Small paws, big cause
By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent June 25, 2011 9:12PM
Marcia James of Franklin carries her Bichon Molly during the Bichon Bash, a fund-raiser for Small Paws Rescue, at the Canine Country Club Saturday, June 25, 2011, in Valparaiso, Ind. | Scott M. Bort~Sun-Times Media
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For more on Small Paws Rescue, go to www.smallpawsrescue.org.
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Updated: October 28, 2011 12:02PM
VALPARAISO — In 1998, Robin Pressnall saw an ad on the Internet for an American Kennel Club-registered Bichon Frise, on sale for $75. She left her home in Tulsa, Okla., and headed to the Missouri town where the dog was for sale.
“When I got there, it was one of the worst puppy mills in state history,” she recalled Saturday, adding there was a dead horse in the yard.
She purchased Chipper, the dog she came for, who is now 13, as well as its parents, to rescue them from lives of abuse. Thanks to Pressnall’s efforts, the sellers pleaded guilty to charges of animal abuse — not for the puppy mill they ran, which was not illegal, but for the dead horse.
That was the start of Small Paws Rescue, a Bichon Frise rescue organization that has rescued more than 8,000 dogs since it started and has been featured on Animal Planet and Fox News.
Pressnall, who is co-founder executive director of the nonprofit, was one of the guests at the area’s first Bichon Bash, a fundraiser for Small Paws held Saturday at the Canine Country Club, a private dog park.
About 50 people, each with at least two Bichons, were expected at the bash, which included portraits of people and their dogs, a silent auction and a cutest dog costume contest.
Pressnall, who has three Bichons, said the small, fluffy white dogs are distant relatives of the standard poodle, though they have been a unique breed for several centuries.
The dogs were once owned by royalty and called “circus dogs” because of their often-amusing antics. Their name, she added, translates to “cheery lap dog.”
“This is our first event here, and we tried to get some place centralized,” Pressnall said, adding Small Paws has about 12 such events throughout the country each year. “We’re tickled with the turnout.”
Rae Steeb started helping rescue Bichons two years ago. The Merrillville woman used to foster larger dogs but she didn’t have enough room.
Steeb, who helped organize the bash, has three Bichons of her own and another two she is providing foster care for, including one that was recently rescued from a puppy mill.
“Bichons are such good natured things,” she said as the dogs at the bash, some in costume, ran after one another. “They all just get along.”
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