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American seven-year-old saves the lives of 1 200 dogs

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Roman McConn. (Photo: CATERS/WWW.MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)
Roman McConn. (Photo: CATERS/WWW.MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA)

The youngster has been labelled a hero after saving thousands of dogs’ lives!

He may only be seven years old, but that hasn’t stopped Roman McConn, from Texas in the US, from dedicating the last two years to saving dogs from death row shelters and transporting them to loving families across America.

It all started when Roman and his mom, Jennifer (36), adopted their dog, Luna, from a kill shelter in 2016. Mother and son were horrified to think that so many dogs were simply going to be put down so they started the charitable organisation Project Freedom Ride.

“We saw so many dogs that needed homes, so for my birthday, instead of presents we raised donations for our local shelter,” Roman says.

And thanks to these initial birthday donations, Jennifer was able to organise for 31 dogs to move across the country with them, from Texas to Washington State.

Finding refuge for the maligned pups in no-kill shelters, foster families and forever homes, the pair worked with shelters in Texas over the following two years to save more than 1 000 dogs from being euthanised. They managed to find the pups homes in no-kill shelters and foster families.

The McConns rely heavily on donations, as a single transport from Texas to the Pacific Northwest costs the equivalent of about R164 000.

ROMAN

Roman, who’s in second grade, is the “lifeblood” of the operation. He does everything from producing videos for the Project Freedom Ride Facebook page to contacting interested families.

“We hit a spot at the beginning where we thought we couldn’t continue – we were keeping what Roman was doing very separate at the time,” Jennifer says.

“[Roman] inspired me to get involved in rescue and after a video of him visiting with a shelter dog went viral, Project Freedom Ride was renewed. We were able to fund transfers again.

“I never thought Project Freedom Ride and Roman would receive this much attention – we thought we’d just save a few dogs.

“People have really gravitated towards Roman because he’s articulate, empathetic with the dogs and when he sees a problem, he wants to fix it.

“Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to continue.”

Roman

“I don’t know what my favourite part is – it’s all my favourite part,” Roman says.

“We would love, love, love your support.”

Source: Magazine Features       

 Pictures: CATERS/WWW.MAGAZINEFEATURES.CO.ZA              
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