# Stuck between a rock & a hard place



## Marty (Oct 9, 2006)

Just had a meeting with the new sheriff here at the barn in regards to animal abuse situations.

Things don't look good.

The county commission still refuses to pass any ordinances for any type of Animal abuse or Animal Control or Humane Organization to come into this county so there remains no laws in regards to animal atrocities. It's because this is a poor county and there have been many budget cuts already so animals are no where on the agenda.

I know of 6 dogs that need to be rescued quickly and 3 big horses and 2 mules. The sheriff knows of some 40 dogs in a mill situation that need to be rescued too, but his hands are tied. There are cock fightings and dog fightings going on and not a thing anyone can do about it legally. There is also a matter of where to put them, feed them, and how to pay for it. Nobody will foster impounded animals privately for fear of reprisal where everyone knows everyone. Even if there were a facility, it would have to be approved by State guidelines which would be a joke and he said it would have 100 dogs on the first day it opened. The sheriff himself has 3 rescued horses at his house that were surrendered and no funding for them to be taken care of so it's all out of his pocket. He is a good man.

The sheriff has gone to a few neighboring counties with facilities and organizations in place to ask for their help in housing animals that he would like to see impounded and has been turned down because they are all over loaded too with their own problems.

He told me he is open to any ideas he can get for some outside intervention because his hands are tied and he really wants some guidence in this matter.


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## Wee Mite Miniatures (Oct 9, 2006)

Marty,

I am not sure if this will be of help or not.

Animal Shelter Inc.

17 Laurelwood Road

Sterling, MA 01564

phone (978)422-8585

fax (978)422-8574

This is where I got my dog. It is a no kill shelter.

It is a shelter near me. They have some kind of an arrangement with a shelter in Puerto Rico and another one in Virginia.

This shelter may be able to give you help in finding another shelter to set up the same kind of arrangement with. They get dogs from both places and they are adopted out fast. The adoption fee is a few hundred dollars and all dogs are neutered and have all their shots before adoption. Who knows maybe they can handle more dogs.

I think part of your problem is that there are too many dogs and not enough adoption homes in your area. In our state the leash laws are so strick we have had a hugh drop in unwanted dogs. You used to have lists of mutts in the paper but now it is hard to find them. You need to find a place where there are not enough dogs to fill the need.

I tried to link their site to here but it seems to be down.

http://www.sterlinganimalshelter.com/hounds.htm

here is a link about the hound adoption.


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## OhHorsePee (Oct 9, 2006)

Marty here is the link to Tennessee's humane society www.humanesocietytennessee.com . Tennessee does have laws against abuse and neglect. The problem is that the state/government makes the laws and it is up to the counties to enforce them. You just have to raise a lot of dust! Here is also a link to animal shelters in Tennessee http://www.mypetnanny.info/US/tennessee.ht...imal%20Shelters .

Good luck.

Fran


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## Marty (Oct 10, 2006)

Yes Fran the STATE has laws but the county can't enforce them. They'd have to go up against the Grand Jury here which only convenes a few times a year, get bonded right out, and then again, the animals would not be rescued for months and if they were, where would the animals go? It's the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Remember, it took over 6 weeks for the Grand Jury to convene before a murderer was even arrested. So much for the system.


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## mountain_waif (Oct 11, 2006)

....


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## Marty (Oct 11, 2006)

There's people that will take in some dogs from time to time but they are few and far inbetween and get over run and just quit. I know one lady right now that has 52 dogs in her back yard. What a mess she has on her hands and no help in sight. The boys and I picked up strays right here on the mountain roads in our area when we see one and boy they are very hard to re-home. Impossible actually. Dan and I are still accepting kitties as we always did and those kitties we pick up just end up having a forever home with us here. But we are just a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.

We're not giving up though.


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## HGFarm (Nov 3, 2006)

My X sister in law lives in Tennessee and created her own 'dog pound' in her area. She has been so overwhelmed that she is having to quit. People dump dogs there all the time and really dont seem to care that they continue making puppies heat cycle after heat cycle.

I know she has had trouble even finding vets to do the spaying and neutering for a reasonable fee. What is wrong with all these people??!!


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## Steph_D (Nov 9, 2006)

We have the same problem here in SW Missouri. No local shelter, sheriff's office won't do anything, and it took a lady nearly being dragged out of her car by a dog just to get an animal control officer hired for a few hours a week. The vets here charge $100 just to neuter a chihuahua (sp?) and the only lower cost place has a 2 month waiting list. Dogs and cats are all over the place, having babies and spreading mange and other diseases. There's even a starving horse not too far from here. Police have been called, but no one's come to the rescue :no:


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