Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Story of Horror, Remembrance and Hope

Last month, on July 8, Fort Worth Animal Care and; Control seized 28 dogs from a Fort Worth home. One of the dogs was a Saluki, the others were Greyhounds or Greyhound Mixes. Their condition was described as “appalling and shocking” by a GALT representative. Some of the dogs weighed as little as 35 pounds. The heaviest weighed in at 51 pounds! Greyhounds and Salukis are LARGE BREED DOGS! For the sake of comparison, our own Retired Racer, Buddy, weighs in at around 75 pounds. These precious dogs were covered in fleas and ticks. It was said that one dog had abound 1,500 ticks on his body. Yes that is Fifteen Hundred! Most, if not all, have tick born diseases, intestinal parasites and are anemic. Most of the dogs have pressure sores, some that have become infected. To make matters worse, later in the week another dog was discovered who was sick and emaciated as well.

Thankfully, 7 wonderful rescue groups stepped up to foster these suffering dogs:

Greyhound Adoption League of Texas took 10 dogs.

Greyhounds Unlimited took 8 dogs.

Texas Italian Greyhound Rescue took in 6.

All Breed Rescue of Texas took in 2.

Collin County Humane Society took 1 dog.

Salukie Tree of Life Alliance took 1 dogs

It’s a Grey Area took 1 dog.

These groups are absorbing vet bills that could range in the thousands of dollars for EACH DOG! It is going to take most of these dogs up to 4-6 months to recover and be ready for adoption.

Sadly, not all of the dogs have made it. At the time of this post at least four of the sweet babies have passed away. GALT will be having a memorial service on Sunday for those who have passed.

I can not understand how any human can sit by and watch any creature suffer in any manner. Thankfully, the human that was responsible for all of this suffering will be held accountable.

Tears flow as I write this. I look at my precious Buddy and I can not imagine him emaciated, covered in pressure sores and ticks. My heart breaks at how much these poor babies had to suffer, but thankfully there is hope. These sweet babies will have a second chance thanks to these rescue groups who are giving their time, money, homes and hearts to these dogs. Never again will any of these dogs want for a home, food, a soft place to lay or someone to love them. Their lives will only get better from this day on.

For more information and videos click here.
For more information about the dogs who did not survive and the memorial service being held on Sunday click here.

Below are just a few pictures. In the fourth picture you will see some tube sticking out from the poor dog. Those are to drain puss from where the tick and flea infestation has been so bad. The 2nd and 3rd pictrues are NOT of a dead dog even though that is what it may look like.


Tiny Giraffe Kisses To Everyone and Everydog!

4 comments:

  1. How can anyone do that to a poor dog....

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  2. OHMYGAWD, the picture of the skeleton of that big grey which I hope was still alive, just horrified me. I had a large grey years ago and she was smart, sweet and easy to live with. How anyone can neglect their animals is something I just can not understand.

    Patricia Kelly
    Editor: IG Times Magazine

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  3. Patricia - Thankfully the “skeleton dog” was alive and is recovering well in a wonderful foster home. His name is Landry and he recently had surgery to remove numerous warts from inside and around his mouth. He is gaining weight and healing. He is a calm and sweet boy who is patient with small dogs and children in the home. I think we might actually have at least one happy ending to this horror story.

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  4. Oh my goodness! That is just horrible. One of my dogs came from the RSPCA. She was born on a farm and they wanted her as a working dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback x Kelpie) but she was lazy and would try and play with the cattle. I am so glad they took her there, rather than shoot her which apparently a lot of farmers do. I couldn't imagine how someone can let the dogs get to the point you've described. Penalties for people who harm animals shoud be identical to what you get for hamring/killing people.

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