Dumping of Dogs in the Appalachian Mountains
This is EXACTLY what it is like where I live (in the Appalachian Mountains of No. GA.). The sad thing in reading this article is that the people that are trying to help are so poor that they are in a way abusing the animals themeselves. Tying dogs up and keeping them in caged runs is no way to properly care for an animal. At least the dogs don't go hungry and will not get hit by cars.... I guess that the dogs I find are very lucky (being that I have the means to properly take care of them), get them the medical attention they need, spay and neuter them, and then find them a new home. I did not see anything in the article about these dogs being adopted out. It's just a really sad situation. The saddest part is the way in general that people treat their "pets" here in this part of the South. Not everyone, there are many good pet parents.....but the majority are only adding to the problem....it never ends....not a day goes by without me seeing a stray on the road.....alive or dead....most run away....sad lives they live...or at least try to live..... :-\
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/us/30dogs.html?em&ex=1183435200&en=a11d1ed4637e2e66&ei=5087%0A
That's how it is where I live, but there are more means to care for abandoned animals. I think it says a lot for people who have so little, but share what they have with abandoned dogs. It's sad that there's no adoption program and the dogs aren't living optimal lives. I always think of dogs as being mostly domesticated, but according to the story the dogs of one family have to hunt for their food. The happy/sad stories are the hardest to read for me.
That's quite sad. Where are the rescues? Although, I suppose, most of those dogs are mutts and a lot of rescues are breed specific. Though, I'm pretty sure there have to be mutt rescues out there as well. Shelters, run by public funding, aren't that great. The dogs live in cages, and are put to sleep eventually. If they're adopted out, chances are they'll go back in as a shelter does not do enough research to match owner to dog. The whole dog overpopulation is bad situation overall. Very tragic and sad for these animals.
While I admire the spirit of generosity in these people ... I'm wondering if they're really doing these dogs a favor by taking them in. Keeping unspayed dogs together probably isn't helping much in terms of the population.
Not that I have an alternative solution.
crunchycapitalist - One of things it mentioned in the article is that it's such a poor area that the counties affected can't afford to run shelters and people can't afford to feed full-sized dogs, so it's either these misguided, compassionate people or nothing for these dogs. It reminds me of a war-torn countries where people's communities are destroyed, so they go live in refugee camps. The camps can't be described as good, but not having them would be worse.
I don't have an alternative solution either. :(
Yes, I saw that. Rescues are private organizations, though. Maybe the media attention in the NY Times will garner some interest from the private rescue groups.
Of course, rescues are struggling themselves to generate enough money and support in their own communities, in order to continue their work. So, either way, it's a problem.
And I understand these people. I can't walk away when I see a stray. I'll lure it my way, give it the help it needs in terms of health, neutering, deworming, basic training, etc., and then attempt finding a home for the stray. Needless to say, my friends and family avoid me whenever I say "I found a stray." I'm fortunate in that I live in an area where there are MANY private rescue organizations so my coming across a stray not yet picked up is fairly slim.
Yeah. It makes me feel really fortunate to live where I do, even inside my own country.
There are a few rescue groups up in the North East that are taking in dogs and cats from down here in the South. If you go to my gallery you will see that both Crinkle and Penelope got homes up in NJ. One of the rescue groups I associate with put my in touch with 11th Hour Rescue in NJ. They posted both dogs on Petfinder and their own website. When they received the applications on them (there were many on both within days of being posted) they first looked them over and anyone that passed their initial requirements was then passed onto me for my own personal interview (I reviewed their applications as well). I have to say they both got amazing homes. Since that time there are now transports leaving from The Atlanta Metro area taking both dogs and cats up to NJ, NY, CT, and MA on a monthly basis. It does help, yet there are so many strays and "dumped" animals down here that there is a very long way to go.
Educating pet owners (I so hate using the word "owner" when referring to a living creature) is a giant step that needs to be taken. Money is also needed to set up more low cost (and free) spay and neuter services. The county in which I live (Lumpkin County, GA) now has a county run shelter that has been open for about a year and a half. Of course the County Commissioners wife runs it, draws a pay check from the county and has not the foggiest clue as how to run a shelter. They take in dogs as "drop offs" all the time. I have yet to see it make a dent in the stray and homeless pets wandering the country roads around here. So....all I can continue to do is rescue those that will allow me to approach, feed others that won't let me get near, and attend meetings that they have when I'm available to. Funnything about the meetings is that everyone talks a big game, but nothing gets done. It's frustrating to say the least. It is slowly getting better...but as I said....it has a long way to go. When I first moved here and they had no animal control officer I had a conversation with a local sherriff's deputy one day regarding a rather vicious stray that was in my neighborhood that went like this: I asked him what we could do to try and humanly catch the dog....he told me that all they do is "shoot" them when they see them....I told him he HAD to be kidding....He said....nope, we have no facility and we have two choices in this county...to just let them wander around until they get sick and die, or get struck by a car.....or if needed they will shoot a stray. When I told him that was illegal, he then told me that nobody had complained yet. It is slightly better now...but we have a long long way to go. :-\
Oh....one last thing regarding some of the rural rescue groups here (I do stress the word "some"). There are many many poor people that set up small animal rescue groups down here and basically "retail" mutts for a living. They keep the dogs in horrible conditions and then somehow get Petsmart to let them show up on adoption days (every weekend). These women (and some men) "sell" dogs for anywhere from $70 - $200 at the pet adoptions. Most dogs are not fixed and they give out numbers to low cost S&N clinics and say they will follow up with the pet owners (yet never do). They really need to change the law to state the every pet that comes from a rescue group, private or county run, MUST be spayed or neutered before they can be taken home. They also need to get the Georgia Department of Agriculture to inspect EVERY and ALL applicants (along with the facility where the animals will be housed) for a 501c Non Profit license to become a state certified rescue group. The puppy mill breeders always get those bills knocked down before they are ever debated (esp. those that breed "hunting" dogs which is a huge business in this state)...... They have quite the "brick wall" set up in this state....lots's of Good "ol boys still running the Dept. of Ag. :(
I think I would have massive culture shock in Georgia. I live three or four worlds away from you, Dave. I have never, ever thought of hunting dog breeding.
I live in Georgia too, but rarely do I see strays. It must be suburbia. I'm actually only a few counties away from you, Dave.
I wish I was able to help out in some way. I would love to help these animals, but I have no idea what to do.
Where i live in Germany there is not really a pet problem, I rarely see a dog on a leash let alone a stray. I know that in the Summer some owners from the cities will holiday and leave their pets near a motorway , but it's not a massive problem to the extent that dave witnessess every day.
As dave says, educating the pet owners in GA is a giant step. This takes me tothe thought that the younger generation is a good place to start "the future pet owners". The UK Vegan Society has just finished a CD-Rom for school kids which will explore the impact of lifestyle and personal choice on the issues of people, animals, the enviroment and nutrition and health. People are volunteering as speakers who will be trained to take this CD into the schools all over the UK. This is great news and i wish i still lived in the UK to be one of those volunteers. Is there anything like this going on in the US or could it be a start to the "stray dog problem in GA" ?
I live in Georgia too, but rarely do I see strays. It must be suburbia. I'm actually only a few counties away from you, Dave.
I wish I was able to help out in some way. I would love to help these animals, but I have no idea what to do.
Hey Courth,
I never saw anything like this stray problem until I actually moved right here near Dahlonega. When I first moved to GA (back in 2000) I lived in Alpharetta/ North Fulton county. I was in the little section where all the horse farms are....kind of close to where N.Fulton/Cherokee/Forsyth Co. all meet. A very pretty area that was very rural at the time, but is now turning into suburbia as well. I only saw one stray dog on the side of the road in the two years I lived there. I left there to play with an artist that required me to be up North so I lived near Woodstock NY for a few years before coming back. It was even more rural where I lived there and I never saw one stray dog there.... ever. I think people here in Southern Appalachia think that dogs are just meant to roam the streets on their own. They don't walk dogs, they don't have fences, they just let the dogs out to wander when they return from work/school or they just leave them outside all the time. The other part of the problem is the "dumping" of the dogs. People come up from suburbia and dump their unwanted pets up here in the mountains....what are they thinking?!?!?! There are also locals that come into the few nicer rural subdivisions here and dump dogs/litters of puppies. Sometimes, if I hear a car in the middle of the night I get paniced that someone is dumping a dog/dogs down in my culdesac. I can't see the road from my house and it seems to be the perfect "dumping spot" for the idiots that can "live with themselves" and feel it's OK to do just that.
As far as what you can do......Check out the dog adoptions at your local Petsmart on the weekends. If any of the dogs look very skinny, dirty, full of fleas & ticks, etc.... ask them what the name of their group is. Ask what county they came from. Write down the info or take any literature and then write to the Ga. Dept. Of. Ag. and tell them what you saw. One call or letter/email will not do it. So get your family and friends to do the same. I did get a local rescue group "raided" that was hoarding dogs in horrible conditions. Dogs were getting in fights and hurting/killing one another. Parvo used to run through the pace every few months and kill 50% od the puppies (if not more). It really needed to be shut down. It took a lot of letters and calls until they sent someone to the person's home to inspect it. They were also letting dogs breed with one another so that they had plenty of puppies to "sell" every week. They are called TLC.. they have now been taken over by the V.P. of No. GA College and State University and he is working on turning it into a real "rescue group" that actually rescues dogs and adopts them out. He's basically had to start over from scratch and all they have is a few foster families to keep dogs and cats...no facility any longer. As I mentioned there are some very poor people in the mountains that "retail" mutts for a living. They might say they are a rescue group but they don't take in strays...they just want lots and lots of cute puppies to sell. They also goto some of the county pounds and take puppies from them to sell as well. So, a group that has 90% puppies is most likely a "puppy retailer"..... Sad that I know so much about this stuff...... :-\
-dave
A new shelter opened up in my area last week. I was very disappointed to have to be working that night because I wanted to go. The shelter is going to specialize in dogs where domestic violence is and issue.There are very high rates of spousal abuse in Tucson and the women (who are the primary Vitim's) do not want to leave the man because she wont be able to take her dog the women shelter/families house.friends house/etc. i thought this shelter is a great idea. They house the dogs until the women can take them back or until they make the choice to adopt it out. A really good thing about this is that the dogs don't have to serve as a target for the mans rage about his wife/girlfriend leaving. The shelter is also taking in animals who have been severely abused, I believe (when they have excess space) I wish I had an article to post...I will if I can find one later...
While I lived in Missouri I actually knew a couple that each had a dog. The girlfriends dog was a beagle. I held this beagle and talked to it and covered its ears while everyone was "practissin' shootin targits." a week later I found out that the boyfriend shot and killed the dog after a fight with his girlfriend. I hate how mean people can be.
I grew up in Macon (Georgia) in the 50s (at least that was when I was a child) but we lived "in the country," i.e. out of the city limits. Over the years we adopted at least three dogs that were dropped off out our way and the family is still adopting "drop-offs" in that area. At the time, we thought people had decided we were suckers--or they thought that dropping them off out in the country gave them a better chance to "make it," but now I think people who do that think if they drop their dog that far out it has less of a chance of making it back to them. >:(
A new shelter opened up in my area last week. I was very disappointed to have to be working that night because I wanted to go. The shelter is going to specialize in dogs where domestic violence is and issue.There are very high rates of spousal abuse in Tucson and the women (who are the primary Vitim's) do not want to leave the man because she wont be able to take her dog the women shelter/families house.friends house/etc. i thought this shelter is a great idea. They house the dogs until the women can take them back or until they make the choice to adopt it out. A really good thing about this is that the dogs don't have to serve as a target for the mans rage about his wife/girlfriend leaving. The shelter is also taking in animals who have been severely abused, I believe (when they have excess space) I wish I had an article to post...I will if I can find one later...
While I lived in Missouri I actually knew a couple that each had a dog. The girlfriends dog was a beagle. I held this beagle and talked to it and covered its ears while everyone was "practissin' shootin targits." a week later I found out that the boyfriend shot and killed the dog after a fight with his girlfriend. I hate how mean people can be.
That's a great idea....I never even thought of that, but I'm sure it's badly needed in many areas. With regards to the beagle....was he turned in for shooting the dog? Or is it something that the local authorities would have not been concerned with? :-\
actually he was not...and the girlfriend wasn't even told...and I didn't know these people last names or their address or anything..I went with some friends to their house a few times before the incident. Tried to get my friends to report it or at least tell the girlfriend so she could leave the bast@r! but, "no...they are just getting things worked out...he just has anger issues...at least it wasn't HER...bla bla bla!"
I seriously doubt teh police would have cared though...missouri is a strange strange place....ick...
actually he was not...and the girlfriend wasn't even told...and I didn't know these people last names or their address or anything..I went with some friends to their house a few times before the incident. Tried to get my friends to report it or at least tell the girlfriend so she could leave the bast@r! but, "no...they are just getting things worked out...he just has anger issues...at least it wasn't HER...bla bla bla!"
I seriously doubt teh police would have cared though...missouri is a strange strange place....ick...
If it could have been considered "their" dog, up until recently and I'm not sure the law has gone into effect yet, it was legal to kill your own dog in Texas any way you wanted to. I read of a case up near Dallas, were the SOB deliberately ran over his dog with a lawn mower. It may be the same in Missouri. I hope not but if it is, the police couldn't do a d*mn thing.