Watch Day Five Tour, Alabama

 

Diary of Dawn: Day 5 Alabama—Too Young to Be a Mother!

The theme of the Dognamic Duo’s presence in Alabama is “Spay and Neuter” or “Too Young to Be a Mother”. This theme goes for both the young women and the dogs we met. Practically everywhere we stopped we found pregnant or nursing dogs with pregnant or nursing caretakers; all too young to be in their condition.

This morning we drove to Alabama to meet with Sonya who was kind enough to put Tammy and me up in her beautiful home, feed us and let me sleep in the bunk bed with the fluffy giant teddy bear. Sonya and Linda Morgan took us on an expedition in search of Alabama chained dogs. We stopped at the home of a pregnant young woman with two dogs she chained together to keep them in the yard. Cooper, the Husky mix, was a wanderer and the other was a homebody so their caretaker thought maybe if she chained them together the stay-at-home dog would detour the drifter from meandering. She was very kind and invited us into her home and around her yard. We offered her a fencing application and she agreed that a fence and a doggie door would solve many of her problems and make her home more accessible to her dogs.

The next family we met had a penned pit in the yard. The pregnant young wife asked her husband to come to the door and he told us the dog used to live in the house. They had another dog sitting on the couch watching television with them. When asked why the one dog was in a pen and the other was in the house the man told us that the pit “got too big for the house” and started knocking things around. Tammy asked them it they thought the Bulldog was bigger than they were because they were allowed in the house. The question flew over their heads. We left them information, treats, a collar and leash so they could take their dog for a walk and moved on.

We stopped at a house in the middle of nowhere and met a white chained Pit Bull named Dixie. Dixie a recent mother herself was lonely for attention; her puppies had all been given away. Dixie’s intense coughing caused us to be concerned about the possible presence of heartworm. Further out in the yard we spied a chained little pup, the tether tangled so taut around the base of a tree the pup was unable to move. Another dog came walking up; she had puppies in the back under the house. Angie, a gracious young 5th grade girl came out of the house to greet us. We thanked her for taking the time to talk with us but asked her to be more careful of whom she approached in the future. We left treats, puppy kits, collars and leashes. She took information from us to give to her mother. Angie went straight to feeding and watering the dogs as we were leaving. All the dogs were dying of thirst.

We visited with a little Weiner dog, obviously NOT “too big for house” but still left outside on a small trolley system. When we gave the Dachshund a squeaky toy his little tail went wild. The next trailer we approached had a chained Pit Bull in the yard and another roaming loose. Neither of these dogs had water and both were so happy to see us. On down the road we ran into another young woman who was interested in the idea of fencing and a doggie door for her Pit Bull named Bryor. Next there was the chained Pit Bull with the “Beware of Dog” sign and the Pit Bull wearing a shock collar with invisible fencing that encompassed about a 20x20 area. The invisible fencing dog had two empty bowls and a hole in the roof of his plastic dog house. The only thing dangerous about any of these sweet dogs was their irresponsible caretakers.

We ended at a trailer with a chained Pit Bull on a trolley. The whole family came out to greet us. The daughter was carrying a baby doll, one of those they give school children to teach them how much work having a baby is. Tammy said to her, “I’ll bet that makes you not want to have kids.” The girl replied, “I’m having one in October.” I’m thinking maybe the school system should start that program a little earlier.

Dogs and people started coming out from all over the place at that trailer. Then we found there were 4 puppies in a shed. The chubby little wrinkle faced pups were in desperate need of socialization.

I used to feel that people were being facetious when they said they thought “No Chains” meant the dogs were to be left free to run at large, but during our travels we have seen quite a few dogs running at large and we realize that this is more of a problem than we originally imagined. Tammy explained that there are two sides of the “Irresponsible Owners Spectrum”; on one end you have dogs running at large and the other you have dogs being chained 24/7 for their entire lives. The middle ground, which is desirable, includes your dog living in the home, with proper fencing and/or walking your dog on a leash.

We ended the evening with a speaking engagement and met some wonderful people in Alabama’s rescue world. We very easily found 36 chained dogs in Alabama bringing our total to 228 in only 5 days.

Alabama proved to be a beautiful state full of friendly people, but like everywhere else, not a great place to be a chained or penned dog. A special thank you to Linda Morgan and the Cullman Area Animal Welfare Association (CAAWA) for their offer to follow up on the animals we met with today.

Tomorrow should be peachy as we head for Georgia bright and early in the A.M.

Dawn Ashby, DDB Public Liaison Director

12 Days, 12 States, 120 Chained Dog

Day 1: April 6th, Missouri
Day 2: April 7th, Arkansas
Day 3: April 8th, Lousiana
Day 4: April 9th, Mississippi
Day 5: April 10, Alabama
Day 6: April 11, Georgia
Day 7: April 12, South Carolina
Day 8: April 13, North Carolina
Day 9: April 14, Tennessee
Day 10: April 15, Kentucky
Day 11: April 16, Virginia
Day 12: April 17, West Virginia

We are offering new collars and leashes for as many dogs as we can afford, plus giving out treats and dog food in addition to educational materials and discussions. If you can help fund the campaign and the supplies we'd like to deliver, it would be very much appreciated.

We Can Now Take Donations Over the Phone at 1.877.636.1408

We can now accept donations over the phone
using a major credit card at 1.877.636.1408.

If you'd like to donate via regular USPS mail, you may print out this
form in .pdf format, and send to P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 1668