The eight week old bloodhound puppy was flown to the Will Rogers International Airport in Oklahoma City and will be a new addition to the K-9 Unit in Muskogee. Photo taken on November 19, 2011.
We start the New Year having donated 3 new bloodhound puppies to Law Enforcement. These playful little pups went out November of 2011 to the states of Oklahoma, Washington DC, and New Jersey. Each pup will be featured on this page the first three months of this New Year. This month we present to you the pup from Muskgoee that does not have a name yet. The community and one of the public schools will be deciding on a name. This pup is a purebred bloodhound and will grow up to be a beautiful liver and tan trained adult male. A handler who will be training the pup for their K-9 Unit will train the pup throughout it's working years in the department. This new addition to the K-9 unit will be trained to find abducted and missing children and will also be trained to work several different criminal cases. Bloodhounds do not locate drugs or do aggression work but they can save a life, track down a criminal, and reveal the mystery of a weapon or vehicle used in a crime. They can connect a suspect to the crime, weapon, or vehicle used to commit the crime. The first bloodhound donated by ALIE to law enforcement in 1993 was 2 months old at the time and three months into training at 5 months of age saved the life of a young girl.
There was a time in the Foundation when we would rescue bloodhounds under 3 years of age. We would donate them to police work when officers were willing to work with these hounds and train them. Many of these dogs would do well in training and succeeded in working police cases. A second chance can sometimes make a bloodhound happy to be a working dog. Sometimes the second chance can be costly to the Foundation, a police department, and the officer working with the dog. Some of the issues at hand can be anything from not being able to break the dog of habits that interfere with a case. There have been some dogs that will come short of working the traill by hesitating to confirm a suspect or fear of what might be at the end of the trail. Unforseen health issues can cause major problems for the department and officer that might have already spent endless hours of training and funds.
Every year brings new public events that we will participate in and the end and close of some events for the lack of funds. We are always happy to see new events spring up and go full force and sad to see events end and we just remember the many people and faces that would attend these events year after year. This year we have but a hand full of events that we will be doing this year again. We will look forward to being there and seeing the friends we have made and working with the volunteers from the pass and the new volunteers that are excited to get involved in what they believe to be a good and worthy cause. We give thanks for times, memories, and blessings that have come our way and the hardships that have made us stronger and opened to the direction that we should take and the corrections that we have to make in our own life. Continue this walk with us because your friendship and support is appreciated. Let us know about new events that your hear about and do not hesitate to invite us into your life or public event. Find out in February why we will be playing with bloodhound puppies for police work. We will make every effort to reach out in a positive way by saying good things follow me on Facebook and Twitter, Richard Berrelez.
DECEMBER
We dedicate the ALIE News page for the month of December to Jorelys Rivera who was abducted, physically and sexually assaulted, and murdered in Canton, Georgia in Cherokee County. Early this month ALIE received a donation in memory of Jorelys Rivera from one of our long time supporters, retired officer Raymond Florom from Cherry Hills, Colorado Police Department for its service to law enforcement. I read the tragic story online and was totally moved with many feelings of sadness, anger, rage, stress, and anxiety. Every time a crime like is committed against a child I have a hard time believing that someone could do this to a child, like it is the first time I have heard a sad story like this. When will it stop and how can we stop it? As much as I try to think of a solution to this crime, as a concerned human being, I feel absolutely helpless. An arrest has been made but this does not bring Jorelys back in time for Christmas or ever for that matter. God help our children!
All I want for Christmas is to be safe. Without having to say it children want to know that they are protected from harm at all times. When children are safe around the clock they are able to enjoy every single gift that they received from those that love them. Having my own grandkids I am aware of how comforted they feel when they come to visit overnight. They feel loved and safe during the day, at night, and in the morning when they wake up. The home should be like our thought of a carefree playground for children in heaven where no harm can come to them. ALIE wishes to be part of this happy story and dream that children visit while they sleep and when they wake up in the morning anticipating the new day so they can continue playing with their toys where they left off the night before. Consider the ALIE Foundation on your Christmas List this year with a one time gift to support our mission.
We want to give special thanks to Cru Vin Dogs Wine Group for their generous Christmas donation to ALIE. We were invited to attend a special event at their place of business on Friday, December 2, 2011 to be presented with a check to support the Foundation's mission. One of the owners had their favorite pet bloodhound named Sophie there for show and ask that my wife and I bring our own Foundation bloodhound, a retired police dog from Pueblo, Colorado named Cruiser, to be part of the event. The bloodhounds were the main attraction at the event and they were enjoyed by every person that attended. Cru Vin Dogs Wine Group is in the business of giving to Dog Charities providing dog service to the public. The Group does this by making different special wines that individually honor each charity with a wine displaying a label of their canine. The ALIE wine bottle display on the label is a picture of one of our special bloodhounds named Yogi. Several years ago Yogi was selected as one of the first dogs to go on a Cru Vin Dogs Wine label at which time the Foundation also received a very generous contribution. You can search for Cru Vin Dogs Wine Group online to find out more about their fine wines.
We have plans to donate two more puppy bloodhounds to law enforcement in the first quarter of the New Year. At this time we don't have the pups or the departments where the new bloodhounds will come from or will be placed. This will be our first project in January. In every project we take on we depend on public support from family, long time Foundation members, and new supporters. We don't have a paid staff to make every single decision for the Foundation so we are driven to move forward by the individual concern of every person convicted to protect children. Call ALIE and ask how you can help?
NOVEMBER
The Foundation donated and personally delivered three young pup bloodhounds to law enforcement in the states of Oklahoma, Maryland, and New Jersey in memory of Alie Berrelez. These pups are 2 months old and with the proper training will be able to work their first official police case with 3 months of training at which time they will be certified police canines in their departments. The officers will be training their own hounds and might ask for assistance if needed from surrounding police departments that have their own trained bloodhounds.
ALIE Foundation is very interested in assisting police departments everywhere that are in search for a purebred bloodhound to be trained to trail missing persons and missing or abducted children, and criminals of all kinds. In order to request an ALIE Bloodhound we require an official letter of request from your police department on the department's official letterhead sign by the Chief of Police or Sheriff for County Sheriff's Office. We also require a generous donation to support The ALIE Bloodhound Program for law enforcement. We prefer to personally deliver the new bloodhound pup that might only be 7 weeks old at the time of delivery to the designated police department. Bloodhound puppies are either bought by the Foundation, donated by a creditable breeder, or donated by a personal donor. Sometimes the pups are sponsored by one of our supporters which means that they would followup on the pup to get updates for the Foundation otherwise the Foundation does the followup. Training must be done by the department receiving the bloodhound, We can start the training with the pup while the pup is with us. We can provide a basic training manual and information of bloodhound training seminars to get started with the basics. Each dog we provide is screen for good health and desire to take a trail. In some unexpected cases a bloodhound might die because of genetic issues in which case the dog will be replaced by the breeder or the Foundation if a breeder is not involved in the transaction. If available the gender of the dog is at the request of the department. The Foundation's Dog Request Form is send to the requesting department once we receive the department's official request. All other questions should be emailed to ALIE.
The Alie Berrelez case is no longer an open case it has been solved. It took 18 years to find out who abducted and murdered Alie. As Alie's grandfather I never wanted to tell myself that I knew who had abducted Alie. I wanted to wait and hear it from the police department in charge of the case. I felt that there had to be a witness or two that saw or knew what happened to Alie that day. I wanted to lure a witness or two for 18 years to come out and testify to what they saw or knew. With modern DNA technology CBI in Denver, Colorado was able to get a DNA match. There were two witnesses as it turned out. My 3 year old grandson who saw what happened to Alie that day and Yogi the Aurora, Colorado police bloodhound who knew who took Alie Berrelez. Neither witness would prove to be helpful at the time. My grandson was just a small child that wasn't creditable or acknowledged until days after Alie had been taken to where she was found and Yogi was a canine who knew but there had to be other creditable supporting evidence.
Several local Denver News Stations and Newspapers along with Associated Press covered the Alie Berrelez Case when it was solved. To read more or listen to some of the News Stations video footage do a Google search. You can do a Google search for Alie Berrelez, Richard Berrelez, Berrelez, ALIE Foundation, ALIE Bloodhound, or Alie Berrelez DNA. This Google searches might not be available or listed for very long. Other old interviews and video footage can also be found on Youtube by searching for Berrelez.
OCTOBER
The ALIE fundraiser for 2011 thru 2012 is a Foundation t-shirt that is available in white only in size large and x-large for a monetary gift of $25. Special orders in any other size are available for $30 and they can be ordered online on our donation link. You must provide your mailing address when you make your donation and the shirt will be mailed to you. Please accept the ALIE shirt for yourself or your friend in appreciation for your gift of support.
ALIE has finished the Combined Federal Campaign this year and we are grateful for every person that has considered the Foundation for support. The Foundation has been participating in the Campaign for 15 years and every year has been a success for ALIE. We also want to thank every federal employee that made a decision to support several of the other non profit organizations that participated in the Campaign. We enjoyed seeing and talking with our friends who have been our supporters every year.
Vehicle donations have been slow this month. Please keep in mind that donations are tax deductible, towing is free, and vehicles can be running or not. Donate a vehicle you no longer need by calling the Foundation's phone number or just make your donation online on our website in the links page. If you need assistance donating a vehicle just call the Foundation for any questions or details.
SEPTEMBER
ALIE is now ready to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign that starts this month and continues until the 7th of November. This Campaign is organized by federal employees across the Country in every state by which they can support non profit organization through payroll deductions that can be designated by the federal employee to their favorite organization. ALIE can receive contributions from anywhere in the Country. Every federal agency is provided with a CFC brochure that lists each non profit organization that is assigned a CFC number identifying the organization. ALIE Foundation is listed under the independent organizations for Metro Denver in Colorado. ALIE has been in the Campaign for 15 years and we want to say thanks to our heros in the federal agencies, the Federal Employees. We encourage all federal employees to participate in the Campaign by supporting a non profit organization through CFC.
We attended the Rocky Mountain PBS, Kid's Fun Fest for 2011 on Saturday, 10th to promote children safety issues concerning strangers. The event was very successful with more than 2,000 people attending with their children. People visiting the ALIE booth kept us pretty busy throughout the 4 hour event. Many wanted to find out why we had a very big dog with us and many others just want to stop by and visit with the ALIE Bloodhound at our canopy since they knew about the ALIE Foundation. The event made available many activities for the children to enjoy and volunteer vendors had more than enough free give a ways for the people that attended.
If you have a pet dog and live in Greater Denver Area you might want to attend a fun public event with your best friend. This event is free to the public and I know that there will be a lot of free stuff for dogs and other things that you can buy. Bark at the Park will be held in Aurora at the Exposition Park by 6th and Peoria. This event is hosted by the City of Aurora and organized by an Officer from Aurora. There are usually several dog activities that you can participate in and win a free prize. Come out to Bark at the Park on Sunday, 18th from 10am to 2pm and enjoy the fun. ALIE will be there so remember to visit with us for awhile.
This month is a good month every year for free public events. Douglas County Safety Days is an event that we have attended 6 years in a row. This event is hosted by Douglas County Sheriff's Office. The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th from 10am to 3pm in Castle Pines just a few blocks west of I-25 and the Castle Pines Pkwy exit. This has always been a huge event that attracts hundreds of families and children. The food and fun is great and endless. Another fun thing to enjoy is the live band playing country music that many people look forward to hearing. If they have this year you do not want to miss riding on the hay wagon with your children. ALIE will not be missing this event so stop by and say hi to one of our bloodhounds which sometimes might be a baby bloodhound puppy.
Working with bloodhounds can be a lot of fun but know that it can also be very hard work. They are demanding and they just want to be sniffing everything in sight. They want to be where you are, go where you go, and there is no room for me time. If you leave them behind they will let you know that they are upset by making a mess of the inside of your home or your yard. Well I am working on getting two young pups soon. I am working on getting them a job on the east coast. This is my present project and I know that even though it will be a very good thing for me to do it will not be a vacation but another adventure in the bloodhound world. Power to the Nose.
We want to ask you to support our mission if you can help. For every dollar you donate 90% or 90 cents of every dollar goes to our programs. This time of the year is a very good time to donate a vehicle you no longer need. We accept any vehicle in any condition as long as it has not been parted out. Towing is free and your donation is tax deductible. Your tax advisor has to determine the vehicle's tax deduction. Ask us by phone or email how you would like to help? For vehicle donations you can also visit some of our car donation links for detailed information.
AUGUST
ALIE Foundation participated at the annual Art and Ale Festival hosted by The Wildlife Experience Museum in Parker, Colorado in the month of August. The Foundation has had an information and display table at this festival for the past 6 years. The event has always been a great experience for the Foundation and the membership of the Museum has welcome ALIE as one of their favorite friends and business partners.
Every once in a while we have a retired bloodhound that just needs a nice loving home where they can be an indoor dog and have the freedom of a yard when they need to go outside. These dogs are gentle giants and very friendly with people and other pets. They just want to be close to people and other pets in the home. If you are the kind of person that has a tender heart for older retired dogs let us know. A donation is required to adopt a bloodhound that supports ALIE bloodhounds for law enforcement. Call us anytime to find out if we have a bloodhound for you.
We stay focused on our mission with individual monetary donations that support the general operations of the Foundation. All our support is voluntary with no staff members. Volunteers are encouraged to ask how they can help. We have been in operation for 18 years and hope to continue with our mission for as long as we can. It is because of your help and support that we can keep moving forward with a very special service to people everywhere. Your help is sincerely appreciated and remembered. We offer each of our supporters our thanks for their generous consideration.
ALIE Foundation
5800 Tower Rd #104
Denver, Colorado, 80249
Muskogee Bloodhound
