Originally published on EV Annex.
By Matt Pressman
On my way up to a National Drive Electric Week event recently, I made a charging stop at the Port St. Lucie Tesla Supercharger station here in South Florida. While our Model S was charging, other Tesla owners gathered around to chat. I met one Tesla owner with an amazing story. It turns out that he and his wife, Sheldon and Ellen Rich, spend their days rescuing dogs in their trusty Tesla Model S.
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Photo: Sheldon Rich
Sheldon explained, “Tesla is the ideal transport vehicle. Every rescue dog that has ridden in it exhibits a sense of calm. That’s probably due to the smoothness and quietness of the ride. The fact that the back seat goes down allows these dogs room to move around. And most importantly, the attention given at the supercharging station has led to an adoption or 2!”
Source: WPBF-ABC*
Sheldon forwarded me coverage from WPBF-ABC* that reported on his wife, “Ellen Rich of Palm Beach Gardens [who]… hits the road to save rescued dogs. Last year, Rich logged 8,000 miles [in the Tesla] saving abandoned dogs. Rich is part of a volunteer transport team for Xtreme Rescue Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Miami-Dade County.”
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Photo: Sheldon Rich
Ellen explains that they save: “hard-to-place dogs, the extremely ill dogs and the dogs nobody else wants. As I’m in the car with the dogs, they are so grateful, it’s as if they know you are saving them… I fall in love with each and every dog. They are all so forgiving and loving, and I come home to my dogs and say, ‘You just don’t know how great you have it.’ I want that for every dog. They all deserve it.”
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Photo: Sheldon Rich
It’s great to see Sheldon and Ellen Rich working for such a great cause. I’m sure these rescue dogs are elated to have a better future as a pet in a loving home. And, I’m sure the dogs are thrilled to travel in comfort, style and smooth silence in their Tesla Model S rescue vehicle.
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*Source: WPBF-ABC
Reprinted with permission.
I too foster homeless dogs. Some dogs like SparkEV, others like the much roomier Chevy Astro van that they can run around. The hardest thing about fostering dogs is letting them go, but I take comfort in knowing that they are going to good homes (we screen adopters).
While I’d like to say everyone should foster dogs, some dogs are messy, and I don’t know how people feel about fur flying and dog beach sand in the car. The beauty of SparkEV is that it’s so cheap with plastic interior that it’s ideally suited for messy dogs. I probably wouldn’t take the dogs to dog beach on regular basis with sand and fur all over the interior of $80K car like Tesla.