The
Arkansas Hoarder Project is a group of coordinators that have gotten together in order to aid a very cruel situation that we are facing. There are coordinators in the states of
Michigan,
Arkansas,
Wisconsin, and Minnessota right now.
We still NEED coordinators in the states of Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. (If you are from one of these states and can help these dogs during their time of need, please contact Emily Smith at
ewordsmith@sbcglobal.net.)
Coordinators assist with transports, crossposting, donations, etc, for the dogs involved in this situation.
Here's more about the Arkansas Hoarder Situation:
ARKANSAS HOARDER CRISIS
PROPERTY OWNER SHOOTS TO KILL
Over 60 dogs chained for life with no shelter.
Deplorable conditions!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SHERIDAN, Ark.—March 23, 2007. We begin with a horrible, tragic situation heard about in a small town in Arkansas. A well-meaning but naïve young man has been collecting stray dogs for years where he lives on his father’s property in Sheridan, AR. As with all hoarders, the numbers of animals swelled and his ability to care for them and his financial resources were stretched to the breaking point.
By January of this year, he had collected nearly 100 dogs, the majority now chained permanently with no shelter from the elements. The hoarder is feeding them only minimally, and with hot weather approaching, many may die from exposure or dehydration from the hot Arkansas sun. There are several litters of puppies, all without their mothers, and the hoarder has no knowledge of proper care for these tiny little puppies.
The owner of the property, the boy's father, recently came in and shot and killed almost 30 dogs, at random, just to reduce the numbers. Unconscionable! The worst tragedy of all is that, inexplicably, there is no law to prevent this vicious slaughter in Arkansas. Animal protection laws are nonexistent in this state, believe it or not! The only reason he has not killed them all is that perhaps he was shamed by the public outcry from the community when this story hit the local papers.
Tammy Hood has been watching this situation for months, and, almost singlehandedly, has managed to take pictures of most of the dogs and post their pictures on Petfinder. THE LINK IS POSTED BELOW. Tammy has befriended the young man, and WE HAVE HIS PERMISSION TO RESCUE THE DOGS! These are not purebred dogs, although there are many almost-Labs and many almost-Golden Retrievers and other medium-sized mixes. So breed rescue groups, being exclusive, are probably not going to get involved in saving these animals.
IT’S GOING TO BE UP TO ALL-BREED RESCUES TO ACCOMPLISH THIS MIRACLE!
CAN YOU HELP?
Our most desperate need at this time is to find safe havens for these dogs. We plan to post to an 9+ state area. If we could find ONE volunteer to coordinate for each state and contact every single no-kill shelter, rescue organization, and foster organization in that state, so that each state could take JUST SIX dogs, we would be successful in giving these beauties a second chance at life. Transport, once the safe havens have been found, will be the easiest part!
THANK YOU TO:
Northeast Arkansans for Animals for their offer of assisting two of these dogs.
Tammy Hood One brave woman who has taken this task on single handedly. She is the woman responsible for taking the photographs of all of these sweet faces!
State Coordinators!
and YOU!
Here are just a few of the animals in need. Keep in mind these are only the animals that were able to be photographed at this time - there are many more!
FULL DESCRIPTIONS AND MORE PHOTOS OF THESE ANIMALS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE SHERIDAN ANIMAL CONTROL WEBSITE:
Some of these dogs have been chained to cars for over 2 years. Others have received no vetting attention (MIKEY) and the puppies have received little to no social interaction. They are all considered extremely urgent. If you believe you have any idea of what breed any of these animals may be, PLEASE let us know - they need anything that they can get!
IF YOU ARE A QUALIFIED RESCUE OR FOSTER HOME, PLEASE LET US KNOW!
DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AND WILL ONLY BE GRANTED TO REPUTABLE RESCUES.
# posted by Herb @ 2:35 PM
