As someone who is passionate about dogs, Syd Sullins likes to describe the Ranch as a beautiful and cheerful place filled with satisfied volunteers and contented dogs.
As a five-year volunteer, she should know.
Located in the mountains north of Chapala, with a view of the lake, the Ranch is a no-kill dog rescue center, in operation since 2001. As volunteer co-manager, Sullins makes sure the Ranch’s number one priority is met: To provide food and medical care to upwards of 85 dogs.
A one-time IT manager in Kansas City, Missouri, Sullins has always dreamt of working in dog rescue. “My role as co-manager chose me more than I chose it,” she says “When one of the Ranch founders needed to step down for health reasons, and since I was one of the more involved volunteers, I got promoted.”
Sullins and Carolyn Cothran share the role of co-manager, alternating three days per week.
“Our shift starts with a quick walk through, making sure all the dogs are okay,” says Sullins. “We can then go from fielding phone calls to orienting new volunteers, showing dogs to potential adopters, administering meds and injections, supervising our two paid workers, walking dogs, throwing balls and Frisbees – even cuddling puppies.”
Every dog accepted into the Ranch is spayed and neutered, receives appropriate medical care, and has a home for life.
“We have an impressive entourage of volunteers,” says Sullins. “Some come every day to give the dogs personal attention, including long walks, grooming and play time. Some prepare a special soup so that each dog receives a ladle of something tasty at feeding time, along with their usual kibble.”
In the past few years, the Ranch has become quite active in transferring their most adoptable dogs to the United States and Canada. In 2017, they sent over 70 dogs to shelters and homes north of the border.
Says Sullins, “We concentrate on areas that need dogs, such as Oregon, Washington and, lately, Arizona.”
The Ranch is always on the lookout for “Flight Angels” to escort the dogs on their travels to freedom. The volunteers accompany up to four dogs, costing them nothing other than their airline ticket and an extra hour at the airport.
“Those who love dogs help us through the process,” says Sullins. “We haven’t had anyone say they felt overwhelmed from the experience – only that it was a positive experience.”
Once the dogs are picked up and taken to no-kill rescue centers or shelters with high adoption rates, they typically land in their “forever” home within a few days.
On a mission five years ago to find a warm place to retire, Sullins and husband Matt left Kansas City with the intention of traveling for several years. Starting out in the Dominican Republic, they moved on to the Mexican beaches, but lakeside ultimately caught their attention. As a keen golfer, Matt was attracted to the area’s golf courses. And although he wasn’t always a dog lover, he’s grown more into one, due to his wife’s influence.
“We take in dogs that have been at the Ranch way too long,” Sullins admits. “Clark was a Ranch resident since 2008. We took him in two months ago, along with his sister, Lois.”
She continues: “Lucky for us, all our dogs get along, although Clark can be a bit of a challenge. Being the jealous one, he vies for all of my attention.”
Last November, the couple found Lana in a small village north of Jocotepec. The community has no vet, only a spay-neuter clinic. Someone had dropped the dog off and left her there.
“Lana had a fungal infection, hair loss and was pregnant,” says Sullins. “Despite her sorry condition, we loaded her in into our car and brought her home. At one-and-a-half years old, she’s our only ‘kid’ in the house; all the others are elders. That’s why we call our home Shady Acres for Dogs.”
While Lana is soon headed to a rescue center in Portland, Oregon, there’s still Reina, a Ranch resident for 11 years.
“Being half Mexican Hairless, half German Shepherd, Reina was so ugly, she couldn’t be adopted,” says Sullins. “In January 2017, we brought her home, only because we thought she was near the end of her life. She’s still alive and kicking.”
Sullins has witnessed her share of difficult moments at the Ranch. “A year and a half ago, a teenager adopted a puppy, which his father recently brought back to us, in terrible shape. The teenager simply stopped caring for the dog.”
Despite stories like these, Sullins prefers to focus on the Ranch’s successes, of which there are many. Last year, they placed 136 dogs in homes at lakeside and north of the border. That number brings a smile to her face.
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