15/07/2023
Today words absolutely fail me. I want to figure out how best to tell this story but there is a cavern in the center of my body. My heart isn’t just in my stomach, because that has also given way. I’m so tired and so sad. So I’m going to tell this plainly.
Today we rescued a mom and 8 babies that were set out on the side of a road, left to die. The babies are so new to this world, just barely two weeks old.
The biggest gut punch of all is this; their owner tried to give her to a shelter yesterday. The shelter was full. The shelter reached out to us. We were also full. BUT, we had many dogs and puppies leaving yesterday evening. We said if the owner could keep just two more days, we could send off our current animals, clean and disinfect our building and accept this family on Sunday. They just had to wait two days. And instead they set this family out in the hot sun, on the side of a road, with nothing. Then just drove away.
What must momma have felt watching her owner leave? I can only imagine the cold fear, the worry, the desperation she felt on the gravel at the side of a road with 8 babies not even old enough to walk yet. She is a good mom. She loves her babies. She moved them into the shrubs and tall grass and wrapped her body tightly around them. It was all she could do. Somehow one of her babies fell down a nearby storm drain. Momma could not get him out. He was crying, hungry and afraid. She was desperate. This is probably what saved her.
This story only has a chapter of hope because someone found this family. Someone saw momma standing in the clearing and then heard the puppy’s cries. The finders reached out for help. When we saw the photos, it was clear this was the family we were supposed to be accepting tomorrow. We went and got them, they are at our Safe House now. But I don’t know yet if they will be OK. We spent hours combing and picking maggots and fly eggs off the puppies. So. Many. Maggots. We consulted with our vet, we have given them Capstar and bathed them. We hope we got them in time. We will do everything we can for them. We hope it will be enough.
Mom is limping badly, more than one of her legs causing her much pain. Next week she will get x-rays. For now, she has good food and water, she has a soft blanket, four walls and a roof. She is so grateful to be safe, to have her babies safe. She is exhausted from her ordeal. She can rest now.
Momma doesn’t know where she is. She doesn’t know us. She has little reason to believe in the goodness of people. And yet when I just went to see her, she looked at me and wagged her tail. We don’t deserve dogs.
Including this family, we have taken in 33 puppies and 3 adult dogs that were abandoned, either on the side of a road or in a remote area, in just the last six weeks. What really gets me is how many of these were found by chance or luck. The right person in the right place at the right time – county workers, ATV riders or hikers. How many more are out there that just aren’t so lucky? It is hard to fathom and to ponder it too long hurts my heart.
Right now we will hold this family close. We will give them all that we can, all that they truly deserve. We will pray we got the babies in time. If it is within your heart and your means to help provide care for this family and others like them your gift will help save lives.
Finally, I have said it before and I am saying it again - for the love of all that is holy, please stop dumping dogs.
