Along for the ride:

Thursday, September 4, 2014

(Un)-Ruly and a Rescue the Size of Texas

I have a card that says "Someone please stop me from volunteering again". The new clown dog, who has taken up temporary residence with us, is Ruly.
Our Collie Rescue Group doesn't take on mixes, except when they do:) Ruly was out of time at the shelter and is obviously part smooth collie. The rest of his DNA probably involved some hound, but it's anybody's guess.
Ruly was called Max, as are half the dogs in this world, and he went to join the 9 collies at our area coordinator's farm. A couple are hers, the rest are returning guests as she dog-sits for prior rescues. Max/Ruly was described as exhausting; wearing out the patience of the older dogs with his relentless rough play and lack of manners.
I stayed quiet on the sidelines of the email-group discussion about him, keeping my twitchy trigger-finger away from the buttons that would draw attention to me. We still have a lot going on after our move, not to mention having a business to run.
The gal who originally signed me up to foster, many Dog-Moons ago, is no fool. She innocently wrote to Ruly's beleaguered temporary guardian: "Doesn't so-and-so specialize in The Unruly?". Sideways compliment or baited trap? I jumped in and said that I'd take him on for a few weeks, if I could have naming rights and give him the aspirational name of Ruly.
Ruly is in his third week with us. He's learned to walk on the leash, improve his meet and greet skills with other dogs and make the most of relaxing in front of  the office fan. He relaxes a lot, as my biggest and best rule of dog-training is to keep them as tired as possible.
Ruly's good with cats and kids and a great companion in the car. He's been deemed adoptable and his picture is on Facebook and on the rescue website. Unfortunately, he's being eclipsed by a story from Texas. A woman there had a history of hoarding; breeding collies but never relinquishing them to homes. The initial count of undernourished dogs seized from backyard cages was over ninety. Two pregnant bitches have whelped thirteen and ten pups respectively, over the weekend. Four frightened dogs who've been hiding in the back of their igloos were finally spotted and counted, bringing the total to 120.
There was a hearing earlier today and a judge signed them all over to be cared for and adopted out by Houston Collie Rescue, which is great news. Sometimes dogs can be in legal limbo for months or years before they get a chance at a normal life in a loving home.
At the hearing, it came to light that there are an additional three dozen collies that were hidden at the hoarder's father's house, then transferred back to her since. Concerned neighbors had called in to say that they could still hear dogs barking at her home.
For once an animal abuser was taken away in handcuffs. She had done this before in 2007. Fifty five dogs were taken from her at that time. The current numbers were produced from the ten dogs she hid and kept back then.
Many rescue organizations have reached out to share this load. The financial outlay so far is close to $50,000. The Collie Club of America has donated $10,000 and some pet-food companies have sent supplies. Pilots for Paws are waiting to schedule flights, as needed, to transport dogs across the country. Vets are vaccinating, evaluating and treating all the dogs. Every one has been bathed, micro-chipped and given a name.
We don't yet know how many of these dogs will be allocated to California. If they do come, I've signed up to take two.

18 comments:

  1. It's hard to imagine the sick mind that would keep so many dogs without concern for their well being. Bless people like you and the organizations that step in to help in situations like these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephen, she is obviously mentally ill, with a family of enablers. The things I do are very small compared to the needs out there but they add up with what so many others are doing.

      Delete
  2. It's hard to imagine the thought process of this woman and those that helped her hoard the poor dogs. Very sick. I hope she is banned from ever breeding or for that matter owning a dog in the future.

    Thank you and all those who have the heart and the means to help them have a normal life.

    Ruly is adorable by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grey Horse, people like this usually believe that they are the only ones who can take care of these animals. It's very misguided and blind to the true conditions, however they are in some kind of delusional state.

      Delete
  3. I would like to know when there will be tough enough laws (or taxes) to prevent backyard breeding. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  4. DD, I'm not sure she'd be controlled by any laws. She was breeding without selling any dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Desperately sad story all round . Let's hope it all ends well .
    Ruly does look rather fine !

    ReplyDelete
  6. S&S, the latest strange development is that this woman was using aliases to contact rescue organizations and breeders, to accumulate even more dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like her probation officer will be busy in the years ahead.

    It also sounds as though shelters & rescue groups in multiple states will soon see these collies trickling in. Ruly is lucky to have been placed with you when he was! What a cool dog. If you lived a little closer I may be tempted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kerry, Ruly is a cool dog, These last few days he's gone frombreakthrough to breakthrough in training. He's now understanding what he's supposed to do and trying hard to hold his emotions together when we encounter other dogs. We have two applications in on him already.

      Delete
  8. Ruly is an absolute sweetheart....he seems to have respoindedf to your trainign very rapidly.
    As for the woman in Texas...delusional - and how many iother delusional people are keeping animals in terrible conditions...
    You're a good soul to put your name down for two...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Helen, Ruly is young and just needed some one on one structure to blossom into a great dog. Whoever gets him better keep up the work with him. We'll be supporting and advising his new family. These dogs are all rescued for life.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations on Ruly's transformation. Sometimes all it takes is consistent handling and basic training to turn a good dog around. I think their more basic instincts are to please and once they figure out that behaving is a way to please, they get the idea.

    As to the hoarder....I have to feel sorry for her on a human level as she's clearly mentally challenged, but somewhere along the line someone has to step in to protect the animals. I'm glad the dogs were rescued and hope they all can find good homes eventually.

    Somehow, regardless, the woman has to be stopped from getting any more dogs, though. It's the unfortunate kind of situation where, if she is allowed to live on her own, the authorities need to have the resources to assign someone to check on her every week or so. That's not easy. But can she be locked into some kind of protective custody? Don't know. It's a difficult situation for all concerned, especially the dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Jean, I agree on all your points. The surprise is that this woman is an eye doctor and presents as "normal". She's devious, having used aliases to acquire more dogs from rescues and breeders who would otherwise have recognized her name. She is in jail for perjury, lying to the judge. This is also part of a bankruptcy proceeding. Google Houston collie rescue and follow along as this bizarre story unfolds. Dogs are being vetted today to see who has heartworm etc. It's going to take a while as each case has to be documented and judge approved for release to foster homes. There are some very good people working day and night on this in many different ways.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ruly is a gorgeous dog, I hope he finds a good and loving family soon! I'm thinking my Molly has some smooth collie in her along with black lab, girl is black as night but her nose is as long as the day! Lol!

    Animal hoarders break my heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HinH, Ruly is indeed charismatic. He has several people interested in him and we're evaluating the best match. I'll look for photos of your dog on your blog.
      There are pictures now circulating of the Texas collies as they start to relax in their foster homes. They seem so exhausted and relieved to be safe and loved. Each one brings tears to my eyes for what they've been through. So many folks are stepping up that we may not be needed.

      Delete
  13. Gosh what a story. There are some nutters out there. There was a story in Ireland during the summer of an investigation into an animal rescue centre which was nothing more than a hoarder presenting herself as a saint to the world for taking in all these unfortunate dogs cats & horses too, I believe. There's a court case pending BUT the animals were given back to her from the care of the ISPCA because of a court order. The law is an ass in any instances but it sounds like they're better at looking out for the animal's interests in Texas.
    PS best of luck to Ruly he looks like a real character

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tails, The laws are not written with animals in mind, except as property. This seems to have gone really quickly, in part because it was a bankruptcy proceeding, in part because she pissed off the judge by repeated lies.
      Our last huge rescue took two years for the dogs to be released for adoption. They were in temporary shelters at the Fairgrounds and had food and medical care but no families to love them. Two years is a lot in dog years, as you know:(

      Delete