In April of 1998, I discovered a well-kept secret. The Police Department in Leland actually had a dog pound where they kept all unwanted, lost, and abandoned dogs that were picked up in Leland and all of the unincorporated county area. And when I saw it, I knew why they wanted it out of sight and out of mind. The shelter was built in the 50’s and, although the architect said that at the time it was built it was considered state- of-the art, it looked like a short, brick silo with doors cut into the sides and a metal roof. It was dank, dark, and dismal. Although there were 9 runs, the dog catcher was using only half of the runs to house the dogs. I found runs with 6 to 8 dogs in them, while other runs remained empty. (Can you imagine how the dogs must have fought over food?) None of the concrete floors were sealed to prevent the spread of disease. No dogs were taken to the vet if they were sick or injured. Ticks and fleas covered the dogs. Some of the runs shared a common drain. The vent at the top of the pitched roof had rusted out years before. Rats as big as my feet were everywhere. There was one hose with only cold water to clean the runs. During winter months, the shelter was freezing with nothing but concrete and brick for the dogs to huddle up to. In the summer, the temperatures reached well over 100 degrees with no ventilation. There was no adoption program. Females and males were kept in together as were large dogs and puppies. Cheap dog food was purchased and dispensed by the buckets full. If dog food was left in the buckets the next day, instead of cleaning the old food out, new food was poured in on top of it. This resulted in food with mold and maggots down below the fresh food. Rat and bird droppings were always in the food and water. The dog catcher was responsible for picking the dogs up; putting them in the shelter; and feeding, watering, and cleaning up after them one time each day on the five days that he worked (the Police Chief refuses to believe that this is a seven-day a week job). When the dogs time was up at the shelter, which was usually after ten days, the dog catcher would drag them right outside and shoot them. (I know that he didn’t drop them with one shot because he always drags them around with the catch pole and they hate him.) When I discovered how the dogs were being put down, I was horrified. I immediately began talking to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. They, in response, made arrangements for the dog to be taken to the Greenville shelter to be put down. When I called the Greenville shelter to ask how they euthanized their animals, I was told, “Oh, we have a four by four by four concrete chamber hooked up to a lawnmower motor”. I was even more horrified. They asphyxiated their animals. I then called the well-run shelter in Boliver County. The manager puts the animals down with an injection of a sodium pentobarbital drug. I made arrangements with her to take our dogs at a small charge to the City of Leland. The City approved this. I’m going into too much detail. Let me cut this shorter. In 1999, I talked to a regional TV station and we started doing an “Adopt-a-Pet” segment every Wednesday morning, which we have continued up to the present, to find homes for the dogs. Shortly thereafter, Jane Allen joined me in trying to help the dogs. In 2000, we formed an organization called ARRF, Animal Relief and Rescue Fellowship. We had about 20 members, (most not very active). We started trying to raise money to help pay our vet bill, which was increasing, and to make improvements at the shelter. Over the years, we have had rummage sales, bake sales, and auctions. We have had Mutt Shows and “Strut-Your-Mutt” contests. We sell ARRF T-shirts using art work from a contest we had for school children. We have printed a cookbook and we knit and sell what we call the “ARRF-SCARF”. Although the shelter is still deplorable, we have made improvements. We have added 8 outside pens to help with the overcrowding situation. We installed a propane heater for winter months. We have fans for summer months. We vaccinate the dogs regularly, have them on a heartworm prevention program, and take them to the vet when they are sick or injured. We have installed a washer and two dryers to wash blankets and towels. We have a freezer to make ice for the dogs in the outside pens. We battled with the City of Leland until they finally hired a part time person who cares about the animals to clean the shelter and feed/water the dogs. This was only after the nephew of the Police Chief, who was hired to fill in for the dog catcher when he went to Iraq, abused an 8 month old Lab/Golden Retriever mix puppy. He broke his jaw, knocked some of his teeth out, and bruised his eye and under his belly. The temporary dog catcher was leg go and I pressed charges against him (case still pending). A final improvement, and the most difficult one, when a dog is so sick or injured that he needs to be put down, we take him to the vet and hold him in our arms while the veterinarian gently puts him down. We have held monthly Adopt-a-thons at a local mall and at festivals, but when adoptions started falling off and the numbers of dogs in the shelter continued to grow, we became desperate. How do you put wonderful, healthy dogs down just because people don’t care enough about the plight of these gentle beings to open their homes and hearts to them? We started looking into transporting our dogs to places where animals are valued as sensitive, loving, feeling, creatures. Where the maddening phrase that I have heard only too often, “It doesn’t matter; it’s just a dog!” is not used so readily. Where people don’t throw their four-legged companions out like yesterday’s garbage because “he isn’t a cute little puppy anymore”, or “she wouldn’t mind me” (no matter that no one bothered to take the time to work with her), or “she got pregnant and I didn’t want puppies”, or “he has fleas and they are getting on the kids”. The excuses are endless. Even with the improvements that we have made, we are nowhere near having a decent shelter. Actually it will take building another facility. This one can never be made into the kind of shelter that we would like to have and that the animals deserve. But you can’t just give up. We keep plugging away because the dogs depend on us. Although our numbers are very few, we are all they have. If we give up, it will go back to being run the same way that it was and that is totally unacceptable. I don’t mean to imply that no one in our area cares about animals because that is certainly not true. We have many people whose four-legged friends are just as much a part of the family as their children. They take care of their pets and wouldn’t dream of abandoning them for any reason. The only problem is that these people are in the minority. Ignorance and apathy abound, but not just in Washington County.……….in the whole state of Mississippi. The animal abuse laws are pathetic. For cruelly abusing a defenseless animal, the penalty is not much more than a slap on the wrist and a token fine. It is disgraceful. My work with the shelter has been the hardest and often times most depressing work that I have ever done. But at the same time, it is by far the most rewarding. Knowing that we are caring for these helpless, voiceless creatures that are in the shelter through no fault of their own and seeing the love and appreciation in their eyes is enough to keep me going. People who say that animals don’t go to Heaven because they don’t have a soul have never looked into the eyes of a shelter dog. I look through their eyes into their souls every day and see the innocent beauty of creatures that I know will be waiting for me on the other side of the “Rainbow Bridge”. Well, I guess I’m finished. I tried to give you a little of everything. Use what you want. Feel free to change any wording. Please forgive any misspellings or sentences that aren’t sentences. I am too tired to proof this. If you have any questions or need further information, call me. I hope I’ve given you enough to use. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about all of these developments. I’m looking forward to getting all of the details. Is this a dream come true or what? There is a God! And I’ve always believed that there are angels on Earth. That’s how I feel about ya’ll. We have been so blessed because of our association with you. How in the world can we ever repay you for your tireless efforts on behalf of our dogs? Let me hear from you. Ann |
