Urgent situation at West Virginia Animal Shelter

[Squawksx3]

Please Crosspost!!!


Subject: He dropped his head as his father drove away and left him there
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 19:49:06 -0600


As a fellow animal person, we are hoping you can help us spread the word about this crisis.

Out of all the terrible places for animals, West Virginia may be one of the worst. Shelter volunteers and staff are scrambling to keep dumped animals from starving, freezing, and ultimately the gas chamber. A more detailed description is below.

The Underhound Railroad needs you. Please help us find homes, no matter where (we will help arrange transport) for a precious homeless animal from West Virginia. I just adopted a large lab/mastiff mix from this shelter and he is the most precious love you've ever met.

If you can take even one baby, or help with even a small part of the transport of these kids to their new homes, let us know. Contact Dena, cc'd above, if you can help. This is desperate.

As the West Virginia shelters are trying to organize a task force to deal with the overwhelming problem of animal overpopulation and abandonment in their state (they are starting to do battle with veterinarians who have waylaid their attempts at a spay/neuter van) we need to help their animals out. They need our help, our donations, our ideas.

PLEASE, share this with everyone you know. And consider taking one more life into your home.

PLEASE READ ON:

From: Dena3star@aol.com
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2003 4:00 PM
Subject: Mason County, WV SLAMMED - 22 Dogs Today!!


MASON COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER GOT SLAMMED WITH 22 DOGS TODAY

****Please Crosspost FAR and WIDE****

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/WV39.html

Just today, 22 canines were dumped at the shelter. Many puppies, many adults, a yellow lab mother with two 2-week old pups, a hound, a sad shepherd mix who hung his head as his owner drove off ....

Some are crammed in the night pen. Others are leashed to the entryway as workers scramble to take pictures. Despite recent transports of considerable size, the shelter was full before today at 60+ canines, not to mention the hundreds of cats being housed at the shelter. Now they're clearly over capacity. The "E" word was used in a warning of what will have to happen if we can't move animals out right away. Hardly an idle threat by the director, there simply is no place for them to go. PLEASE actively check the site as animals are being added throughout the day as they take their pictures. It is the shelter's goal to have all 22 new intakes up on the site by tonight.

Due to the urgent nature of the situation, we will allow animals to leave unaltered, BUT you must be a rescue group who has pulled before, meaning your veterinary reference has been reviewed. For all other groups, please let us know by tonight as the last vetting day of the week is tomorrow. We have one transporter with limited room coming down this weekend. We are desperate for supplemental transporters this weekend.

Dena Allen
Volunteer Rescue Coordinator
Mason County Animal Shelter
(212) 580-2473
Email: dena3star@aol.com
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/WV39.html

[dlaura]

Jan,
This is just so sad ---- how can people do this?

[Squawksx3]

sad huh....

OK, on a brighter note... I just received this and it warmed my heart....

Subject: Christmas Miracle

I am just bursting at the seams here and want to share my Christmas Miracle
with all. Permission to cross post is granted. This is a true story.
Friday, I received an email from a rescue worker in Northern Idaho telling
me about a situation in Priest River, Idaho. Last week sometime a property
was
raided where 25 dogs were left abandoned by their owners. The Priest River
rescue went out to get the dogs. Among the dogs was what was thought to be an
Alaskan Malamute. She was hard to catch and finally on Tuesday night they
were able to get this female. Upon examination, it was thought this female
was
pregnant and she was lactating already. She had somehow injured one of her
front legs and would not walk on it. The rescue workers assumed she was hit
by
one of the vehicles out at the rescue site. They took the female into
rescue.
Priest River Rescue wanted Alaskan Malamute Rescue to take this female and
so they posted a message to which was forwarded to me. I received this
message
late Friday night. Being full here I did not hestitate offering space for
this pregnant female malamute with the hurt leg.
I started calling numbers Saturday morning so I could get more information
on this female before the television interview today. I wanted to use this
story to help us raise more money for the Alaskan Malamute Rescue in Idaho,
along
with awareness in our local community that we are here, what we do and what
supplies and volunteers are needed to help us continue our efforts. My cell
phone did not like the telephone numbers in the Priest River area and just
would
not call them. I was able to get in touch with another rescue worker in Sand
Point, Karen, and get her help. Karen was able to get in touch with the vet
the Priest River Rescue had taken the female to on Friday for help on the
leg.
The vet informed Karen two shocking facts. First, the leg had not been hit
by a car but shot and her femur is shattered. Surgery will have to be
preformed. Second, the female was not currently pregnant and one of two
things was
going on. Either this was a false pregnancy or she already had the puppies.
Upon learning this I panicked. I knew that the rescue workers had not found
any puppies and if she had them, they had now been out in the cold and snow
for
4 days without their mother. I called Karen back after conversing with
another rescue worker who suggested I get them to take the Mama back to the
rescue
site to search for her puppies, if there were any. This rescue worker stated
that the female needed closure, even if it was seeing her puppies dead. She
had not eaten since being rescued and was very thin.
Karen got up early this morning and made the trip herself to the vet's
office, picked up the female dog and went to pick up one of the rescue
workers.
They returned to the rescue site and started searching for any signs of pups.
After some time, a neighbor stopped to see what they were looking for. After
seeing the female, this neighbor informed the two woman that the female had
hung out on his property. The two woman approached a shed and saw small
traits
in the snow. They were thinking it was coyote or fox traps and kept looking.
Soon they heard the crys of puppies and then out from under the shed came 7
puppies, approximately 3 weeks old.
Karen has taken these puppies back to her home and made a spot in her
basement for the Mama and her 7 pups. We have found a temporary foster home
for all
in Washington and will be transporting them over next week. Hopefully the
surgery can be put off until we can get the pups weaned from their Mama. The
puppies are nursing and Mama is eating. They will all get a thorough check up
tomorrow by a local vet and arrangements are being made to get them to the new
foster home. Mama will be kept at this foster home until after healing from
her surgery she will undergo.
I started this morning by crying over what I thought would be finding dead
puppies, either starved or frozen due to being left out in the elements 4 days
without food or their Mama. Then I cried over the miracle of knowing the
rescue workers were able to find 7 live, fairly healthy puppies and that now
Mama
and her pups are reunited. I could not think of a better Christmas present
for me than this has been.
Thank you to the rescue workers in Northern Idaho who have helped this
wonderful, very lucky Alaskan Malamute.



Sherry Sutton

www.idahomalamute.com


"bad dogs are not born, bad dogs are made that way, by bad owners"

[eth_ng]

thank goodness they're back together.