Group opens hearts, homes for beloved Boston terriers

From The Messenger Post:

Erinn Cain
Team Leader/News Reporter for Monroe County
Messenger Post Media



Pictured are Mack, Sydney and Bogey, Boston terriers owned by Heather Scott, a volunteer for the BT Cruisers and Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue.


Tyson is a 10-year-old Boston terrier available for adoption through the Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue. He is so driven by food that he has been nicknamed “the vacuum” by his foster family.


Joan Stark, a volunteer with the BT Cruisers and Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue, is pictured with two of her Boston terriers.
Henrietta, N.Y. — Heather Scott got her first Boston terrier in 2007. With Mack, it was “instant love.” “I have always loved dogs and have owned other breeds in the past, but something about this breed just stands out for me,” said Scott, of Irondequoit. “ ... They just want to be loved, they have high energy, but each one has such a personality. They make you laugh at their antics sometimes.”

Now with three Boston terriers — Mack was joined by Sydney and Bogey — Scott is one of about 50 members of the Rochester-based group, the BT Cruisers, an organization that holds monthly fundraisers with proceeds going to Northeast Boston Terrier Rescue (NEBTR). The NEBTR, with volunteers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware, provides medical and health care to Boston terriers in need and helps find dogs homes through adoption. Rescue dogs are placed in foster homes and evaluated for at least two weeks to assess their personality and provide them with basic skills, including house and crate training, to help ease their transition into permanent homes.

The BT Cruisers’ fundraisers are named Madison’s Mission in memory of Madison Hunter, a Boston terrier owned by Betty Ann Manganello, of Rochester. It was about five years ago, after the death of Madison Hunter, that Manganello decided to get involved with the NEBTR.

“I was giving Madison Hunter such a good home that I felt no other Boston should have to be abused or lack a safe, loving home,” she said. “I knew I wanted to get involved and try to make a difference — no matter how small it may be.”

Joan Stark, Of Ontario, has owned Boston terriers for over 40 years; she currently has three of her own and two foster dogs.

She said she became involved with the NEBTR because she appreciated its “philosophy of finding the perfect home for every Boston.”

“There are many ways to help,” she said. “Join the group and help with transports, helping a Boston from a foster home to its forever home, home visits, fundraisers, donate and help educate.”

She added, “Their personality, intelligence and those adorable, pushed-in faces are hard to ignore. They are clean and smart, so train easily. They are also very stubborn, and it needs an owner with patience who understands the breed.”

Fostering a dog, said Manganello is difficult, but admirable.

“It’s a tough job,” she said. “They sometimes have to nurse back the very sick Bostons. The love they give the fosters is insurmountable. They get faced with challenges that sometimes take months to work through. They truly are angels.”