March 7, 2009

A terrible event updated

UPDATE:

I just spoke to Karen Tracy of Pazzazz Chows and she gave me the following update.  In all, Karen lost twelve of her own dogs and five boarder dogs.  Three of her chows are at the veterinarian’s in intensive care. Timothy Kleinhagen, the heroic driver of the propane truck, remains in critical condition and is facing lengthy hospital time.  The cause of the blast has yet to be determined.

Karen explained that dogs are her life and despite this horrific tragedy, she remains hopeful and optimistic.  Her plan is to rebuild her kennels and continue on as a breeder of chows and a boarder of other dogs.  In fact, she has been receiving many calls from loyal clients begging her to do so.  Karen has spent the past fifteen years building her champion line of chows, producing six generations of the breed.  Fortunately, for Karen, there are still a few dogs remaining from Paw Paw’s lineage.  Abram, a grandson, is living elsewhere; Sahara, a granddaughter, escaped the fire; and Maddox, a great-grandson, was showing in Tennessee.  Incidentally, Maddox won an award of merit at the recent Westminster Dog Show.

In the meantime, Karen and her mother are living at her brother’s home because hers was so badly damaged.  The heat from the kennel blaze broke all the windows on the backside of the house, destroyed the siding, and burned out the electrical system.  Extensive repairs are required.  Karen wanted me to tell you how touched and grateful she is by the tremendous and caring outpouring from the public. Thank you everyone from Karen and from me.

The local credit union in Lehighton has set up an account to which donations can be made.  The information is as follows:

First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union
430 South 7th Street
Lehighton, PA  18235

Checks can be made payable to Karen Tracy, Pazzazz Chows

I am deeply saddened by THIS STORY. My heart goes out to Karen Tracy and I am hoping for a speedy recovery for those (both pets and humans) injured in this terrible event. Here is a tribute to my little Ghenghis Khan who perished in the blaze.

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