Several years ago I lived in the country in Missouri, and we had the experience of many stray dogs and cats showing up at our house all the time. For some reason, people everywhere think that it is okay to discard their unwanted pets out in the countryside. They mistakenly believe that they are bestowing upon these animals some sort of grand bucoloic happy free life. They are wrong. Instead, what they are gifting their animals with is a life of starvation, confusion, terror, desperation and misery.
In Missouri, and probably in other rural farming communities where there are no resources for animal control or shelter, animals who roam are routinely shot by farmers who need to protect their livestock, or they are picked up by the police and dropped off at vets who contract to kill them, usually after a day to a week. There is no resource where I lived for finding the animals, either, if your pet is lost. I found this out because I always tried to either reunite lost dogs with thier owners (which I did do several times) or place abandoned dogs and cats with loving families. The sole local animal shelter would not take drop offs and was hard pressed to provide for the animals it did have. Luckily, Missouri has an outstanding facility, Wayside Waifs, which my kids and I visited and supported frequently when we lived there. I wish every community had a great place like Wayside Waifs, but without that, there are people like my cousin Heather, and this woman, Carol, who put in countless of volunteer hours making sure that abandoned dogs have a place.
Please read the two attachments to find out about Carol. This is a 65 year old woman whose house was burned to the ground by arsonists. The local community is not supportive of her -- in fact, they seem downright hostile -- and she is currently living in the remains of her burned up home. Currently her dogs are better housed than she is, but they all need help. People need to know what it's like for dogs and cats when they are dumped off. People need to spay and neuter their pets. And if you have some room and a heart for animals, everyone's life is blessed a lot by the adoption of a dog.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherbphotos/sets/72157607560908374/
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/rainsville-al/TMPTGF9087Q3EBR62
3 comments:
Its so sad, all these sad homeless animals everywhere!! At least there is hope for some. Miss you xoxo
I just read about Carol Crocker's situation and I plan to donate the profits this quarter from the sale of my dog rescue book "Every Rescued Dog Has a Tale". It is about the dog rescue railroad and how the volunteers help shelter dogs get to rescue or new homes. ALL profits have gone to rural shelters and dog rescues so far and I would also like to send YOU a copy since you care so much for dogs. If you would email me at debeades@yahoo.com and give me a mailing address, I would appreciate it.
You can check out my book on AMAZON to see what we have done with the profits so far.
http://www.amazon.com/EVERY-RESCUED-DOG-HAS-TALE/dp/1430317388/ref=sr_1_1_s9_rk?ie=UTF8&s=books&s9r=8a585b431cf5caca011d3e9eb93f07a7&itemPosition=1&qid=1226162997&sr=1-1
I wish I lived closer to Carol so I could do more to help her. There needs to be some laws changed down there SOON!
It's so hard to believe that people would just dump off their pets and simply go back home, eat their dinner, tuck their children into bed, and go to sleep without a care in the world! Never a second thought to their scared pet who is probably wandering around desperately looking for its owner as if this has been some sort of horrible mistake. So heartbreaking...
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