Dear Tammy,
 Look everyone it's the Easter Bunny! He's coming your way with treats for all the
good little boys and girls. Right now he's hopping down a bunny trail in Pennsylvania and...what's
that? He's not hopping? Someone has chained
him in the yard? Call the authorities
there ought to be a law! Children are crying, parents and grandparents are
calling animal control and 911.
Chocolate foil wrapped eggs are melting, bunny ears are going uneaten...oh
the inhumanity of it all!
Will 24/7 chaining of a worldwide icon that brings revenue
to candy makers and discount stores be enough to sway Pennsylvania lawmakers into passing a
tethering limit this year? What will this do to Hershey, Pennsylvania?
Obviously in the past years attacks on
more than 250 children resulting in serious injury or death wasn't enough to
convince them to pass the bill, nor were numerous accounts of dogs being
neglected on the end of a chain. Maybe
if EVERYONE speaks up this year...that's the ticket right there, everyone must
make themselves heard.
Not just in Pennsylvania,
but anywhere there is a state anti-tethering bill in the works. Grab your camera, take pictures of chained
dogs in your area and we will start a Wall of Shame for your state. Send pictures with state and county the dogs are in to photos@dogsdeservebetter.org
Help us save the 24/7 chained backyard bunnies...uh dogs....everywhere.
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Why My Dog Loves Me - Odie, Maryland
Starr Conway says, my dog, Odie, a
Beagle/Basset mix (a Bagle) loves me because he now has a life that he did not
know was possible. I found Odie (Quincy then) on a website for a local animal
rescue. He was 4 years old, severely underweight, heartworm positive and had
been physically abused. He was so afraid of everything! He had been adopted out
twice and returned within a few days of each adoption. But even in fear, he
loved people.
We adopted this little guy a year and a half
ago. He hid for the first few days and would run and hide at every noise. He still runs when there is a loud noise,
but most of the time he comes back to investigate what it was. He loves to
cuddle and go for long walks. He also loves to go for a ride but wants the ride
to end at home. When we take him with us visiting or camping, he won't relax
until we go back home. He really doesn't like new places.
He has a tendency to hide food (usually in
our bed) which his Dr. said is a common trait in rescue dogs. They feel they
have to hide food in case of hard times. Very sad, don't you think?
When he looks at us, it is with so much love
and he really seems to be saying "Thank You!" Odie was my first rescue after
having many purebred dogs. This has been such a rewarding experience that I
know I will only get rescue dogs in the future.
I am an avid dog lover and I want to express
my sincere thanks for everything that your organization does. You are the best!
Starr, we think you and Odie are the
best! Thank you for giving this little
guy not one, not two, not three, but his
fourth chance that brought him to someone who would love and understand
him. We agree, rescue dogs really are
the best, maybe because they need us. Isn't that what we all desire, to be
loved and needed?
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Chained Dogs Save Lives
We've
always heard turnabout is fair play.
Dogs Deserve Better continually reports chained dogs we have saved; now
let's hear it for those chained dogs that have saved the lives of their people!
Monica Bowden, 11 years old, probably owes her life to
Boomer. Brandon Bates, 7 years, nephew of homeowner Johnny Bates, pets the dog
hero.
Dog
Rescued from Life on a Chain Saves Ohio
Family from Fire
By Karen
Smith · Observer Staff Writer · March
24, 2009
A rescued Rottweiler saved
a sleeping family from dying in a house fire, Livonia Fire Marshal Don
Donnelley told reporter Karen Smith of the Observer. The dog kept nudging his
owner until he got up and saw the smoke in the living room. The home did not
have a functioning smoke detector.
Ironically, the family had
just acquired the dog from a family who had it chained and no longer wanted it.
"They rescued him, and now
he rescued them," Donnelley said. The fire started in a
living room, Donnelley said.
The 2-year-old Rottweiler,
Boomer, alerted owner John Bates at about 5:15
a.m. "He kept putting his cold nose right into my face. He was
bouncing around," Bates said, adding that that was unusual behavior for Boomer.
The family's other dog, a 1-year-old bull mastiff named Princess, was right
behind Boomer.
"I thought they had to go
the bathroom real bad," Bates said.
He got out of bed, let them
out the front door, turned on the light in the living room and saw 4 to 8
inches of smoke on the living room ceiling coming from around the fireplace.
He woke up his girlfriend,
Lisa Bowden, and her two daughters, Monica, 11, and Julia, 18, who got safely
outside the house. Bowden called 9-1-1.
He said the family took
Boomer in about a week before Christmas. The dog had been living outside, tied
to a chain.
The fire marshal said he
can't emphasize enough the importance of having working smoke detectors in a
home. If it hadn't been for Boomer, the family would have died, he said. "The
dog saved their lives."
Read more:
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090324/NEWS10/90324023
Story credited to Karen
Smith, Observer Staff Writer, Pictures by Bill Bresler | Observer staff
photographer
More
stories of chained rescues saving lives:
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Two fatal killings by dogs in Texas
As many of you may already be aware, Dogs Deserve Better has
an affiliate site: www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org where we post severe and deadly
attacks on children by chained dogs and host a support group for parents of the
children involved in these tragedies. Though the attacks are always added to
Mothers Against Dog Chaining, we only frequently report them at Dogs Deserve
Better.
This week however, because of one of our DDB Reps being
interviewed about a recent attack in his area we are reporting two fatal
killings by dogs in Texas, one in Luling involving a chained dog which killed a
2 year old boy and the other in San Antonio. In the second death the dogs were
not chained, however there is more to the story as you will read below.
I would like to thank Katherine
Stolp of Keyetv for her correspondence with me, Dawn Ashby regarding the
attack and www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org
as well as her thorough reporting
announcing the dog as chained. She visited www.mothersagainstdogchaining.org
after her initial report. She was also the only reporter the mother of
the
child agreed to speak with. I hope Katherine
and my conversations helped lead up to that interview. Note, despite
our conversations, they still didn't bring up the connection between
chaining and the death of the child, only the breed of the dog.News Story:
911 Call -WARNING This is very painful to listen to and I would advise
against it. I am linking it here because the 911 call was mentioned during the
interview with the child's mother below.
http://www.keyetv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=22938
Interview by Katherine with 2 year old victim Tyson Miller's
mother
http://www.keyetv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=22995
Dogs Deserve Better San Antonio, Texas Representative Adam
Moran is interviewed as he tries to slow hysteria and talk against breed
bans. Watch Adam: http://www.ksat.com/video/19058874/
Story: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Child_possibly_injured_by_dog.html
Adam gives more information about dogs involved in this
attack:
- The dogs were taught No basic obedience
skills
- One of the dogs bit an 8 year old girl in
the face a few months ago.
- According
to what I've heard, the dogs spent most of their time in a "small
fenced in area" in the back yard. I haven't seen it for myself,
but I'd imagine it was very small. (From watching news clips I would have
to agree with Adam on the size of the yard.)
- The
police haven't decided yet whether or not grandma is going to face
charges. Adam feels she absolutely should, not only because she left
a small child alone with the dogs, but she didn't take any corrective
measures after the dogs bit the 8 year old girl.
Note: Dogs Deserve Better is currently working on
changing Mothers Against Dog Chaining to Parents Against Dog Chaining (PADC)
with a new brochure on the way. HELP US EDUCATE
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"A Lesson in Having Faith Regardless of the Times People Let
Us Down"
Imagine my surprise when I came home on Wednesday afternoon
to find a strange Great Dane waiting for me in the yard. I don't normally stray
rescue with our focus on chained and penned dogs, but when they show up at my
house of course I'm not sending them to the pound. My first assumption was that someone dropped
him off, no tags or collar, he could hardly walk, probably arthritic, someone
didn't want to deal with an older dog and health issues, or maybe they just
couldn't afford to care for him and dropped him off with me knowing that I'd do
my best for him.
I called the local police and ACO to report him found and
gave them my number. I didn't expect anyone
to call looking for him. They never do. I always think...this is someone's
dog...they will call...but they don't and I'm always disappointed. I kept
checking all the local papers, but found nothing about a lost Great Dane.
On Friday morning I took him to the Vet to have his legs
looked at, his age evaluated and most importantly to have him scanned for a
microchip; there was no chip. His age was estimated around 6 or more years
because of the problems with his legs. I
was waiting at least 7 days for someone to claim him before finding a rescue or
foster to take him, 7 days is how long the pound waits before they euthanize.
THEN...LATER....
Still Friday, early evening, I received a call from a desperate man. He said he
was looking for a black & gray merle
Great Dane. I had taken the Dane
to the Vet, did someone see the dog and now were inquiring about adopting? I asked, "You are looking to adopt or
you lost a dog?" "He's lost." He answered. I was already in interrogation mode so I
asked, "Where did you get my
number?" I expected him to say, "From the police or Animal Control.
But he said, "I have been calling all the pounds and rescues in the area
and I am branching out my search."
His story:
His son didn't get the front door latched early Tuesday
morning when he left for school and his dog got out. He lives off of the Interstate and was thinking that maybe someone picked him up. However, his dog had a collar, tags with the dog's name, the guardian's phone number and address. The dog that showed up at
my house the following afternoon had none of these.
He ran a continuing ad in his City paper as well as surrounding counties. He had called the area pound and rescues many
times a day. He lived over an hour away from me, so I didn't see any of his
ads. He said the dog's name was Toby and his ears weren't cropped and he was
gray with black spots. Finally, I was convinced.
I said, "He's here."
The man asked, "What?"
I said, "He's
here at my house."
Then he had me hold the phone up to Toby's ear so he could
talk to him.
It didn't take long before Toby's dad and mom showed up, once they found out
where I was (they had called so many places they didn't even know what town
they were calling). Toby was in the living room lying on the floor when I opened
the door and his dad squeaked his stuffed monkey. Toby was
up, wagging his tail and had the monkey in his mouth in no time flat!
They brought with them Toby's baby book with pix of him as a pup and pix of his parents. They left a check for a $100 donation to Dogs Deserve Better, a plan
for micro-chipping and a promise to email me about how great life is living
with a BIG dog in the house, for those people who tell us their dogs are
chained because, "They are too big for the house."
And Toby's age? Talk about misreading signs, he is only 4
years old! He was probably just aching
from traveling for a day and a half.
That brings me to another big question, "Did Toby lose his collar during
his adventures then showed up just by chance at a rescuer's house more than an
hour away?" "Did someone pick him up
along the way and drop him off with me for help?" Or was it a miracle that led Toby to one of
the safest homes on earth for a giant wayward dog? I guess only Toby knows for
sure.
Now I am eating my share of humble pie. Toby DID have a family who loved him and
they were looking very hard to bring him back home. Happily, everyone is now back where they
should be and I learned that no matter how many horrible situations I encounter
in rescue or how many times I've been let down, I must continue to have faith
in good people.
Dawn Ashby
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Making a Difference in Your Community -
Anti- Tethering Laws
and Limits
This dog in Pennsylvania is anything but 'Lucky'. Visit The Pennsylvania Chained Dogs Wall for more updated photos as we continue to push for a PA State Wide Limit.
Perhaps one of the finest quotes on tethering laws we've
read from a reporter is from Fayette County, Georgia - "People with common sense might not see
the need to regulate this (24/7 tethering), but since there's no law saying
only people with common sense can have pets, we must do as we do for children
and put enough guidelines in place so that harm is prevented." - Jill
Howard Church
Read article
Right now at least 11 cities and counties in North Carolina
have some sort of anti-tethering legislation. The long fight against tethering
in Miami-Dade,
Florida is finally over.
Miami - Dade News Release
Watch Miami - Dade Video
And a couple of the most recent additions are
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Fulton County, Georgia
http://www.unchainyourdog.org/Laws.htm |
Dawn Ashby's Review of "Scream Like Banshee" by Tamira Ci Thayne Between the pages of Tami's first novel I found a plan for
self-improvement, a guide to fostering, and even a 'get out of fostering free
card'. "Scream like Banshee" will take
you on a tour of Tami's life where you will discover how to maintain your
sanity, acknowledge your limitations, how to say NO without feeling like a jerk, and when it is really time for
you to say YES.
Where else would you come across advice like this? "I can
always get another husband or wife. Fostering a dog is very important and makes
a huge difference. It will give me purpose and make a sad dog happy." Or read a
whole chapter titled "Crappy Homes Happen"?
How about some truthful insight into
the life of Dogs Deserve Better Founder and CEO Tamira Ci Thayne? Uncover a few of her successes and failures in
rescue and meet a friend who relates to your trials and will help you conquer
your fears.
Whether you've fostered hundreds of dogs or none, it is an
enjoyable read mixing laughter and empathy with real life situations. Thayne may even leave you questioning
everything you thought you knew about our canine companions and the people who
care about them. A book that is more
than a tool for fostering; it is a declaration of the spirit, heart and soul of
Dogs Deserve Better, its founder and rescuers universally. The moral to this story is "It's OK not to be
perfect; a dog will love you anyway."
Dawn's Guarantee: If
you don't find "Scream Like Banshee" by Tamira Ci Thayne to be everything I
said and more I will gladly present to you 'free of charge' a rescue dog to
foster in your very own home.
-Dawn Ashby, Rescue and Public Liaison Director, Dogs
Deserve Better
Both signed and unsigned copies available for purchase.
Praises For " Scream Like Banshee"
"I finished reading your book and all I can say is WOW!!!
You are an inspiration...you had me crying, laughing, and then crying again! The
story of Banshee had me on edge the entire book...." - Cherie Smith, Smith Virtual Office
".... A lot of diaries sugar coat everything
and you put yourself out there for scrutiny in a very candid way..." -Joe
Horvath, M.A. Animal Care Expo 2009 Las Vegas, Nevada April 6-9, 2009 A chance to meet Tamira Ci Thayne at a workshop to address Dog Chaining Issues: Unchained: A 360-Degree Approach
to End Chaining in Your Community. A comprehensive workshop to address
every facet of the dog chaining issue. Adam Goldfarb, Issues
Specialist, Companion Animals Section, HSUS,Adam Parascandola,
Director, Oakland Animal Services Tamira Ci Thayne, Founder & CEO,
Dogs Deserve Better
Sign up & Attend |
Puddles On the Floor
by Lorena Estep, Illustrated by Tamira Ci
Thayne
Praise for "Puddles on the Floor"
" Puddles on the Floor is an exquisitely illustrated story for children about a beagle who is isolated outdoors on a
chain after he is not properly house-trained. The story behind
the story deserves to become an
illustrated book itself...Thayne's own story could inspire generations of young
people to get involved and make things happen." -Animal People News
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Our
movement is growing, expanding, making HUGE strides, thanks to your
help. Please stick with us, we really CAN change the world for chained
and penned dogs.
Sincerely,
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