Local rescue gives 2nd chance to ‘medically fragile’ dogs

The Cavalier Rescue may not have a physical location, but this breed-specific pet rescue has made a big impact in the lives of hundreds of dogs and on families in the Birmingham area.

Co-founder Brittney Wilk, a Vestavia Hills resident, said she started the group, which helps rescue Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and places them in loving homes, after volunteering with a similar group during her college career in Chicago.

In 2015, Wilk and Lisa Thompson started the organization, following the successful rescue of 48 dogs from a puppy mill in Lineville, where an owner had 161 dogs in his possession, Wilk said.

“Rescuing from puppy mills is a large part of what we do,” Wilk said.

After the dogs are rehabilitated as needed, they are placed in loving homes, many times in the Birmingham area. Wilk said they have placed dogs in Vestavia, and it is nice for her to be able to see those dogs from time to time.

Mountain Brook’s Richard Force is a shining example of Cavalier Rescue’s impact. He has adopted three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels from the rescue and has fostered two others.

Force has always been a dog owner, he said. Before meeting the people at The Cavalier Rescue, he would go to reputable Cavalier breeders to bring home new four-legged family members.

“Our first cavalier was just a wonderful dog,” Force said.

When he returned to that same breeder to bring home another Cavalier, the breeder told him that this was the mother’s last litter. After both of their original Cavaliers passed away from natural causes, Richard’s wife, Mary Louise, saw The Cavalier Rescue on social media. Together they decided to bring home a Cavalier from the rescue named Tango. Then, they adopted Harper Lee and Rocky.

Rocky just turned 14, but he acts like a 6-year-old, Richard said.

Throughout their time with The Cavalier Rescue, they also have fostered two Cavaliers: Harvey and Felicity.

“We thought we were going to keep Harvey, but my wife and I went on a trip, and they found somebody for Harvey,” Richard said. “In a way, it broke my heart. But it was fine because the home he went to was outstanding.”

Harvey is 13 years old and blind in one eye.

“He’d look at you and turn his head, and I said, ‘You focused with that one eye?’” Richard said. “And Harvey loved to go in the car. I have a Ford Escape that we call The Bus that ferries the dogs around. Harvey would look at that bus and turn his head, and he would bark so hard that his front feet would come off the ground.”

Richard and Mary Louise have been fostering Felicity since July. She’s deaf, but Richard said she’s a great dog.

“She’s a very adoptable dog,” Richard said. “She’s currently curled up next to Harper Lee, and they’re sound asleep together. I would love to keep her. But because she is so adoptable, if they find a home for her, she won’t rebound.”

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are the sweetest dogs Richard has ever met, he said.

“I know people will say that about other dogs, but to me, they really are,” he said. “There’s a saying that you can’t catch two rabbits at the same time — you’ll only catch one of them. Well I have a saying with Cavaliers. You can catch 10 Cavaliers at once, all you’ve got to do is scratch one of their heads. They’ll all come over. They’re very jealous.”

Throughout his time with Tango, Harper Lee and Rocky, Richard has kept in contact with The Cavalier Rescue. One time, when Richard and Mary Louise were about to go to a Cavalier Rescue pool party, they thought they lost Harper Lee.

“We were loading up the car,” he said. “I thought, there’s no way he got out. We wound up posting on a Facebook group that we lost Harper Lee.”

Two Cavalier Rescue volunteers who were at the pool party saw the Facebook post.

“They came over to our house to help us look for Harper Lee,” he said. “We looked everywhere for him and could not find him.

“My wife went up into our attic on the second floor one more time, just to double check, and all of a sudden this little dog sheepishly stuck his head over the steps and looked at me.”

This experience speaks to how much the team at The Cavalier Rescue loves the dogs from its organization, Richard said.

“Boom, immediately, the two of them were here asking if I needed help looking,” he said.

Wilk said the organization is special because they are breed-specific and are “Cavalier experts.”

“We’re able to service and meet the needs of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels better than a mixed-breed rescue or a shelter,” she said.

They’re also a foster home-based organization. They don’t have a central facility. This means that once the dogs come in, there is nowhere else to go for them except into a loving foster home. They receive care there until they are placed in a forever home.

“So, they’re never in a facility,” she said. “There’s no boarding situation. They are immediately put into a family situation.”

The level of care and medical attention given to the rescue dogs is something in which The Cavalier Rescue specializes, Wilk said.

“Thankfully, that just comes down to resources,” she said. “We are just extremely blessed and fortunate to have the financial support so we can say yes to the dogs that are most in need.”

The rescue is often contacted for the most medically fragile dogs because The Cavalier Rescue is known for having the resources to help these dogs, she said. In October, Wilks flew to North Carolina to help dogs in need.

“There were 44 dogs in a hoarding situation,” she said. “Out of all of those, we took the four that were the most medically fragile. That’s not by mistake. That’s designed because they’ll be able to receive the best care here with us.”

It’s a rewarding experience, Wilks said.

“Rescuing puppy mill dogs, rehabilitating them and getting them to a point where they are adoptable and can be successful in a home and a family, and watching them thrive and grow — it’s extremely rewarding and something nota lot of other rescues will seek out to do,” she said.

For more information, visit thecavalierrescue.org.

Vestavia Voice editor Neal Embry contributed to this report.