By Jacqueline Vaughn
Northern Arizona’s Role in Blackhat Humane Society’s Rescue Work
I’m not exactly sure where I first met Chris Cape, but it was likely along a stretch of highway in east Flagstaff. In 2017 Chris asked me to help bring animals from the Navajo reservation to fosters and new homes in northern Arizona, and I began transporting dogs and cats.
Chris was the most visible face of Blackhat Humane Society, a volunteer, foster-based organization that works to rescue animals, find them homes, and support spay and neuter on the Navajo Nation. Sprawling reservation lands cover about 27,000 square miles within Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah — about the size of the state of West Virginia. No one knows how many stray or abandoned animals exist on the rez, with estimates up to 200,000. Tamara Martin, one of the group’s founders said in an interview that “animal control on the reservation is about 50 years behind.” Veterinary services on Navajo lands are almost non-existent, provided mostly by non-Navajo organizations such as Soul Dog Rescue, and Rez Dawg Rescue.
Begun in 2000 and currently based in Durango, Colorado, Blackhat Humane Society is named after a rock formation in the Tse Bonito area of McKinley County, New Mexico. Blackhat has no office and no employees. Volunteers use their own vehicles to travel Navajo lands. Existing almost exclusively on donations, Blackhat also publishes a popular calendar, “Dogs of the Navajo.” The group has long had ties to Flagstaff through a dedicated cadre of transporters bringing rez dogs through the city on their way to foster homes throughout Coconino and Yavapai counties.
The “2020 Dogs of the Navajo” calendar is available on the Blackhat website.
Chris served as president from her home in Gallup, New Mexico, operating an unofficial kennel on property purchased using funds inherited from her mother. She’d been a teacher in Sanders, Arizona and was active in the Southwest rodeo circuit. Chris was known for picking up strays on lonely reservation roads and bringing them to Flagstaff because potential adopters weren’t willing to drive out to the rez to meet a dog. Her work ended in April 2018 when she was killed in a head-on crash on Ute tribal land after transporting two Blackhat dogs to potential adopters. Her death at age 54 was a devastating loss, and supporters worried about the organization’s future. Chris traveled constantly on desolate roadways to pick up strays, transferring them to transporters, finding homes for them in Flagstaff and surrounding communities, and meeting with the Blackhat network.
Chris’ legacy lives on through fosters like Marguerite Hendrie of Flagstaff who volunteered as a foster with High Country Puppy Rescue in 2013 and a few years later began fostering for Blackhat. Marguerite estimates that she has fostered as many as 25 animals for Blackhat. She says that one of the common characteristics of rez dogs is resilience—though they have been through so much, many are able to bounce back from injuries, disease, and lack of care.
Currently, Hendrie has one foster dog—Tabitha—a blend of rez genealogy that may or may not include a bit of Rottweiler. Tabby had a litter before she was spayed, and recently had surgery to repair a broken femur. Veterinarians discovered scars on her hip from road rash, most likely from being hit by or thrown from a car, not uncommon on the reservation.
Despite her injuries, Tabby is a happy-go-lucky 2-year-old who likes cats, other dogs, and kids. Hendrie spends her spare time with her 8-year-old daughter and one or two fosters. “Limiting the number of animals allows me to give them one-on-one attention,” she says, “teaching skills, taking them to different places, and showing them love.”
Working with Blackhat Humane Society means volunteers get an introduction to the Navajo Nation and small communities such as: Thoreau, Steamboat, Groundhog, and Mexican Water. Many of the dogs that make their way to Flagstaff come from Pinon, Arizona, in the center of the Nation.
Current Blackhat president Cindy Yurth sends out a weekly email to fosters. Volunteers help transport the animals. Animals may go to Flagstaff, Cottonwood, or Prescott. Others go to fosters in Albuquerque, Phoenix, Durango, Sanders, or Chinle. Blackhat also finds homes online through PetFinder and holds adoption events. Hendrie says she often takes her foster dogs to local pet-friendly breweries, using “Adopt Me” vests to attract adopters. Blackhat’s mission and reputation means dogs volunteers foster may end up adopted to families just about anywhere. One dog, Gracie, was flown to a new home in Florida, Flagstaff volunteer Moran Henn flew with another to Washington, others went to homes in Wyoming, Montana, and Pennsylvania.
While Chris Cape’s death was a blow to the organization, Blackhat Humane Society—like a rez dog—is resilient. The group now has several rescue partners including, Nuzzles & Co. (Park City, Utah), Good Dog Rez-Q (St. John’s, AZ), Pets Return Home (Clarkdale), Cooper’s Chance (Phoenix), and Mutt Matchers (Williams).
Blackhat is a well-known presence in Flagstaff, participating in events including Barks & Brews, the Cornucopia Fall Festival, NAZ Pet-A-Palooza, and entered a Hendrie-designed float in the 2019 Flagstaff Holiday Parade of Lights. Volunteers help pet owners on the reservation by delivering food, taking dogs to veterinary appointments, and raising spay/neuter awareness. Chris Cape would be proud.
Blackhat is always looking for fosters and transporters. They support fosters by paying for vet visits and supplies. Transporters are reimbursed for mileage.
Blackhat Humane Society
P.O. Box 3123 Durango, CO 81302
(724) 355-9053 blackhathumanesociety.org
Volunteer Drivers Transport Kindred Hearts’ Animals
By Jacqueline Vaughn
Several northern Arizona women regularly volunteer with Kindred Hearts Transport Connection, (KHTC), a Florida-based non-profit helping dogs and cats (and occasionally a miniature pig or bird or rabbit) get to where they are supposed to be. Their mission is simple — to get animals in need from Point A to Point B using a relay system of volunteer drivers.
Kindred Hearts works like an Olympic torch relay, with drivers instead of runners. Drivers use their own vehicles and pay for their own fuel. The organization usually coordinates 10 to 20 transports (runs) every weekend throughout the US and occasionally into Canada, typically relocating animals from a shelter to a rescue group, or a rescue group to an adopter. KHTC also helps reunite owners with animals stolen or lost during automobile accidents, or assists military personnel relocating or being deployed.
Kindred Hearts is considered by many in animal welfare to be the preeminent volunteer animal transport organization. They thoroughly vet their drivers and have an extensive record. Their online volunteer application is detailed and asks about hours and days an applicant can drive and whether they’re willing to foster an animal in transit.
Susan Sabala-Foreman, a KHTC driver, on her first transport, served as part of a team that delivered three rescued pups from Mexico to San Diego. Sabala-Foreman lives south of Flagstaff and most of her transport assignments are on weekends. A typical route will take her from Flagstaff to Holbrook or west on to Seligman. She occasionally meets a KHTC transporter in Sedona for animals going south to Phoenix.
Typically, a shelter or rescue submits a request with information about the animal: where it’s from and needs to go, health information, and special information. Sometimes young puppies will be transported “No Paws on the Ground,” not yet have been vaccinated and developed immunity. Those puppies are kept in a crate and receive limited handling during the transfer. A Transport Coordinator establishes the route and schedule, and the legs needed. Legs average 60 miles one way, although drivers in the West often drive as many as 120 miles one way. KHTC contacts potential drivers in their database (by text or email) to see if they are available for a section. It may take weeks to set up the details of a run.
Although it’s rare that a transport runs into problems, drivers know that, well, stuff happens. KHTC coordinators carefully monitor weather and traffic. The organization emphasizes safety for both drivers and passengers. Sabala-Foreman says, “KHTC supports safety over keeping to the schedule.” She carries a transport kit that includes everything from paper towels to extra leashes. “It’s like bringing supplies to care for a human baby.”
KHTC requires animals have a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) health certificate from an accredited veterinarian that satisfies state, interstate, or tribal regulations, although not usually included in a local or intra-state transport through Arizona.
What advice does Sabala-Foreman give to those considering becoming a transporter for a group like Kindred Hearts? “You must truly love animals — you need that big heart. You must be committed. Be honest with your ability to help.”
Other KHTC transporters point out that your commitment is not only to the animal, but to other drivers depending on you. She admits, “I was a pretty hot mess on my first solo transport, but after that, nothing could stop me! “Knowing that you helped little souls who couldn’t help themselves or their circumstances, is the most gratifying and happy experience.”
For information on becoming a Kindred Hearts transport driver: www.kindredheartstransportconnection.org
Southwest Greyhound X-Change Transports Greyhounds to Arizona
Forty formerly racing greyhounds left Kansas for homes in Arizona and New Mexico. The truck arrived on Dec. 7 in Camp Verde, then went on to deliver dogs to Phoenix and Tucson. Transport was organized by a coalition of greyhound organizations and paid for by Greyhound Pets of America. Dogs were transported from dog-racing tracks and farms to a location in Kansas, then loaded onto the transport truck for travel to the Southwest.
Dog racing will end in Florida on January 1, 2021. Estimates of the number of dogs that will need homes varies. (More about the Florida track closings in the May-June issue.) Greyhounds of the Verde Valley, Racing Home (a prison program that trains the dogs for adoption), and Arizona Adopt A Greyhound (AAGI) all received dogs.
Local groups are responsible for veterinary costs including spay/neuter, microchipping, fostering, and placing dogs in permanent pet homes. More shipments are planned. If you’re interested in adopting, fostering, or donating you can find your local group by visiting:
www.ngagreyhounds.com/Adopt
