Dog Lover Honored as RVer of the Year
February 2, 2009 by Paris and John
Filed under News
Dog lover Richard Daniels has been honored with the first-ever Good Sam Club’s RVer of the Year award for his work with stray animals. Daniels, a Waynesboro, Georgia native, was featured in Highways Magazine for his shelter work.
The RVer began his work with strays in 2005 when he and his wife, Sue, headed out for a Labor Day vacation in their RV; when they stopped at the Modoc Campground in South Carolina, the couple met an old, wounded stray dog…and their new life companion. Naming him Old Fella, the couple nursed the dog back to health and soon Daniels began sharing his experiences with other dog lovers on the Good Sam Club RV.net forums. He soon discovered that the world’s largest RV organization had many fellow dog lovers as he received both words of encouragement and monetary donations towards Old Fella’s medical bills.
Through the “Very Old Stray (the Old Fella Story)” thread, the forum members eventually convinced Daniels to establish his own animal shelter, Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue (OFBCAR), which has saved more than 100 dogs and placed them in good homes.
This June, Old Fella passed away after struggling for months with arthritis and bone cancer. In memory of Old Fella and his legacy as an animal rescue icon, a statue of Old Fella will be erected in the First National Bank Park in Waynesboro, Georgia this year.
Daniels’ work for strays has continued. He led efforts to transport a disabled dog to her new home across the country by fellow RV.net forum members, all coordinated through postings on the site, Anna, a Labrador retriever who is an amputee, was relayed from RV to RV from Georgia to Washington State.
Through his work through the shelter and through RV.net, Richard Daniels continues to find homes for these once homeless animals, bringing families around the country lifelong companions of their own.
For More Information on Richard Daniels’ Shelter:
Shelter Contact Information
Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue
P.O. Box 1437
Waynesboro, GA 30830
(888) 846-3792
www.oldfella.org
Photo of Richard Daniels and Old Fella courtesy Good Sam Club
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