Unlucky 13

About two weeks ago, 13 dogs were found in a yard in an adjacent city.  They were hot, dirty, hungry, and covered in fleas.  The owner of the property surrendered nine of the dogs on the spot.  Animal control took custody of them, leaving behind the four dogs that were in the best (and by best I mean least-awful) condition.  Four is the legal limit of dogs that one household can have in that city without a permit.  To take the other four dogs would have required getting a warrant, as the woman would not voluntarily give them up.  They chose not obtain the warrant.  I believe that this was a very poor judgement by animal control.

The nine dogs were taken to the local shelter.   All of them were in need of immediate medical attention, suffering from heat sickness and anemia.  The anemia was caused by the fleas.  Three of them were so anemic that they could only have been saved by multiple blood transfusions. (Imagine how many fleas must have been covering these animals to drain the blood from a sixty pound dog!) Clearly, a small local animal shelter has neither the ability nor the funds to go to such lengths.  Those three were euthanized, ending their suffering.  Of the six remaining dogs, four are heart worm positive, one has mange and one has cancer.  I went out to see them the second day.  All are covered in scars, likely from having to fight one another for what little food was available.

 Now do you see why I feel so strongly that animal control made a bad decision allowing the woman to keep four dogs.  Sure, it's not 13, but four dogs are still a lot to handle.  I have huge sympathy for people like her who are clearly sick (ever seen the show "Animal Hoarders"?)  She lives in filth.   Her house is full of black mold, to which she is apparently allergic, so she spends much of her time sleeping in her yard or car. What a sad situation.  Nevertheless, those dogs were being severely neglected.  They were starving.  They were suffering.  Whether intentional cruelty, or not, isn't the point.  I'm not saying she should be criminally charged.  I know she meant well at one point.  I'm saying that we simply can't leave animals in danger because we feel sorry for someone.  In my opinion, DHS should be involved.  She is clearly on a very destructive path and needs serious help of her own. 

Our rescue has been desperately trying to find fosters to get the six dogs out of the shelter "in time."  There is one dog more troubled behaviorally than the others.  On top of the other issues, she is deaf.  Guess who got talked in to taking her?  She is currently boarding at the vet getting vaccinated, spayed, dewormed, etc.  I'll pick her up on Saturday.  I have heard that she is completely out of control.  These dogs have never been on leash, ridden in a car, been to the vet, or been house trained.  Most of them are about three or four years old!  Luckily, you actually can teach old dogs new tricks.  She will be quite the handful, I'm sure.  Three other dogs are also safe in foster homes, but two are still sitting at the shelter waiting.  Hopefully foster homes will be found before the shelter "needs the space."

I have named our new foster dog Ezra.  (We always change the names when animals come from cases like this.  It' lessens the chances of the previous owners finding them on Petfinder, etc.)  More to come on her when she joins our household.