TulsaPets Magazine January 2023

January / February 2023 • TulsaPets 33 A Local Rescue Takes a Fast-Paced Journey by Nancy Gallimore | Photos courtesy of Helpless Hounds I remember when Amity Edwards men- tioned she was going to start her own breed rescue. I run our local Dalmatian rescue, and there are other area breed-spe- cific rescues for golden retrievers, Labs, German shepherds, and other breeds, so I asked Amity which breed would be her focus. “Hounds,” she replied. “Hounds?” I questioned. “All of them?” Her reply was yes. All of them. And here is the part where, for once, I managed to keep the thoughts in my head from coming straight out of my mouth. What I said was, “Great! Good luck!” But inside my head? “Oh, girl, you are in for a ride.” Edwards, an interior designer by trade and owner of 918 Interiors & Window Coverings, is a longtime hound-dog fan, having grown up with basset hounds. Prior to starting her own rescue, Edwards was a regular volunteer with Oklahoma Alliance for Animals (OAA), helping dogs of all shapes and sizes, but specifically drawn to dogs with hound traits. “Hounds are generally misunderstood,” explained Edwards. “People think of them as hunting dogs or working dogs and often don’t realize they can make great family pets.” With a strong desire to help bassets and other similar breeds, Edwards established her own nonprofit, Helpless Hounds, in late July of 2019. Her idea was to offer additional assistance specifically to hound breeds, but on a conservative level. That was the plan. “I really thought I might help a dog here and there — maybe five or six hounds in a year,” Edwards said. But fate had other ideas. The young rescue was called into action almost immediately when a fellow OAA volunteer made Edwards aware of an injured coonhound at Tulsa Animal Welfare. Ellie May was a black-and-tan beauty, just one year old. She had a badly injured front paw and needed immediate veteri- nary care. With her newly minted rescue in place, Edwards was able to pull sweet Ellie from the shelter to help her on the road to recovery. To say that Edwards dove in headfirst is perhaps a bit of an understatement. It was quickly determined that Ellie needed to have her leg amputated, so the first order of business was to raise funding for the initial $900 to $1,200 surgery. Which Edwards did. Ellie May came through surgery in great form, found a wonderful home, and that initial rescue mission got a big check mark in the win column. Long-Legged Hounds Looking back, Edwards will be the first to admit she didn’t realize what she had signed up for. She laughs as she reminisces about her on-the-job education. “I was envisioning rescuing a few basset hounds, then Ellie came along, so OK, a coon- After Helpless Hounds founder Amity Edwards worked extensively with Copper and fell for him, he now has a permanent home with her and her husband, Tim, and sons.