Griswold resident Susana Burgess has established a foster home for homeless pregnant dogs and their puppies, after having to rescue its first occupant twice.

Burgess opened All Paws on Deck in early January, earlier than expected, thanks to a $500 grant from Walmart.

“We thought we wouldn’t open until late February, as we had to do fund-raising to get the facility going,” said Burgess. She browsed the internet looking for possible grant opportunities, but admits she wasn’t optimistic.

“I’m a member of several non-profits,” she said. “They all told me don’t rely on grants, as you’ll never get approved until you have at least three years in rescue work.”

Nonetheless, she applied to Walmart via its Lisbon store in November, and received approval less than a month later.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” she said.

Burgess notes not too many pet shelters are willing to house dogs about to give birth because it’s a big expense for such facilities. Many shelters are at or near capacity, and taking in a dog that will soon have a litter puts a strain on the shelter’s resources.

Many times the mother is spayed before she gives birth, thus interrupting the pregnancy, or euthanized.

“Our focus at All Paws on Deck is to rescue pregnant dogs out of shelters so they can have their puppies, and then the mother gets spayed,” she said. “Puppies usually are adopted quickly, but the mothers aren’t, and it’s heartbreaking to see them staying in the shelters.”

Burgess says her group’s first rescue was by accident, and became a bit of a challenge. A female Labrador retriever mix had been living on the streets of South Carolina for the past two years, being fed by residents who would leave food out for her, but she wouldn’t let them get near her.

By last December, it became evident she was about to give birth, and a neighbor set up a makeshift crate in the woods on Christmas Day, where the dog was caught. She gave birth the next day to five puppies, and plans were made to send them all to a temporary boarding shelter in Georgia, and then to a rescue facility in New Jersey.

Plans changed, though, when the New Jersey rescue received 10 puppies and their mother, who refused to feed them. The facility was now unable to accept the Lab mix and her pups, so someone contacted All Paws on Deck, and the dog and her five children were headed to Griswold.

Burgess named the mother Georgia because of her trip from that state.

“The puppies were in good shape,” said Burgess, “because momma had been giving her all in feeding them. Georgia, though, was in rough shape. She was skin and bones, and because she had been living on the streets, she was very scared and afraid of people. Not aggressive, but scared.”

Georgia and her pups arrived at the Griswold rescue Jan. 9. The puppies wouldn’t accept bottle-feeding, but Burgess and her staff were able to get them to eat from plates, like cats do. They loved human attention, unlike their mother, who continued to be afraid of people.

On Jan. 18, Burgess and her staff took Georgia and one of her puppies to a Preston veterinarian’s office. As they were getting out of the vehicle, Georgia slipped out of her collar and escaped into the nearby woods.

Burgess put notices on social media, and got in touch with CT Dog Gone Recovery, an all-volunteer group that specializes in finding lost dogs.

Capturing Georgia, though, became quite a challenge.

“She wasn’t an easy one,” said a leader for the group, Sharon Mlyniec. “Georgia was very trap-savvy, and very street-savvy. It took a lot of time to get her to trust the traps.”

Unlike a lot of dogs, Mlyniec says Georgia didn’t do much traveling in wooded areas, opting instead to walk near the streets while she was loose. She was sighted along Interstate 395, Route 164, and East Main Street in Jewett City over the next few days.

Box and kennel traps, some with GPS cameras, were set up in both Jewett City and Preston, as she was traveling between the two areas, sometimes walking as many as 12 miles a day.

Mlyniec says well-meaning people tried to catch the dog themselves if they saw her, but that only made the situation worse, as she would run away, making it more difficult to catch her.

Days of trying to catch Georgia finally paid off in the frigid wee hours of Jan. 29, when she went inside a kennel trap in Griswold. But she wouldn’t give up.

“She was trying to dig out from under the trap, and also bouncing like a kangaroo to try to escape through the roof,” said Mlyniec.

Said Dog Gone Recovery’s Trisha Johnson, who actually caught Georgia: “She had dug a hole under the door of the trap, and her whole head was out. She was trying to force her shoulders out.”

Johnson says she and fellow Dog Gone member Gary Roderick had to be creative to make sure Georgia didn’t escape again.

“We had to get the leash around her through the trap while it was closed,” she said. Johnson crawled in, and Georgia jumped over her and out the door, but by then Roderick had her on a leash.

“Georgia was freaking out,” said Johnson, “and I carried her while Gary kept her on the leash. We took her back to Gary’s truck, and she eventually calmed down, curled up in a ball, and fell asleep.”

Since then, life has gotten better for Georgia and her children. The puppies have all been adopted, and Georgia has become more receptive to human touch.

“She loves children and other dogs,” said Burgess, “and has chosen my 10-year-old daughter as her favorite for now.”

A new home for Georgia is still being sought, one with an 8-foot fence. Burgess notes momma dog now has a GPS collar, and is house trained.

It’s becoming more busy at All Paws on Deck as well. They’re bringing in five newborn puppies from Texas, as well as four dogs from Georgia. The rescue group is looking for people hoping to serve as foster homes for rescue dogs while a new permanent home is found.

The group is also selling Georgia’s Journey T-shirts to pay for her being spayed. Donations of canned dog food, pee pads and paper towels are also encouraged. Check out the group’s website at allpawsondeck.org, or its Facebook page.

Burgess continues to look for more grant sources as well. “The whole operation is snowballing,” she said.