A Sad and Frustrating Situation

[Denyce]

I posted this thread here rather than in the Dog section because I wanted as many people to read this as possible.

For many months I have been involved with some other people trying to help this dog. Here in "Happy Valley" there is a couple of rather sad pathetic trailer parks. This one is the worst of them all and where this dog lives is in the worst trailer of that park.

Someone brought this dog to my attention several months ago through a letter. The dog is clearly visible from a very main street (Atherton Street for any who know the area). He is also visable from the parking lot of a mini mall right next to the trailer park. The main restaurant there is Highway Pizza. It is also across from one of two Wal-marts we have in this area.

A friend of mine, Ingrid, and I went to talk to the owner of this dog. According to the police we later spoke with we were lucky he didn't stick a gun in our faces. He told us this dog had lived in these conditions for 17 years. I know. I haven't told you the conditions yet. So here goes....*sigh*

The dog is tied by a 8 foot chain on a muddy, icy, filthy slope. There is no where that the dog...whose name is Snowball by the way...can lie down where he isn't lying in filth including his own feces. The dog is blind with one eyeball protruding from the socket. He is skin and bones with arthritis in his back hips so bad he can hardly move. Yet he has only one little patch of slightly level ground he can stand/lie upon. He never has fresh water or food freely available to him. When we were there at 10:30 am on a Sat morning Snowball and the other dogs...yes there are others...were eating snow because they had no water to drink yet. There is evidence of frostbite on his ears and nose. He has sort of a shelter but there wasn't any bedding in it at all. Just a bare muddy floor without a covering over the entrance to shelter him.

We have tried the SPCA, the Dog Law Enforcement Officer, the Patton Township Police, a Judge with the Centre County Courthouse and the local District Magistrate. NO ONE....NO ONE will step up to help this dog. The all hide behind our pathetic laws that do not REALLY define what a shelter is. And as long as he has a "shelter" they won't do anything about it. If John (the manager of the SPCA) were to confiscate the dog he would put him to sleep. WE have a home for the dog to live out the rest of his life in comfort. WE have places for the other dogs. But no one in authority will do anything about this.

In Centre County PA the dogs have no heros like Anna Marie Lucas in NYC. They have no one but the few citizens that try to do their best. We need new laws here. And we are going to start to make an attempt for that. But unfortunately it won't be in time to save Snowball.

I just had to get this off my chest.

[Denyce]

I am sorry this ended up so big. I don't know how to resize photos very well.

Denyce

[Twisterdog]

I am familar with those frustrations. I have been in many similar situations here.

It is indeed frustrating when we see and know very well that the "shelter" is not sheltering in any meaningful way ... yet the law calls it shelter. Here, a barrel lying on it's side in the snow is "shelter."

However ... no water is no water. And no food is no food.

A good place to start is by taking pictures of the dog with no water and no food, and make sure the camera has a date and time stamp that shows up on the photos. Take a picture every hour for days or weeks. Obviously, you'll want a telephoto lens, so you don't get caught.

If the authorities won't cooperate, go to the media. Take your pictures, video tape, witness statements, whatever. If your local paper won't touch it, go to the next largest town. I got the television station in Salt Lake City, Utah to cover a story 100 miles away in Wyoming once. Keep trying. A squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Or .... offer to buy the dog from him. Do not imply in any way that he is taking bad care of the dog. Be nothing but friendly and nice. Say that your grandmother had a dog that looked JUST like Snowball, and sadly, her dog died last week. Granny is simply heartbroken and beside herself ... won't eat, can't sleep ... she's getting a little senile, doncha know? Misses her dog TERRIBLY!!! Offer to buy his dog for $50, $100, whatever it takes ... so you can give him to your poor grieving Grandma. Offer this on a Friday ... he'll be more likely to want money with the weekend coming up.

Good luck.

[Blustang24]

That is such a shame. After all of the situations that seem so minor to that (although they aren't really minor) situation that get taken care of then the animals are taken from their "owners" and the owners are prosecuted you would think ONE of those authorities would lock the guy up for what he's done and for what sounds like threatening people with a gun. it goes to show that the dog svet care and the guy isn't providing it, therefor the dog should be taken from him. He's also just leaving the dog in the snow with an unacceptable shelter which doesn't even have proper flooring or anything.....I wish authorites would get off of their high horses and give up the political BS and do their jobs. As sad as it is to say, but it seems as the dog would be better off euthanized than live in those conditions. God Bless that dog, and may that so called owner rott in hell.



Thanks for sharing this though...it's just so sad and unfortunate.

[lovemyshiba]

Oh Denyce, I am in tears reading this post.
I know exactly where you are talking about, however, I haven't seen Snowball ever, but I haven't even been to that Hiway Pizza in years.

This sucks so bad--I want to do something for Snowball. I like Twisterdog's idea of offering money for him--some of those "people" would love to get money for doing nothing.
It was very brave of you and your friend to go to the guy's "house"--I used to work with a girl who lived in that area, and she and her boyfriend were downright scary.

I'm sure you have called everyone you can think of, and I don't really have any suggestions, unfortunatley

I'm going to take my camera over there first thing in the morning and get some pictures--maybe the CDT would run a story on him.
Patton Township does not have anyone for animal control--the last time we found 2 strays, we called the cops, and he told me to go to a township meeting and try to bring up the idea--as a cop, he said they get so many calls about dogs, that could easily be handled by an animal control officer.

Please keep me updated.

[Denyce]

We have offered money for the dog. We offered hundreds of dollars for him. We offered money for the cat Baby that he claimed was his and was pregnant back in Feb...he refuses to let her in the house. He wouldn't take that either. We offered new dog houses...veterinary care...food.....anything we could think of. He refuses it all. I suspect there are drug dealings going on in that trailer. There is a very large and mean sounding dog inside of the trailer that no one has ever seen. I would have just taken the cat but it was too dangerous. There isn't an easy escape route. The cop we talked to there knew just who we were speaking of before we got the name out. He comment was .... and I quote...."We can't get the kids out of that filthy situation what do you expect me to be able to do about dogs".

We have taken tons of pictures. We have written EXTENSIVE reports with our observations on many occasions. We have been over there observing enough that the Sergeant said the owner wishes to press harrasment and stalking charges. Of course...we aren't the only ones. There have been NUMEROUS people over there. So the owner thinks we are ALL the same people.

I have told soooo many people about this situation. Everyone in Centre County that deals with animals knows about this situation. I wanted it to go to court so we could keep this man from owning more animals. But the authorities just won't deal with it.

We have talked to people at the CDT and they won't touch it. Today I am going to write a letter to the editor and see if I can get that printed. We were avoiding going public till we had exhausted all the other legal routes. That is why I waited so long in unburdening this story here.

We are also going to use this situation as our cornerstone as to why our laws need to be changed. Why we need what a shelter is to be defined clearly.

As for the lack of food and water the authorities have to go by the condition of the animals. Because the owner can always say he just fed and watered them. There is nothing in the law that says fresh, clean water must be available at ALL times. But perhaps it should. The dogs are not as skinny as they could be because one well-meaning person was sneaking in at night and feeding the dogs.

Sometimes the world can just suck.

But we have to keep our eyes on the big goal and try to change this.

Denyce

[ramanth]

How heartbreaking and sickening.

I hope your voices are some day heard. *hugs*

[lovemyshiba]

I saw Snowball this morning,

What a sad dog. There are at least 4 others nearby, in the same situations, and I saw a few cats roaming around too.
This is near a MAJOR road.

God Bless Sweet Snowball.
It seems as though nothing can be done.

[ILoveReptiles]

This is sickening. My heart goes out to that poor dog. And I hope his so-called owner rots in hell.

He must be one sick and twisted individual intent on harming this dog if he's outright refusing your money... You'd think that someone living in such squallor would welcome some spare cash.

Unbelievable.

[Denyce]

Emily,

It was terrifying going in there. I am not an easily intimidatable person. In fact when someone tries to intimidate me I become more belligerant and fiesty. But this place scared me. The owner himself was very nice to Ingrid and I that day. His wife was screaming obsenities at us from inside the home. I definately do not want to have this person know who we are.

I am latching onto an idea here when you mentioned the township meetings. I wonder what would happen if we presented this to the township supervisors? I also have something I typed up that I would love to get opinions on.

Could you see the other dogs from the parking lot? I know Beethoven is the Collie/Basset Hound mix that is usually nearer Snowball. I also have a pic of a puppy that was tied near the front of his trailer. I will post that one too. I have to wait till I get home. I messed it up and the original is on my computer at home. What other dogs did you see? We have been ordered to stay at least 50 feet away from him.

Denyce

[lovemyshiba]

I was driving down Atherton Street and I noticed a black dog and a brown dog, and I pulled into the Hi Way parking lot and saw Snowball and probably Beethoven. There was a woman sitting outside on a porch there, and she did NOT look friendly, so I quickly turned away, and went into the liquor store. I wanted to pretend I was in that parking lot for SOMETHING, so she didn't call the cops on me or anything.

I hadn't noticed Snowball before, but now everytime I drive by I see his sad face. Poor doggie.

Dogs Deserve Better is a group dedicated to getting dogs unchained and inside where they belong. They are located in Tipton, PA (I can't remember where that is exactly).

Maybe they could help in some way.

http://www.dogsdeservebetter.com/home.html

[Denyce]

Good Morning,

Yes once you know he is there it is hard not to look for him.

We have been in contact with the people at Dogs Deserve Better and they have been aware of Snowball since last September. Even longer than we have been. They are a great organization and we are working further with them I believe on the law situation.

Here is the photo of the puppy tied up at the front of the trailer. You can't see him from the parking lot. You actually have to drive into the park to see him and that isn't a real safe thing to do.

[lovemyshiba]

I guess we could always call PETA in
http://www.helpinganimals.com/angelpack.asp

I was looking up the laws in Pennsylvania for animal cruelty--boy are they weak!!!!!

I think it's time to sharpen up my letter writing skills!!!

I know that "neighborhood" is scary. I used to work with a girl who lived there, her and her drug dealing, pistol toting boyfriend who beat their kids. Wonderful people
It's too bad they don't demolish this one too.

[Tonya]

How sad. I really hope that you all are able to find help for them. That trailer park does look a bit scary. Working for the phone company, I run into crap like that too. It's really frustrating sometimes. I don't understand why people can be so stubborn. You'd think that they'd much rather have some cash then the dog. It amazes me how sometimes they say things like "Oh, I can't sell that dog, I love him." If you love him, then take care of him!

[lizbud]

Geeze, that trailer park is a dump.. It doesn't look
habitable by any health standards. Please use ANY group or
organization you can find to help get these poor animals out
of there. Surely you can't be the only person who would be
appalled by this situation.

The place should be closed down & all the animals confiscated.
I worry also about the poor children who have to live in that
mess.