Just to let everyone in my reader's world know...I HAVE called the Humane Society about Joe....not once.....but at least THREE times now.....I think it is actually 4. My uncle has also called numerous times. EACH county apparently can make up their own rules to go by......and what they do or do not do as compared to state laws. I finally did get the woman from the Humane Society to come out to investigate Joe....the dog....as he is confined outside all the time in all elements in a small pen surrounded by his own POOP that the owners NEVER clean up. The grass that used to be in the pen has been LONG GONE which means Joe is prone to open sores on his legs and feet which can then possibly get infected from the mud and poop that build up in the pen. AND this HAS happened. I believe he is fed and given water....but I am not sure he always has fresh water available. Whenever I go see my grandma we always go check on Joe first....taking him treats and in the extreme hot weather a drink.
He has a too small dog house that sits over a hole in the ground. There are many holes in the ground in his pen that fill with water when it rains and combines with the poop in the pen creating a stench and unsanitary conditions. He looks so sad....but despite all this neglect he has the most loving heart and spirit out of any dog I have ever known.
I even turned to Channel 2 our local news center ...and asked if they could please step in and do something. NOTHING was done.
The humane society woman DID finally make an appearance to check on Joe. However...she did not get out of her car...she only drove down the alley and did not even check the leg that had the sore on it that I told her about. She said she told the people they had to put straw in the pen....give Joe fresh water and food and shelter from the elements.
The owners did nothing. I called again. They were served papers. The owners SAID they did crap but they did nothing. FINALLY...this year.....2 years later....they finally put some straw in the pen this winter for Joe. NOT much and it is already saturated with poop and mud...etc...because......you guessed it.... THEY DO NOT CLEAN THAT UP EITHER OR CHANGE IT.
I have wanted to sneak over in the middle of the night and just TAKE Joe; however, I do not live somewhere yet that I can do that as I am not even allowed to have pets here and I already took in 1 stray cat and have him in hiding. TOM (the other stray cat at my grandma's) is being fed and taken care of by me and my grandma until I can get a place to also bring him.
Other than going over and stealing JoE we have done everything we can apparently on our end. I don't know what else to do. I have wondered if we put on some demonstration somewhere locally if anything would be done. BUT my grandma does not want family stirring up problems for her with her neighbors. I don't want the neighbors just taking Joe to be put to sleep or dumping him. I doubt they would pay money to have him put to sleep...so maybe that is not a legitimate worry.
We all feel bad about Joe. The conditions he has to endure and live in are deplorable at best. So at this point that is the reason I ask for prayer. Because there does not appear to be much else we can do. Another nearby neighbor of my grandma's DID let their dog freeze to death in the bitter conditions. I think many so-called "owners" need a lesson in pet care to say the least!
The Humane Society lady has told me they have done all they can. They tell me they will go back out and they never show up. They tell me the straw was put in the pen which it was....but all the other stuff is left unchecked like the fact that the same straw is never replaced or cleaned out. They also have told me they told the owners to put Joe in their garage when the weather is bad. It does sometimes appear they might be doing that. So that is something at least.
I have posted pictures before about Joe. In the summer the weeds around his little pen get so high he cannot possibly get air. SO my uncle goes over and cuts the weeds down. Other than me or my uncle and my son going over to talk to Joe or say something to him....or an occasional other family member...his owners never seem to visit him or play with him or anything. They neglect him. They meanwhile have 2 cats and another dog INSIDE their home.
It makes me sick. I wish the owners could be stuck out in the pen for a period of time to see what it is like.
Here is a link of my prior post that tells more of the story and shows pics of the conditions Joe has to endure in the rainy weather.
PRIOR POST ABOUT JOE
at the end of the post I linked to above is a MOVIE CLIP of Joe's conditions in warmer wet weather
I think I will send in my story and photographs to the STATE somewhere......or the sheriff's office. I don't know who is ABOVE the Humane Society.....since it is NON-profit and county ruled....they can make up their rules as they go along.
Meanwhile I am sending a letter this time to all the email addresses on the county's web site. I have not tried that route before. I am also attaching copies of all my photos and movie clip link.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
it is -14 with a wind chill of -34 degrees!
Joe
Tom
please pray for Tom and Joe. Tom is a cute cat that hangs around my grandmother's house and Joe is her neighbor's dog. The neighbors do not take very good care of Joe and he is left out in all type of elements without proper shelter and conditions are horrific for him. I have written about him before..it is so very sad. I want to just go rescue him and bring him home to where I live...but right now renting this house I am not even allowed to have the one cat I do have (which I took in as a stray).
Tom-Kat we take pretty good care of, but he still has to be left outside. My grandmother is helping to keep him fed and such until I can hopefully bring him here to live too....somewhere if I can get a place that allows pets.
Needless to say I am worried about those 2 little guys and wish I already lived somewhere ...where I could have brought them both to live. I don't want to find out they froze to death during this bitterly cold weather.
Secret #1 of 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women -"Acknowledging Your Creative Self"....
This is tough for me. I have held my creativity in for such a long time now....I was beginning to think I had "lost" my creative self. I oftentimes found myself wondering if I could remember how to draw or paint or do any arts/crafts. I would see other people do amazing creative work. I soaked it up. I was inspired. BUT I did nothing. I bought craft supplies....so many I could set up shop in my home. I did nothing. I have done little to nothing since.
I am a mom of a 10-year-old boy who has autism. Once he was born any creative side of myself was tucked away. I had had zero time for myself after that...as Noah required all my attention when I was not working. I am not complaining. It is just the way it was. I continued to collect art "supplies" and ideas and books ....thinking maybe ONE day I would be able to do something with them. Ten years have passed. For the first time in 10 years...there are now snippets of time in my life that are FREE. Noah has made tremendous progress and while seeing to his needs is still a major portion of my life....after working and home-schooling Noah....I do find an occasional day where I have a few moments for myself.
When that first happened I was totally clueless as to what to do with my time. I had forgotten what it felt like to have "time" to oneself. Sometimes I just soaked up and relished the "doing nothing" days.....as there had been few of those in the past 10 years.
Recently I have longed to get more creative again. I write poetry and sometimes an occasional story and that is a huge outlet for my creative side. It is one I can do fairly quickly and it requires less time. It is something I "must" do to remain sane. I have tried going "without" being creative even in that small way and I cannot. NOW I want to do MORE. I want to draw again and paint again and do mixed media and so many things. Last year I decided to do my first CRAFT CHALLENGE. It was a YEAR LONG project where each week we would receive prompts to create artwork on playing cards. It was called "Deck of Me". I was determined to complete this project as I felt it would PUSH me to make time for my creative self. It did. I soon found I was looking forward to those prompts and would get excited about "creating."
ONE of my goals this year was to continue the "flow" of my creativity...and one way I figured I could do that was to be accountable. To be given prompts to create by.....to do another challenge ...something. I signed up for this book blogging group for all those reasons. I have been asleep for so long....I want to wake up.......unleash my creative self.....and soar!
Here is what I created to express that:
The photo did not turn out the best....but here it is nonetheless.
I guess this can qualify too as my creative piece for my Creative Every Day challenge I am also participating in.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
snowing like crazy here.....we are under a Level 1 Snow emergency so far!
I don't think you can see us anymore on the map.
I went out and cleared off a path to the bird feeder.....and a spot on the ground for the birds to sit and eat. I even cleared off a spot under the bushes for them to sit and eat or be on grass....and I made a path for the squirrels to come over to eat. I gave them fresh water. I am sure the neighbors by now think I have lost my mind.
Noah and I went out front and shoveled off the drive and walk by the front door. I then put salt down. I also cleared off the road by the mailbox so the mailman can drive up. It is still snowing and I was going to wait until it was completely over.....but decided since I was out....and the snow was like powder.....I could get all that done pretty quickly with no effort and I was right. Not really too much of a workout. AND bundled up it did not really feel as cold as they say it is.
Back to work for me. I am way behind.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)