Watch Day Four Tour, Mississippi

 

Diary of Dawn—Mississippi: 2 Tornadoes,
Missing Chained Dogs Confirmed!

The rain plummets so hard it hurts as the winds accelerate to 106 mph. A little black dog cowers inside of her leaking box, the wind hollers and whistles through the cracks. Her two puppies huddle against her. Little black dog is grateful for their company, yet fears for them more than herself. Outside she can hear the hound dog wailing in the wind. He is chained to his house, an old plastic crate that should be used for travel, not as shelter. The chained white dog living on the other side of hound dog is petrified, she hates storms even mild ones and this storm is proving to be anything but tame. Outside black dog's house she sees a tree uprooted, it falls close enough to rock the ground. Behind her white dog has been pulled from the ground, chain and all and is tumbling with the tempest like Toto in the Wizard of Oz. Where white dog lands, no one will ever know.

When the storm lifts the people come out of the house to assess the damage. No one checks on the dogs at first, but then someone thinks about the little puppies and goes to see if they are alright. All is well with the pups, black dog and hound dog though inside their little hearts are still pounding, but white dog is gone. Her doghouse still stands, but she and her chain have disappeared. The people think this is peculiar. In another day they will call the Animal Control Officer to see if their dog resurfaced on someones rooftop, it has been known to happen. Not this time though, white dog wasn't so fortunate, her fear of storms was affirmed and now she has become forever a part of one.

While this story is from my imagination, there's a very real chance it happened just like this. At least two tornadoes ripped through parts of Mississippi including Vicksburg, Bovina, Jackson and Morton. Chained dogs left tethered in 106 mph winds surprised their caretakers when residents came out of hiding and found their dogs gone. Some doghouses remained minus their inhabitants.

Tammy and I spent the day tracking down this story. We spoke with ambulance service workers, power company employees, police and the sheriff's office. At the Sheriff's Office, Animal Control Services was contacted to confirm that outside dogs were missing in the aftermath of the tornadoes.

Our fact finding proved that an outside dog is indeed left exposed to the elements: cold, heat, snow, ice, rain, and natural disasters including tornadoes. Any of these can prove fatal for an unattended pet. As a result from searching for proof, we spent more time investigating then actually talking to chained dog owners.

The day did begin with a confrontation at a residence with 3 chained shepherds on the property. A woman, with her hair pulled back in a bun and wearing a purple tank top with matching shorts came out as I was untangling a charming black and tan Shepherd hidden behind the trailer. The caretaker had her hand on her hip and attitude in her step as she approached me full of sass saying, "If you come here lookin' for trouble you done found it!" Tammy was laughing in the background thinking, "Let's see how Dawn is going to talk herself out of this one." I did manage to talk my way around it, but I do wonder what's going to happen when I meet up with someone who shoots first and talks later.

Another early morning ahead as the Dognamic Duo detours from the path of least resistance to the road less traveled. Thank you for joining us. Please keep watching and reading and spreading the word! We're at 192 dogs logged and growing...with 40 more added today. Already 152 ahead of goal schedule...sad but true.

Dawn Ashby, DDB Public Liaison Director

12 Days, 12 States, 120 Chained Dog

Day 1: April 6th, Missouri
Day 2: April 7th, Arkansas
Day 3: April 8th, Lousiana
Day 4: April 9th, Mississippi
Day 5: April 10, Alabama
Day 6: April 11, Georgia
Day 7: April 12, South Carolina
Day 8: April 13, North Carolina
Day 9: April 14, Tennessee
Day 10: April 15, Kentucky
Day 11: April 16, Virginia
Day 12: April 17, West Virginia

We are offering new collars and leashes for as many dogs as we can afford, plus giving out treats and dog food in addition to educational materials and discussions. If you can help fund the campaign and the supplies we'd like to deliver, it would be very much appreciated.

We Can Now Take Donations Over the Phone at 1.877.636.1408

We can now accept donations over the phone
using a major credit card at 1.877.636.1408.

If you'd like to donate via regular USPS mail, you may print out this
form in .pdf format, and send to P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 1668