Loyalty to German shepherds drives avid Lied volunteer

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By MARIA PHELAN

VIEW STAFF WRITER

In his almost three years as a volunteer at the Lied Animal Shelter, Scott Farmer has had a hand in placing about 800 dogs in adoptive homes. For the most part, they have been German shepherds, a breed for which Farmer has long had a soft spot.

"I've always really liked shepherds," he said. "I've had them for almost 30 years. They're just a great breed. I have one of my own right now -- I always have one."

Finding adoptive homes for so many animals hasn't been an easy process, or a quick one, Farmer said. He said he spends as many as 60 to 70 hours each week volunteering at Lied Animal Shelter, 655 N. Mojave Road, with hopes of getting the dogs from the intake area at the shelter to a good home.

In addition to his work at Lied, where he helps get dogs cleaned up and through the spay or neutering process, Farmer maintains the Web site www.gsdlv.com. The site is dedicated to placing German shepherds in good homes, and it offers a variety of information, from the best types of dog food for the breed to information about dog training and pet health issues.

However, Farmer said he never meant for his dog rescue efforts to become the equivalent of almost two full-time jobs. He just wanted to give a little more back to the community, he explained.

"Each year at Christmas, I would take three or four bikes down to Channel 8 for the Toys for Tots drive," he said.

While he was on vacation a few years ago, Farmer decided his involvement with Toys for Tots wasn't enough.

"That only takes about three hours a year," he said. "I thought I could give back something more than that."

So Farmer, who got his first German shepherd when he was 22, started doing research on local dog rescue organizations. He found a woman who had been working in German shepherd rescue for about two years, and was starting to feel burned out, he said.

"In some ways, when I came into it, it became an easy way to pass the baton," he said.

Martin Dean Dupalo, manager of the Lied Animal Shelter, said Farmer's dedication to helping find homes for German shepherds is inspiring.

"We have a lot of wonderful volunteers, a lot of people who work in rescue, but Scott does so much more than most," Dupalo said.

A freelance marketing consultant by day -- or evening as the case often is, since he spends much of his time during the day at the shelter -- Farmer said he does a "little of everything" while volunteering. However, his main function is to get the dogs through the animal shelter system.

All dogs brought to the Lied Animal Shelter must be held for a minimum of 72 hours. Farmer said after that time elapses, dogs that aren't already spayed or neutered must go through that process before being offered for adoption.

"I take them into surgery, and help hold them while they're given anesthesia," Farmer said. "I'll carry them out of surgery and clean their cages sometimes, just to make sure everything is clean and disinfected."

Farmer also posts pictures and information about the dogs on his Web site and runs an advertisement in the Las Vegas Review-Journal year-round. He hopes the ad and the Web site will encourage people to adopt a German shepherd from the shelter, rather than buying dogs from "backyard breeders."

"People seem to have a misconception that shelter dogs are bad or misfits," Farmer said. "That's so far from the truth -- 98 percent of these dogs are normal or perfect dogs. They're just with the wrong people."

Farmer believes there are two reasons why there are so many German shepherds in need of homes. The first is that it's a popular breed, so there are a lot of them to begin with. The second is the breed's size.

"A lot of people fall in love with the look of German shepherds, but don't realize they are very intelligent and must be stimulated -- you can't just leave them alone," he said. "People get them as puppies and think they're cute when they're small, but don't realize how big they get, and then they end up here."

Farmer's Web site also offers a free five-week course with local dog trainer Darren Andrews to anyone who adopts a German shepherd through the shelter.

"He's an awesome trainer, and we try to get everyone to take the course because the chance for success with a new dog is much greater if dog and owner take a training course," Farmer said.

Otherwise, many new dog owners suffer from the "toaster effect."

"Many people think getting a dog is like getting a toaster," Farmer said. "They think they'll bring it home and plug it in and then the dog does its own thing. That's not how it works, and then the dog ends up at the shelter."

For all his volunteer work, Farmer said he knows he can't save every dog that comes through the shelter -- there are just too many. He said each year about 24,000 stray dogs and cats are put down in the Las Vegas Valley.

"The biggest thing to me is to spay or neuter your pet," he said. "A lot of people don't think they're part of the problem, but when their dog jumps the wall and finds another dog -- they're part of the problem. That's adding to the population problem."

Dupalo said he sees Farmer at the shelter for several hours almost every day.

"He goes through and checks every room and area to see what's needed," Dupalo said. "He'll groom the dogs and work to make sure they have a better chance of adoption, of going back into society."

Dupalo said between 55,000 and 60,000 dogs are brought to the shelter each year, but despite the high number and Farmer's dedication to rescuing German shepherds, he still tells it like it is.

"He's honest," Dupalo said. "If a dog is aggressive, he will identify them as aggressive."

Farmer said he's always looking for donations and more volunteers, including the help of people willing to act as foster families for dogs when the shelter gets full.

"Fostering is a short-term place for the dogs to get out of their cages and be with people," he said. "I certainly could use help from anyone with a love for rescuing German shepherds. The rescue work is overwhelming sometimes for just me."

Lied Animal Shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. For more information, visit www.gsdlv.com, or call 384-3333.