The Lakeshore Pembroke Welsh Corgi Rescue takes care of and helps place corgis in need of new homes. Lake Express recently provided them a big hand in accomplishing this mission for one little corgi.

When the club is approached to take in a rescue a call is put out first for people to foster and then for people to help transport the corgi to its foster home. A foster home cares for a corgi for a temporary period while it waits for a permanent home. All corgis are given the medical attention they need including up to date shots, care for any special conditions and are spayed or neutered if they are not already. The foster parents evaluate the corgis and are able to help make sure that each is placed in a new home that is best suited to its personality and any special needs it may have. There are typically several people involved in getting a corgi to its new foster home. The journey is broken up into "legs" and operates a little like a relay race. Some people affectionately refer to it as the "corgi underground railroad."

Recently there was a little girl living in Muskegon, Michigan in need of a new home. Her foster home would be in Wausau, WI. Lakeshore maintains a Yahoo Group and when a corgi needs to be transported an email is sent out to the group. One person joked that it was too bad there wasn't a boat to carry her across the lake rather than having to drive her around the lower half of the lake and then north again. Another person sat back for a moment and thought about it. Wasn't there a ferry between Milwaukee, WI and MI? A quick internet search confirmed that not only was there a ferry between WI and MI, but that the ferry landed in Muskegon, the very place the little corgi would have begun her cross country journey. The ferry company was Lake Express. A call was made to their marketing director, Kay Collins, to see if she would be able to give the rescue a discount on the round trip passage. Kay called back right away and offered not a discount, but free passage for both the transporter and the corgi!

So arrangements were set and the transporter arrived at the Lake Express port in Milwaukee at about quarter to twelve on a sunny Saturday morning. When she arrived she found out that not only had her fare been provided, she was going to be traveling in Premier Class the ferry equivalent of first class on an air plane. It was very swanky and the steward for the Premier Class cabin took especially good care of our transporter – she is active in dog rescue herself so she understood the whole process. The journey was smooth and surprisingly swift, just two and a half hours from port to port. The entire ship is built for comfort, with a roomy, air-conditioned lounge, a movie shown on several large screen televisions during the crossing, a beautiful observation deck and an onboard concession stand, just in case you get the munchies.

The little Corgi traveled in style herself. There are several spacious kennels aboard the ship which have fans blowing on all of them. Crew members check on their furry passengers frequently to make sure they have enough water and to give them a friendly pet.

Lakeshore would like to express its deep gratitude to Lake Express for making the little Corgi's journey (and that of her transporter) a comfortable and speedy one. Long journeys by car are hard on corgis, especially when they are with people they don't know. The generosity of Lake Express made the little Corgi's trip much more pleasant. More information about Lake Express can be found on their web site: http://www.lake-express.com