07/04/2026
Freedom is the name she got from her prior owner. I donāt know a lot about the first 2 to 3 years of her life. The first time I saw her, I was inquiring about the property she was on and saw her tied up to the front porch. It was obvious she had been there for long periods because she had dug a large hole to get underneath the porch to escape the heat. She looked like she had several litters. The owner said she had 2 or 3 litters, he couldnāt remember.
I told the owner I could take her if he had any interest in giving her up. He did not. That winter, the owner vacated the building and left her there. Thatās how I finally got her. The girl named Freedom, who didnāt have any freedom.
In rescue, The Freedom Ride is a vital link to help get animals out of high kill shelters and into good rescues where they can receive the care they need to eventually find homes and families of their own. Itās often their own little Independence Day.
Freedom rides give animals in bad situations freedom from abandonment, fear, sickness, neglect, and lack of love. Thatās what Ruff Transport does, if we were to describe all our activities into one neat slogan- āWe give Freedom Ridesā. It does still make me chuckle that I married a man with the last name Ruff and have an abandoned dog that somebody else named Freedom.
Miss Freedom survived her last owner, and she went on to also survive heartworm treatments, two knee replacements, breast cancer and a hornet nest attack. She used to ride in the rescue van to pick up other dogs in need and would patrol the cages/fenceline to check on all the transport dogs spending the night. She walked around as if to tell the scared dogs that they were now safe. She was a mother hen to litters of motherless puppies that stayed over too. She has been part of Ruff Transport for a large part of our existence. She is now 13 or 14 years old and spends most of her day sleeping. She is no longer wanting to ride along or greet the newbies that spend the night. She deserves to stop and rest and spend her days sitting and being adored. I guess on Americaās 250th Birthday that celebrates our Freedom, I wanted to give a little shout out to our Ruff Transport ambassador with the name that says it all. Let Freedom ring- Happy Birthday America!
