Daily Inspiration: Meet Brittany Higgins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Higgins.

Hi Brittany, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi there! My name is Brittany Higgins and I am the founder of Hwy 50 Freedom Ride. We network and transport dogs from two rural towns in Colorado before they are euthanized. This mission began when I was volunteering for a different animal rescue and went to go pick up a dog from one of the shelters to give it a ride up to Denver to bring the pup to their new foster home. I realized as I got to this animal shelter that this was different than any other shelter I was used to. This building is in a remote area that no one visits. This shelter is essentially a holding facility for stray dogs to keep the dogs in until their owners arrive. Well, I found out if their owner does not show up within 5 days they were forced to euthanize the dog due to lack of resources. My heart was shattered.

I began doing some research and found local rescues in the Denver area that I could bug every week about the dogs down in these towns. I began forming relationships with the directors of the rescues and really showed them what was going on down in these towns and the urgency of needing to get the dogs out before they were euthanized.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Every week is seriously a struggle. Rescue groups are absolutely full and foster homes are overwhelmed and overflowing with dogs. People are not adopting dogs right now so it becomes a huge challenge to find rescues each week. I write up an email every time a dog arrives at the shelters and I include their photo and as much info as I can. I email about 30 incredible rescue groups and beg for them to help but they are full.

I then make a post on Facebook and start reaching out to all of the directors of the rescues and start calling, texting, and bugging them like crazy until we can figure out a game plan. We usually have HOURS left before the dogs are going to die before we put the puzzle together to get the dogs out. It is a high-stress situation every single week.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When I began doing this when I was 19 years old, I would race down to the shelter’s each time a rescue “tagged” a dog because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. Sometimes I was going down there 2-3 times a week in my own car which is about 6-7 hours round trip each time. Over the years I developed a relationship with the shelters and they gave us a full week to get the dogs out and allowed us to just go down on the weekends. I started building a team of volunteers to help me drive so now we have over 10 AMAZING drivers who go down week after week and empty the shelters. I could not do it without everyone’s help because now I have 2 young kiddos and 2 jobs.

There have been many different police officers come and go at the animal shelter but one woman, Tommie, has stuck around and we call her Momma Tommie. She has a full-time job, she is a mother, wife, and grandmother but still makes time every evening to go visit the dogs and love them. She gets to know them so well so that I can have a lot of information to pass along to the rescues so we have a better chance of getting them out. To this day, we have never had to put a dog down in either shelter! We have got every single dog out of there! I also met the most incredible woman, Lauren, throughout this experience and she wanted to join the team. She has been by my side for years and truly streamlined the process of getting the dogs out! She helps me set up new drivers and she coordinates the schedule throughout the year. She has taken such a weight off my shoulders so I can just focus on getting the dogs out of the shelters and into safe and loving foster homes. I am forever grateful for the rescue groups who step up for these dogs every single week.

My heart is now in La Junta and Rocky Ford and I feel like every single dog that walks through the door there is my own. I love them from the moment I get their picture and I worry about them all the way until they are safe in their new foster home.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The Covid-19 Crisis absolutely changed the game for dog rescue. During the thick of Covid, a lot of people decided they want to adopt dogs which were AMAZING until life started going back to normal. Once people had their life back and started going back to work and traveling people realized they didn’t want their dogs anymore and started surrendering their dogs to rescue groups and shelters. That is why every rescue group is so overwhelmed and why it is so challenging to get the dogs out of La Junta and Rocky Ford each week. We hope people will learn that dogs are family and not disposable depending on what’s going on in their lives. We also really want to put out the message to stop buying dogs from breeders because there are so many homeless pets right here in Colorado that need our help, truly incredible dogs that deserve amazing homes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hwy50freedomride.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwy50freedomride/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hwy50freedomride
• Other: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-van-will-save-150-colorado-dogs-in-2022