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Posts Tagged ‘Guardian’

Edwin says "Thank You"

In the early morning hours of Thursday, July 22, Doll Stanley along with the rest of the Project Hope staff and with help from Lisa Martin, began loading a truck with 57 dogs and 12 kittens for another transport to Every Creature Counts (ECC) in Denver. Doll and Lisa would shoulder the responsibility of safely transporting these animals to Denver, but the additional help in loading everyone up was welcomed.

This transfer of the animals to our adoption partners in Denver couldn’t happen soon enough. The spring and summer months have hit Mississippi shelters hard with record numbers of animals being abandoned and surrendered.

Despite the heat and a few glitches with the truck, the trip to Denver went well. Upon arrival, Every Creature Counts staff was waiting to help off-load. Many of the animals from this trip were in adoption centers this past weekend and ECC reports that several have already been placed into loving homes.

These transports are always special, but this one was made even more special because of several notable animals and their stories that were aboard this transport:

Sarah Louise found her way to Project Hope just two short months ago. Her face was horribly disfigured – all the skin had been eaten away by demodectic mange. Coal, the nearly hairless, starving puppy rescued on a dirt road near Union, MS. Queen, rescued and cared for by our friend and colleague Debbie Young. Will was one of nine dogs transferred from the Bolivar Cleveland Animal Shelter in cleveland, MS. Scores of dogs from this shelter have been adopted through these efforts. Edwin was rescued by a friend and volunteer Billy Halfacre. Edwin suffered a mangled front leg that had to be amputated. Ottie, Miss Priss, and Blue knew only deprivation in the clutches of the hoarder who keep them. The world of compassion they now know wasn’t even conceivable a few months ago.

Our work is a team effort and we want to thank everyone who helped us with not only these animals, but all the animals we’ve had a hand in rescuing over the years.

Doll Stanley has been rescuing animals in Mississippi since 1992.

On July 10, 2010, Debbie Young, a friend of IDA-Project Hope, and three volunteers went to a Mississippi residence we had inspected on July 4. Debbie had discovered that one of our fellow rescuers was actually a hoarder. She’d tried the gentle approach to convince the individual that the animals she was keeping were in need of intervention. Animals were everywhere – at her residence, the residence of her former husband, and at his office. She seemed content to keep them in horrid conditions. She was respected by many of her colleagues and had managed to shield her scandalous neglect of animals from everyone.

Debbie and I learned that dogs this “rescuer” had taken in after hurricanes Katrina and Rita were still at a boarding facility. I encountered some of them when we boarded dogs from another hoarder.

There were no plans for the adoption of these dogs and several needed immediate attention. One had a huge growth on his side, and a blind Border Collie ran continuous circles in his tormentingly narrow run. His companion had become ill and died a few months earlier. This so-called rescuer had been notified that he was ill and had not acted. An elderly crippled dog suffered the winter on the cold concrete of the run where she was confined.

Debbie got a call from Mississippi Animal Rescue League (MARL) after a deputy reported that animals at the hoarder’s residence were being neglected. MARL asked Debbie to look into the allegations, as she had known the resident for some time. Debbie was horrified and emotionally devastated when she saw the putrid, filthy conditions. Most were in cages laden with feces and soaked with urine.

Debbie advised that great embarrassment and legal ramifications could be avoided if the woman we’d known as a friend would release the majority of the animals for adoption, care for those remaining as they should be cared for, and allow home inspections.

Debbie contacted the organization with which the woman was affiliated. The director was shocked that the individual she’d entrusted with animals was unequivocally a hoarder. The organization sent a rescue team to retrieve the animals.

Nearly 100 have been freed from their nightmarish conditions, and there are still more to rescue. We thank MARL, another group that wishes to remain anonymous, and everyone involved in unveiling this tragic situation and stepping up with a resolution to rehabilitate and place every animal who has any hope of adoption. For those who suffered and were humanely released from their misery, we can only say how very vigilant we all need to be when entrusting animals to anyone’s care.

The hoarder has been advised that charges will not be filed if she immediately seeks therapy, agrees to inspections of the sites where the animals were held, and does not increase the number of animals in her care.

This blog was contributed by Doll Stanely, Director for In Defense of Animals / Project Hope.

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary/photo credit: Karla Goodson

Throughout my 20 years in the animal protection field I have admired the work of In Defense of Animals, and I’m truly honored to accept the position of President of this esteemed organization. I feel very fortunate to have inherited a solid foundation created by Dr. Elliot Katz, and look forward to building on this platform of excellence in order to expand IDA’s positive impact for animals.

More than two decades ago I realized the common thread in the network of animal cruelty – the cage. The cage represents the imprisonment and mistreatment of the animals of this world. I have focused my career on tearing down these cages in their many forms and uses.

The cage is a fundamentally flawed contraption that causes rapid emotional, social and physical decline of its inhabitants. In my experience any animal confined to a cage goes through three phases of decline; typically starting with high anxiety, leading to depression, and resulting in psychological turmoil. Putting an animal in a cage is a violation of that creature’s innate right to live naturally and without suffering. This type of confinement also forces animals to eat, sleep and defecate in a space often only a few times the size of their body. This causes human and animal health problems and can ultimately lead to death in some species.

I conceptualized and built a revolutionary cageless animal shelter that set global humane standards. I lobbied for the adoption of guardian language to change people’s ideas concerning our relationships with animals. I lead the rescue of tens of thousands of animals from puppy mills, dog and cock fighting, hoarding cases, equine farming and countless other cruel instances of confinement and mistreatment. I have liberated hundreds of thousands of animals from the confines of cages and the grip of man-made cruelty.

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Please Credit: Karla Goodson

In Defense of Animals (IDA) proudly welcomes Scotlund Haisley as our new President. IDA’s Founder and only President to date, Dr. Elliot Katz, has been elected Chairman of the Board.

“Scotlund Haisley has been a dynamic force in the animal protection world for more than 20 years, and brings an impressive variety of experience that will serve us well in his position as President of In Defense of Animals,” said Dr. Katz. “Scotlund is the ideal individual to maximize IDA’s efforts to become a more powerful voice and force for our animal friends, by ending the rampant mistreatment of animals, not only in the U.S., but around the world.”

Most recently Haisley led the Humane Society of the United States Animal Rescue Team, and traveled the globe to rescue an unprecedented number of animals from puppy mills, dogfighting, hoarding, factory farming and natural disasters. He was the captain of humane law enforcement for the Washington DC Humane Society and the Peninsula Humane Society in the San Francisco Bay area. Haisley spent time in India creating policies and operating philosophies for animal welfare groups. He was also the shelter director for the Manhattan New York City Shelter.

While working as Executive Director at the Washington (DC) Animal Rescue League, Haisley designed and built an animal shelter unlike any in the world. The shelter, renowned for its calming and nurturing animal housing area, is recognized as a prototype for humane animal sheltering.

“I am honored to take on the role of President of In Defense of Animals, and look forward to building upon the solid foundation of excellence in animal rights that IDA has built over the past 25 years,” said Haisley. “I believe that under my lead In Defense of Animals will bring comfort and salvation to an unprecedented number of animals around the globe.”

Scotlund Haisley is also an accomplished artist, who often paints the scenes of cruelty he has witnessed and the animals he has rescued. By putting the images of suffering and salvation onto canvas Haisley is able to spread education and awareness of the suffering of animals. Haisley’s family includes several animals, including a dog named Bergh, named for the pioneering 19th-century animal protector Henry Bergh.

IDA is thrilled to welcome Scotlund Haisley as our new President. Stay tuned to this space for Scotlund’s first IDA blog, coming soon!

You’re driving to the store and you want to take Duke. The day is lovely, warm, the sun stretched across the sky. You park in the shade, leave the windows open slightly, and you’re back to the car in a mere fifteen minutes.

While you are gone, however, the temperature begins to soar – within a few minutes your car becomes a roasting oven. A Stanford University test found that even if it’s only 72°F outside, a car’s internal temperature rockets to 116°F in a very short time. You’re almost through the check-out line, and Duke is fighting for his life. When it is 80°F outside, a car’s temperature inside rises to 99°F in 10 minutes, and to 109°F in 20 minutes, a San Francisco State University study found. Because dogs, swathed in fur, can only cool down by panting and sweating through their paws, the heat is especially deadly.

Every year, hundreds of beloved canine companions die in parked cars from heatstroke while their guardians leave them, often for “just a few minutes.” This can happen even if you leave the windows cracked – there isn’t enough air circulation to compensate for the rising temperature. It can happen if you park in the shade – a car in the shade on a balmy 78°F day reaches internal temperatures of over 90°F quickly. In the sun, make it over 160°F. Humidity makes it even worse.

Dogs, whose normal body temperature ranges between 100.5°F to 102.5°F, can withstand only minor increases to their body temperature for extremely short period of time before suffering heatstroke, often resulting in brain damage, or even death.

Leaving your dog in a parked car on even a mildly warm day could result in a terribly high price to pay for a quick shopping trip.

Leave Duke safely at home.

HOW YOU CAN RESPOND TO DANGER

Signs of heatstroke to watch for include the following: rapid panting; wide eyes; excessive drooling; trouble breathing; anxious expression; increased heart rate; thick saliva; bright red tongue or dark tongue; refusal to obey commands; staring; warm, dry skin; high fever; vomiting; staggering or lack of coordination; restlessness; excessive thirst; lethargy; lack of appetite; collapse or loss of consciousness; and seizure.

What to do if tragedy does strike: call 911 immediately as well as a veterinarian—heatstroke is a medical emergency. Follow the veterinarian’s specific directions.

While you wait for help, address the situation first:

* Get animal out of an overheated car immediately and in to the shade
* Apply towels soaked in cool water to the hairless areas of the animal’s body to lower the temperature, including the head, neck, and chest area, or hold icepacks to these areas.
* If necessary, immerse the dog in lukewarm (not cold) water.
* Offer water for the dog to drink
* Keep the dog calm while you go to the veterinarian, where medication can be given to prevent or reverse brain damage, further cooling techniques can be undertaken, and intravenous fluids administered.

What can you do to avoid this tragedy?

* Be a true animal guardian—never, ever leave your animal companions in the car. If they can’t come with you, leave them at home where they will have shade, food, water, and air circulation.
* Don’t leave your animals in cages in the sun, chained, or in an outdoor run without sufficient shade, air circulation, or fresh water (*water should always be provided in bowls that cannot be tipped over).
* Ask your veterinarian if your dog could use a summer haircut.
* If you see a dog left alone in a car, get the car’s make, model, color, and license plate, and ask the nearest store to page the animal’s guardian, or call the local humane society, police, or mall security. These authorities can do whatever it takes to get the dog out of the car.
* Help others understand these dangers in any way you can. United Animal Nations’ My Dog is Cool Campaign is designed for this purpose and can supply flyers, posters, and other outreach material with such slogans as “Don’t leave me in here—it’s hot!”
* Go to MyDogisCool.com’s Web site to determine how hot a car gets at various ambient temperatures, and to get an instant current temperature reading for any location.
* Go to In Defense of Animal’s Web site’s Guardian Campaign page, to learn more about ways you can help change people’s thinking about their companion animals by replacing the term “owner” with the term “guardian” when referring to the animals with whom we share our lives.

This blog was contributed by guest blogger and IDA Staffer E.Read Adams.

Like the sublime Gunga Din giving water and sustenance to the wounded on the front lines, IDA, through our India program, with its own evangelical fervor, is offering fresh water to stray animals on the streets of Mumbai. Vulnerable to chemical-laden water from the gutters—water said to be pink one day, orange the next until turning black from the waste of nearby chemical factories—wandering animals under the watchful idea of IDA-India can now find cement water bowls all over the city, attached to the ground to thwart would-be thieves, brimming with safe and deliciously fresh water every day. Sarita & Sharmee’s Water Bowls Project is named for IDA-India’s Sarita Raturi, who created the life-saving plan, and Sharmee Bhatt, a volunteer who is helping to making it happen. With 120 bowls already installed in various parts of the great metropolis, citizens are signing up as overseers of the bowls to ensure that they are kept filled on a daily basis. The S & S Water Bowls Project is a huge hit, with many more of these substantial bowls to be in place in the coming weeks. The large city of Navi Mumbai recently placed 25 bowls with hundreds on the way. IDA-India is hopeful that the plan spreads far and wide, beckoning all the pilgrims of other species in need of fresh water, a necessary tonic and source of great nourishment.

On November of 2006, Project Hope’s Doll and Jeff were investigating reports of neglect of a Calhoun County horse. While investigating the complaint of the neglected horses, they stumbled across a couple of puppies on the property as well. One was thin and nearly hairless from mange and the other appeared to have already succumbed to starvation, but upon closer inspection was still alive. He also suffered from mange and had an injury to his right front wrist area that looked like a bite wound. An injury he still carries with him to this day.

Midnight lived at Project Hope for more than 3 years. He’s been treasured by staff and volunteers and his jovial personality and sweet demeanor has won the hearts of every dog he’s lived with over the years.

Last Tuesday, March 9th, Doll drove Midnight to New Orleans for his flight to Chicago where his new guardian whisked him home to meet his new family. Kathy and her 3 sons and 3 dogs adopted Midnight. Kathy, a friend and once roommate, of our IDA’s Connie Newhall, learned of our sanctuary through Connie and decided she was ready to adopt another dog. She likes her all male dog family and when she asked about adopting one of our dogs, Midnight came right to mind. Midnight loves boy dogs – he loves the camaraderie. Midnight’s trademark is how he walks us around his enclosure with one of our hands gently in his mouth.

We will miss our Midnight, but will always be thankful for knowing him and never giving up hope that he’d one day have his own family.

Debbie Young, one of IDA’s first responders during Hurricane Katrina, was in the Jackson, MS Petsmart volunteering at an adoption drive when a young girl came in with a puppy that was way too young to be away from her mother. The puppy didn’t have any teeth and was estimated to be under four weeks old. The dog’s guardian said she was told by the breeder she bought the dog from to buy the dog solid food, which the dog clearly wouldn’t be able to eat. Debbie instructed the girl on the proper feeding for a puppy of this age.

Unfortunately this situation is not unusual. Backyard breeders set up shop all over Mississippi along well-traveled roads. In Jackson, there are several breeders who’ve set up shop in parking lots along the edge of County Line Road – one of the most heavily traveled roads in Jackson. None of these breeders are required to have a business license or permit. The businesses along the road, whose parking lots these breeders use, have complained about this for years. Amazingly, a local church recently wanted to hold a fundraising yard sale in a parking lot along County Line Road, the same parking lot some of these breeders use, and was denied a permit by the city.

Debbie has been battling these breeders for years and in this instance contacted Doll at Project Hope the local NBC affiliate, WLBT, for help. Doll and WLBT confronted the breeders – please see the newsclip below. Fed up with what seems to be preferential treatment these breeders receive, Debbie and Doll are working on a local ordinance that.

On Thursday, January 14, Best Friends contacted Project Hope to ask for help for a woman in Lexington, MS. The woman reported that she had about 30 dogs that she could no longer feed or care for. Project Hope’s Director, Doll contacted a vet friend, Dr. Roberts, who has helped Project Hope on many occasions. Dr. Roberts knew the woman, who we’ll call Linda, and Friday, he and Doll went to assess the needs of the dogs.

Linda and her dogs live in a house which is missing the entire north side, exposing every room in the house to the elements. The house is so dilapidated that Linda spends all her time on the porch wrapped in blankets to shield herself from the cold and rain. Considering the state of things, the dogs, all terriers and terrier mixes, were in relative good health.

With the direness of the situation Doll decided they had to begin moving the dogs. Since Project Hope was at capacity, the dogs would have to be boarded. Dr. Roberts and Doll loaded up 19 dogs on that initial trip. Doll made a second trip to Linda’s a few days later – this time removing 10 puppies and 7 adults. The Cleveland/Bolivar County Animal Shelter stepped up to take these dogs. They were already planning a transport and the rescue group they were working with offered to take this group of dogs.

On Thursday, February 4, Doll went back to remove the dogs that remained. The dogs previously removed had all been spayed/neutered and this group would be spayed/neutered the next morning by Mississippi Spay And Neuter (MS SPAN) using their “Big Fix” mobile clinic. MS SPAN is an organization that provides low-cost spay/neuter across the state.

This bring us up to today, where Chele and Doll are doing a transport to Every Creature Counts (ECC) in Denver. ECC has generously offered to take the remaining dogs from this case. Doll and Chele left Project Hope for Denver earlier today with a whooping 76 animals, including 68 dogs and 8 cats.

Gigi and Family

Mike Massucco and Trese Biagini are drawn to the abused, scarred, ill, and old—a mosaic of the not loved enough. Outcasts all. The tan and white Pit Bull puppy with the white blaze on her forehead and stockings on her short front legs was found walking along a highway and didn’t fit the usual bill. With her good looks, coquettish smile, and her tail-wagging, fervor-for-life character, Gigi was nearly perfect.

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