Puppies, puppies and more puppies!!

Anyone who knows us, knows that here on the ranch it's me and my wonderful husband...along with our beloved furbabies. Our entire family... animal lovers... always have been.. My husband, a police officer, spent many years as a K9 officer, and after his "partners" retired, became permanent fixtures in the home until they crossed to the rainbow bridge. Always grateful for not just their service to the community, their loyalty to their partner (the hubby), their dedication to their training, ..but also for their love and protection to their family. You can tell a lot about how a person by how they treat their pets..how big their heart is, their personality and how they treat other people. So 99% of our friends, share our love and views of animals.

I am angry this morning. I am angry at some people I have never met, but lived not far from us. And in case you don't know the story (it was on the news), these people who lived down the road from us a couple years ago..appeared to be, on the outside, animal people. After all..they had at LEAST 16 dogs! And when these people up and disappeared (over night) and left their (rented) home in a shambles (we found out later this is how they preferred to live)..not only did they leave a mess for their landlord, but they left all the dogs behind!! I knew the dogs were there when they lived there, only because I'd have to drive down that road once or twice (it kind of wrapped around the far side of our property) when one of the cats would wander off and I'd go searching. (yes, at the time we found the wandering cat thank goodness). It wasn't until then that I saw their dogs again and could see they were wild and severely thin from hunger. Unfortunately I found out at that time, that there's no humane society or animal control or ANYTHING OR ANYONE to call about it in our county! And then one day...we woke to hear the story of these animals on the local news. The tenants had disappeared, and left behind all those dogs. No care, no food, no water..only what they could hunt and find to eat on their own. The really sad part (as if starving animals isn't sad enough), the poor starving abused animals sat...they sat, day after day, night after night, WAITING. Waiting for their owners to return for them..but return they did not. It was then that us, along with a couple other neighbors (whom we'd never seen or met) took turns dropping off huge bags of dog food and left it there for them so they wouldn't starve to death. Along with the big dogs, there were puppies galore. We personally found a few when we went over..cold and dead..and with tears, we burried them.

These dogs were wild..wild enough not to chance coming anywhere near a humane being. At least not us or the neighbors. How sad and scared they must be. But dogs are smart you know..and eventually, they figure out who is feeding them. And tho we always took the food to them..they found their way to our property..and decided to stay. According to the newscast, someone..not sure who since like I said, there's no HS or AC in this county..but they said someone had caught some of the puppies and one or two of the adults. But obviously, their owners had never heard of spay or neutering! So, as time passed, there were more puppies and more puppies. I personally sent an email a while back to one of the anchors of the news, asking what the progress was on the owners..since their original newscast said when the owners were located, they'd be charged with abandonment and abuse of these animals..I wanted to know what they'd found out..only to be told that nothing had been found out and unfortunately, they couldn't charge these people with anything now. WHY? WHAT CHANGED?

Which brings me to the two females that have stayed. Well, there was two...one just disappeared and never returned), but the one that is here, has had her second litter of puppies (in December..and that's the second litter since being on our property..she's had many other litters before us!). Last year, when both females were here, both had a litter of puppies at the same time, under my husband's work bench in his shed, and as the saying goes...There were two..and then there were TWENTY! Two large litters! We fed them and cared for them and found those puppies homes. Now you might ask..why don't you get the female fixed! Well..the answer is..we would..IF WE COULD CATCH HER! She won't come close..she sits way out and waits for us to put out food, and only when we leave to go in the house, will she eat. We've tried everything to win her trust..nothing works. How sad. And on December 8th..she had a litter of puppies..AGAIN...and now there are six! And THEN..to make matters worse..we're assuming her milk dried up and she couldn't care for them..so we have ended up bottle feeding these puppies...and now, they are eating puppy food! We bring them in when it's cold, and during the day when it's nice..they are on our deck with a dog house filled with straw, topped by a warm old quilt and their toys.

Why?...you ask am I writing this LONG post about these dogs? Well..it's simple. As I said..I'm angry at these people, because when they fled their home down the road..our lives changed forever! We've done all we can for these dogs and we do our best. (Did I mention we have 5 dogs and 3 cats of our own (all rescues) before this situation even occured?). But now..due to my health, and my husband having to work..it's getting to be too much for me. We have found a home for one puppy, but we will have to find homes for the others..soon..very soon. But where do you go? Who do you call? When the county you live in has no animal programs like animal control or humain society? I'm angry because a month or so ago, when they reported the animals they found in the home of the woman who supposedly tried to rob the bank, it was a huge thing..the neighboring county human society, rushed in to help..and it's my belief they did so because all the dogs in that home were "DESIGNER" dogs!! Cute little known breed dogs..tiny pocket pups..you get the idea! They were adopted pronto! Now I ask..where was this same assistance when it came to these wild mixed breed dogs? Why do the designer dogs get help and not the muts? ((heavy sigh)))

So..to end this lengthly post..I'll say this...animals, dispite their owners at times..are wonderful..they give unconditional love, and how someone can mistreat or abuse them, is beyond me. If I could find those renters who left those 16 dogs, I've often thought I'd pack up all those puppies and say here ya go! You started this..they're your responsibility. But then I come to my senses..how could I allow such irresponsible people do the same thing to these precious puppies..not to mention the neighbors where they are living now?

Many times in my life...I've prefered the company of my pets to a lot of people! And I don't know those people who left these dogs....I wouldn't know them if I met them in my soup!..but I can tell you this..I'm glad I don't...because in my opinion (and I'm allowed to have one!!!) they are selfish and irresponsible and shouldn't be allowed to own a pet of any kind!!!

Am I angry..DEFINATELY! Am I asking for help with these puppies? YOU BET!!! Will we be like those people and drop them out somewhere or let them starve? NEVER!!! And on that note, I'll end here. Because the puppies are finished eating and pooping and I must go hose it off the deck before I bring them in to play for a bit and then put them back in the gated off spot between our two spare bedrooms where I've put down a big old blanket, warm out of the dryer, their toys and lots of newspaper! And then it's off to feed our 5 babies and let them out to do their business...only to start all over again in a few hours!

And the beat goes on.....
Miss Mossy!