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I've just been notified that a backyard breeder in Joliet is being shut down. Animal Control already has 30 GSDs and are expecting 50-60 more. Most are 6-7 months old. This is just horrible.
I may just have to take in a foster (like that will really help all these poor innocents). I don't know if it is a good idea with Killian's autoimmune disease, though.........but I have to do something!!!!
I am asking for prayers for these poor dogs. What a hopeless situation!
Helping to save one is better than worrying, Sue. This is a horrible tragedy. :( You keep us posted as you can, please, and all those precious GSD will be in our prayers.
Logan
I e-mailed my vet to ask for her help in checking out these GSDs and also if she thinks it would be ok for Killian to have a foster here again. Hopefully she says yes.
They are being held at the shelter where Killian and Shiloh are from. Four rescues are working on this. I am going to see if I can sneak in and see these guys at the shelter this weekend. What a tragedy. Maybe I can transport.
Sue,
Do you know what rescues are working on it? I'm going to contact some and don't really want to overlap. I will call my rescue contacts. Hopefully, Carol (Diesels Mom) will come online and see this and maybe she can help. She is involved with LabLinks. I will do my best.
Molly
Molly, there are four GSD rescues working on this. Northern Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue www.gsdrni.org is one of them. I volunteer for them. I am not sure, but Central IL GSD rescue may be in on it, too.
I've got my friend Kim on the trail of rescues now. I just had a kid go out and get my cell phone so I could call her and ask. She knows of one rescue that may help and she will give me the info when I call her when I leave school. The battery is low now, so I will call Jackie when I get in the car. I will call Valerie in MN to see if she can help (although I want her to take Mack from Jackie if she hasn't found a place for him). I will call Holly to see what she can do too. I'll alert Carol to your thread and her put feelers out. I will call Ruth when I get home...I know she does rescue, but it's mostly small dogs and they are just a few people who have foster homes. I will probably see if Rosie can take a few at Southside Animal Shelter. I hope they can all be saved. I'm so bad...I have papers to grade and record and what am I doing? Looking for rescues! lol Oh well, this is more important....the kids can wait one more day.
Sue, Kim wanted to know if you could give me any more information so she could pass it along to other rescues.
Molly
Pm'd you, Molly!
How awfully, awfully sad.
I have started e-mail people in my area. I am about 30 Miles East of Cleveland, OH. The rescue I got Sierra from is no longer a GSD rescue, but there is another rescue close to me, and I have sent my spider webbing e-mails to all the people I know that would help! TRUST me... if I had somewhere to house the pups, I'd take as many as I could! But I have a small house!
Paws and fingers crossed that we can help some of these poor pups!!!!:( :(
*The rescue I am contacting is DOGS HOPE in Lake County Ohio*
www.dogshope.com
I have a friend in Michigan (the girl who has James Bond, Moses, and Timber the black and tans) who is willing to take the long haired and blacks....Kari has her info....I hope it works out.
Sue, Thanks for the call...it was good to hear your voice. Please let me know. Kari did finally call, but left a voice mail on my cell phone.
OMG, Molly! There are 160 of them coming in now.
I have been there to see them. The eyes, the eyes...Yes, we will need all the help we can get. Kari is going on two days with no sleep and is exhausted. She has been at the shelter since 1:30 this morning and still going, waiting for a new shipment of 30 more dogs in a few hours.
It is hell. I have seen it.
Any all breed rescues, Husky, Beagle, Pit Bull could help by pulling the dogs who are already at the shelter to make room for the GSDs.
This is the shelter Killi and Shi are from...It is a kill shelter.
Gotta go spread the word. Thanks for the help and to all who can help.
Found this one, Molly!
What shelter is this? Do they have a webpage or anything? I can forward to all of my contacts as soon as I get home from work tonight. Molly - can you send me a link to the shelter page via e-mail?
-Carol
160, Sue??? OMG..........I don't know what I can offer from this far distance, other than prayers, which I will do right away. Please keep us posted. :(
Sue, I crossposted to Just Dogs, in hopes that Tracy will see this and jump in with any assistance she can handle. I will crosspost anywhere else i can, as well.
Is there any media link that we can share??? If anyone has something, post it here, so we can share it with the other information.
Logan
Just got further info on the GSD situation. There is a phone number at the end, if anyone is able to help.
Donations are being accepted - food, blankets, bowls, crates, funds - anything at all!
--Carol
This makes the Arenac Husky Crisis look like a cake walk. OMG.
Permission to Cross Post. Phone numbers given in message are the contact, please don't reply to me or the list.
Laurel
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 11:03 AM
And here's what I'm talking about. Geez. ;-)
This is Beth Riddle writing regarding a very serious atrocity that has occurred in our state and in our little German Shepherd community.
A mentally ill woman was served a warrant on Dec 16th and Dec 17th regarding the removal of animals from her property. The first wave consisted of about 90 dogs and over 70 of them were purebred GSD's. Last night at 11pm I received a phone call from my colleague that had just finished cataloging the final pull from the womans house. 160 young GSD's , nursing mothers, pups, and just a small handful were other breeds. The GSD community is shocked. I am crying and shaking as I write you, because we worked so hard yesterday to pull just the first 22 out of the shelter and get them into rescue. Then as we were going to bed feeling pretty good, I received this phone call. The holidays make finding kennel space impossible. We are begging, we never beg, but we are on our knees to former adopters, contributors, anyone who loves German Shepherds to please help this huge rescue effort. The shelter cannot coordinate the rescues, so it is a team effort consists of Northern IL GSD Rescue, their founder and President is logging and cataloging the dogs, Chicagoland GSD Rescue is digging up a couple spaces and on the phone, Central Illinois GSD Rescue is contacting nationally and coordinating transport, foster care, and will also be pulling some of these angels. They are everywhere at the shelter. They are in cages, kennels, tied to the walls, and though they were eating dirt, had no food, are close to starvation, they just look at us and wag their tails. It is absolutely killing us to see this. We could use money for medical care, we could use puppy canned food and puppy dry food, puppy pan to feed them in, crates, kennels and most of all space! Anyone with a farm that could serve as a temporary M*A*S*H unit, or shelter. I stress there is no where to go with these kids. Transporters for national distribution. I can't even think.
IF you want to help, please call at 217-337-5832 or 217-377-7135 and we'll figure something out. Thank you for your consideration.
Rick and Beth Riddle
Central Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue Urbana, IL
If anyone can provide a Pay Pal link or an address to a specific person/rescue who is accepting donations, it would help. I do not want to flood this woman with phone calls if we can donate from our various states, without interrupting her busy schedule at this time.
Good God. It is all I can say. What a tragedy.
I'm trying to find out if there is a paypal account or website set up. If I hear any more, I'll post it. I wish I were closer.Quote:
Originally posted by Logan
If anyone can provide a Pay Pal link or an address to a specific person/rescue who is accepting donations, it would help. I do not want to flood this woman with phone calls if we can donate from our various states, without interrupting her busy schedule at this time.
--Carol
I know I'm not in IL, but I just spoke to a friend that has room, and would be willing to take in a few. She is more than willing to take moms and pups.
She and I will help with the transport as far as we can.
I am starting to collect from people I know for the shelter!
**I just checked and we are 7 hours away from Joliet**
grrrr..... I wish I were closer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sue,
I saw this on the Illinois Rescue website. Are these the same
dogs you spoke of?
Potential adopters & much appreciated contributors:
http://www.gsdhaven.org/
It does list some more info & paypal account info.
Such a sad thing for this beautiful dogs.:(
Thank you for letting us know of this additional info. There is a Paypal account listed on that link so we can do something however big or small to help.
Kim said she would take a few and my new friend Jackie said she will take at least 10 pups and1 of the moms with nursing pups. We're getting there. Jackie also has a box of collars to donate and a couple of crates. I left Mike an voice mail to see if he cares if we donate most of the crates we have and dog bowls and whatever else we can come up with.
From Tracy at Just Dogs:
Gosh I haven't been to the Pet Talk board in a long time but there's a huge thread on the situation on the GSD board.
The story is on the Central Illinois GSD Rescue page. It's a major mess but they have many rescues and transporters stepping forward already.GSD Board and Central Illinois Rescue Page
I am working here in Cleveland with a group of people to get stuff together to send, also finding people willing to house pups! (at least two people already)
There are a three of us willing to drive at least three of the seven hours between Cleve and the pups!
Angie, want to come to Fort Wayne? I am thinking about going up on Saturday if Mike doesn't have a problem with it. We could ride together and split the gas!!
I have to check with the people that are willing to take the pups in. (I do not have the room to house any dogs:( )
I also have to check with my hubby.
I'll let you know.
Unfortunatly I am busy this weekend, but if you need help later (like the following weekend) getting some pups closer to you Ang, I may be able to help.
Well, if I can take 2 pups with me on Saturday, my school roomie's parents want 2. I hope they can work it out. If all goes right, I think I've found places for 17 or 18 of them.
And, it's official, I'm driving up on Saturday with all the donations.
Thank you for your outpouring of help and prayers. I believe that only 23 are cleared for moving out as of this moment. The rest have to stay for 10 days before they can be released. I will send this page to Kari to let her know.
Molly, I will pm you as soon as I can.
I can't even begin to tell you the horror of looking into those cages. I can't get it out of my mind.......
It will be on the Channel 7 news Chicago. I don't know if it will be tonight or tomorrow.
Amy thank you, I will let you know when we get something together for a transport!
Molly, I can not do anything this weekend, but I should have things set up in 10 days when more are released. I'll let the two people know (Jen and Michelle) that can take in a few, I know my one friend Jen is willing to take a nursing mother and pups, but I also think a 7 hour drive might be to long for them!! But then again... it would be better then nothing :(
I just can't stop thinking about these pups....:(
The latest report is that there are over 200 now. This is sickening. The woman won't let them in her home. Each time they go there they find more and more. Mostly puppies. Sick.
Read this update this morning on the Central Illinois GSD Rescue site.
Update: from Elizabeth (12-18-03): It is much worse than we ever imagined. The final vans arrived last night about 8:30pm. There are 160 just from yesterday. There are a lot of litters of pups and nursing mommies. This has us all in tears, it is too overwhelming. We need pens, whelping boxes, puppy pans, puppy food (canned and solid), Gerber Rice Cereal, powdered milk, and specialty homes that can handle nursing moms and weaning. Please contact us at [email protected] if you can help. We are not looking for people who think they can do it, we need people that can. It is tons of work. All of these last 160 dogs were inside this ladies house. How someone could do this.....
and
The sadness stems from the fact that this collector had, out of the approximately 90 surviving dogs, over 70 German Shepherds. An additional 160 surviving dogs were confiscated from inside the owner's house. This is a total of well over two hundred dogs that will be needing loving homes and medical care! Most of these dogs are between the ages of 6-9 months. (updated: 12-18-03)
........... I just don't know what to say.....:(
The pups and the people needs prayers and donations!!!
Oiy! I feel so helpless. I was so excited because I had gotten donations, but, this is simply overwhelming. What's going to happen to the non GSDs? Well, Tammy and I are leaving about noon from Fort Wayne (that's 11am in Chicago), so should be there around 3:30 (2:30cst). I went up and picked up 3 bags of food, about 30 collars and leashes, and 6 bottles of shampoo from a local pet store. I will bringing probably 6-8 crates from home as well as more shampoo. It just seems so little. Well, we do what we can...it just won't be much. :( :(
Sue are you going to go tomorrow?
I cross posted this on another board and I head some good news.
The person I was chatting with and her friend went to the shelter and said there were hundreds of people lined up to adopt the doggies.
Her friend ended up adopting a 14 month old female who will be going home with her next week. :)
At least one happy ending.
I've talked to the shelter myself. They are in need of Gerber baby food (chicken), powdered milk, rubber gloves, paper towels....I am adding anti-bacterial cleaners that are pet friendly. I have contacted my local Kroger and the manager said he would give me a $20 gift card, so I'm going tomorrow morning to get some of it before I leave. Maybe that would be a way that out of towners could help. Send a gift card for a grocer.
Also, the woman I talked to said that , yes, there are LOTS of people looking to adopt, but they also have the 500 dogs that they already had, so some may not go.:( But the good news is that there are a lot of people trying to help.
Molly, reading about all that you are doing warmed my heart tonight. Thank you for taking the first day of your vacation to go help these dogs and volunteers. I wish I were closer and could do something more than just send money. Will be looking for updates when I get back into town on Sunday.
Logan :)
Hopefully MOLLY will check in with a FirstHand report...
There have been 3 pages of Posts on the GSD Rescue BBS today -
All reporting or comenting on some reported problems with
how the rescue effort is stumbling over DoA "red tape" and "regulations".
Feel free to read it for yourself...
The FirstHand Reports *START* at the Bottom of Page 7...
GSD Rescue BBS - CURRENT SITUATION (Pg 7)
Sure hope Molly's Efforts were better appreciated than some were...
/s/ Phred
Well, after an exhausting and emotionally draining day, we are home as of 9:35 with the dogs all fed by 9:40 (and checking on Pause the stray cat).
We were greeted by a chaotic situation. There were people EVERYWHERE! There was not one parking place to be had in the entire place. People were parking on the side street and walking. We pulled in and after 2 attempts, someone finally opened the gate and we drove back to the receiving area. We opened the side door and the back and the people's eyes about popped out of their heads. We had between 350-375 pounds of dog food, probably 20 rolls of paper towel, a bag of puppy pads, about 45 jars of baby food, about 12 bowls, pet meds, a laundry hampter, a bag of about 30 collars and leashes, a GIGANTIC box and a smaller box of dried milk, 15 bottles of dog shampoo, 40 pairs of latex and vinyl gloves, and 4 crates (we just couldn't get to the rest of our since they were in our storage unit all the way to the back and it would have taken us hours to get to them).
We were then greeted by the director of the shelter, Linda, who promptly told us that God would bless us and gave Mike a big hug. She then invited us into the back of the shelter and gave us a tour. She even allowed us into the impound room to see the dogs that are evidence in the case. Tammy put a hold on 2 of the dogs.
I will say that there were just not enough employees there to do the work. They need at least 10 people that all they should be doing is cleaning kennels. They all had feces in them, but other than that were fine. Such sad sweet faces. There was an Am Staff and a yellow lab that tugged at my heart strings especially.
I talked to Linda and she said that Animal Welfare League is a no kill adoptable shelter, meaning that any animal that is not too sick (like mortally sick) or too aggressive will not be euthanized. That place is like a maze. They have 600 kennels and then there were cages with dogs in them out in the halls...just everywhere. When we finally made our way into the main lobby 15 minutes before they closed and it was still packed and there were still employees there handing out applications. The dedication of this staff was amazing.
Honestly, besides the chaos, I was actually pretty impressed with the place. The people working in the isolation room with the 29 pups that are on IVs, all wore disposible sterile suits. They have 5 vets on the payroll. Also when we got there, we went back in the donation area and there were 4 pallets full of donated dog food waiting to be brought in and people were bringing in bags as we were leaving. There was a constant flow of people donating. My friend Susan's parents are going to adopt 2 of the pups and the adoption fee will total $170 and they will be donating $230 additional dollars.
Ok, I'm done babbling now. If anyone has any other questions that we can answer just let me know!