18 abandoned or abused Rotties share area woman's home

11/17/2000
By WENDY REEVES
Times Staff Writer

DECATUR - When Penny Webster's champion Rottweiler Justin died in 1996, she started a rescue program for abandoned and abused dogs of the breed. Today, there are 18 Rotties that share her home, waiting for adoption.

Is she crazy?

Dog-crazy, maybe. She also has an Australian cattle dog in the mix.

Webster started the Tennessee Valley Rottweiler Rescue four years ago, trying to single-handedly prevent the unnecessary death of good dogs, she said. It almost forced her into bankruptcy. ''I finally figured it out. This is not something you can do by yourself,'' she said.

Recently she joined the Southern States Rottweiler Rescue, which covers Alabama, Georgia, north Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and South Carolina. It is an IRS-recognized nonprofit group, and any donations and adoption fees are tax-deductible. Webster is the coordinator for the central region. She gets at least one call every week.

Why does she do it?

''It's a shame that these nice, young dogs have to be put down,'' she said. She's placed or reunited more than 50 dogs with families since she started.

Nearly 20 Rottweilers are on a waiting list to get into a foster home slot. Before a dog is placed by adoption, the new owner is carefully screened, Webster said. Almost like adopting a child.

''Most of our foster homes take one dog,'' she said. Before a dog is placed, it is temperament-tested, neutered, given all shots and tested for heart worms.

There are temperamentally unsound Rottweilers out there, she said. Some are born that way, and they can live and work with proper training and be socialized, but it's a big commitment, she said, and the owner has to pretty much watch that dog 24 hours a day - and it can't be placed in a home with children.

''I will not place a bad dog,'' she said.

That's the hard part of her job: making the decision to euthanize a dog because of its temperament.

''It is hard because it's usually because the dog has been mistreated,'' she said. ''But that is part of my responsibility to the breed.''

Her first encounter with a Rottweiler was at a veterinarian's office, where she worked as an assistant in high school and college.

''This man walked into the room with this huge black and tan dog, and I told him I don't know what that dog is, but I want one someday,'' Webster remembers. ''It was love at first sight.''

Eventually, she got Justin from that man. She had already studied up on the breed, something more people should do before getting any dog, but especially a Rottweiler.

''People see this cute puppy and get it, bring it in the house . . . then it gets too big and goes outside. No one ever spends much time with it, so when someone goes out to feed it, he's starved for attention and so happy to see someone that he's like, 'I'm here, I'm here,' probably jumping all over the owner, who gets frustrated and thinks the dog is out of control and can't handle it.''

She sees a lot of dogs like that, untrained and just ''dying for human attention and affection.''

Rottweilers ''are also bred to watch property. If you come to my house, as long as I come to the door they will be glad to see you. But don't try to come into my house if I'm not home.''

Rottweilers want to be with a family, and they will guard their property.

''They're smart enough that they will watch their owner in the yard doing yard work and will learn the property boundaries. If that dog is kept on a chain and wants to patrol that property for you because that's his job, it's frustrating for him because he can't.''

That's mistreatment of a Rottweiler, she said.

She believes the breed is misrepresented by the media. As a professional dog groomer, Webster said she knows the smaller dogs bite, too.

''This is a 100-pound dog and if it bites you, it's going to hurt, no doubt,'' Webster said. ''Most likely it's going to require stitches, and (that's) usually how the bite gets reported.

''If a poodle bites you, most likely put a Band-aid on it and go on, and it never gets reported.''

In addition to her grooming business and rescue efforts, Webster, 38, is studying to become a veterinarian.

''So I can spay and neuter everything I can get my hands on,'' to prevent the needless deaths of many animals.

In the meantime, how does one keep 19 dogs?

House rules, she said. The dogs stay outside during the day, but come inside her home at night.

''It is a challenge,'' she said. ''You have to have backbone and consistency . . ."

Webster said when a rescued dog gets attention and is fed on a regular basis, it is ''so appreciative'' of what it has that it will love you, maybe more than a dog an owner has raised from a puppy.

''These dogs know it can be bad out there and understand what they have now is great, so it's not hard for them to follow the rules. They are fabulous pets.''

© 2000 The Huntsville Times. Used with permission.