This article ran Saturday January 17, 2009 for those of you who did not get a chance to read it. This couple go above and beyond to help animals in IA, NE and as far away as Florida. There is no other no-kill rescue or shelter like this in the area or the Omaha metro area.
Couple's Reward Is Seeing Horses & Dog's Thrive
Genea and Bill Stoops have 12 horses at their 10-acre Glenwood, Iowa, home-turned-animal shelter.
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To donate to Hooves & Paws Rescue, adopt an animal or just learn more, visit www.hoovespaws.org .
Two are blind, one from being beaten. One has rectal cancer. Two have broken pelvises. Another was beaten so badly it is, in Genea's words, 2,000 pounds of fear.
And you can't adopt that.
But you can love it.
Bill and Genea (pronounced "Gina") have plenty of that to go around. The couple moved from Omaha, where both grew up, to rural Glenwood a little more than three years ago with one goal in mind: Create a place to rehabilitate abused, starved, neglected and unwanted horses and large-breed dogs.
Three years later, they've worked with roughly 200 animals at their shelter, Hooves & Paws Rescue.
"We spend a lot of time with these animals, every single night," she said. "It's a huge amount of work. Some days when you're unloading 300 to 400 bales of hay into the barn, we look at each other and go,'What are we doing?'
"But it is worth it."
The Stoops, married for nearly 25 years, both work full-time jobs. Genea, 51, is an accountant at Carmody Plumbing. Bill, 49, is a manager at the PepsiCo bottling plant.
That leaves evenings and weekends to care for the animals.
In addition to the 12 horses at Hooves & Paws Rescue, the Stoops have 49 others in foster homes. They also have 11 large-breed dogs - Saint Bernards/Chow/Rottweiler's/an English Mastif, a Boxer and a Cattle dog that was thrown out at a truck stop - at the shelter. Many more dogs are in foster homes under the supervision of Hooves & Paws Rescue.
The couple help animals in trouble outside of Nebraska and Iowa, too. Sometimes, for example, a sheriff will call with information on neglected, abandoned horses that need homes. Genea gets to work.
Lately, the economy has only made her busier.
In the first two weeks of this year, she has fielded nearly 30 phone calls from people who can no longer afford to care for their animals or who need help buying dog food or a doghouse.
Even if the rescue is out of room or money, Genea said, she does what she can to not turn folks away.
The nonprofit organization relies solely on donations. What donations don't cover, the Stoops pay for themselves.
In warmer months, families and youth groups often stop by on weekends to volunteer. They'll brush the horses or help clean, among other chores.
On Friday evenings and Sundays, Genea gives riding lessons to children from low-income families, in foster care or with special needs.
Those wishing to adopt an animal must spend a day at Hooves & Paws watching, pitching in and learning what it takes to care for that type of animal.
Education is a big component of the rescue's mission.
"In the rural areas, we saw a huge need for animal rescue and also education," Genea said. "People get these big dogs and horses and don't realize how much it costs to maintain them. Big dogs are also real cute when they're little, but without socialization they can have problems with aggression."
Most days, Bill and Genea get home from work, change their clothes and spend the evening caring for the animals.
"It's a whole lot of work," Genea said. "But the rewards are endless, I'm serious, you can't believe it. When you see a horse that is starved and you think this guy is not going to be able to walk, he's going to die in my hands, and then you see him running and playing, it doesn't get any better than that.
"It just doesn't."