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Since she was a small child, Danielle Menghini volunteered for the Southeast Kansas Humane Society and dreamed of rescuing animals. Now she’s grown up and the dream has turned into a barking, tail-wagging reality.
She and friend Jennifer Pruitt are the proud, very busy operators of Happy Tails Farms on East 20th.
There’s a house with a small animal room — current residents include two ferrets available for adoption, two kittens and a mother dog with pups.
Outside are around 37 larger dogs who have dog houses inside old rail cars. “But they’re hardly ever in them, because they also have two acres to run,” Pruitt said.
Happy Tails Farms has met State of Kansas requirements, and is now working with Crawford County zoning.
“The latest thing is that we need a privacy fence,” Pruitt said.
She acknowledged that there are valid reasons for a fence screening the dogs from the road. For one thing, drivers tend to slow down to look at the dogs, which could cause accidents.
“There’s also something called ‘transference of aggression,’ which means that the dogs start barking at the cars, and then might start fighting with each other, and that’s not a good thing,” Pruitt said. “We’ll get the fence going as soon as possible.”
Some of the dogs have suffered abuse, such as Layla. “She was shot in the face with a .22 at close range, and yet she’s the sweetest, most loving dog,” Menghini said. “But she is afraid of guns.”
Others have their little odd ways. “Sarge likes to take all the buckets he can find, put them on his head and run into trees,” Menghini said.
It takes a lot to feed all these animals. “We get about 600 pounds of dog food every two weeks at Blue Ribbon,” Menghini said.
Friends and relatives help with purchasing food, and also come out and help with the cleaning.
Happy Tails Farms does not yet have 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status, but that’s another thing that Menghini and Pruitt are pursuing. “After we get that, then we can actively seek donations,” Menghini said.
Some dogs are still being socialized, but many are available for good homes. Menghini and Pruitt have devised a seven-page questionnaire for prospective doggie parents, with questions such as, “Do you rent or own? If you rent, does your landlord permit pets? Is there a weight limit on pets permitted? Is your yard fenced? Do you have a swimming pool? Do you travel a lot? Are there other pets in the home? If there is a conflict between pets, how do you resolve it and keep it from occurring again?”
Since she was a small child, Danielle Menghini volunteered for the Southeast Kansas Humane Society and dreamed of rescuing animals. Now she’s grown up and the dream has turned into a barking, tail-wagging reality.
She and friend Jennifer Pruitt are the proud, very busy operators of Happy Tails Farms on East 20th.
There’s a house with a small animal room — current residents include two ferrets available for adoption, two kittens and a mother dog with pups.
Outside are around 37 larger dogs who have dog houses inside old rail cars. “But they’re hardly ever in them, because they also have two acres to run,” Pruitt said.
Happy Tails Farms has met State of Kansas requirements, and is now working with Crawford County zoning.
“The latest thing is that we need a privacy fence,” Pruitt said.
She acknowledged that there are valid reasons for a fence screening the dogs from the road. For one thing, drivers tend to slow down to look at the dogs, which could cause accidents.
“There’s also something called ‘transference of aggression,’ which means that the dogs start barking at the cars, and then might start fighting with each other, and that’s not a good thing,” Pruitt said. “We’ll get the fence going as soon as possible.”
Some of the dogs have suffered abuse, such as Layla. “She was shot in the face with a .22 at close range, and yet she’s the sweetest, most loving dog,” Menghini said. “But she is afraid of guns.”
Others have their little odd ways. “Sarge likes to take all the buckets he can find, put them on his head and run into trees,” Menghini said.
It takes a lot to feed all these animals. “We get about 600 pounds of dog food every two weeks at Blue Ribbon,” Menghini said.
Friends and relatives help with purchasing food, and also come out and help with the cleaning.
Happy Tails Farms does not yet have 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status, but that’s another thing that Menghini and Pruitt are pursuing. “After we get that, then we can actively seek donations,” Menghini said.
Some dogs are still being socialized, but many are available for good homes. Menghini and Pruitt have devised a seven-page questionnaire for prospective doggie parents, with questions such as, “Do you rent or own? If you rent, does your landlord permit pets? Is there a weight limit on pets permitted? Is your yard fenced? Do you have a swimming pool? Do you travel a lot? Are there other pets in the home? If there is a conflict between pets, how do you resolve it and keep it from occurring again?”
Pruitt does not feel that this is excessive. “If you really want a pet, it’s not too much to ask,” she said.
She believes there is a basic misconception about shelter dogs. “People think the dog is in an animal shelter because there’s something wrong with it,” Pruitt said. “That’s not true. They’re in a shelter because somebody didn’t want them.”
Menghini and Pruitt hope to work in cooperation with the SEK Humane Society and other animal rescue organizations. “All people who work with animals have a common goal,” Pruitt said.
Happy Tails Farms may be visited by appointment only, by calling 875-0280. Anyone needing additional information may also visit happytailsfarms@yahoo.com.
“Our dogs are also on Petfinder — just put in the Pittsburg ZIP code, and on adoptapet.com,” Pruitt said. “We also have a Myspace page.”
