• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Dog Shelter Needs Rescue: A NONPROFIT SHELTER FOR RESCUED DOGS ALSO NEEDS A NEW HOME OF ITS OWN

Posted on: Friday, 19 May 2006, 06:04 CDT

By Chuck Rabin, The Miami Herald

May 19--Robbie Coy has done a good thing for a long time, and now he needs a little help.

After months of bickering with a landlord, Coy, owner of the nonprofit dog shelter Sabbath Memorial Dog Rescue, has been evicted from a Hialeah warehouse he used as a kennel for the past six years.

Coy says landlord Rick Suarez forced him out because he wants access to the back of the property for trucks. Coy's dogs have been using the back parking lot, which is shared with a now-closed restaurant, as a dog run.

Suarez says Coy was almost eight months behind in his rent and that his lease expired in January.

Coy said that's when he stopped paying $2,200 a month in rent. Monday, local authorities showed up without warning, according to Coy -- though Suarez denies that -- and told Coy he had two hours to vacate the premises.

"They cut my lock and kicked me out," Coy said.

Why Coy and his pack are leaving isn't all that important. What is important is his ability to care for the homeless creatures.

For now, Coy has moved his 65 dogs across the parking lot to the restaurant. That allows them to roam the same lot near the corner of Northwest 37th Avenue and 46th Street. But now they are boarded in cages next to an old bar and wooden booths inside the building.

They need the air conditioning. It's getting hot out there.

Miami-Dade County's supervisor of animal services, Richard Smith, said an investigator visited Coy Wednesday and all the dogs appear to be in good health. For now, the county will not force him out of the restaurant.

Coy knows he can't stay there for long. He said he plans to build a new kennel near Homestead. He has some money from the T-shirt company, Consortium Enterprises, he ran in a warehouse next to Sabbath Rescue. But he's moving that company, too.

Friends have taken about 25 of Coy's dogs temporarily, but Roscoe, Melanie, Heidi and dozens of others still ramble around, oblivious to their problem.

When Coy's sister and partner, Kathy Siniscalchi, shows up, a pack pounces toward her as if she's the pied piper. Most of the animals are sweet.

Sabbath Rescue has an extensive website. You can easily find places and times where Coy takes the animals -- Saturday mornings, for instance, at a Petco in Pembroke Pines -- if you're interested in adopting a pet.

It's tough to identify what breed most of the dogs are -- a Dalmatian is obvious -- but most others were captured or brought in by folks who no longer could care for them.

And they need permanent homes.

"We rescue abandoned, abused and neglected animals," Coy said. "Animal Services doesn't have a problem with me -- only the landlord does."

HOW TO HELP

If you're interested in adopting a dog or you know of a place where Robbie Coy can shelter his animals permanently, call Coy at 305-799-1567 or e-mail him at SabbathRescue@hotmail.com. His website is www.SabbathRescue.org.

------------

WE'RE WATCHING

It took a mere seven days for Miami-Dade's Department of Public Works to come through and put the fence back up around Catherine Williams' backyard in Perrine. The fence was taken down about six months ago as part of a neighborhood beautification project. Thanks goes to Public Works Director Esther Calas.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Miami Herald

More News in this Category