Spotlight: Rescuer of the Midtown Mascots, Debo and Rex, helps reunite humans with lost pets
When it came to capturing the dogs named Debo and Rex (The Midtown Mascots), Butch Krishnamurti was ready to help from the get-go. He has always loved animals and has years of experience as a rescuer. Currently, he has a dog and also is fostering one.
He accidentally got into the rescue business eight years ago after retiring from a long career in corporate human resources.
“I asked around to see who could use volunteers,” he explained. One of the places he zeroed in on was Chatham County Animal Services because the agency had almost no volunteers.
After he and a friend started regularly walking dogs at CCAS, Krishnamurti was asked to be the agency’s volunteer coordinator.
As he became more involved at the shelter, he began meeting people from animal rescue groups and fell into helping people find their lost dogs.
“About a year ago there was a lady from Atlanta who had lost her dog while visiting here,” Krishnamurti said. “A team of us got together and helped her find (the dog).”
Out of towners losing dogs seems to happen so much, he said. “I can’t imagine losing my dog anyway, but losing it in another city where you don’t know the city would be horrible,” he added. “I gravitated to those kinds of cases.”
“My friend Mandy Sperrey worked together on a dog that was loose for months on Hutchinson Island,” he recalled. “That was a really challenging case. Mandy and I didn’t know each other but we got to be really close friends and worked really well together. From that case we have partnered now on a number of these either abandoned dogs or some (lost dogs) that actually have owners who have asked us to help.” (They safely captured the Hutchinson Island dog and Sperrey has been fostering him ever since).
Krishnamurti and Sperrey don’t charge for rescuing; they just do it out of the kindness of their hearts. “If we have time, it makes sense for us,” he explained.
“Mandy started independently dog catching and then linked with Renegade Paws Rescue,” he said. Having a rescue partner or team is beneficial because each person can bounce ideas off one another.
Krishnamurti also enjoys volunteering at CCAS, despite the fate of some of the dogs, which is not the shelter’s fault, he said. The shelter is almost always full because people surrender or abandon dogs, he added.
People often ask him how he can work with dogs that may end up being euthanized, he said.
“There are two things: Volunteer efforts definitely help get dogs placed because we socialize the dogs and they become more adoptable. Plus, we promote them on social media and take the dogs to events. That way we can see our direct impact on adoptions and placements.”
No matter what the fate of the dog is, Krishnamurti says he and other volunteers give them quality time.
“If it’s only a 15-minute walk, that’s 15 minutes of quality time for the dog,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Rescuer of Savannah's Midtown Mascots helps reunite humans with lost pets
