The Daily Times

It was only a stop on the way, but the scene at Assured Storage in Maryville Friday night was one of fast-paced excitement. The hustle and bustle never fizzled out completely, not with 16 basset hounds in the mix.

The setting is what 81-year-old Roger Imsande with Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia (BHRG) called “The Basset Underground Railroad.”

Basset hound rescue groups from Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and New York all met at Assured Storage, 1915 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway, ensuring the animals they brought made it to Buffalo, N.Y., to find a loving family.

Gary Penny, board chairman for the New York-based ABC Basset Hound Rescue, said about 20 families have already been screened and are now waiting to be matched up with the animals during an adoption fair Sunday.

The dogs were to leave early this morning for a 15-hour drive to Buffalo after getting some much-needed rest at the storage facility, Assured Storage Manager Kathy Sands said.

“We’re excited,” Sands said. “We hope to — in the future — be able to help out like this again.”

Volunteers building

Sands said the owner of the business heard about the upcoming meetup and volunteered the building for use.

Penny said the meetup stemmed from an event during New Year’s weekend when ABC took in five basset hounds from Texas. The media publicity the dogs received in Buffalo led to several prospective dog owners applying to adopt basset hounds.

ABC contacted several rescue groups across the country, with groups in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee all having available hounds that met adoption requirements.

Belly Rubs Bassets of Tennessee was one of those groups. Anne Jacoby, who’s worked with Belly Rubs for several years, said they brought four hounds Friday night — Bo, JR, Copper and Cleo. And each will hopefully find a loving home Sunday in New York, where there’s currently plenty of homes and not enough dogs.

“It’s a solution to the problem that there’s so many dogs here and not enough homes,” Jacoby said. “It’s a really good solution.”

First basset meeting

While Belly Rubs helps foster basset hounds and finds them new homes, this is the first time they’ve met up with several other rescues like this, Jacoby said.

And while BHRG and ABC in New York have had many meetups in recent years — it’s where Roger Imsande got the idea to call it the “Basset Underground Railroad” — it’s never included this many groups.

“I don’t care what you call it,” Imsande said. “This is about taking care of basset hounds forever.”

ABC’s Gary Penny said about 90 percent of the animals will find an immediate home once in Buffalo. The others will be placed in foster living situations, but should find a home in the near future, he said.

The dogs are expected to arrive in Buffalo at around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. today.

You must be logged in to Facebook to comment. If you're not logged in to Facebook, a login window will open when you click "comment". Or you can log in now. You may need to refresh your page after logging in via that link.