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Get
your
Chain Off 2007 Attire!
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This is the 3rd "Diary of a Woman Chained" by Tammy Grimes, founder of Dogs Deserve Better, in which she details a timeline of her chaining June 30-July 1, 2007. This year she was chained in Atlanta with 14 other people, so even though the diary is from her point of view, she includes the photos of her friends and DDB supporters and talks about her interactions with the other volunteers and chainees.
Tammy Grimes, founder of Dogs Deserve Better I can't relay my excitement to have so many people standing with me this year. 108 in 36 states? How awesome are you! I called my mom and best friend so elated to share how many of you are standing with me, I am full of joy and so proud of your decision. My favorite movie right now is "Iron Jawed Angels". The suffragists under Alice Paul decide that they will stand in front of the White House every day, come rain, shine or snow, until they get a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. One reporter writes "Leave it to women to come up with something at once so petty and yet so monstrous." They subsequently go through hell, are arrested and jailed, but in the end they come out on top because they DO NOT GIVE UP. That is how I feel about Dogs Deserve Better and our Chain Off! We are sentinels for the chained dogs. We are standing, or chaining, for them. We take their place, if only for one day. We do not give up, and we will not back down until they receive the freedom they deserve. Thank you, to all of you who made this moment possible for me, for DDB. Below is my log of events for this year's chain off. It always seems more interesting to me to share it this way, I hope you get something out of it, if only a sense that we are determined and we inspire you to join us next year! Tammy
Brynnan
Grimes, Pennsylvania June 27th. My eight-year-old daughter, Brynnan, decides for good, after days of waffling, that she is going to Atlanta with me. I don't know whether to be happy or sad...She can be a handful, and I know I will need my wits about me the whole time. This also marks the 4th year I've missed my son Rayne's birthday, (July 1st), and he's decided I'm in big trouble this year. When I return I am taking him on a special mother/son trip for two days to make it up to him, but I've also had to vow to work around that date for next year. We discuss last-minute details with Susan Hartland, our event coordinator and DDB Washington State rep. She gets a special thanks for all her hard work making it happen! She pulled people together on both coasts and brought the best out in everyone. She got the job done. I also touch base with Monica Schreiber, the best volunteer PR person you could ever imagine, who single-handedly gets most of the media for this event. I don't get time to do nearly as much as I'd hoped for, many of our volunteer chainees are helping out by contacting their local media themselves. Kris Taylor, the DDB rep coordinator lends Monica a hand too as we get down to the wire.
Gordon
Bakalar, Pennsylvania June 28th, Thursday, 6:30 a.m. I'm up, planning to leave for the drive to Atlanta at 8:00 a.m., so I want to get showered and finish packing, feed the menagerie, etc. Gordon Bakalar, another volunteer who is driving with us to Atlanta to be chained, shows up 1.5 hours early as some men are wont to do. He's been so kind as to bring us donated dog food, cleaning supplies, and blankets for the dogs, which we appreciate! Dennis McElwain, a friend and local volunteer, comes to help unload and figure out where to put everything. I panic a bit for some reason, knowing Gordon is out there waiting for us, I guess, and pack as hurriedly as I can, forgetting to put a 'woman's best friend' in my suitcase. No, it's not a dog, but instead my toiletries bag! I am discombobulated the entire rest of the trip, never having what I need when I need it...at a time that I wanted to look good, professional, pulled together...no makeup, no face cream, no deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, jewelry...the list goes on. I did repurchase some 'necessities', but even ended up borrowing deodorant from Dawn, having forgot to put that on the list of 'important must-haves'. I had warned Gordon well in advance that if he wants to ride down with me, he'd better be prepared to stop a lot, since I drink a lot of iced tea, and you can imagine what else that means. I thought he'd be freaked out by seeing an eight-year-old suddenly appear as a passenger, but he takes it in stride, and off we go. Gordon is one of those guys who you never know whether to take seriously or not...at one point during the trip he is talking on the phone to someone, I don't know who, and they must ask him where he's going. He says "I'm going to Atlanta to be chained up like a do-o-g" (dragging his word out like and making it like a 'o' sound the way PA people do.) The person must say "What?" and He says again with emphasis, "I'm going to Atlanta to be chained up like a do-o-g." I crack up laughing the whole time he's saying it, it sounds so funny coming from him. He hangs up and I ask him if the person believed him. He says he doesn't think so.
One
of Gordon's videos...you can see what I mean by the 9:30, p.m. We finally make it to the hotel in Atlanta in the pouring rain (apparently we brought the rain with us), which is very pricey for the value, they make you drive all the way past the empty parking places to the top floor of the parking garage to park...isn't that special? We know we can't get the U-Haul we rented into the garage, and so we resolve to move out of town to a Motel 6 Gordon found the next morning.
Dawn
Ashby, Illinois, DDB Public Liaison Coordinator June 29, Friday, 9:00 a.m. We meet with Dawn Ashby, DDB Public Liaison Coordinator, and Gordon, then we drive to the new hotel and get situated. Much cheaper and less stressful, more room to breathe! I'm really not a city girl, and feel much better out in the country, although the company out there often leaves much to be desired, if you know what I mean. My plan is to pick up the U-Haul and then drive around to get more doghouses, since our numbers keep growing (which I'm not complaining about!) and we need more doghouses. We have a breakfast planning meeting at Denny's, where I figure it will be a piece of cake to just go around asking people for old doghouses that are in their yards. I am dead wrong.
Pam Cheatham gets the booths in order (tan shorts) 11:00 p.m. We drive to Pam Cheatham's house, our DDB rep in Conyer's, GA who has kindly handled many of the details for Atlanta. She and Gordon go to get the U-Haul (Gordon was a truck driver before retiring!), while Dawn and I handle cleaning the doghouses. I think I actually like them better dirty, better effect.
2:00 p.m. We caravan to Piedmont Park to look it over, where we're told we can't drive down to the dogpark when we unload the next morning. We know other events do it, and so will we. No event can hand-carry their materials all the way down there, and we're certainly not lugging doghouses that far. We're disappointed by our spot in the park because it is so 'tucked away', down below where all the action is; unless someone is bound and determined to find us, they will not happen upon us readily. But at least we're right beside the dog park, and so many dog lovers will see us and may be inspired to take action as well. 3:00 p.m. Pam is going to a friends house to pick up another doghouse, so we tell her we'll just drive around ourselves to find more. I also need to find some flags for our doghouses, sunscreen, and bug spray. It all seems like it will be a piece of cake, but we drive for hours without finding a thing. Not knowing Atlanta at all, we continue to circle aimlessly somehow caught in the wealthier sections of town, amongst homes advertised for $700,000 or more! I know we won't find a doghouse here, and not only that, but we can't find a Wal-Mart, Target, or any other big variety stores. We finally happen upon a K-Mart, but they don't have the flags I want either; I do get the bug spray and sunscreen.
The flag draped over Tammy's doghouse. The house is from Pam's first rescue, and is supposed to be over 25 years old. It looks it! 7:45 p.m. We try to get back to an Ace Hardware we saw earlier with a barrel full of flags outside, but we're too late; it closes at 7:30, and doesn't open until 8:30 the next morning. My level of frustration is so great, and Brynnan's whining to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool has me so crazy that we just go back to the hotel. Dawn, much more patient than I, takes Brynnan swimming for me, while I go back out on my own to where I think a Wal-Mart is supposed to be. I'm wrong again. I do find one abandoned doghouse, but knocks on the door elicit no response. 10:00 p.m. I go back to the hotel, totally deflated, defeated. I am so thankful that Pam got as many houses lined up as she has, because we will just have to make do the best we can. Without her we would have had not one single doghouse for the event! I find it too ethically repulsive to buy doghouses for ANY reason, so even though it was mentioned to me that we just buy them, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not that we would have found a store selling them anyway... June 30, 7:00 a.m. C-Day! The "Day of Chaining" dawns hot and humid, but at least it's not raining. Dawn and I go back to the house where I saw the abandoned doghouse and knock again. There's another car now so I know someone is there, but still no one answers the door even though the kitchen light is on. We realize the house is probably too big to fit in the van anyway, so we fail once again. Gordon takes the U-Haul to the park, and Dawn, Brynnan and I get ready, grab breakfast, donuts to take to the event, and wait for the hardware store to open.
Tammy
and Brynnan are watching 'something', I had decided to go with the skirt and shirt idea again this year, and am embarrassed to admit they end up being the same ones I wore three years ago (only a little tighter)! I bought a new shirt and shoes, but the shirt showed water droplets right away, and I knew it would be wringing with sweat in no time, so I end up using the same white standby from the first year. I really wish I could find more shirts just like that thing, it's so awesome! No matter how long I wear it it looks fresh and unwrinkled....but is truly showing the ravages of time now.
Chamblee
Abernethy 'womaning' her booth. Chamblee, Alicia, and Pam were
our 'guardians' for the day, not an easy job with 15 whining 'dogs'! 9:00 a.m. We arrive at Piedmont Park, and others have already gotten a large part of the doghouses set up. I do some set-up and overseeing before we are scheduled to chain ourselves at 11:00 a.m. A few people chained early, and so I interview them with our new camera donated by supporter Jill Richards (thank you Jill, the camera works fabulously.) Photographer Jan Fields is already there and set up. She's supposed to do doggie portraits, but ends up taking photos of the event instead, which we're very grateful for.
Brynnan is determined to stick it out! My daughter, Brynnan, is determined to be chained as well. I have mixed feelings about it, because even though I feel she is old enough to make this kind of decision for herself, others might say I'm just awful for letting her. If that's the only reason she can't do it, because I'm afraid of what 'they' will say, it's not an acceptably good reason and I know it. She is strong-willed, and I relent, saying she can get off the chain whenever she wants to. I tell her she probably will only last 15 minutes, but that will be ok.
Once again, I'm wrong, and she stays on her chain just as long as I do! She makes her chain about 50 feet long by adding every spare chain she gets her hands on, so she can come and sit on my lap whenever she wants to, and go 'visit' her neighbors, but she sticks with it. She really makes me proud, and I want the world to know how amazing she is for sticking with something that is so UNfun and for standing with me in support of the dogs. It means a lot.
Rhonda
Sims, South Carolina 11:00 a.m. Commence Chaining! It's our 'official' moment of chaining, and most of our volunteers are already in place. A few straggle in later, but we end up with 15 people chained in Atlanta on Saturday, not too shabby at all. The AP photographer (who, once again I forget to get his card so I can actually remember his name and have his contact info for future reference) walks around taking photos, telling us not to 'pose' but just to act natural and pretend he's not there. I try of course, but it's a bit of an odd request when you're already chained to a doghouse. Not much natural in that!
Views from the bridge, above
(I later don't see the photos anywhere, but I know they run in at least one location, because we get a complaint from someone in South Carolina saying that my flag is touching the ground, and therefore I am "ruining the whole cause". It is true that when I was sitting on the ground the flag was sometimes laying across my lap and the bottom part draped off my legs and touched the ground, mea culpa...I wasn't laying on it or sitting or it or BURNING IT...the e-mail was from a man, I'm sure that goes without saying.)
12:00 noon. We have three booths, but not many people are flocking to us. Three great volunteers, Pam Cheatham, Alicia Schwartz, Columbus GA rep (who grabs everyone walking by and engages them in conversation, giving them all brochures. We watch her in amazement), and Chamblee Abernethy "woman" the booths and take care of 'the chained dogs'. Much thanks to them all! Pam got us food, no easy task, Chamblee gives out water, and she takes the camera around for me and snaps most of the photos and video you see on this page, as well as making sales at our merchandise tent and taking calls on her cell all the while about finding good homes for puppies she was fostering.
Tammy
with Kelly Hamilton, Kentucky 1:00 p.m. - 7 p.m. The next hours go by in a blur. I'm sitting next to Kelly Hamilton from Kentucky, and we really have a chance to get to know each other. She's awesome fun! And her boyfriend Matt is too. We're laughing because at one point Gordon and Dawn are working on installing an umbrella for him (or maybe it is for her), and both Kelly and I raptly watch every second of it. When you're living on a chain, there's nothing to do but observe your surroundings...we don't even realize that's what we're doing until I point it out! I remember in last year's contest, where the chainees lived as long as 13 days chained to a doghouse, they were so eager for companionship that if we came near them they would all but grab us and tackle us to get some attention. And if one contestant was doing something around his/her area, they all watched intently and then wrote about it in their journals later. I feel the same way about Kelly and I watching Dawn and Gordon. At that moment that single event is our world. And people wonder why chained dogs jump on them and annoy them when they come to feed them each day?
Sandee
Glozier and Nancy Green, Georgia I eschew the blankets that many of the others have (until day 2, when you can see me sneaking onto Brynnan's blanket), so that I can 'rough' it by sitting on the ground in my skirt, pantyhose, heels. I like to be as authentic to the experience as I possibly can. How miserable am I! It is the hottest I've ever felt in my life, and for such an extended period of time. Even under the umbrella, which is where I stay all day, I am downright despondent, out of it like I'm drugged. It seems surreal. I realize it's all about surviving the time. Just surviving. I see a parallel to the chained dogs I'm not sure I noticed in past years, that feeling that I just have to survive this moment, and the next. There seems nothing left but existence. No higher purpose. I would imagine prisoners feel that way too. (Maybe I'll soon find out....) Time seems to fly and yet just sits there, suspended. I know that I only have to survive 29 hours in the heat, but a dog has no idea how long he/she has to survive. I guess the drive to stay alive must kick in.
An
inspiring Mother/Daughter Team! The ants crawl into the wonderful cookies Linda Conley brings me, so I only get to eat one of them. She also brings me yellow flowers, which I am touched by. The ants could care less about the flowers, so they are all mine. Chained dogs share food with the ants too, I know, but they probably aren't as finicky about it as I am. I toss the cookies and the rest of the donuts into the weeds for the ants to have all to themselves. Ironically the next day some of the donuts seem to remain untouched.
Watch
Brynnan's analysis of dog chaining, it's adorable! Brynnan is just doing Brynnan things, she's in and out with me. I really don't know what she does the whole time, maybe she's just in some weird survival mode too. Sometimes she wants to sit on my lap, but it's so hot I can hardly stand it when she wants to do that. It's like the puppy crawling all over the mamma dog in the hot sun! I snap at her a few times too, I'm a cranky mamma dog. The grass and dirt make me so itchy through the pantyhose, and finally the bugs start biting around 6:00 or so, I think. I cover my legs in bug spray, and so then I have odd white streaks on my pantyhose, which is tres attractiv!
Angie Woods, Atlanta Dog Whisperer, trains us briefly, and I set up an appointment to go by her office on the way out of town Monday to watch her with her pack of dogs. I always talk about Magnum, trying to find the best ways to deal with a fear aggressive boy who I want to protect from himself and what could be a bad decision that would/could get him killed. He's definitely a challenge for me.
Four
office mates join forces for the day on Saturday: Chamblee's photographer friends Doug and Paul (professional photographers) come by and take photos for us as a donation, which I'm excited to get, hoping they got some really cool stuff. Of course, forget to get their cards, so I can't share their contact info with you just yet. Some others (not nearly as many as I'd hoped) come out to find and to support us, and we want to send out a big old thank you to all of you. You know who you are!
Sandy
Lynn, Missouri
8:00 p.m. We wrap it up for the day, a few of the chainees had done 8 hours and then left already, and some more stick it out until 8:00. We are not allowed to overnight in the park, so we have to pack up all the booths and doghouses, and drive to Pam's in Conyers to overnight in her field, about 1/2 hour away. We arrive there about 9:00 p.m., and learn we've made a mistake in putting the doghouses in the truck first...we'd have to unload everything to get to them.
Sandy chains herself to the pole in Pam's field We decide as a group to forego the doghouses and just all chain ourselves to the poles of the tarp Pam has provided in case it rains. Pam grills us fake hot dogs for the vegetarians and some of us have a drink or two, which we decide we deserve after surviving all day in the heat! Not everyone, Gordon and Brynnan to name two...
11:00 p.m. Brynnan is already out by this time, and I am very sleepy as well, so I drift off to sleep while the others are still talking. I wake off and on through the night, wondering on occasion if I'll be unlucky enough to see the snake Pam has earlier described. A toad does crawl across my face, and I hope vainly that it's just Brynnan's arm, but I'm not that lucky. Since he crawls over my lips, he was technically kissed by me, but alas does not materialize into a handsome prince. 6:00 a.m. As it gets lighter a cock starts to crow, and crow, and crow. I remember that when it was still dark and I was in and out of sleep there was some animal, perhaps another bird, that called and called over and over again. It was a sound I didn't recognize, and I wonder what it could have been. We all gradually wake up and go in to use the bathroom. Pam feeds us fruit and bagels, Brynnan tells us all to get back on our chains, and we start the trip back to the park, a bit worse for wear by this point. I cheat and change my pantyhose before leaving, just can't take it anymore! But I am more rugged than most in that I don't brush my teeth or otherwise freshen up at all. Doesn't that sound attractive?
9:00 a.m. We're back at Piedmont Park, setting up differently today, in order to be able to interact more with the people walking to the dog park. We line the walkway this time, and it works out much better. We also group the table tents together more closely, so people are able to more easily move from one to the other. I jokingly separate Nancy Green and Sandee Glozier today, because they kept getting off their chains and interacting on Saturday. So Nancy is at one end, and Sandee is by me at the end closer to the dog park. She's a real character, and we have a lot of good laughs together. I see Nancy off her chain talking to Gordon, but Sandee was on hers the whole time, afraid to be yelled at by 'mom' I guess!
Alicia has a pit/boxer mix named GiGi with her that she's rescued just three days earlier from a chain. Her fur is missing in many places, and her ears are bloody from fly strike. She talks to passersby about her condition, and it really illustrates what a chained dog goes through, helps them understand why we have to stand against this antiquated practice. A wonderful man, D.F. Wintlend, writes a check to get her completely vetted and more, and we're very grateful to him. 12:00 noon. Brynnan and I go to the bathroom, again. It's a long walk, probably 1/4 mile up a steep hill in the heat, so I really have to think about whether or not I need to go. But then, just getting there and getting back takes up a good 15 minutes, so in some ways it's worth it. Feels like cheating because I get exercise that the chained dogs don't get!
1:00 p.m. Sandee and I are wondering where the hell the TV is. They've said they are coming out to interview us. She calls three stations, and all three say someone is indeed coming out. By 5:00 p.m. we think we've been 'had'. It's pretty frustrating. Today we have two dog trainers, Helen Sutton (770.214.5931) who does Tellington TTouch Training, and Patrick Palughi of Ain't MisBehavin' Dog Training (404.550.3976). I really appreciate them coming out personally, even, and I get good tips from all three trainers to try with the foster dogs.
I speak to a few reporters in the course of the two day period, one example is this mp3 of a conversation with Mike and Beth of Animal Wise Radio from 2:30 on Sunday. 5:30 p.m. We've been on chains now for 30.5 hours, already 1.5 hours over the targeted time of 29 hours. We stayed on chains longer thinking the TV crews would show up, but by now we realize they just aren't coming, and it's a big disappointment. I say let's call it a wrap since we're already over by 1.5 hours. I no sooner say it than a sudden storm blows in, soaking everything we're trying to frantically get put away! One of my art pieces falls over from the wind and breaks, and the mat gets ruined too. Others are wet and in my agony I assume all is ruined, and between the loss of art and the poor ending to the event, I am crying silently as I work with the others to break down the tents and clean up as quickly as we can. I don't want any of them to see me—the 'fearless leader'—crying, so I'm hoping the rain masks the tears. I need to personally thank each of you who work so faithfully in the rain with me. You make me suck it up and keep going, because you do not stop and cry and pity yourself as I want to do. You get in there and do the work that needs to be done, and therefore so do I. Thank you! You inspired me to just do it. 6:30 p.m. We're back at the hotel, and hanging stuff along the fences and sitting it all out to dry. Brynnan and I jump in the pool, and the water feels like a little slice of heaven. Sweet Dawn watches the drying stuff while we swim. Another sudden storm about an hour later threatens our last remaining brochures, but we get them in time to lose only a few more. We have a glass of wine and pizza (and a shower) to celebrate making it through a tough weekend. I cling to the good and try to let the bad wash away as the shower pours down upon me. After all, our willingness to stand in the dogs' 'shoes' is really all that matters in the end. We're here for you guys! We're here for you.
End
Note: I'm overjoyed at the amount of people who followed through on their promise to do it. In Atlanta and Seattle, we had others there with us, the group mentality to lend us some bravado when needed to get it done. Those of you who were out alone and on your own required some extra bravery we could not provide you. You had to pull it from within. I believe there were a few people who backed out at the last moment due to fear, never showing up at the posted location. But so many of you did follow through even though you were afraid. Even though you had to face censure and ridicule from a certain segment of the population. (Not the nice ones!) That took courage, and I am prouder of you all than you will ever know. You forever have my gratitude, and my admiration. Thank you!
Tammy S. Grimes, founder, Dogs Deserve Better Chained,
unhappy, pets turn dangerous Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit working to end the suffering endured by dogs kept chained or penned for life, had more than 100 people in 36 states and Canada chain themselves to doghouses as part of the organization's Chain Off 2007 event. Criticized as "not important, foolish" by some commentators, our campaign turned deadly serious only 12 days later when 5-year-old Tiffany Pauley lost her life to a chained Rottweiler in Atlanta. Atlanta had been the site of the largest Chain Off; 15 people chained themselves to doghouses in Piedmont Park for up to 30 hours June 30-July 1 to bring awareness to the horrible life of chained dogs and the threat that these unhappy animals can pose to children. Tiffany, a child with Down syndrome, had wandered off from her home and was found hours later lying dead under a tree near the Rottweiler in a neighbor's yard. Three chained dogs were removed from the home and two penned dogs remain on the property. We chained ourselves to doghouses to not only advocate for the dogs, but for innocent children such as Tiffany who may wander into their path. As I read the articles about Tiffany, I was enveloped with a staggering sadness at a loss that could have been so easily preventable, if only America understood the dangers in chaining a large breed dog; if only Americans were forced to take responsibility for their "family pets." These dogs, unsocialized, unneutered, unhappy, become the equivalent of a loaded weapon in a neighborhood backyard. I am most disturbed by the quote in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article in which the mother of the dogs' owner said, "Nothing wrong happened here." Nothing wrong happened here? A child just lost her life and no one sees the irresponsibility inherent in leaving a Rottweiler, a shepherd and a pit mix chained in the backyard where any child can easily gain access to them. Lawmakers must wake up to the dangers that come with chaining a dog, as it becomes more and more apparent that people who chain their dogs will not. Last year, California became the first state to pass a statewide law specifically limiting the amount of time a dog may be tethered to a stationary object. Texas passed a bill in June setting tighter restrictions on chaining, and anti-tethering bills are under consideration in North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. More than 100 local governments, including Gwinnett and DeKalb counties and the city of Gainesville, either ban or limit how long a dog may be chained, recognizing that dogs are intelligent, social, active animals that suffer greatly if kept chained or penned for their lives. Yards must be fenced for both the protection of the dog and the protection of our nation's youth. When we mistreat our animals, the human race pays the price in the end. We
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