“Hazel Transport”

A K-9 Underground Railroad

“Hazel” is a puppy, an eight week old female Springer Spaniel / Lab mix to be specific and a lucky dog to be certain. She is the focus of an outstanding effort by a handful of relative strangers to save her life. You see she was abandoned with her three siblings at a very young age and left at the Marion Country Humane Society in Fairmont, MN. It was Hazel’s good fortune that a woman in Massachusetts wanted to adopt her. The only thing standing in the way… About 1400 miles.

Now this sort of “feel good” human interest story usually isn’t the sort of thing I would write about but I was inspired by this one. Maybe because this effort is being undertaken largely by people who have never met and interact via the internet, there are obvious parallels between this and my own undertakings at RochesterWatch. Maybe it is because I just got a puppy myself. Maybe it is because my wife called me today at work to tell me she was going to take part in it and drive not one but two legs of the journey. She’s always doing things like this. She really is a much better human being than I am. It’s sort of annoying, really.

The call went out on 2/23 from what I can tell and through a network of internet forums, much like ours here at RochesterWatch, they had filled every leg of the journey in a little under a week. They are meandering a bit, from Fairmont, MN to Springfield, MA, through two towns named Rochester and just in time for Hazel. In case you are interested, here’s the itinerary (with personal info removed).

SATURDAY: Feb 28, 2004

1) Fairmont, MN to Albert Lea, MN
PICK-UP AT SHELTER - DEPART SHELTER 9am
TIME: 9am - 10am
60 miles - 1hr
filled THANK YOU - JASON!

2) Albert Lea, MN to Rochester, MN
Time: 10:15am - 11:15am
65miles - 1hr
filled - THANK YOU VALERIE!

2A) Rochester, MN to Tomah, WI
Time: 11:30am - 1:15pm
112 miles  1hr 45
filled THANK YOU TERRY & DANA

3) Tomah, WI to Madison, WI
Time: 1:30p - 3:00pm
100 miles - 1hr 30 mins
FILLED - THANK YOU BARB!

** TAKE 15 - 20 min break here ***
More time allotted if pup needs fed?

4) Madison, WI  to Belvidere, IL
TIME: 3:30pm - 4:45pm
76 miles - 1hr 15mins
FILLED - THANK YOU SCOTT & JACKY!

5) Belvidere, IL to Aurora, IL
TIME: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
57 miles - 1hr
FILLED - THANK YOU GINA!

6) Aurora, IL  to Michigan City, IN
TIME:  6:15pm - 7:45PM CT  (8:45 EST)
97 miles - 1hr 30mins
filled - THANK YOU Kendra


-- SUNDAY FEB 29th ---

overnight in Southbend
7) Southbend, IN to Wauseon, OH
-- Starting earlier would be better --
Time: 8:00am - 10am
122 miles - 1hr 50mins
filled - THANK YOU MARIE W!!

8) Wauseon, OH  to Fremont, OH
Time: 10:15am - 11:15AM
66 miles - 1hr
filled - THANK YOU PAT!

9) Fremont, OH  to Brecksville, OH
Time: 11:30am - 12:40pm
91 miles - 1hr 20mins
filled - THANK YOU GARY!

10) Brecksville, OH  to Erie, PA
Time: 12:55pm - 2:45pm
114 miles - 1hr 45mins
filled THANK YOU Matt & Julia

11) Erie, PA  to  Batavia, NY
Time: 3:00pm - 5:30pm
130 miles 2hr 30mins
filled - THANK YOU SHERRY

12) Batavia, NY  to Weedsport, NY
Time: 5:45pm - 7:15pm
89miles - 1hr 30mins
filled THANK YOU JEAN!

13) Weedsport, NY  to Utica, NY
Time: 7:30 - 8:45pm
75miles - 1hr 15mins
filled - THANK YOU TIM

14) Utica, NY   to Home
Claire & Sherri

You can see the forum where this took shape here - http://www.lab-retriever.net/board/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9

And this is Hazel…

My understanding is that this sort of thing is not all that uncommon, although it seems to be undertaken by uncommonly kind and dedicated people. This is inspirational to me not only as an animal lover but as someone who is striving, in my own way, to make a difference in a world that doesn’t often seem to notice.

Thank You

Contact the author at

McPundit@RochesterWatch.com or Mark@RochesterWatch.com