Giving Back and Getting Involved

I volunteered at a local, no kill, animal shelter here in Saint Louis today. Never done anything like that before, didn't know what to expect either but one step inside the tiny complex where they had some of their dogs and I was hooked.

The group, Stray Rescue, is run by a man named Randy and bless that man because most of their dogs come from severely mistreated beginnings. These dogs are usually (but not all) either feral, fight, or bait dogs. If you don't know what a bait dog is (I didn't either before today) these are the dogs whose legs are tied so that they can not fight back when the fight dogs are allowed to attack them. These are the poor animals who get the "fighters" stirred up before a match.

Horrified doesn't begin to express how I felt when I found this bit of tidbit out. How inhuman can you be to tie a poor animal up so that they can not defend themselves and then let others attack them? It's shameful and I hope the people who do this are caught and punished. If they are doing this to animals how are they treating other humans? They obviously have no respect for life, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. Period.

It broke my heart to see the scars on these dogs and to hear their stories. They can't verbally speak for themselves (even though their physical scars tell their tales) so it's up to us to bring it out for others to know.

Most of these dogs Randy saves himself, from areas that are just as dangerous for him as they are to the dogs. We need more people like Randy in the world. We need to stop thinking so much about ourselves and self interest and start thinking more about others.

I know with the economy as bad as it is that many people are giving up their animals because they can no longer care for them and if you absolutely have to do this PLEASE take them to a no kill shelter. The Humane Society is a wonderful organization but they are NOT a no kill shelter.

I know that this is a blog for writing but after what I saw today and the wonderful dogs I met I couldn't not write about them. They touched me in such a way that I wanted to share some of their stories. Here are just a few:

Hottsie: 2 yo Terrier Mix, Bait Dog

Boris: ? yo Terrier Mix

Tangerine: ? yo Terrier Mix, mother of unknown # of puppies. Neighborhood kids were throwing rocks at her.

Josie: 9 yo mutt, Family rescued her in 2001 (Josie was 1) and just surrendered her on Wednesday.

Billy: ? yo Terrier Mix, Bait Dog

Jewel: Terrier Mix, Katrina Survivor, Been @ shelter for 4+ yrs.

This is just a few of the dogs who were at the shelter where I was. They also have another facility where they house more, and this does not include all the foster animals and those being boarded. It's an amazing operation and it has inspired me to become more involved.

I started this blog to help me overcome my fear of writing, to stretch myself outside of my comfort zone. In pursuing that I had no idea where it would lead me. If today was any indication, I'm in for a great ride.