| 10/24/05 (Monday) scroll down for later updates.
Loren and I went back out and helped all day today too.
Every muscle in my body aches!!! Put in 6 straight hours washing bowls,
hauling water and cleaning crates. Pasado reps were there and we got almost
all of their Pits crates cleaned. They still had a few to go when we left.
They were getting them out of there tonight or tomorrow for sure. Have a
place in Alabama that is taking them. I guess the kennels are staying. I
know they are not leaving them for her, but they were setting several up just
to make some better situations for the 50 some dogs that were living in pet
taxis.
There is one large penned area with about 50 dogs
together. They were all friendly although several fights broke out while we
were filling water buckets. Loren had to spray them apart. They were just
vying for our attention. I had anywhere from 6 to 12 dogs jumping up on me for
petting. Several times I almost landed on my rear in poop. I felt so sorry
for them. One little spitz type was a real spitfire. She would make an older
couple a wonderful dog. She would take on all the big dogs for my attention
and she'd chase them off. It was funny to see a 12 pound dog run off 50 and 60
pound dogs.
There are 2 Great Pyrs that I am sure are full blooded.
They are quite a mess right now. There are also a brother and sister GP mix
that are on the small side. I would guess the mix is with yellow lab. I
already spoke up that if the court shuts her down, I would see if I could find
foster for those 4.
The EPA and 2 other state and Federal agencies were out
there today. Guess she has been just dumping dead dogs in the woods. With
the Feds in on this, we may just get satisfaction. There is suppose to be
another Fed agency (USDA I think) coming tomorrow. It will be a relief when
all the governments do their investigating so the dead dogs can be buried.
There are atleast 6 just rotting. The smell just sticks with you. The flies
are so thick one can hardly breath without fear of inhaling one up your nose.
Some guy from California who placed over 100 dogs with her
is flying in tonight. Guess he is making arrangements to have his bunch
removed. That should bring the number down to around 250 to 275 dogs!!!
Where in God's name can they all go??
There is so many that are just wonderful. And there are so
many that are tearing at my heart. There are atleast 3 that are 3 legged and
3 others with broken legs. I really want to save 2 of those with a leg
missing. One is a German Shepherd and the other just a great big (80 pound?)
fuzzy dog.
There is also a huge (150 pound and probably 35 or 36")
English Mastiff that is a big teddy bear. He is the sweetest guy and gets along
with the other 6 or 8 dogs in his 10X10 pen. He loves to give big drooly
kisses. There is also a Great Dane that is marked like a Dalmatian. I think
there is a name for it as someone said it was doubtful it was a GD/ Dalmatian
mix. It is also very large. I have it's pix up too.
There is just about every breed imaginable. Even one of
those curly dogs that you don't brush. They are big and their hair is like
ropes.
And of course I doubt any are spayed or neutered. It is
like the worst kind of puppy mill out there. Three just had puppies in the
past 3 days and about 6 more look like any time.
10/25/05 - 10/26/05 I am getting my days mixed all together. It happens when you are so exhausted, both physically and mentally. Then your nights are filled with nightmares about the dogs. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking , "Did that dog under the trailer get fed and watered? Did the red dogs crate get cleaned? Did the dog we just put in the kennel with the other dogs get along and survive the night? How many new litters of puppies will we find today? Did any new born puppies freeze last night?" The list goes on. Peaceful rest does not. I took the camera back out to get dog specific photos. One deputy that had seen me every day waved, but a new one was not going to let me take the camera in. I finally argued my way in. My first thought was 'next time I'll hide it under my sweatshirt', but I am a coward so there would be no next time. I spent 2 hours getting photos of certain dogs. They are mixed on the second and third photo pages. There is a few new garbage pix on page one. After that I came home and burned a CD with all the photos and took it to the local TV station as per request by a humane society telethon organizer. The telethon is a regularly scheduled annual event so timing was right. Loren and I went back out after lunch (a very light one so it would not be as likely to 'get me' later). Five dog carcasses were removed, finally! The dozen or so crates in that area were worse then hell for the dogs confined in them. It was so hard for us workers to give these particular dogs the attention they needed because of the flies and stench. I set out yesterday to move every one of those dozen dogs. I was tired of asking permission for every move I made. If I asked, I had to stand around for 15 minutes waiting for an answer and being treated like it was a huge imposition. If I didn't ask, I was chastised for not asking. Well, naturally, the first dog I moved made me pay the consequences. I had nightmares about this little red dog for 2 nights. When I took it out of its crate, it was all kisses of gratitude and tail wagging. It could hardly walk from being cramped in there for weeks with no exercise. This 12 pound dog's testicles were so swollen it looked like he was carrying around a pair that would belong to a Great Dane. And, BTW, the sanctuary claimed ALL the dogs were spayed or neutered. As for the males, I would say 90% were recognizably intact. So back on point, I slowly walked this lovely dog down to the clean crate I had prepared far from the stench and flies. When I went to lead it in, it turned and bit me. It was such a change, I was shocked and totally unprepared. Then I realized what was really happening with these dogs. They are being driven crazy by the conditions they are forced into. No way was he going to go back into that crate and I did not blame him one bit! I would have probably bit somebody too, if I were in his situation! I began to cry, not from pain, but from sorrow and total frustration. We were told not to remove dogs from their crates and to stay out of even the kennels. To pour food and water through the fence. I was beginning to 'get it'. All the loose dogs were happy and friendly. All of the crated dogs were potential dangers. The kenneled dogs could go either way. They are NOT vicious dogs, they are being driven to it by conditions beyond their control and totally not of their making. I do remember it was Tuesday that this little dog on the cardboard box 'bed' was dying. I had seen it Monday and not thought much about it. Too busy and figured it was just resting. But when I saw it in exactly the same place and position on Tuesday, I knelt down to check. This was my first tearful outburst. I had held it in pretty good until then. Anyway, I got water and it could not raise it's head to drink. I put water on my fingers and it licked ever so slowly. I cupped water in my hand and got a little into it's mouth. By this time my tears had brought help. We offered it small kibble but it could not chew. There were hundreds of cans of canned dog food but no can opener so we took a crow bar and hammer we found and knocked the lid off. Then we had the problem of a dozen loose dogs close by smelling this delicacy. There was a clean empty crate nearby, so we helped the dog into it where it had water and this magical canned food. We kept the other dogs away while it ate in reasonable security. The first place I went Wednesday was to see this dog. It was up walking!!!!! It was a miracle. I managed to find the other three 3 legged dogs but did not have the camera. One is a little black dog with the hind leg gone and one is a German Shepherd. The other was hard to see huddles in a dark crate, but one of the others told me it was the fourth. The worse visible ailments were the open sores and absence of hair. I do not know how many were from Louisiana and the flooding and how many had just been on the premises for a long time. About 30 dogs of the whole 500 looked and acted totally healthy. About 30 more were possibly healthy but their long coats were so matted it was hard to tell. I don't know where this Great Pyr came from but I would say almost certainly it was NOT Louisiana or any Katrina or Rita effected area. 5:00 p.m. 10/28/05 I was just told:.
The HSUS is totally in charge. A
representative of theirs Tammy Holly has a 'list' she will be calling to
take dogs. I have no idea who is on this 'list' but the HSUS was who
approved EDNAH for about 50 dogs from Katrina in the first place.
DUH!!
I was also told..... Tammy
Hanson of EDNAH has FINAL say on each dog!!!! Tammy Holly can recommend,
but if Tammy Hanson says no, then that is it! This is totally insane.
It could drag on for months and years with volunteers doing all the work
and dogs all go crazy.
11/21/05
Court stared at 11:15 and finally concluded at
2:45. After testimony, the judge ruled the dogs would remain in the custody
of the Sheriff and that they, with the help of the HSUS would place ALL the
dogs in other homes, rescues and shelters. The defense has 7 days to find a
judge to overturn the order. If not, then the dogs will be able to get out of
there. However, any dog currently proven to have an owner, must be released
to that owner immediately.
Cross your fingers no judge overturns this.
Dr. Snodgrass was definitely the key to the
verdict. He said in his 37 years of practice, he had never seen anything this
deplorable.
Tammy Hawley from HSUS stated HSUS had already
spent upwards of $50,000 on the 3 weeks of care for the dogs. When the
judge added up the numbers, it was over $65,000.
The defense was pathetic. This is Hanson's 3rd
lawyer hired just Friday and he was not prepared. All they tried to do was
discredit the sheriff and HSUS. Not a single witness in support of the
Hanson's.
update 12/2/05 progress, court action, newspaper reports. More charges filed against Hanson's. The dogs are all moved. The majority were sent to 2 locations for vetting, evaluation and then will go to shelters and rescues( I hope). Some went to the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis and the others went to the ASPCA shelter in Texas.
Update Jan 16/06 The Hansons
were found guilty of 20 counts. I understand why the other 8 were thrown
out. Prosecution around here is a joke. Of course, their defense was
too.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb 23 at 11:00. Reason was that no one was
sure what the sentencing guidelines were for this kind of case.
Prosecution wants over $100,000 reimbursement of expenses, $5000 fine per
count and 1 year jail time per count. The defense says there is no
president for reimbursement of expenses for more then the 20 dogs they
were convicted on, that a fine for all combined charges could not exceed
$5000 and that the jail time had to run concurrent, meaning 1 year total.
Big difference in opinions and the judge just didn't want grounds for
appeal.
HOWEVER.... The judge did order that the Hansons would
NEVER be allowed to have animals in their care ever again. The Defense
asked, "You mean in Baxter County". The judge said
"No, I mean in the entire world" Everyone broke into applause and
the bailiff didn't even 'hush' us. (The Baxter Bulletin
article mis-quoted)
I just got a call that I left the court room too soon. Tammy Hanson got arrested before she even left the court on a Missouri warrant for felony "tampering with evidence!" |
