When you're the only baby goat and you have no one to play with....
Oreo was seized from a neglect situation in Franklin parish. She was malnourished and had mange as well as so much trauma to her face that she lost an eye and a horn. Now, after almost 2 months, she is finally feeling well enough to play. But she's not allowed with the big goats yet as she's only 25 lbs. They are 150 lbs. She's only made one friend with the dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Taft, but he was taking a nap. So, while volunteers were cleaning out a storage area, Oreo decided to use anything she could find to entertain herself. It won't be long before this little one is ready to go to her new home in Pennsylvania. We haven't given up on trying to get custody of the remaining animals at the property where Oreo was found, including her mother, who is still there.
Today is National Dog Day! And we are celebrating because at some point during the night there was a mishap in one of the kennels. Despite very little wind and nice weather, a big tree limb came down right in the middle of this kennel. Marsh, the dog who was in the kennel overnight, seems to be just fine, though. As big as that tree limb is, it could have been really bad. That's reason enough for us to celebrate!
Happy National Dog Day! Give your dog(s) a hug from us ❤️
This curious young dog, that we now know is named Dan, is back with his family tonight after stowing away in the back of his dad's truck 3 days ago. He rode almost the entire way to work with him at 5:00 a.m. without giving himself away. Then, when his dad slowed to make a turn, he popped his head up and was seen in the rear view mirror. Of course, his dad immediately pulled over but Dan was rattled by the ride and took off. Dan is really fortunate that the closest house belonged to a real dog lover and a DHS foster. You can guess the rest of the story but the video tells it all!
Sharing on Facebook is an important way to help homeless and neglected animals. To our fans that shared, keep up the good work!
Lula (Part 3) While we were feeding Lula, we noticed an igloo off in the weeds and what looked like a dog crate. So we decided to take a look around the property in case they were more dogs. We had initially called Rayville PD before going on the property. We told them our intentions and they asked if we needed an officer to go with us but I thought we'd be okay. As I was walking from the front of the house to the side, where I saw the igloo in the weeds, I also saw a partially collapsed dog pen. When I continued to the back, darned if there wasn't another dog sleeping on the back porch. But this pretty girl seemed friendly and cared for. I thought she might just be visiting from another house so I decided to check with the neighbors. They were all very nice, and pleased that we were picking up Lulu, as two of them had called us about her poor conditions. They said they did believe the brown female pittie belonged to someone else in the neighborhood. Although there are ordinances, people in this area let their animals roam and we probably saw no less than 9 dogs roaming on the streets as we were driving there. Anyhow, this friendly girl looked to be healthy and not in any distress. Since we had only brought one crate with us, we decided to leave her there. The neighbors promised to keep an eye on her
Lula (part 2) Oh gosh. Where to start? This little girl's story keeps getting sadder. I'm going to tell you in 3 separate posts. But, the most important thing is that we have her in our care and she is safe and has a full tummy tonight.
We rode out to the property today and she came right out when I put down a packet of wet dog food and called. In fact I had to grab the actual package before she ate that too. She was a little timid but very willing to go with me. When she finished eating, I scooped her up and popped her in a crate in the minivan. She is very very thin and probably doesn't weigh 26 lb. She also has lesions all over her and hair loss. I'm not quite sure what it is. It doesn't really look like ringworm but it doesn't look like mange either. We'll let TVS determine that. It is not itching her though. All we've done today is feed her and treat her for the fleas and intestinal parasites. We won't vaccinate her until she's put on a bit of weight. She seems very happy and content and just loves the kuranda bed. She is snuggled in and sleeping last time I checked.
Here is another look at the first day that we spent with the neglected livestock. There are many more pigs and goats on the other side of the property where we were putting out food but we hadn't yet figured out how to release these pigs from that area. There were gates and wired up panels and a maze of ins and outs to access the animals. Unfortunately, today, they are back in much the same condition since the owner has returned and we will not go on the property with him there. There is plenty of corn there and his neighbor told him to pull up what's left of his garden and feed the animals that. Until we can get some clarification on whether they can be surrendered to us or not, there's really not much we can do except keep an eye on them and try to navigate the legal system.
These two dogs are at the intersection of Parker Lane and 425, a very busy four lane. Visibility is low and the cars are just whizzing by. If these are your dogs please come get them. If you have any information please share. Their lives depend on it!
Here's an update on JuJu, the little girl found on White Rock Road, a favorite dumping ground for unwanted animals. First of all, she isn't a puppy as originally thought. She is about a year old adult and could even be pregnant. She acts and looks very like a puppy but seems to have been malnourished her entire life so she weighs only 24 lbs despite having big dog feet. The good news is that she is heart worm negative. The bad news is her hip is fractured, and was never treated so will need to be surgically repaired. First things first though. Her hip isn't terribly painful so she will first be getting spayed on Friday. Thanks to your donations, her vaccinations and spay are paid for. Once she recovers from the spay surgery, and after we try to raise the $800 for her hip surgery, we will schedule that. We are hoping one of our rescue partners may be willing to take over her care as we are already trying to fund some major veterinary treatments and surgeries for animals that are counting on us. But, JuJu is the most critical at the moment.
She really is the sweetest little girl and just sits at your feet trying to figure out how to please anyone she is near. She deserves to have a a life better than her past one.
I'm sorry this post isn't more touchy feely but as I get my chores done this morning, while I rack my brain as to where we're going to put yet more dogs that need help, I thought I'd make this video. It wasn't planned. Davis is always my last dog in the morning to walk because he is so easy and well-behaved and it's really an enjoyable walk. Anyhow take a look and think about it and please share.
I don't know how everyone else started their weekend but DHS volunteers, along with Kim Goldman and her daughter Rae, were rescuing a little family in a very remote part of Franklin Parish. A wonderful South African named Vincent is over here on a work visa and living in a tenant house on one of the large farms. Where he lives is not in sight of another house and is surrounded by fields so it's a perfect place to dump an unwanted dog. We're sure that's what happened to Mia. Vincent noticed her and it took about 3 days for him to earn her trust enough so he could get close and see that she was pregnant. He contacted us and it took us another week or two to move enough dogs to make a spot for her. In the meantime she had her babies under his trailer but he has been faithfully making sure that she had food and water although he couldn't see the puppies. Today we finally had everything pulled together so that we could rescue Mia and her little family.... and that's where Rae came in. When we all got to the location and saw that none of us could fit under the trailer, Rae did her thing! She listened until she could hear the puppies and determine their general location under the (totally dark) trailer and then donned her headlamp and slithered under that trailer like a pro. She expertly located the puppies and passed out five fat little cutie pies to us. These little ones and their mama are so lucky that they ran into so many caring people that could make this happen. And Rae was the star of this show!!! For someone that hasn't even graduated high school yet she sure understood the assignment!
Keri is playing ball in Pennsylvania today getting ready for her happily ever after!
Update: We think these two are sisters rather than mom and daughter. We've named the larger one Lola. She is 11 lbs and the smaller one, Lila is only 6 lbs. We believe them to be about 10 to 12 months old and they are very friendly and cuddly but don't know anything about a leash or house training. We're working on that. They are not available for adoption.
Get ready. I'm going to rant.
PK and I were headed out to Wisner, Louisiana this morning to temperament test a dog for another rescue. After that we were going an hour and a half in the opposite direction to vaccinate puppies in West Monroe. Oh, and midway between the two locations we were stopping to check on a little dog whose owner had to be admitted to the hospital unexpectedly. I thought I had everything planned out except for the fact that some heartless *!$# dumped out two little rat terriers at the end of my road. Just as we were headed out, PK and I saw them and as she slammed on brakes, my neighbor was calling me to tell me about them. Luckily we had an empty crate so after a little enticing we could load them up and they will have to ride along with us at least the first part of our trip.
Who does that? Who dumps defenseless tiny dogs along a wooded gravel road? Yes, there are no resources in our parish, but this? Only someone heartless, with no conscience and a total coward would do it. And to whoever you are, look up the definition of karma because it's coming!
Update Friday morning: Lizzie is a very good mom and the puppies seem to be thriving. Lizzie seems to be enjoying being waited on hand and foot by us and having lots of food and treats. A big plus is having her school girl figure back but with bigger boobs!!
Its been a very long day. It started at 7am when we got a call about two little shih tzus that had been roaming in the Dehlco community for 2 weeks and were in rough shape. It ended less than an hour ago with Lizzie finally popping out the last of her three puppies about 2:30 a.m.
This isn't easy sometimes but all of these dogs are now safe and more comfortable and with full tummies and a brighter future. For that we are willing to give up a few hours of sleep because that's rescue.
I know we've been asking for a lot of help recently but this post is all about saying thanks for the help you've given.
Can you believe that today is the one year anniversary of Davis being discharged from LSU? I hope you enjoy watching this little video that I made tonight of Davis and his "girlfriends," as much as I enjoy watching them every evening as they get their last play time of the day. You all made that happen and I can't begin to thank everyone that contributed to giving this dog the life he has now.
Its spring and we both expect and dread all the unwanted puppies and kittens that will need rescue. What we didn't expect was finding ten new babies born right here at the DHS foster farm!
Back last fall, you may remember our post when we rescued donkeys, dogs, some fighting chickens and one lone homing pigeon from a remote camp in Tensas Parish whose owner had gone into a nursing home. When we originally posted about the situation, we mentioned that we found many of the game chickens surviving loose on the property. We also found where over 100 fighting roosters had been housed and even trophies for cockfighting dating back from the 1990s. Fighting breeds or game breeds of poultry are a wilder breed. They are more slightly built, more athletic and much better flyers than the more common breeds of poultry kept for their eggs, for instance. Although we tried multiple times, these guys proved very difficult to catch and they seemed to be doing well on their own; roosting in the trees and foraging for food in the woods along the banks of the Tensas River. We did manage to catch two roosters and three hens and we released them in our paddock with the goats, mini pigs and the donkeys. Taft, a Great Pyrenees mix that also came from the property, spends most nights in the paddock with them too. The chickens have really surprised us by first of all, staying in the paddock and then, by starting to lay eggs. Game hens are very wily about where they make their nests. They will lay eggs in piles of leaves, hollow trees, tall grass and just about anywhere they think predators won't find them. We did our best to collect all the eggs that we found to try to keep them from setting but one little hen got by us and we didn't find her nest of 11 eggs until they were almost ready to hatch. Last Friday, she proudly paraded out her 10 newly hatched babies!
We often get pictures and videos of DHS "alumni" playing in the snow, but this is the first time one came from Louisiana!! Luci's mama, Melissa, seems to be having just as much fun as the dogs.
Good morning and say hello to Bianca! She's the young girl who's family moved away and left her at a rental trailer. (They took the two small cute dogs with them.😡) The property manager found her when they were preparing to rent the trailer again. Bianca had been surviving there for weeks that we know of, never leaving the back porch except to forage for food or water, and waiting for her family to come back for her. We had been to the trailer before but we missed finding her. Yesterday we went back earlier and she was asleep on the back porch. This sweet, gentle girl is very submissive and came right to us. She spent last night sleeping inside in a temporary foster home. It is probably her first time ever sleeping indoors with a full tummy and no itchy fleas. She was covered in fleas and ticks when we found her and has a few old wounds; probably scuffling with other dogs for food. We were told the former tenants had several dogs there and the neighbors often heard dog fights.
Bianca is heartworm negative, about a year old, literally learned to walk on a leash in an hour and is very sweet and submissive. She loves attention and tried to crawl in Emma's lap this morning when she was walking her. Bianca will be spayed on Tuesday and then we are hoping she'll find a foster home locally until we can find a permanent family for her.
Thanks to a couple of special donors, we were able to intake Bianca. And thanks so much to Amelia Cooper Smith with French Realty Company and Creekside Investments. They manage the property and went to a lot of extra effort to try to help Bianca when they realized she had been abandoned there. Secondly, they filed a complaint against the owners with the sheriff's department for animal neglect and abandonment. If more people were held accountable and knew they would face repercussions, they might think twice about abandoning an animal that loved them unconditionally and depended on them for everything.
A big thanks to Marcia and PK who left early this morning to take Poppy and her five fat babies to Georgia. They will be staying there until they continue on to Pennsylvania to find their happily ever afters. This wouldn't be happening if our fans hadn't responded so generously when we asked for donations to save Poppy who was living at an abandoned store. You enabled us to rescue her just one day before she had her babies. All of her babies are fat and healthy but I doubt that would have been the outcome if she were still trying to survive on her own. Thank you!
Update: Mr Wendell came through his surgery well. He may be released tomorrow.
Everybody send good thoughts out to Mr Wendell, one of our long-time volunteers and main handyman and puppy cuddler at the foster farm. He is having his gallbladder removed this afternoon. We're hoping for a quick and uneventful recovery because we just couldn't do without him ❤️
