Robeson County Road Trip
Sebastian and Halo
Chloe
Bear
Miakoda
Mia
Now that I have had time to rest I can finally put up a post on this entire situation. The entire thing started to with Bear. His picture just haunted me. No one was stepping up and it got down to his final night alive. He was scheduled to die the next morning. A donor came forward and said they would pay his pull fee and that would get him safe. Several people offered to help support Bear once pulled. We have no funds for rescue. It is paid out of pockets from those of us that try to save these dogs. Pulling a dog so far away was a big risk, financially for us. We had to try.
He needed a foster and my cousin Theresa who has been asking to help out with dog rescue said she would foster him. She faxed in the hold and left a voicemail. We arranged for Jackie a volunteer that pulls dogs from the shelter to pull Bear out. If we had not done what we did, Bear would of died. No one else had a hold on him. Bear was pulled and safe. Now to work on getting him to Minnesota to Theresa and to figure out how to support his vetting bills.
A plea went out begging for a puppy to be saved. He was a beautiful pup. I told supporters that if someone paid for his pull, his vetting and completely had him sponsored that he would come back with Bear into our rescue. That he could come to me for fostering since he was a puppy. Everything was worked out and the lady who donated to his vetting and paid it in full was allowed to name him. She named him Miakoda. I now had two dogs sitting in Fairmont, North Carolina at the vets office.
Debra a lady who works hard to save the animals at Robeson County, North Carolina told me about Melissa. Melissa lives in Minnesota and had two dogs (Halo and Sebastian) at the vets where Bear and Miakoda were that she needed to get back to Minnesota as well. Melissa planned on Memorial weekend going to get them by herself. This is a huge roadtrip to take alone. I contacted Melissa and told her on early morning hours of Friday May 21st that I had the weekend off and was going to get the dogs back to the Midwest. She said she could go if we wanted to drive the entire way. Two of us able to drive we could pull it off. We made plans that we would head out early in the afternoon.
Koda
Koda's picture from the shelter
In the end you know what pisses me off the most? This dog was stuck in a shelter, sitting in a kennel. No one to show him they gave a damn about his life. Diana paid to sponsor him and he was pulled out of the shelter and taken to the vets office. He was in a place where people cared about him. He died in a place that people cared. Not in that horrible shelter. No one knew he was that sick and it happened so fast. Diana keeps wanting to know where her money went. Who got the best of it they ask Well Koda got the best of it, he died at the vets and not in that awful shelter. He died on his own and not by Jeff killing him with a needle to his heart. Yes, Diana that is where your money went. Horrible waste of money wasnt it? I offer you back what is left over and nothing seems good enough. It just boils down to the fact Koda died and nothing else seems to matter in the end, nothing about the gift Koda was given. I don't think you should donate to dog rescue if you expect everyone of them to live. If they dont live, if you can't see the fact that you gave him the gift to die on his own instead of a heartstick, something is very wrong with you. Nothing could of saved him in the end, we didn't know that. The only good thing that could of happened, did, he didn't have a needle shoved into his heart. God took him on his own.
There is a lot of confusion going around about Koda that I want to set straight. Koda was a Robeson County, North Carolina dog that was on death row. He was to be killed in the shelter to make more room for more dogs and on Facebook several people begged someone to save him. That is where this all started. Thursday morning.
I want to make it very clear to those that do not know me, I live in South Dakota, this dog is in North Carolina. I do not work for the shelter. I do rescue work and save dogs off death row. I do not agree at all, how this shelter is ran. At 88% if not more kill rate it is not a shelter. It's a slaughter house.
My cousin Theresa in Minnesota offered room for Bear in her home to take him in. She faxed the hold and called to have him spared of being destroyed Wed. morning. We had him pulled, a generous donor paid his pull fee. He was taken to the vets in Robeson County.
Dogs pulled from the shelter need to be taken right to the vet for many reasons. They are in a shelter full of Parvo and they are mostly strays or unwanted pets that people do not bother to vaccinate. Parvo for example is so easy to catch and it spreads dog to dog and takes them out faster then you can react. Some dogs if caught early can pull through but the death rate from parvo is way up there. It is a horrible threat to dogs.
The dogs need to be checked over, vetted like any other pet. They need to have a vet see them. They need shots and care. So they go to the vet, and most states require a health certificate in order to transfer a dog from state to state. Most people who do not do rescue even realize that little piece of information. You can not just take a dog anywhere you want. You need proof they are healthy and you are not bringing in Parvo, Distemper etc into the state. In order to get this the dogs need to stay at the vets usually 10 days to make sure they are clear of these diseases to get the certificate.
Bear
Bear's pic to save his life...
Bear is from Robeson County, North Carolina. A shelter that is nothing short of a slaughter house. Reports have said that two-thirds of the animals that go into that shelter do not come back out alive. Unacceptable. They have a holding period of a few days and if no one claims them, there is no adoption process, just death. I will touch more on that later.
Bear known as 42436 as you see in the picture of him, sat there counting down his last hours of life. Dogs were being pulled for rescue, Bear though, he just sat there waiting and waiting. I kept seeing his picture over and over on Facebook, people pleading for his life. Thoughts raced through my head. I know in the rescue world that a dog is never to far away to rescue. There is an amazing network out there to help these dogs get to where they need to go.
In his final hours people pleaded and pleaded for someone to step up. They offered support for Bear to help pay for his rescue. This was vital for us because he is so far away and the daunting task it would be to save him and get him to us.
I asked my cousin if she had room to foster him, as she wants to get involved with dog rescue. Her heart is in it. She said she would take him. I had her call and fax the hold hours before his death to save his life. That she did. Her first death row rescue. Racing the clock trying to save their lives.
I posted on the Facebook page for volunteers that pull these dogs people are willing to rescue. They pull the dogs from the pound and take them straight to a vet. These dogs have had no vetting at the pound and must be vetted to leave to rescue. We were waiting and waiting to hear if he made it. It wasn't until late evening did we find out that indeed he was pulled and indeed it was our hold. He would of died that morning if it wasn't for us.
As I type this Bear is sitting at the vets in Robeson County, North Carolina waiting to come home to Minnesota. His foster home is waiting for him. We need to get his vetting paid for and arrange transport to get him to Minnesota.
That is Bear's story and we will keep you updated on his progress. I have another post coming up about what I feel on this area of the country.
Support Bear
Penny Girl
After surviving her date to die, Penny after five months of patiently waiting was formally adopted on May 18th, 2010. Penny had a very rough start in her life and it reminds me of their power to forgive what humans can do to them. She came to us broken, you could see it in her face. She was so scared and confused. As a family we helped Penny find her strength, her courage and happiness in this world. It shows. She is a very happy dog with so much to offer. I couldn't of asked for a better family to adopt this little girl. It just fits what she needs in life and she fills the hole they need as well in their home.
We will miss her, but we will be able to see her still at times and that means the world to us.We can let go of our fosters, knowing that we helped them not be a statistic of the 6-7 million shelter pets that die each year. We watch them leave to live life and enjoy life. That is what it is all about with death row dog rescue. We always say "At least they are not dead" and we can watch them fill the heart of someone with joy that wants these death row dogs in their lives.
Penny has so much left to do on this Earth, her story has so much more left to it!
Penny May 2010
Dakota, Tilly and Tucker
On May 13th Ashley and I took three wonderful dogs to rescue from the Sioux City, IA pound. It all started when we saw Dakota being networked on Facebook by wolf rescues. We know rescue people down there and we knew if he had a place to go to safety we could make it happen. We are close enough! In the end we ended up taking three of them for a ride.
The drive started out with chaos before we even hit the road. I had to get two new tires at last minute. They were nice enough to get me in and the tires on in a hurry once I told them what I had to do. Ashley overslept, she worked all night the night before. Starting late was a problem. We got on the road though!
Through the day we made up time and everything went off with out any more glitches. Dropped Tilly and Tucker off in Omaha, Nebraska and took Dakota down to Kansas.
Three more lives saved.
Video after the jump...
Update
I have been very busy with life and on top of that rescue. The area that gets hit the hardest is the site. I am working hard to keep updates of all the dogs funneling through us and their stores but that is about it right now.
The wonderful thing about rescue is that you may just start out by yourself and feel all alone in this huge war around you. In no time at all you start to meet some of the most caring, wonderful and supportive people. They are everywhere.
Dana came to me looking to adopt Penny and she is still wanting to do so. She is being smart and taking her time and letting her family ease into the adoption. On top of that she is a writer and will be able to edit the site. She wants to volunteer her time and work on the site. You should be seeing her joining us on here.
My sister today was on the local radio station and gave us a shameless plug. Thanks KSOO!!!
Painfultruth.org is also working to start a Mile High Weimaraner chapter in Sioux Falls, SD. It would work well with the Rapid City chapter. This rescue is something I deeply support. They have a passion for Weimaraners and the Mile High Weimaraner Club has a top notch rescue for the breed. Weimaraners are celebrated, loved and adored by all involved in this rescue group. Like many rescue groups out there, in order to save a dogs life they at times need to board them. The downside is a dog has to sit in boarding until a foster home opens up, but the upside is their lives are saved. This is expensive and also hard on the dog.
What can help? Donating money to help them pay for boarding and the more foster families out there the more dogs can be saved.
They operate out of Denver, Colorado but are in a few other states as chapters are opening up. Go to their site and donate, or sign up to foster and volunteer.
Join them on facebook as well!
A Concentration Camp for The Animals
Sharon McDonough
This is one of the most disgusting animal abuse and neglect cases I have ever ran across. A mother intentionally starving and not just killing but torturing animals to death and having her minor children help her by holding them for her as she tortured and kill them. Sharon McDonough, 43, in Selden, Long Island, New York, is out on $100k bond for crimes against animals, a felony indictment may be issued for her.
The story unfolded on November 2nd, 2009 when Rescue Ink acted on a tip they received on their tip line. The tip came in from Sharon's 21-year old son Doug McDonough. Rescue Ink went to the home and found bones of animals in the backyard. In the home were animals living in cages and skin and bones. Living in horrible conditions. About twenty animals buried in the back yard with duct tape on their mouths and signs of torture. According to Sharon's son Doug, Sharon had the children go find animals to being them to the home to be tortured. Officials believe this may be where some of the missing animals in the area ended up.
Reports show that Sharon has lost custody of her children previously and this is not the first time she has faced animal cruelty and neglect charges.
A good example of why people who abuse and neglect animals are poison in our society and humans in their lives usually endure abuse as well.
Faces With Little Hope
I started a new project of collecting photographs of dogs with in days of being killed in shelters from overpopulation. These dogs are just being killed to free up space for new dogs coming in. They are not being killed because they are sick, aggressive or unadoptable. They are dying because the shelters do not have room for them. Not enough people are taking these dogs into their homes and giving them hope. I want to share what I have so far.
Most of these dogs are probably dead already. They were a unique life, an individual snuffed out forever. Remember that. Remember them. Many die with out even having a name.
Lyra
Merlin
No name. Just known as A-10
No Name
No Name
Naman
Luna
Jovie
Josie
Izzy
Zus
Yoqui
Vancouver
Tyra and her newborn pups
Tiny
Skye
Shilo - Blind
Russ
Nutmeg - 2mo old
No Name
Gladys
Daze
Brad
Agatha
Holidays….
It is hard for me to not think about all the homeless animals out there in shelters that are waiting for homes this time of year. Many just have a concrete slab to sleep on, no blanket, no stuffed animal to cuddle with. They are not in a comfortable place. Shelter life is so hard on animals and many sit and just die waiting. You can see the heartache in their eyes. We sit around with family in comfort, many of us have companion animals of our own that we snuggle and talk to. We enjoy them. I am asking you to think about the homeless animals and do one of the following at least... the more the better.
- Take at least one bag of dog food or cat food to your local shelter.
- Take in old towels and blankets to your local shelter.
- Take old stuffed animals in to your local shelter for some comfort.
- Sign up to be a volunteer at your local shelter.
- Sign up to be a foster home for your local shelter.
- Offer to take a dog or cat home for Christmas Vacation to get a break from the shelter.
- Grab a death row dog or cat and just give them that extra time they need by opening up your home.
- Donate money to your local shelter.
These are just some simple things that have such a large impact and yet none of them cost that much. There is a lot of help out there but not enough. There are so many animal lovers that can make such a huge difference if you just try. Just one thing is all I ask, Just one.
Grand Theft?
There is a trend out there that many folks are unaware of. The trend of people being allowed to abuse and neglect their pets and when someone steps in for the animal they are charged with trespassing, theft and lord knows what other charges.
I ran across the story of Troy A. Jackson, 36, who is an animal advocate associated with a Boise-based animal rescue group for over a decade. He has been charged with Grand Theft from Jefferson County, Idaho for helping a dog and her puppies.
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