NorCal Collie Rescue

In August, 2022 the Collie Rescue Foundation alerted NorCal Collie Rescue to a seizure of nearly 200 Collies from a property in Sherrard, Illinois. Two local Collie rescue organizations were on the ground immediately doing the bulk of the work: Collie Rescue of Greater Illinois and Minnesota Wisconsin Collie Rescue, along with Mercer County Animal Control and other local volunteers. They did an incredible job of ensuring the dogs were properly contained, transported, and cared for. Since that time, many other Collie organizations across the country, including NCR, joined in to help.

Upon learning the details of this rescue, NCR’s Board of Directors immediately voted to send donations to the two Collie rescue groups initially involved and sought to raise funds for Mercer County Animal Control on our website. We also notified Animal Control that we would be willing to foster some of the dogs when they felt it appropriate to release them to us. We remained in close touch with Animal Control on a general (and nail-biting) stand-by while the court hearings and related legal matters concerning the case progressed.

Although the court case was ongoing, the defendant had legally relinquished possession of the dogs to Mercer County Animal Control and they in turn were able to release the Collies to various Collie rescues throughout the country. We sent a volunteer to the site and arranged to take five of these Collies. Our volunteer relayed to us later that local law enforcement had never seen anything like the way the Collie community had mobilized so quickly! And that they were overcome with appreciation for the help.

Thanks again to the AMAZING transport service of Mutt Mutt Engine for bringing our dogs across the country safely. Mutt Mutt Engine is a 501c3 charity that exists for the very purpose of transporting rescues! We feel VERY lucky to have found them. https://www.muttmuttengine.org

Our heartfelt thanks to the local Collie rescues on the ground in Illinois and to the Collie Rescue Foundation (https://collierescuefoundation.org) for helping to coordinate the effort, showcase the enormous rescue, and reimburse NCR for some of the major medical expenses we incurred. NCR is proud to be an affiliate of this organization which was originally borne out of a need to assist in large rescues such as this one. We would also like to thank NCR’s donors who continue to support our rescue efforts at home and in these dire situations. Finally, we have so much gratitude for our foster homes, without which we couldn’t fulfill our mission to rescue and rehome Collies!

Up until this point, we haven't been able to talk about “the Mercer Collies” because of the pending legal action. However, we finally have great news! On March 6, 2024, Karen Plambeck was found guilty of eleven felony counts of intentional animal cruelty and will be sentenced in June 2024. Here is one local news article:

https://www.wqad.com/article/news/local/mercer-county-judge-karen-plambeck-guilty-cruelty-animals/526-83ca9d42-a5cf-4b8f-b181-289abc61a364

Sarah Rebernick of Minnesota Wisconsin Collie Rescue, who testified at the 4-day trial of the owner of the Collies, did a wonderful job in a video relaying the entire story from start to finish. Warning: It is graphic and eye opening. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1U8E3tfH0g

This is truly a happy tail for all the rescued dogs and the volunteers who worked tirelessly on their behalf. “Our” five Mercer Collies have been adopted and are living their best lives now in loving homes.

For more on these dogs, please see our previous posts on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/norcalcollierescue

An update on the Mercer 5 Collies are among the dogs featured in our December 2023 newsletter: https://calcollierescue.org/news.html

There are also some entries in the Happy Tails section of our website on these dogs.
https://calcollierescue.org/HappyTails/happytails-2021-23.html

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