CRISIS in Northern Illinois

[pitc9]

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....

[Sudilar]

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.

[Logan]

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)

[pitc9]

........... I just don't know what to say.....


The pups and the people needs prayers and donations!!!

[mugsy]

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?

[Cheshirekatt]

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.

[mugsy]

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.

[Logan]

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

[Cinder & Smoke]

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

[mugsy]

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!

[mugsy]

Oh, and Linda also said that the dogs that they feel will be hard to place will be allowed to go into rescue, but other than that, they will stay there. They have so many apps on these dogs that it sounds as if when they come out of impound on Tuesday that the vast majority of them will already be spoken for, but, I don't know that for sure. It sounds like the DOA has decided that AWL is the place for them to be. Animals were literally walking out the doors in a constant flow.

[Sudilar]

Well, Molly, Mike and Tammy, it was nice meeting you today. Yes, everyone, Molly and Mike brought a wonderful gift of a massive amount of supplies for the poor dogs at AWL. I have seen for myself that something I have always believed to be true....that Molly and Mike really are ANGELS!!!!!

[mugsy]

Thanks Sue, it was great meeting you also. Diana will have to bring you and Shiloh to Findlay in the spring. Diana.....YOU PROMISED!!!

Thanks for all you do with your rescue also....I would classify you as an angel on earth too for all that you have done for the rescue and for dear sweet Killi.

[Sudilar]

Thank you, Molly.

Please keep me updated on Susan's puppies and Tammy's Black and the Rottie.

[mugsy]

We'll see what happens with Tammy's....Andy is being a butthead so I don't know what's going to happen. I know that they told her that they had to bring Ruthie and Zeus up to meet the dogs and see how they get along. I will keep you updated.