“They are my family”
When Kristina, “Krissey”, Vlantes talks about her three Chow Chows her voice becomes soft. She has grown up with this furry dog breed and has owned one or more ever since.
Krissey is the head of the Sea Freight Drayage Operations at Hellmann in the Houston branch in Texas. “Basically, that means, my department takes care of the first and last mile of Hellmann Ocean Freight,” she explains.
In July 2018, she started the inland services as a one-woman-show and now her department has grown to five employees.
She loves her career, and her background has always been in logistics.
After her full-time shift at Hellmann, she starts her “second job”: She spends four hours daily working for the Houston Chow Chow Connection of which she is the co-founder and president. Through her work in transporting chows throughout Texas, she met lots of wonderful people that were dedicated to rescuing chows from shelters and finding new homes for them. One of those people was Denise Bailey. Both passionate dog-lovers, they decided to found their own dog rescue in 2013, honoring Dianne Watson.
The Houston Chow Chow Connection has grown a lot since then with 25 foster homes all over the U.S, 50 volunteers, and about 500 supporters that take care of abandoned Chow Chows.
"Why?” Krissey answers without hesitating: “Because I love animals. This specific breed has been close to me ever since I can remember. When a Chow Chow ends up in a shelter, they usually don’t make it out.”
In shelters, chows don’t react well to strange surroundings, they become aggressive and bark a lot. “This scares potential adopters away. However, when taken out of that shelter, the barking stops and they are a totally different animal,” clarifies Krissey. Sadly, about half of all dogs in American shelters are being euthanized. That is why she and her board are so passionate about helping the misunderstood breed.
Their foundation is on a special rescue list so whenever a Chow Chow ends up in a shelter, the non-profit organization gets contacted. The Paws Pet Resort in Houston is one of the several boarding facilities in Texas that provide housing for abandoned Chow Chows. Krissey adds gratefully: "They have supported the Houston Chow Chow Connection since our journey started!"
In the past 9 years, they have successfully re-homed nearly a thousand dogs! The chows have found new permanent homes on the East and West coasts of the U.S. and have traveled north and south even into Canada!
Krissey has a great amount of help to run this dog rescue, as it would be very difficult for just one person to manage the entire organization. The foundation has dedicated board members that help with organization and operations during the day. These members run the social media, treasury, website upkeeping, and even write “thank you” letters for donations and foster families.
Despite the large amount of work, Krissey finds the tasks very rewarding. As a non-profit there are no salaries or compensation for administrative costs, so fund-raisers are on her to-do list as well. Just recently, they moved a dog to a new adoptive home in Canada. Along the way, a great amount of 30 helpers were needed, including an escort for the flight. This takes a massive amount of coordination. However, Krissey’s background in logistics has proven to be very helpful! She is an expert in inland transportation all over the US.
“I use my skills to help. Whenever transport is needed, I can easily review and execute the routes,” she says with a big smile while petting her chows.
The hard work pays off because she can see the success! Every dog rescued gives her the motivation to go on and save the next. She has taken in some Chow Chows as well and now shares her house with three furry friends.
“They all have different needs and personality traits.
I love them like children. They are my family!”
