Back Yard Breeders Strike Again

Let me start out by saying that it's been a long couple of weeks...not complaining, just reporting the facts!  A few weekends ago, we pulled a 2yo blue heartworm positive male from the high kill shelter, and he had a rabies tag on, which we researched.  His owner was contacted by us and the shelter...no return call.  I don't understand!  This boy is the sweetest, most even tempered, well behaved boy, so why in this world would nobody want to reclaim him?!  Oh well, their loss!

Last Saturday, we pulled yet another heartworm positive 2yo black male, an owner surrender, from the same kill shelter.  This boy is a talker and has the craziest, long tongue that sticks out of his mouth with his jaws shut.  He's quite the character!  Welcome Boston!

The next day we received a sweet white, partially sight impaired boy named Duncan.  Duncan has had quite a bad hand dealt him so far and has had humans who gave him zero support and have obviously physically punished him.  The first walk he went on, he flattened himself to the ground in less than a second when his foster turned around to see something behind her.  This boy too is just super sweet, but he's so terrified and snappy with people who he thinks might be a threat.

As I drove Duncan from his pickup spot to his foster, a mere 15mins away, I received a call about an awful backyard breeder who was "closing out his stock" and wanted to give us a bred-nearly-to-death female (oh this poor girl!) and a partial litter of deaf puppies.  I believe I lost consciousness for a second!  As I looked in my backseat at this sweet boy Duncan, and listened to this call of a possible 6 dogs to be surrendered, I took a deep breath and asked for the contact info. 

Would you believe that some states don't consider an establishment a "puppymill" unless it has at least 75 breeding dogs?!  SEVENTY-FIVE!!!!  That's not 75 dogs, but 75 dogs actively BREEDING!  How many puppies do 75 breeding dogs generate?!  And some states don't have any laws regarding breeding!!  And I'm saddened to say that our state of Mississippi is one of those.  Whew, sorry about that, back to the story!!!

So last Wednesday night, one of our wonderful fosters/volunteers met me with 5 Danes from an out of state backyard breeder, who in our opinion would qualify as a small puppy mill, but not according to their state.  Thank you Jason and Nina for all of your help and for getting down in the trenches!  When they arrived at the man's property (nope, they're not even housed on his home property), they were appalled.  This man was so proud of his dogs and didn't understand why these two people were so saddened.  They all stuck their heads out of their runs and watched these strangers with wonder.  These wonderful people met me in the middle of the night, in an out of town city, with 5 terrified babies, unsure of their surroundings and very unfamiliar with people in general.  As we unloaded from one vehicle and loaded into the other, in a desolate parking lot: 3 white, deaf 8mo sibling puppies, terrified and scrambling; a 5yo white male breeder, supposedly seeing/hearing; and an almost 6yo brindle female who's been bred almost literally to death, it was all we could do not to become emotional.  Much of what we do would make others cry or become angry, but we have to hold our tongues or be strong in situations where we normally would let go with words or actions.  Thank goodness these dogs all seemed to be at a healthy weight, so they weren't emaciated or beaten, however, their demeanor was a cross between terror and Stockholm syndrome.  The puppies didn't know whether to flea or go into a shell for protection, and it was obvious that they'd never seen people.  They've only known each other and are cuddled up as close as they can get in a pile, trying to protect themselves from the unknown.  The male was the most outgoing of the 5, but that wasn't saying much.  The poor momma dog just went like a lamb being led to slaughter...it was almost as if she just hoped it was over.  She broke our hearts the most.

After several hours of driving, we unloaded these dogs into crates (thank goodness for my sunroom!) with cushy blankets, which seemed to confused them.  As I fell into the bed, knowing I had only 1.5hrs until I had to be back up, I couldn't fall asleep.  I just lie there, mentally and emotionally confused.  None of these dogs even have names!  My dogs lay in their rooms and the living room (ok, let's be honest, wherever they want!) on cushy beds and are spoiled rotten and never want for anything, and these dogs don't even have names or emotional security.  I do not understand!  Ok, enough of that!

Fast forward to Thursday:  The vet's office called later Thursday, saying that I'd lost my mind!  As they inspected the puppies and treated their awful pressure sores from living on concrete their entire short little lives, they discovered that these 2 males and 1 female, were actually 3 females!  Surprise!!  Unfortunately both the 5yo white male (now named Jake) and the 6yo brindle female (now named Shay), both of which have been used all their lives for producing money making puppies, are beyond heartworm positive.  The puppies tested negative, but we're sure it's just a matter of time.  Everyone was spayed/neutered, and Shay had one set of mammary sacks removed, as they were full of tumors and were completely deformed from usage, hanging 4inches long.

We're stretched beyond our means and are busting at the seams, both space wise and financially.  However, we will NOT turn away cases like this, not if we can possibly find the means to save them.  These babies needed saving, because they were being sold with breeding rights!  Even, yes the girl bred to death, and the deaf babies and the white male (which as we all know obviously would produce deaf puppies).  We just couldn't let that happen, not if we could help it.  These babies have a long way to go before they are whole, but we'll stand by them, thick and thin.  After all, they have now been dubbed the holy trinity of cuteness - Faith, Hope and Grace!

Miss Liberty

As I sat in my floor a couple nights ago, with a pan of soapy water and a rag, cleaning the blood off my walls, it occurred to me that I needed to update everyone on our Libby.  And don't worry, this is not a gruesome tail...it's a happy tail.  A happy tail indeed!

Despite Libby coming in starved nearly to death and dangerously dehydrated, to the point that we as her transporters wondered if she would make the trip, Libby has taught us all a lesson in will.  She is by far the most loving dog with an intense will to live!  Given her condition when she came to us, we presume that Libby was bred and then dumped.  (And we want to take a moment to thank her angel who called us when she wandered into her yard, when animal control would not even return her calls...thank goodness, as they would've put down this bag of bones.).  Libby came to us on 4th of July weekend, so we named her Liberty...Libby for short, because she's now free from whatever awful past she had.  The first time I was mixing her crunchy food with a/d (critical care canned food), of course just a little at a time, because we were feeding her a cup or so every 2hrs at that point, this beautiful girl, in all of her glory and pride, though skin and bones and almost bald, SAT...she never took her eyes off the bowl, but never reached or lunged for it, only sat as she stared hopefully at the bowl.  If I were starving (shoot, if I'd missed a couple meals), I would've knocked me down for a meal.  Not this girl, she patiently and willfully sat, hoping that this person would feed her, share just a little of that bowl with her.  Needless to say, I cried! 

Over the past 3 weeks, this girl has continued to amaze us with her wonderful spirit and beautiful attitude.  She stayed so tired and physically beaten down for most of this time, however, her heart and mind were happy...she even has played a little tug with a toy or two with her best friend Gracie, our blind/deaf girl who generally is a bull in a china shop, but with Libby, she is gentle as can be.  She knew from the start, without seeing or hearing, that Libby wasn't well.  She would go over and put her chin on top of Libby's head and just stand there a second as if giving her a hug, and then would most times lie down with Libby and cuddle with her.  It's been absolutely inspiring.  Libby, though her body was broken, has not stopped wagging her tail, hence the blood on my walls.  She managed to bust open her tail from wagging it the other day when I came home from work and let her out of her kennel, and she wagged it so happily, that she painted my foyer.  But that's perfectly fine!!  This dog could have the keys to my truck if she asked for them!  She has inspired us all.  Her tail of course is now bandaged, since she doesn't have the hair to protect it yet from her happy spirit.

We found out at the vet's on her 21st day, that she has gained 46 lbs!!!  46 lbs in 21 days!!!  That's just crazy!  She still probably has at least another 20-30lbs to go, and poor thing is still struggling with intestinal issues and skin problems, and of course being naked!  It wasn't until she'd been with us for about a week that we knew for sure she was a merle, because she had almost no hair, and she was so dehydrated that her skin had no color, so you just couldn't tell. 

She's not by any means back to health, and it will take a little while to get that way, but she most definitely will make it through.  This dog who didn't move for the drive up from the coast, and who we thought might not make it to the vet, after much vetting, supplements, iv fluids, lots of food and MANY days of 2hr feedings (new parents know what I mean!), this dog is determined to make a full recovery.  We're exhausted, but she's just starting to get some strength.  This girl will be a force to be reckoned with, and will make any family the most loving companion.  But you'll have to fight Gracie for her!!