Lotta Luv: New group helping pets find homes

LIMA, OHIO — Sandy McVeigh, with friends Debbie Helser and Pat Rumer, has started A Lotta Luv pet rescue, a group dedicated to caring for pets other organizations are unable to help.

"We try to help the ones that fall in the cracks. A lot of them are injured or ill. We get them to a vet, get them treated and, hopefully, find them a forever home," McVeigh said.

The three women decided to start the new group after leaving Angels for Animals over "political issues," McVeigh said. Now they have made themselves available day and night to pick up injured animals and get them to a vet. They also help pay to board sick or injured animals with local veterinarians.

"That’s why we have such a big vet bill," McVeigh said. "In middle of the night someone calls and says they have an injured dog, or the dog warden will call with a cat and they don’t do anything with cats."

In some cases the group will help out an owner who can’t afford to feed his cats. And they help volunteer Marie Daley with her Cat Haven, home to more than 150 cats.

Of the 15 dogs they currently care for, some have been placed in the prison training program at Oakwood Correctional Institution. The rest are kept in foster homes, families that keep and care for the dogs while the group works to find them a permanent home.

The group is trying to pay some of the bills with a May 20th fundraiser, The Canine Carnival and Dog Walk at Faurot Park. McVeigh said she hopes to raise enough money to pay for their nonprofit registration and help them continue the work they started.

"I know there’s a home out there for every animal somewhere. You just have to keep working and wait until you get that match."