You think dogs will not be in heaven?  I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

I love a dog.  He does nothing for political reasons.  ~Will Rogers

 

Children are for people who can't have dogs.  ~Author Unknown

 

As of January 12, 2007, the Ga. Department of Agriculture Animal Protection Division  was down to just 7 inspectors.  They currently have 5 openings.  Kinda sad when people don't want to work for a state agency isn't it?

 

 

During my drives around Georgia, I would often pass by a place, a piece of property, located in Cherokee County off of East Cherokee Drive.  This particular piece of 'property' appeared abandoned as there was no dwelling in sight, just a lot of junk cars parked that you could tell were not drivable. There was also a "For Sale" sign at the roadway.   Visible trash and debris were strewn over the grounds, empty containers and oil cans, etc. I kept seeing what looked like rabbit hutches to the side of the property but it wasn't until I thought I saw something white moving inside of one, that I decided to pull in and see if there was some sort of animal being kept in the wooden hutches.  

After stopping and getting out of my car, I walked over to the hutches and observed a live white rabbit that was living in one of the hutches, as well as two more large rabbits in another attached hutch.   The rabbit waste was piled extremely high in two of the hutches as they both had wooden flooring.  The hutch with wire flooring was not as bad due to the droppings apparently falling through the wire flooring.  What appeared to be lettuce, or what was left of it, was in one of the hutches but there was no water for any of the rabbits that I could see.  On the bottom of the wire cage flooring, I observed what appeared to be the remains of a rabbit, you could tell by the outline of the debris left on the cage floor as to the shape of what appeared to have decomposed. 

After walking around the property, I observed a fenced area where I saw an adult dog being housed.  I looked inside of the fence and observed all sorts of trash and debris items, the dry food in the container appeared not very fresh,  the water was not fresh, with debris and insects floating on top, tin cans and empty containers strewn about the fence inside perimeter.  I heard faint whimpers that sounded like young puppies and entered the gate.   There were seven, what appeared to be, new born puppies lying in a damp enclosure that you would have to see the pictures that were took that day to understand.  It appeared to be an old wooden doghouse that was in various stages of rotting, with a newer plastic doghouse lid turned upside down inside o the wooden part.  The puppies were not sheltered totally from the rain and elements but appeared to be huddled together in a 'pile of whimpers'.  The adult mother dog appeared to be damp as well as it had been raining that day as well as the previous few days, on and off.   

I had an old, but dry, towel in my car which I used to dry the puppies with, turned the plastic lid over and attempted to construct a makedo shelter for them that might keep the rain out a little better.  I placed the towel inside on the wooden flooring and then placed the puppies back inside on the dry towel.  The mother dog went back inside the small structure, did not appear to feel threatened by the new towel, or me, and apparently felt the puppies were ok, she exited the structure back outside to wag her tail and receive petting from me. 

In the meantime, three adult dogs were running loose around the property barking in a playful way, and appearing to want attention from me.  I noticed that these dogs were male and appeared to be un-neutered.  I kept hearing another dog, close by but not visible, barking somewhere down in the wooded area of the property.  Once I finished getting the newborn puppies to a dryer area, I walked down some cement steps that weren't really visible with the grass being so high around, and over, them.  I followed the barking of the dog about 25 yards or so down from the main property level, where there were a group of small trees and what appeared to be an old structure of some sort that was in various stages of falling apart.  I pushed back the low lying tree branches and leaves and saw a younger puppy being housed in a wire bottom cage.  There was a milk jug sitting on top of the cage filled with what appeared to be water, but it was uncertain if this water was fresh or had been there for awhile.

I contacted Cherokee County Animal Control and asked them to meet me at the property.  When the officer arrived, he took photos of the property, as well as the animals and the conditions of the property.  Using the phone number off of the realty sign, I called to try to track down the property owner.  The property owners, a man and woman, arrived at the property.  The officer spoke to them explaining to them that they could not house the animals in the current conditions.  He instructed them to clean the fenced in area of the adult mother dog's area of the trash and debris. He also told them that they would have to put down some hay or something in order to help keep the dirt where the mother dog and puppies were, dryer.  He advised them that they could not allow the three unaltered loose dogs to continue to roam freely.  He told them that if they planned on keeping the younger dog housed in the cage down in the woods, they would need to house him in a cage adequate to the dog's size, as well as proper resting surfaces from the wire flooring.  

The woman asked the officer if he could just not take all the animals to the shelter, stating that she did not want them nor wanted to be responsible for them.  She said that the animals belonged to her, or her male companion's  (I cannot remember which one) mother who had recently moved in with them.  The officer told her that they could arrange an owner surrender if that is what she wanted to do. 

I suggested to the woman that she could contact a licensed rescue organization that was approximately a half of a mile down the road from where we were.  I explained to the woman that the lady that owned the rescue might be interested in taking them.  The property owner appeared excited to hear that and asked me if I could take them all to her place for her.   I explained to the woman that I could not but I would take her contact information and pass it along to the rescue licensee and they could discuss it when it was convenient for both. 

Later that day, I called the rescue org woman, and relayed the information regarding the abandoned animals in the rainy weather. She said that, at that time, she didn't have room for them but she would keep the woman's contact number in case she could help her later. 

A week or so later, the rescue woman calls me saying she drove over to the property and ended up taking the animals due to the horrific conditions they were being housed, she would get them medical treatment, and at least get them out of the weather.  She, like me, felt that the newborn puppies would not survive those cold and wet conditions.   

A few days later I get a phone call from the property owner asking if I knew who stole her animals. I reminded her that she had wanted, and asked, if the rescue org woman would take them, and that she had told her she would take them as soon as space allowed at her place.  The property owner began whining about how she loved those animals and how her daughter's heart was broken because they had been "stolen" - blah blah blah.  I told her I would contact the rescue org woman and see what the status was on the animals.  Before I had a chance to call her, I received a call from the rescue org woman, saying that the property owner had taken a warrant out against her for "stealing" her animals. I was dumbfounded.  I told the rescue org woman that I would contact the detective that she had been in touch with, and get back with her when I found out what was going on. 

I went to the Sheriff's Department in the county and spoke with the detective in charge of the investigation.  He told me that he had driven past that particular property over the years and had always worried about those animals living in the conditions they were living in.  He said that he was sure the animals were in a safer place but that the property owner apparently wanted to make this a big deal.  After explaining to the detective what had happened from the beginning, he told me that he wasn't going to pursue the warrant for theft by taking and he would get it straightened out. 

I called the rescue org woman and told her and then phoned the property owner.  The property owner started whining, again, about her broken hearted daughter and how I should tell Animal Control that she shouldn't be cited for animal cruelty, blah blah blah.   I told her that IF her, or her daughter, cared about those animals in the least, they would have never left them there on an abandoned piece of property like that.  Dead and decomposing rabbits in a cage, a puppy, caged, living down hidden in the woods, three unaltered male dogs running loose around the property - I told her two of the puppies apparently had already died from being left out in the cold and rain, and that I would not contact Animal Control on her behalf.  She told me that the puppies were sick and that is why they died. I told her that the puppies appeared to be maybe a day old, and likely died from being left out in adverse weather conditions.   

A few days later I received a phone call from the Doa Office Manager -   apparently the property owner called them to complain.  I told her what had happened, and that I had included all the information in my report.  I also told her that the detective was not going to follow through on the warrant that the property owner decided to take out on the rescue org woman.  The Office Manager asked me about a cat that was on the property.  I told her that during a visit to this property, what looked to me like a stray cat had walked up, sneezing, coughing and clearly in need of medical attention.  The cat didn't have any identification collar so, assuming it was a stray, I took him to the rescue org woman to see if she could get medical treatment for the cat.  She agreed to take the cat and said she would get it to a vet as soon as she could.  The Office Manager said that the property owner was saying it was her cat. 

The Office Manager told me “At least you admit to taking the cat”.  I said why wouldn’t I, it appeared to be a stray, and had no identification or collar, so I assumed it was homeless but due to it being sick, I wanted to ensure it received medical care. A licensed rescue group was not even a half of a mile away, Cherokee County Animal Shelter was approximately 15 miles, so yep, I opted to see if the rescue peep would take it. And she said she would, and would get it to the vet for medical care.  The office manager mentioned something about it being against the law to pick up a stray animal. 

Ok, Ms. Office Manager, after all I had seen my Supervisor do, and heard him tell licensees, “I’m” breaking the law by helping to get medical attention to what appeared to be a stray cat?    

Yep, it seemed that the property owner didn't want these animals, or she wouldn't have left them to fend for themselves - but as soon as someone took an interest in their welfare, all of a sudden, she wants to become a responsible, loving pet owner. Here, pull my other leg, Ms. Property Owner.