How One Shelter Failure Inspired Grass Roots Rescue to Save Over 5,000 Dogs

Grass Roots Rescue Executive Director Karli Crenshaw couldn’t save the 19 dogs that were euthanized when the Safe Haven animal sanctuary in Georgetown closed in 2013, but she has since helped save more than 5,000 dogs in their honor.

Crenshaw once served as an adoption coordinator at Safe Haven, but was fired a few months before the closure because she talked too much “about what was really going on there,” she said.

Safe Haven once held the state contract to house and care for stray dogs in central Delaware, “but was replaced after the Kent County Court heard the shelter’s expenses far exceeded its revenues,” said a News Journal article from 2013. The organization’s financial difficulties ultimately led to its demise.

When the staunchly no-kill shelter finally closed its doors, Crenshaw said, she and other animal rescuers were waiting outside the facility, ready to take at least some of the remaining dogs into their care. They were refused, and Safe Haven leaders later released a statement saying some dogs were euthanized “due to serious behavioral issues.”

Crenshaw had to hold a candlelight vigil for “Safe Haven 19.”

“My time at Safe Haven is why GRR was founded and is a big part of who I am today,” Crenshaw, 40, said. “I always wanted to help animals, and I wanted to do it the right way. From there Grass Roots was born.”

Since its founding in 2013, Grass Roots has rescued about 5,300 dogs, Crenshaw said. They went from “pulling” (taking custody) of dogs from local shelters to pulling dogs from eight states, and she went from a strong advocate to a paid executive director who answers to a seven-person board of directors. and supervises approximately 200 volunteers.

These volunteers live all over Delmarva; Crenshaw lives in Lewes. We had a few questions to ask him.

Question: What is the biggest lesson you have learned through your organization?

Answer: The most important and hardest lesson I have learned since starting GRR is that you can only control your own actions/decisions. You can’t force others to do the right thing or want to help. I also had to come to terms with the fact that we often have to say no. This is incredibly difficult, knowing what this likely means for this dog, but we have to do our best not to overextend ourselves. If we did that, we would be of no use to anyone.

Do you have a favorite rescue story and can you tell us about it?

This is such a loaded question. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to choose just one. Over the past 11 years, countless dogs and situations have touched me in one way or another.

Tink was the first big medical case we had in 2017. She had a rectal prolapse, twisted lungs, fluid in her chest cavity and was full of infection. We thought we were going to lose her multiple times and spent a ton to make sure that wouldn’t be the case. This would never have been possible if the community had not donated so generously. Tink was adopted by a veterinarian.

Operation Aussie was our first large-scale organized rescue mission in 2015. There were 11 Australian Shepherds in Bridgeville who hadn’t received proper care in years and we went, really, clueless into what we were getting into. The way the community came together to help was incredible. Volunteers, host families, donors, veterinarians, groomers. It was incredibly humiliating.

Are you working on any big projects at the moment??

We currently have a case where we removed dogs from a shelter in Georgia where they had been abused, neglected and kept for years. There were more than 200 dogs there. When we were asked to help, I really didn’t think we would be able to do much, since we had just brought in 35 the week before from death row in North Carolina. I told them to send me the photos and information, and we’ll see what we can do. After seeing these dogs and how they lived…I couldn’t get enough of them. I shared everything with our (volunteers), and as they usually do, they blew me away. Initially, I was hoping we could get at least 10 people out of it. I am delighted to say that on September 14, we (welcomed) almost 60 very deserving doggies. I am so proud and so grateful.

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How do you reconcile rescue with work and family?

As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t balance my rescue life and my family life as well as I would like. Unlike most conventional jobs, rescue never sleeps, you can’t just “punch” like you can with regular jobs.

How can Delaware lawmakers better help save animals?

To help animals here in Delaware, lawmakers could make funds available for free spay and neutering. Controlling unplanned/unwanted litter would be a big step forward in population control. We would also love to see them look at the animal laws/regulations in this state and write them in a way that they can actually be enforced and easily interpreted. The enforcement portion will require funds to hire additional staff. Right now our (animal control officers) are spread too thin. They are constantly pulled in 50 different directions to put out spot fires. That leaves no time to tackle the animal welfare dumpster fires that have been burning out of control here for years.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports from southern Delaware and beyond. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

This article originally appeared in the Delaware News Journal: How Grass Roots Rescue went from tragedy to saving more than 5,000 dogs.