![]() ![]() The Somers also keep several portable oxygen chambers in their Westbury home to treat very sick dogs, who they either nurse back to health or give the palliative care they need. If the dog requires medical care, they’ll bring it to a foster volunteer who is equipped to care for it and get it ready to be adopted. If someone surrenders a dog, the Somers will typically pick it up and drop it off at a foster home on Long Island. Working with coordinators, volunteers in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia who arrange transport runs, adoptions, veterinarian visits, pickups and drop-offs, Hurley’s Heart also partners with other animal rescue organizations. Hurley's Heart volunteers Melanie Hoops, left, and Crystal Croghan. “People tell me it’s easier to adopt a child than a dog, and I want to keep it that way,” Somer said. “It was never really intended to be this big and this intense, but we just got well-known, because the truth is, we do really good work and we’re very, very careful with where we place our dogs,” she said, noting that adopters, who have to be at least 27 years old, can’t be away from home more than four hours a day, must own their own home and have fully fenced-in yards with no bodies of water near them. Today, Summer Somer, president of Hurley’s Heart, said they receive about 300 bulldogs a year from all over the United States and South Korea. When the Somers began their rescue operation, they figured they’d be working with about 30 to 40 dogs from the region. “It’s a big undertaking to leave a job, and I was making really good money, and he made it work.” FROM DOZENS TO HUNDREDS OF DOGSĪ former paralegal, Somer said she wanted to leave her last position to rescue dogs full time in 2019. “Summer is a force of nature with unwavering strength to advocate for the unwanted,” Infernuso said. Infernuso, who estimates that he donates more than $200,000 worth of services annually to the organization, said he is proud to support its mission. “Not only does donate a lot to our rescue, when a dog comes in, he’s available in an emergency at all times and has saved more lives for us than I can count.” “We would never be able to keep our rescue going,” she said. Other vets around the country also offer discounts on services, Summer Somer said. Tomas Infernuso, veterinarian and founder of the Animal Surgical Center in Oceanside, who donates his services. The dogs are very expensive to care for, as the Somers neuter, rehabilitate and prepare them for re-homing. ![]() Rescue dog Stella getting some play time at Paws on Park in Bay Shore. Though they began rescuing only English bulldogs, the Somers now also rescue “Frenchies,” as French bulldogs are commonly known, and Old English bulldogs. They’re like people.”Įnglish bulldogs typically have a life span of 8 to 10 years, she said, adding that her two bulldogs, Winston and Samson, are now 12 years old. They are literally on you, wanting to comfort you in every way they can. Recently, one of the family’s dogs died, and, she said, “The bulldogs all know when something is not right. “They have the most unique personalities.” “So that has a lot of special meaning just by itself.” SPECIAL CARE WITH TENDER HEARTSīulldogs are “like people,” Summer Somer said. “No matter how you slice it: We’re saving lives or giving some of the special-needs or the sick dogs the best life that they could possibly have until the end,” said Harold Somer, 65, a lawyer and vice president of Hurley’s Heart. The care can be too much for some owners, who then give them up, said Summer Somer. Many French bulldogs develop invertebral disc disease, requiring them to be wheelchair-bound, while some bulldogs are born with spina bifida, which can render them incontinent. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.īulldogs, while popular, tend to suffer from health issues like difficulty breathing due to brachial palates, which block the dogs’ airways and disrupt airflow into their lungs. ![]()
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