IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Baby Animals’

Hope Animal Sanctuary's Doll Stanley at work giving these guys another chance.

It’s so exciting to share the news of the transport finale. Seventy dogs and a cat arrived at our friends at Every Creature Counts in Ft. Lupton, Colo. Over the past year, ECC received nearly a thousand animals from us. Wow! A thousand animals who didn’t die on roads, in the woods, in dismal backyards, in shelters.

I’d like to say that without Every Creature Counts placing these animals would be nearly impossible. Without MSU’s student surgery program the cost of providing spays and neuters would break us. Without Debbie Young, Sheri Norquist, and Loretta Ford I would have been up all night preparing paperwork for the transport, and then ECC would still have had to put the data in its PetPoint system.

Lisa and Mike Martin not only fostered pups and bottle-fed them for us, they made the journey with me. Mike insulates and readies our rental truck for the trips and then he and Lisa put the crates on and tag them. The morning of the transport Mike, Lisa, and our Hope Animal Sanctuary Team load our precious animals.

On this transport many of the animals were fostered by Deedra Booker and Loretta Ford, who performed miracles, even bringing their fosters for S/N day and then making the trip to pick them up.

Sherri Norquist’s niece, Rebecca, cared for Sugar and Lady Bug (from the Wyatte hoarding case) up until they were altered. Loretta then added them to her fostered babies to make it easier for us to hook up on transport day.

Fay Welch of the Winona Animal Advocacy Group made certain the dogs rescued from the Winona Pound were cared for until we got them to our sanctuary for S/N day and she kept up with their shots, worming, among other necessities. Melissa Weed Greenlee, of WAAG, aided with transport, and her mother and the Mortimer’s aided with the cost of caring for and moving the dogs. The Weeds have sponsored the heartworm treatment of Speck, who will very likely be on our next transport.

Dr. Abernethy, Dr. Reece, and staff (of Veterinary Associates) assisted with the care of many of the animals as they recovered from the neglect and abuse they experienced before we rescued them. A few of the dogs came from the Winona Pound, others from the Winona region so they wouldn’t end up at there. We worked with the Bolivar County/Cleveland Animal Shelter to take 12 of its dogs, along with the four puppies from a rescuer from Carthage, four from a woman in Kilmichael, Miss., and five abandoned pups from the amazing Anita Tribble, of Yalobusha County, who found these sweet babies on her property. Hope Animal Sanctuary rescued all the other dogs we transported from the hoarding case in Wyatte, Miss., and the ten puppies and Maury, a chihuahua/miniature pinscher, who were saved after a Tallahatchie County Supervisor packed up and moved on, deserting them. (I sobbed when I left Maury at ECC. He was my constant companion after I saved him, begging me to get him away from the puppies who adored him.) Even William of HAS brought four puppies—Rita, Katlin, Antoinette, and Lindy—who were dumped at his house in Daiden, Miss. We’re still working the Wyatte hoarding case, where the remaining animals have a big barn to sleep in and a lovely Tate County resident, Tricia, who is feeding and overseeing them until we can fit them into our program.

One of our passengers, Boy, a rottweiler mix, was a favorite of the man squatting in the school bus (the story was covered previously on our blogs about the hoarder in his eighties who had at least 30 dogs where he lived in community of Wyatte, Miss.). While I was working the case, the hoarder refused to allow me to get Boy neutered (he said it wasn’t natural), and I discovered that Boy had an ear infection, so I packed him up and drove him away as the man was screaming at me. I knew at that moment I was not bringing him back, even temporarily, where he wouldn’t get the care he needed. The other dogs had been fighting amongst themselves, and, Boy, smaller than the rest, was terrified, and I would not have him ruined for life. He’s gone to Every Creature Counts, where on adoption day, someone will meet him and determine that this endearing, shy young man deserves a guardian to protect him forever.

Hats off to the wonderful people who joined us in saving these extraordinary individuals—abandoned, hurting, in need—and to all of you who have participated in sponsoring our efforts in making these fantastic events a reality.

Stayed tuned: In just a few days you’ll hear more about the activities at Hope Animal Sanctuary.

Please support our Animal Rescue Fund – So next year we can save even more!

On Thursday, November 18, Hope Animal Sanctuary Director Doll Stanley responded to a plea for help from Theresa, a Wyatt, Mississippi resident. Theresa was seeking help for an 86 year old neighbor, John, who had several momma dogs and litters of puppies. John lives in the rusted-out shell of an old school bus and is barely able to take care of himself, let alone his ever-expanding pack of dogs, so experienced help was desperately needed.

Doll met Theresa and her son at John’s property that afternoon. Theresa and her son had been helping to feed and care for both the dogs and John. They gave Doll the lay of the property and filled her in on the personality traits of each dog and pup. As this was happening, John arrived. He said he was happy for the help, but didn’t believe in spaying/neutering animals – that it was “unnatural.” Clearly in over his head because of this belief, he relented after speaking with Doll and agreed to let us spay/neuter all the adults and take all the pups for adoption.

Doll left with ten puppies initially and went back a few days later for another litter of three. All of these puppies will be altered by Mississippi State University’s mobile vet team in the coming weeks, then transported to our adoption partners, Every Creature Counts, in Denver for adoption.

Hope Animal Sanctuary Director Doll Stanley and volunteer Lisa Martin departed the sanctuary this past Sunday afternoon and proceeded to pick up animals from all over northern Mississippi. In addition to the animals on this transport from Hope Animal Sanctuary and the Winona, Mississippi city shelter, animals were pulled from shelters and individual rescuers from Carthage, Clarksdale, Cleveland and Indianola. The final tally of animals on this transport was a mind-blowing 85 dogs and 11 cats. By far our biggest and most ambitious transport to date.

Everything went smoothly, including the unexpected roadside rescue of a dog found wandering alongside a busy highway in north Mississippi. Delta Dawn, as she’s now named, joined the transport and was welcomed with open arms by the good folks at Every Creature Counts. Many of the animals from this transport will be adopted this weekend at a adoption events held in and around the Denver area.

We’re so grateful to our rescue partners, Every Creature Counts, for their continued support in helping us find homes for dogs and cats who otherwise would have no hope of finding a good home. We want to thank Dr. Phil Bushby and his team from Mississippi State University’s vet program who spayed/neutered most of the animals on this transport. Finally, thanks to HAS volunteers Debbie Young and Sherri Norquist for hours of data entry work that made this transport go so smoothly.

This is Nicholas – One of Eric's new friends!

I spent nearly the entire month of October in Mississippi filling in for Doll at Hope Animal Sanctuary (HAS). Doll was on much deserved and much needed vacation and they needed an extra pair of hands, so I offered to help. This was not my first time at the Sanctuary, I’ve been down several times and spent almost three months there at the end of 2007.

I was grateful on this trip to be joined by my nephew, Zach, who helped me immensely with the day-to-day operations and afforded me the ability to give the three employees, William, Lisa and Elizabeth, some much needed extra time off. I was impressed with the efforts of this team and I admire very much the work they do for animals, both in and out of the Sanctuary.

To me, there is no better way to remind yourself of what truly matters than working hands-on with animals. Animals who in most instances are coming from situations of abuse, neglect and violence that most of us cannot imagine. Had a rough day at the office? At least no one dumped you and your siblings along 70 mile per hour Interstate 55, like what happened to a group of weeks-old puppies who were recently through the Sanctuary – all had been hit by cars and despite receiving immediate medical care, none survived their injuries. Or Nicholas, a dog I took in while I was there. Nicholas had finally broken through the collar that chained him likely in someone’s backyard. More a lawn ornament than and living, breathing, feeling animal, Nicholas’ collar had become partially embedded in his neck, undoubtedly bringing him agony for only he knows how long.

These are just a couple of recent stories from Hope Animal Sanctuary. Sadly, not every story is a victory, but had HAS not been there to ease the suffering of animals who would ultimately succumbed to their injuries, they would have had to suffer for much longer. And had HAS not been there to rescue the ones who survived and thrived, they never would have gotten out of their hopeless situations.

IDA Activists in Action!

Last Thursday, marine mammal activists from all over the world, in over 55 locations, stood together in protest of the Japanese government’s support of the slaughter of dolphins and sale of live dolphins for the public display industry. Events took place at Japanese Consulates and Embassies, sending a resounding message to the Japanese government and a public purposefully kept in the dark that killing dolphins and sentencing the rest to a life of captivity is shameful. How the Japanese government can knowingly allow the human consumption of dolphin meat that contains dangerous levels of mercury and other industrial pollutants is beyond reason. Or how dolphins are mercilessly captured and shipped as cargo all over the world in order to perform demeaning circus-style tricks for food in grossly unnatural, artificial, and highly confined environments.

There is hope for dolphins and other cetaceans through public education and growing interest in finally bringing to an end the appalling dolphin roundups in Japan

Stay tuned for more updates. And if you haven’t already done so, please watch Oscar Award-Winning Documentary, The Cove and Animal Planet’s Blood Dolphins.

One of the lucky fellas.

On Tuesday, October 5 Dr. Bushby and his team of veterinary students and technicians from Mississippi State University (MSU) rolled into Hope Animal Sanctuary (HAS) with their mobile veterinary clinic for another busy spay/neuter day. On this day the team from MSU would alter six cats and twenty dogs, most of whom were from HAS, although MSU was able to help the Cleveland, Ms. animal shelter by including seven of their dogs. They also neutered a kitten who was brought in by HAS volunteer Billy Halfacre – a kitten he’d found abandoned.

The MSU team has been coming to Hope Animal Sanctuary once a month for the past couple of years. However, Dr. Bushby just informed us that the team would now come every three weeks instead, because of our extremely high animal save rate.

We are truly grateful to Dr. Bushby and his team from MSU. Without their help and support we wouldn’t be able to save nearly as many animals as we do.

Lisa from ECC and Doll celebrate another successful transport

Just a few days ago Doll and volunteer Debbie McCool (awesome real name) transported 65 dogs and 5 cats from IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary to Every Creature Counts in Ft. Lupton, Colorado.

This was our second trip to ECC in as many months. The last transport brought nearly 60 dogs to ECC – all but one of whom has since been adopted.

The majority of the dogs transported came from Hope Animal Sanctuary, but we were also able to help out another couple of shelters in the region. We pulled animals from the Clarksdale Shelter, the Bolivar County Humane Society (BCHS) in Cleveland, Ms. and from the Mississippi Animal Rescue League in Jackson, Ms. We also brought dogs from a couple of our rescue partners and former IDA staffers Debbie Young and Lisa Martin in Jackson. Clarksdale and BCHS helped us with the cost of the transport.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this trip to Colorado a success. It means everything for the individual animals who were on this transport and who will soon celebrate in new loving adoptive homes.

In light of the alarming news that Dondi, an elephant who gave rides at the Southwick’s Zoo in Mendon, Mass., died from tuberculosis, IDA sent an urgent letter to the zoo, demanding the immediate release of her report. According to an article that ran in the Shoreline Times (New Haven, Conn.) on Friday, a necropsy revealed that Asian elephant Dondi died from tuberculosis. While the reporter would not reveal his source, he claimed that the source had the necropsy results in hand.

Tuberculosis in elephants presents a serious public health concern as the animals can transmit the disease to humans as well as other elephants. Unfortunately, tuberculosis is difficult to detect in elephants, who can harbor the disease, sometimes for years, and show no clinical symptoms. The USDA is still working to determine how widespread tuberculosis is amongst elephants in the U.S.

Dondi was the second elephant held at the Southwick’s Zoo who had tuberculosis. Before her, Southwick’s used an elephant named Judy, who was not allowed to give rides due to known prior exposure to tuberculosis positive elephants. After her death in 2007, she was found to have the disease.

Please join IDA in calling on the zoo to end the use of elephants for shows and rides by sending a polite email to the Southwick’s Zoo President Justin Brewer. You can use the sample message that follows, but please be sure to personalize it as much as possible.

Sample letter:

Dear Ms. Brewer,

I urge you to permanently end the use of elephants for performances and rides at the Southwick’s Zoo because it is inhumane for the elephants and unsafe for the public. Your zoo has held two elephants with tuberculosis, which is a serious public health concern as the disease can be transmitted to humans and other elephants. It’s time to do the right thing for the elephants and for the public and stop displaying elephants at your zoo.

Send your email to: justine@southwickszoo.com

Tell USDA to Confiscate Nosey Now

While you’re taking action, please don’t forget Nosey, who needs your help. You can read more about Nosey, link to videos, and take quick and easy action for this suffering elephant by clicking here.

As anyone who has done protests will tell you, circus demos can be the most difficult. Parents are on guard because they’re with their kids. They’re out for a day of fun and are suddenly confronted with protesters, perhaps where they’d least expect protesters to be. What could be more wholesome than the circus? Unfortunately, circuses with animals are far from wholesome. The animals who travel with these circuses are trucked or taken by train from city to city, spending the majority of their time in chains (elephants) or tight confinement (the other animals) when not being forced to perform completely unnatural and painful acts. So when we found out that Ringling Bros. Circus was heading to Portland for the Labor Day weekend, we were motivated to try and get as many compassionate folks out as we could to help educate Ringling’s patrons.

Ringling has a long history of animal abuse and neglect – everything from animal deaths to a list USDA violations a mile long. The most recent developments in Ringling’s long history of abuse are an undercover investigation  which showed Ringling beating elephants and other animals, and recently released, never before seen photos of Ringling abusing baby elephants.

Portland is a city of compassionate, animal-loving people. It’s a progressive town with no tolerance for abuse of any kind and this protest of circus animal abuse was certainly right in line with this city’s values. We mobilized through Facebook and e-mail and on opening night had the largest crowd ever at a circus demo in Portland – 80 people. It was inspiring. And we weren’t done there – all of the protests we held throughout the weekend were well attended – tripling the numbers of folks we had at last year’s demos.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and help. Someone asked me on Sunday if I thought we were truly making a difference, and I responded that if we were absent, we certainly wouldn’t be, but I do believe these peaceful shows of force do make a difference and hopefully plant a seed of compassion in even the most hardened circus supporter.