Gail Orth-Aikmus has a passion for helping others whether they have two legs or four.

As former police chief of Pleasant Valley, Mo., a Clay County sheriff’s deputy and a DARE officer, she has devoted much of her life to helping people. As director of Heartland Weimaraner Rescue and a Rally to Rescue ambassador, she has helped countless dogs.

Orth-Aikmus, founder of the four-state Heartland organization, has seen the need for the group explode as the Weimaraner has become more popular. Formerly the rescue officer for the Weimaraner Club of Greater Kansas City, Orth-Aikmus headed off on her own in 2001 when she was unable to help a Shar-Pei-Weimaraner mix because it was not a purebred.

Thus, Heartland Weimaraner Rescue was born.

Discovering Weimaraners
The group, with about 45 volunteers, does Weimaraner rescue work in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. She and the Kansas City Weimaraner Club continue to cooperate and it’s a good thing. While there were only a handful of Weimaraners in rescue nationwide in 2000, the four-state rescue organization now has 48 dogs in foster care, plus there are four other such groups across the country.

“The big problem came when commercial breeders discovered Weimaraners,” Orth-Aikmus says.

The gray color, piercing blue eyes and intelligent look make the puppies adorable. But, Orth-Aikmus says, “Weimaraners are not for everyone. They can be very stubborn and very headstrong, but the best friend you will ever have.”

On top of that, Orth-Aikmus refers to them as “Velcro dogs.”

“They are a companion dog to the extreme,” she says. “If you go to the bedroom, they go with you; if you go to the bathroom, they go with you.”

A Devotion to Rescue
When people learn that Weimaraners are not for them or life changes make it impossible to properly care for their dogs, they turn to Heartland and Orth-Aikmus for help.

And the group has responded.

“At Heartland, we have never turned down a dog because of illness or injury,” the director says.

This, of course, costs money.

“We do a lot of different things to raise money,” she says, emphasizing that that’s a big reason she is so pleased with the Purina Pro Plan Rally to Rescue program.

“I really don’t know what we would have done without the program,” she says. “We have sold Rally to Rescue collars and wristbands as far away as Australia.”

The Rally to Rescue fundraising success has been a boost to a program and a breed that are a passion for Orth-Aikmus

A Loyal Breed
While Weimaraners are not for everyone, they are just right for Orth-Aikmus and her son, Brian. The owner of several breeds during her lifetime, she says, “I have never been around a more loyal breed. There is a bond between Weimaraners and their owners the like of which I have never seen.”

She became a Weimaraner owner in 1990 when her father suggested getting a dog for her then 7-year-old son to help him cope with his parents’ divorce. “Castaway Dust Buster” became a much-loved family member and inspired Orth-Aikmus, then the police chief of Pleasant Valley, Mo., to obtain and train a similar puppy for narcotics work.“Iceman” and Chief Orth-Aikmus served the community as partners for years.

Iceman is gone, but Orth-Aikmus, now a deputy sheriff for Clay County, Mo., continues to fight drugs as a DARE officer. In addition to her time-consuming work with Heartland Rescue, she is busy coordinating a car show benefit for the DARE program and reaches out to youth and elderly alike through the DARE/Community Action Team.

As director of Heartland, she recently coordinated Kick Off the Howlidays, the largest-ever gathering of animal rescue organizations in the Kansas City area, while continuing to respond to rescue requests from miles and miles away and working on pet owner educational programs such as meet-and-greets at local pet stores.

Hands-On Commitment
Her organizational and management efforts are matched by hands-on commitment. “All of the puppies come to my house,” she says.

She emphasizes that the success of the organization depends on volunteers, especially key people like Lari Black in Wichita, Kan., Nebraska coordinator Danielle Allen, and Iowa coordinator Jill Avery. She refers to Rita Koerner of Kansas City as her right hand. “She does the rehab on all the adult dogs.” And she calls Angie Pillman of St. Louis her “left hand.”

Through these volunteers, scores of dogs have been rescued and Orth-Aikmus can rattle off special cases. “Rocky” was shot in the face because he barked at a neighbor. “Hamlet” became the pet of a University of Missouri veterinary student who helped operate on his broken leg. In return, that veterinarian now donates spay and neuter operations for rescue cases.

But “Maximus” is the mascot for the group’s efforts. Maximus came to the group in 2001 with severe mange. He was badly emaciated and looked like an old dog although he was only 7 months old. Heartland turned to the Internet for help and raised about $3,000 from generous donors around the country.

It was classic fundraising success in an ongoing effort typical of rescue organizations. “You are constantly doing things to raise money,” Orth-Aikmus says. “If you are not, you are not doing your job.”

That’s why she was and is so excited about Rally to Rescue and why she encourages others to get involved. “When we were accepted and found out about the support we would receive, I began telling others, ‘You guys really need to do this, you really need to do this,’” she says. “Rally to Rescue addresses our efforts in ways that help us to be more effective. It’s a dream program.”