Keira is in Texas – Part Two The Long Journey I left mommy on June 18. I was supposed to be boarded overnight in Marietta, GA, picked up by transport first thing Wed the 19th and be in Texas the afternoon of Thurs the 20th. There was a ginormous hiccup in the plan. Getting me to Texas was an adventure. Mom Cheryl was nervous about using a volunteer transport chain to get me to Texas. It’s about 900 miles. She was concerned being handed off to so many people I didn’t know would stress me out and make the trip more difficult for me. So she started looking into transport services. John’s C2C Transport, LLC, owned and operated by John Bloom, was recommended by a couple of her facebook friends. She checked out his facebook page, read the reviews and posts by people who had used him, looked thru numerous pictures taken during previous transports, and talked to him by chat and phone. She liked what she saw so she booked my spot. People are human. They make mistakes. Mom Cheryl says it’s not THAT they made a mistake but how they make it right that really counts. 1. John left my paperwork at home. Once a month, or so, he starts out in OR, goes to CA, than works his way east picking up and dropping off dogs until he gets to FL. In FL he take a couple days off, checks out the truck and trailer he uses for any issues, and makes any necessary repairs before beginning the trip west, picking up and dropping off critters along the way, until finally heading for home. John and his son Wyatt share driving duties, as well as taking great care of the critters in their care during the transport process. Mostly John transports dogs for rescue organizations, taking them from shelters to their new forever homes. He transports some for individuals, like mommy and mom Cheryl, and there were even some cats and kittens on the two trips I went on! We got plenty of potty, water, and exercise breaks. Even though the trailer isn’t air conditioned it stays about 75 going down the road with the windows open. Sitting in the shade it NEVER gets over 85 degrees. When mom Cheryl picked me up some of the dogs weren’t even panting. Some people don’t like he uses a converted horse trailer for transport because so many people do it wrong. John does it right! Secure shelving boosts kennels up so animals aren’t in the exhaust fume path. Crates are well secured so they don’t move around during travel. Sometimes litters share a crate but otherwise each animal has their own crate with water and a pad or bed (unless the dog destroys such things). John is working hard to upgrade his setup from his diesel pickup to a big rig truck and a bigger, air conditioned trailer. He’s not there yet but he’s working on it. He’s working on a tee shirt to sell to raise funds and if you’d like to make a donation (or loan) to the cause he sure would appreciate it. He is a hard working guy who loves animals, has an amazing, positive attitude, and is so grateful he can get animals out of shelters, boarding, etc and help them get to their forever home. There are a lot of short distance transports but John goes coast to coast and even in to Canada! The Aug trip he was taking a group from CA to Canada. There just aren’t many transports doing that. Mom Cheryl wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone. 2. There was a little hiccup picking me up in GA. Cheryl didn’t find out John was running a day behind until after daddy had already left to drop me off. Instead of getting me early Wed morning it was Thurs around noon. There was a problem with the paperwork so John had to call and ask about it. As best Cheryl can tell, the vet clinic & boarding place misplaced it. Usually animals and paperwork go to the truck together. For me it didn’t. Someone from the clinic was supposed to bring me out to the truck but they didn’t do it! Having my paperwork, I got checked off as loaded when I wasn’t. He picked up several dogs at that stop and I got missed. He realized it 2 or 2.5 hours later. HE TURNED AROUND and came back and got me! How pawsome is that! Unfortunately, in the delay, he forgot I was going to TX. Somehow, he got it in his head I was going to CA. People make mistakes. It happens. We do NOT hold this against him. 3. So mom Cheryl was expecting me on Thursday June 20. John said he’d let her know when and where to meet him to pick me up when he had an idea when he would get to TX. Mom knew anything could happen during travel – road construction, traffic, delays meeting people to pick up and drop off animals, having an animal get sick and having to rush them to a vet or animal er. Cheryl was trying to be patient, wait, and not pester him while he was working and driving. By the time she checked in to see if there were any problems John and been to Denton and left. He thought I was going to CA. By the time he realized his mistake he was over 8 hours away. He offered Cheryl two options. 1. He could turn around and come back. That would have put him at least two more days behind schedule and would chain reaction delay every other pick up and drop off the rest of the trip. 2. He could take me home, love and care for me, and bring me on his next trip east. Cheryl asked his preference. He said he’d rather take me home with him. Cheryl hated being the reason everyone and all the other animals would be delayed even further so she agreed. She knew he loved animals, he promised to take great care of me, and she trusted he would (and he did!). John was three days late getting back from the June transport at the end of the month. Soon after he got back he put his truck in the shop for a short repair so it would be ready for the next transport. When it was being test driven before it went back to him they found another problem. A BIG mechanical problem. They had a little trouble finding the parts they needed before the work could be done. This delayed the July transport. When he finally got to start the July transport, he got three hours away and broke down. He had to have the truck, trailer, and me towed back home. John is a mechanic but to save time he was having someone else do the repairs to the truck. He thought it would be faster than doing it himself and that way he could do short transports on the west coast using another vehicle. The best (inset sarcasm) part of the delay was a USDA (they are the govt agency over all transport of animals in the US) inspector came to his house. John should have been on the road but because of the delays he was home. John invited the inspector into the trailer to look around. The inspector said not only did he meet all requirements he exceeded them! He told John to “Keep up the good work” I guess that makes John USDA approved! BOL. Anyway, by the time everything was finally ready to go it was Aug. John doesn’t normally go thru Texas on his way east. He completely changed his regular route just to get me to Cheryl as soon as he could. 1 pm on Aug 9 I finally got to my Texas destination. FYI: John has five dogs at home: a Carolina dog, a lab, and Akitas. We had a great time running around and playing. He and Cheryl chatted a lot on facebook, giving her updates as to how I was doing, and even sending a few pictures. He even friended Cheryl and mommy so they could see how great I was doing. I fit in well and am told they will miss me now that I’m in Texas. Mom Cheryl checked into boarding fees. Where she is they are crazy expensive. John didn’t charge a dime for keeping me from June 19 thru Aug 9. Said, “it was his mistake” and he’d cover it. This was after giving Cheryl a discount on my transport fee. He does not normally take dogs home with him. In fact, as far as we know, I was a first. He paid for my food on top of all his truck repairs. He added another dog to his pack and required and asked for nothing in return. He went above and beyond and we will forever sing his praises. (Even though he didn’t ask Cheryl did make a contribution towards my care. It wasn’t as much as it would have been to board me – she just couldn’t pay that much right now – but she will continue to send what she can when she can to help towards the new truck and trailer.) One final note. Not long after John dropped me off in TX he had ANOTHER truck problem. He’s been in Oklahoma Fri and Sat because of a sensor failure due to the “mechanic being lazy”. This breakdown is by far the WORST because this time he has a trailer of critters. Before it was just me hanging out at his home playing with my new friends. He’s spent so much money on truck repairs in the last two months and now he has to do another one AND make sure the animals in his care are safe and well cared for until they can continue on to Canada. He is stressed and could sure use some prayers. He would never ask for donations. He prides himself in taking care of his own business. Mom Cheryl will ask on his behalf. If you could donate anything to johnsc2c@gmail it would be greatly appreciated.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:55:37 +0000
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