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GMADer Rushes to Dog Cruelty Seizure
From Deborah Loring
As a GMAD volunteer, much of the work I do is behind the scenes updating the website, keeping abreast of legislation, and doing research. I?ve always enjoyed this role, but I also love working with animals, and have fostered and adopted several dogs, some of whom have suffered serious neglect and abuse.
After Hurricane Katrina, I enrolled in the Humane Society of the United States? (HSUS) Disaster Animal Response Team training so that I might be prepared if a similar situation arose. It wasn?t until May 2009 that my training would be put to the test. I received an email asking for volunteers who could go to Wisconsin to help care for over 300 dogs that had been seized as part of a cruelty investigation the previous week. The catch: we had to leave the next day!
So on very short notice, I ?deployed? to Madison, Wisconsin, arriving on site less than 24 hours after I received the email. What greeted me there was amazing. Two very large tents were set up to house over 300 dogs of various breeds, ages, and sizes?everything from Chihuahuas and Toy Poodles to massive Wolfhounds and the largest St. Bernard I have ever seen.
The dogs requiring the most veterinary care were housed in the medical tent, and the rest were placed in the general population tent. The tents were set up on the grounds of the local shelter whose courageous director and staff veterinarian had been crucial in bringing this situation to the attention of authorities.
I was sent to the general population tent to help clean crates, provide the dogs their afternoon water, and get their dinners ready. The HSUS volunteers worked alongside local volunteers, veterinarians, and veterinary technicians, as well as the United Animal Nations (UAN) Emergency Animal Rescue Service. The volunteers who had been on site?some for a week already?trained those of us who were new.
One thing you learn very quickly in an emergency shelter is that constant cleaning is a large part of the effort. It is very important to keep the dogs in a comfortable environment, and a clean crate and fresh towel or blanket can really make a difference. Mornings were an extremely busy combination of cleaning and waitressing duties, as the dogs needed to be walked, fed, given clean water, and have their crates cleaned. Each dog had their own records in which we documented everything we did and everything the dogs did. After that, there was more walking, more watering, and more crate cleaning.
If there was time, we would grab a quick lunch. The generosity of the local people was astounding. Not only did they donate necessities for the dogs like food, towels, blankets, and cleaning supplies, but there was an endless supply of food, sodas, and water for the volunteers. Our favorite was the woman who baked us homemade cookies and left her phone number prominently displayed for replenishments when we ran out!
The afternoon was a repeat of the morning. There were bowls to wash, water dishes to fill, crates to clean, and dogs to walk. And finally, there were dinners to prepare. Most days were about 12 hours long, with few breaks.
The most enjoyable part of the day was walking the dogs. Even with so many dogs, all the volunteers seemed to bond with one or two ?special? ones. Mine was Jessie, my yellow lab mix, a girl who would greet me every time I walked by her crate with a shy smile and a gentle wag of her tail. What amazed me about Jessie was her dignity and composure in the situation, which must have been terribly confusing and upsetting for all of the dogs.
And while big (and usually badly behaved!) dogs are my forte, to my surprise I fell in love with a very emaciated and hairless toy poodle. Many of the dogs were completely unfamiliar with the concept of a walk. While some of them bounded about joyfully, others were just too stressed and fearful to enjoy themselves. When this sweet, scared little girl couldn?t manage a walk, I picked her up and carried her around the grounds so she could have some fresh air. She immediately clung to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and hiding her head under my chin, and she just shook and shook.
Many people have since remarked to me that they would find it hard to work in a situation in which they were confronted with such evidence of cruelty and neglect. But there was simply so much work to do to care for the dogs that up until that point, I found it easy to put my emotions aside and just dig in and work hard. But with this poodle clinging to me, I couldn?t hold back the tears. This sweet, loving little girl desperately needed to feel reassurance, kindness, and safety. Putting her back into the crate was so difficult; I wanted to hold her forever.
We got the word on Saturday that the majority of the dogs were going to be transferred to permanent shelters on Sunday, where their care would be continued and they would be available for adoption. Sunday was a wonderful day for everyone. We started readying the dogs for transfer to their shelters. My job in this was paperwork, which, while important, made it impossible for me to say goodbye to any of my new four-legged buddies. Instead, I immersed myself in setting up generators and copiers, scavenging paper and staples, and copying paperwork for each dog so that their new homes would have proper veterinary and daily care records.
Somehow, the transfer of all of those dogs went off without a hitch, and by early afternoon, all of the dogs who were available for adoption (almost 300) were loaded into their transports and on their way to new lives.
We were left with an overwhelming silence. While we missed the dogs, we were all happy that they were going to shelters where they would receive continued veterinary care, lots of love and attention, and eventually, their forever home. And we were aware that these were the lucky ones. There are still so many out there that deserve better.
And then, we got back to work. There was a lot more cleaning to do.
If you are interested in Disaster Animal Response Team training, the HSUS course schedules can be found at HSUS DART Schedules
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