a 20′ trailer with a SUV on it. Because of her first mechanical she had to be towed back to Illinois until her rig was fixed. However, she traveled for 2 ½ months without a water heater until she got to Texas and a friend helped her get one. She relied on $12. Truck stop showers!
Because she is disabled she can stay in Army Corps and State parks for half price which helps with her costs. It is whats called an access pass. She is not traveling for any specific reason but she loves to volunteer and meet people.
She traveled from Wisconsin to Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans. She stayed there a month, volunteering at Pitbulls and Parolees. She went there once a week to walk dogs at night. She saw a few people from the show but because she worked at night, most people were gone for the day. She did however go out with a bunch of people from there one night.
After New Orleans, she went to Texas. That is where she found 7 black labs on a property that a engineer hoarder lived on. She saw them because 2 of the labs got under the fence that separated her place of stay and the engineers. Her dog went to see what was going on and meet the pups. The puppies were 3 ½ months old. She could tell right away that the dogs were feral and not used to people.
She had her friends call the owner to see if she could spend time with the dogs and help them get used to people. It took 2 weeks of constant companionship to get them used to even come near here. Lots of treats and love talk is what it took. She was still not able to touch any of them.
She was finally able to capture a few of the dogs. But after 2 weeks, the pups got caught in a family of fire ants. The pups were completely swollen. Shelley treated them with hotdogs stuffed with benedryl. One of the dogs refused to eat the hot dogs so she thought she was going to die because she was so swollen. She took 4 of the dogs in her camper with her and her other 3 dogs and took care of them. She was unable to catch the other three. They kept staying close to their feral mom and dad. The pups parents were very aggressive and protective
The entire time this was going on, the owner could care less. He didn’t want any parts of the dogs.. They were feral so there was no getting near them. The owner had a lot of money but he fed the dogs raw chicken and crappy food. He has no desire to catch his dogs so they run around feral. Shelley says he has 2 dogs and 4 litters of kittens. The kittens get to come in the house while the dogs stay outside. They didn’t have trash service so the trash just laid everywhere.
Shelley took care of the four pups that she captured. She built a pen for them out of horse panels. She would bring them in the camper with her other dogs to get them used to people and other dogs.
She took them to a vet after one of the dogs got a UTI. They treated her with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. That cleared up the infection but not the leaking. She may have to have surgery to fix it.
Shelley drove to WACO in her camper with all of the dogs. Seven at this time, 3 of her own and 4 pups. A transporter took 3 of the dogs to Wisconsin because in the southern states there are so many stray dogs that they wouldn’t have got adopted. The one with the UTI could not go because she could not be vaccinated. So she stayed with Shelley, her name is Mesha.
In the meantime, she drove back to Montgomery County and got Missy, the last remaining dog. Missy was so feral that someone had to catch her so that Shelley could take her. They finally caught her and Shelley had her for 2 week and then Missy got spooked by the lawnmower and got away. It took Shelley almost a week to catch her again. She finally caught her by laying in the dirt and inching to her. She reached out and grabbed her foot and got her!
So went to great lengths to save these dogs and she now she has Missy and Meesha and she leaves Montgomery County. She started heading back to Wisconsin, staying in a few places in Texas during the time when the tornados hit. She had to hide camp bathroom with 5 dogs. She had to walk ½ mile with her backpack filled with supplies and 5 dogs. She was in the bathroom for 2 hours. Water was coming in to the bathroom and the winds were whipping! It was a crazy experience.
She made her way to Arkansas via many stops including Walmart parking lots, Army Corp and State parks. She has been here at Lake Catherine for 5 days. She has no plans for the next stop, she just drives approximately 200 miles a day and then finds somewhere to stop.
The reason she did not take them to the Humane Society is because there was a sign on their door saying that they were euthanizing for space. So she sat in the parking lot trying to get a hold of rescues to take the dogs. A women with a little girl saw the pups and fell in love with one of them and took her home with her. So Sara was the first to get adopted!!
She took them to an adoption event. The lady took Shelley’s name because she said someone is always looking for a lab. Within 3 hours, Moose had a home! Shelley has spoken to them since and they love Moose!
Three of the dogs went to Wisconsin and all 3 got adopted! So now Shelley is traveling with the last 2 and she is determined to find them a great home. Meesha may still need surgery.
Shelley already has 3 rescue dogs that are “expensive” free dogs. Two of the three have had to have surgery. To say that Shelley loves dogs is an understatement. She lives in her RV and is committed to helping dogs everywhere. One of her stops on her way home is going to be at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. Who knows, she may just stay there!
We love meeting people like Shelley. We have met so many interesting people along our journey and look forward to talking and getting to know a lot more a long the way!
