A community comes together…
The week after Christmas is usually so peaceful. I love Christmas, but after several months of holidays and hectic schedules, it’s nice to have some quiet time. I like the stillness to reflect on the holidays we just celebrated and to also think about what’s coming up next.
2019 was different
We’ve seen some pretty bad things through our animal rescue, but two days after Christmas we were reminded of the cruelty that man is capable of inflicting on animals.
Early one morning, there was an urgent call sent out for immediate help on the area’s social media page. Someone witnessed a driver and his passenger(s) throw six puppies out of a vehicle’s windows and into oncoming traffic on a busy highway. Two of the puppies were killed, the other four ran away. As soon as we got the call for help, Tabitha, my niece, and I rushed to the scene to help find the four missing puppies.
a bad winter storm moving in
It was a community-wide effort to find the missing puppies as quickly as possible. A winter storm was moving in, and we didn’t know if the puppies could survive the cold, especially if they were hurt. For four days, in a winter storm, sub-freezing temperatures, wind, and ice, people from all over the community came together to walk grids on the plains trying to find any signs of the four surviving puppies.
found safe
The twelve-week-old puppies were eventually found and brought into the home of one of the searchers to keep them safe, warm, and to get medical help for them. We brought the two puppies, Hope and Chance, home with us that were killed in order to have them cremated.
too many questions
There were so many questions swirling around this tragedy. Where did the puppies come from and who threw them out the window were just a couple. The owner of the puppies came forward and said he had been having problems with his neighbor. The neighbor stole the puppies and tried to kill them to get back at the owner. He was afraid his neighbor would do it again, so he let the four of us who were most heavily involved in the rescue adopt the puppies. We brought one into our home. Chili dog was terrified of him so another family involved in the search and rescue took him. The last we heard, he’s a happy and healthy boy; although he has a severe fear of being in vehicles.
no help from the law
The Sherrif’s Department was notified of this situation from the very beginning through the end. But, they said it was a neighbor feud and because it involved pets, they weren’t going to get involved. The neighbor faced no consequences for his actions.
Sometimes rescue work leaves you more frustrated than anything else. This is a good example of one of those times. Although we lost two souls, we find comfort in knowing four puppies ended up in safe, loving, and forever homes.