Our Cup Runneth Over - New Years Eve

[rpcrowe]

I was expecting to pick up three female Maltese which were surrendered to us from a puppy-mill in Los Angeles on the afternoon of December 31st. While waiting for news from one of our volunteers who was assigned to pick up the three dogs from an L.A. vet where they had been checked and spayed, we got a phone call from a person in Oceanside, a nearby city who had seven dogs that were going to be confiscated by animal control due to the deplorable condition in which they were being kept.

My wife and I drove over to the house which was in a surprisingly nice area. However, when we came up to the house, it was a wreck outside with broken fences, and trash in the yard. They must have been neighbors from hell.

When we entered the house, the interior made the outside seem pristine. There was no furniture in the living room and large areas of tile had been torn up. There were puddles of urine all over and the odor of the home would have made a maggot gag! There wasn't a flat space in the house that was not piled with junk and trash.

We rescued these four dogs (3 six month old female puppies and a year and a half old female). We immediately brought the dogs to our vet for fecal and Giardia testing. Surprisingly they were negative and except for being absolutely filthy were deemed quite healthy.



As soon as we got home from Oceanside and our vet, I left to pick up the three dogs from our L.A. volunteer. She was to meet me about half way, about fifty miles ( about 85 km) from each of our homes. The vet in L.A. delayed releasing the dogs and I didn't meet our volunteer until about 7:30 pm. It took about an hour (bad traffic) to return home.

So much for a quiet afternoon and evening watching college football games on television.

However, the dogs are safe and in a clean environment. By the way, we contacted another rescue who picked up the additional three dogs from that awful home.

This was just a quick shot after the dogs were bathed. They smelled to bad to do any photography before they were cleaned up.

[Shadowman]

Must have been an experience, for the pups as well. Nice recovery so far on their condition.

[rtbaum]

Richard- What captivates me about this shot is the eyes - the protectiveness of the older female and the fear in all.

Unfortunately this story strikes a cord with me. My brother was/is the same as that individual. At onetime he had about 20 dogs, at least 50 cats, 3 horses, a mule, 12 goats, and assorted fowl. All were housed in his living space, one small shed, and a small barn on 7 acres in rural Iowa. With the exception of 3 dogs, all perished due to exposure to the elements and fire due to the deplorable condition of the home. Rest assured that what you and your wife are doing does make an impact.

[rpcrowe]

Richard- What captivates me about this shot is the eyes - the protectiveness of the older female and the fear in all.

Unfortunately this story strikes a cord with me. My brother was/is the same as that individual. At onetime he had about 20 dogs, at least 50 cats, 3 horses, a mule, 12 goats, and assorted fowl. All were housed in his living space, one small shed, and a small barn on 7 acres in rural Iowa. With the exception of 3 dogs, all perished due to exposure to the elements and fire due to the deplorable condition of the home. Rest assured that what you and your wife are doing does make an impact.

This type of person is often called a "hoarder". Unfortunately, they sometimes think that they are the only ones who can give their pets (or other animals) love. The lady that was keeping these dogs cried when we took them and said to us, "I hope you can find them a good home!". After we left the house, my wife said that even our local shelter (which is run quite well) would be better conditions than they were living in.

We usually bring new dogs to be checked at our vet. The vet staff will announce to other people waiting in the office that we are a rescue group and that the dogs have come directly from where they have been rescued. That way no one can think we keep our dogs in this condition.

One reason that we almost always do better (that is get more dogs adopted) than some other groups at multi-group rescue events is that our dogs are always clean and meticulously groomed. That makes a great difference but takes a lot of work. My wife worked until midnight getting all seven dogs clean enough for her standards. They are clean now but, grooming is in the future. The four puppies are going to the vet tomorrow to be spayed. The other three were spayed by our vet in Los Angeles. It takes lots of folks working together to be successful in rescue work.

I can tell from experience that hoarders often do not pay much as much attention to their animals as they think they do. These four dogs are going to need a whole lot of TLC. They have not experienced much human attention.. We can give them that but, it is difficult to provide individual attention to so many dogs and still give attention to our own dogs.

That is where foster families shine. We always seek fosters so that our rescue dogs can get the type of individual attention they need and deserve.

We have one family with a very loving mom and dad along with two darling little girls who have fostered our rescue dogs before (and luckily are open for fostering one of this group). We usually select the most timid dog and the two little girls hardly ever let the dog's feet hit the ground. They are always carrying them around and giving them love.

Monte, a Mattese + Miniature Pinscher mix was shy and afraid of people. A few weeks with these darling girls was all it took to bring him out of his shell.



He has been adopted into a loving home and the girls are open for another project. BTW: They have two dogs of their own so parting with the fosters is not heart breaking for them and is really a wonderful lesson in life. I hope that when they are grown and have their own families that they keep up the tradition of fostering...

[rtbaum]

Every horizontal surface in his home was occupied by a carrying kennel, it still boggles my mind. I think now it is tortoises.

[IzzieK]

Another heartbreaking story, Richard...but one that turns out well. I am glad you and your wife has the patience to care for them though temporary in nature until they are adopted. It sounds like you have a happy environment for them all...