Good post, but sorry a$$ people will not change! It's time to get the politicians and law enforcement off their political a$$es to start doing their jobs, making ordinances & enforcing them... I have seen an unbelievable amount of cruelty as well, in Lake George. There was a black lab limped around the neighborhood for a while dragging half his body. Apparently had been hit by one of these IDIOTS and it shattered the front half of its chest and leg. Then another lab, that someone had hit in the face (found out with a golf club) because they didn't want to have to pet it and completely busted it's jaw. It had to be put down as well. Both could have been prevented if the animals would have been contained in their yards in the first place. Irregardless that type of cruelty is uncalled for. And its people like you and I that feel so bad for the animals, and try to do our best, whatever that is...

There is a rental property to the backside of me. Everytime the renters come and go they leave animals. A few years ago when the property woodline was cleared I found a colony of cats. Trapped fifteen, tammed what I could. Had all of them fixed tammed or not, shots, and found them all homes. It still hasn't stopped. One time the renters left a dog locked up back there. I didn't know it til another neighbor alerted me. Now, he had no intention of calling the law, but left it up to me. So tell me, if I hadn't who would have? The rest of these sorry a$$ people would have just let it starve to death... I don't get it!

A women and man (shack job) lived behind me one time. They would tie their female doberman on top of a 6ft. high porch with enough rope the dog would jump off and hang itself barely able to touch the ground with it's back feet. I keep hearing the dog whinning over a period of time (on and off for several days). Finally in order for me to check on the dog I had to put a latter up to my fence to see over theirs. Sure enough the dog was hanging there. I called my husband to come help, the dog was so scared of us it pi$$ed itself. Now, unless an animal is abused it usually doesn't act that way. After the woman came home that evening I went over and told her. She said she would have him take care of it. Well the next day the same thing. So I go back over to help the dog again. Knock on the door that afternoon, he answers. Again, the same response, okay, next day same thing. At this point I went off. I told both of them fix the problem or I would. Anyway the man brought up the fact that he beat the dog. I riped his a$$ up one side and down the other. I told him I had better never see it going on. Anyway we had words. The dog finally got away one day, I caught her. Called animal control and made sure she got a good home to live out the rest of her days in peace...

Anyway, you get the idea when I say sorry a$$ people will never change. Not just that, but what about all the other people that live around the same ones that commit the cruelty and do nothing. That pi$$es me just as bad, and I hate them for it too...

Then we have the backyard breeders who prostitute (not exactly the word I wanted to use) animals for their own greed. Make them accountable (register each animal when they are given their shots) for every animal in the litters, the ones that get too old to sell, not pretty enough, can't hear, blind, etc.,. That will stop alot of this crap, cruelty is cruelty. If they don't kill them, they turn them out for strays. What do people think breeders do with all the animals they can't sell? And it's not right whatever word (breeder) you use to describe it. I can show you two different ones close by me, litter after litter, stray after stray...

If it takes a year just for the county commissioners to review reasonable ordinances for prevention of animal cruelty, it's time for the whole lot to be replaced...

WHL please don't hold back and tell us how you REALLY feel......

You already know I don't coat the truth, pretty or not! Don't get me started again Up2... :()

Thank you all so much for posting a response. I truly feel that people will start being held resposible for their actions. It is time for a change to happen around these areas and it will happen. Get ready to all the ones that abuse and mistreat animals. Judgement day has arrived!

If you are really worried about cruelty to animals then shut down all breeders, not just the puppy mills. Do away with clipping a docking as someone's ideal of beauty. Check out some of the slaughter houses, do research on how veal is made.... Talk to me about the chicken trucks taking them to market or the cock fighting. It is everywhere. If you want to fight it, fight ALL of it.

up2sumptin,
It appears your words are disparaging in nature. Well, you are right about the slaughter houses and chicken trucks and cock fighting. I can not simply argue that fact and how deplorable the situations are. Thankfully there are many national organizations that tackle that problem. My problem is more at the local level and the despicable treatment of animals among people that have no respect for the animals that they wanted to take care off. To me, if one can not take care of their animals then they think very little of themselves and certainly have no respect for human kind.

The many instances of animal abuse that happens world wide just goes to show how pathetic people of all races, ethnicity, backgrounds, and cultures who abuse animals or kill them with inhumane ways only to make money. It is an ever going problem with no easy solution. It is getting better though, to a certain extent.

Now, your argument with me is (if I understand it correctly) is if I am so worried about animal abuse then why do I not do something more to help. Well my friend, lets tackle one problem at a time here. Shall we not hold people responsible for their actions when we see the abuse right in front of us on a daily basis? Should we allow the dogs and cats to wonder around freezing at night with little to eat because someone does not want to take care of them anymore? Would you like to do that?

The problem that faces our very community we live in is due to people thinking that they can take an animal in only to abuse them later on. Please understand that I am not saying that all people are “bad”. There are many, many people within our community that take care of their pets. These people I have respect for, but not the others.

Back to your comment then, I do fight these other fights you mention so thank you for that reminder. Once again however, I live here and when I see the problem firsthand, I will do something about it. What will you do?

I had no intent to offend. If I did then I apologize. What I was attempting to say was there are numerous examples of animal abuse all around us, not just the unwanted/unloved pet. If one has the burden of stopping/being an advocate against animal cruelity on one's heart, then they need to widen their scope to all forms of abuses. I hope this better explains what I was trying to say.

up2sumptin,
I think I just fell in love with you a little

WHL,

I think you might be looking for the word "exploit" but the word you used also pretty well sums it up.

Your are exactly right in your assessment. I rescued a pup dumped on my road that is surely the product of an accidental breeding between purebred dogs belonging to a local breeder and some neighborhood mongrel. This puppy was dumped with one other (which died) on my road at the tender age of six weeks old. She was full of worms, besides being weaned too young.

There simply is no code of ethics that shapes the behavior of too many people with animals out here. It isn't just limited to dogs and cats either. I live next to a guy who considers himself a professional horseman but who also feeds his horses moldy (to the point of being black all the way through) hay. It's a recipe for COPD as well as botulism. This horse is kept in a paddock that abuts a main highway and the hay is easily seen but does anything happen to this guy?

There are laws pertaining to animal cruelty. It's a pity they are rarely enforced.

I get your point Up2, and I agree with you. Although I am a meat eater, if I lived on a farm (which is my plans later on) I would do my own killing. Killing for food to me is very different then killing for no reason (I believe the word the IDIOTS use is "sport"). And abuse to me describes something totally different. Your point of the slaughter houses and chicken chambers to me are abuse because of the way the whole process of the killings are handled. Again, this is the responsibility of mankind to ensure. Most of the people that work in just such places are very uneducated or drunks, junkies and felons (if you get my drift)...

Another point I will bring up is the fact that these animals are filled with steriods and fed filth. That is unhealthy for human consumption within itself and causes disease (mad cow being one such)...

Also when I said "I am a meat eater", sometimes I will go for a couple of months without meat. On a norm I have meat maybe once a month. It does not agree with me well and I believe it is because of the steroids and chemicals used in the processing. My normal diet consist of fruits, breads, nuts, and vegetables, occasionally fish!...

Here are some other forms of cruelty for you to consider. Dog hunting, the hunters will cage the dogs for days in a cramped hot box so when they are turned loose to hunt they will run themselves to no end. And what about all the ones that get lost, to starve, only to get hit by cars. Then we have the good ole' boy "coon" hunters. Who use pack dogs to chase the raccoons up trees to shoot for (?), their p@nis. Yes folks pen*s, to make toothpics. Now let's go into deer hunting. While I understand the population has to be cleared because they breed so rapidly. But what about killing the little babies because the meat is more tender or just killing for the word "sport". What to hang a "rack" on a wall. Why not let the DNR do a yearly kill off and process the meat for homeless shelters, or sell it off to help support other DNR causes... Is this some of the open minded cruelty you were refering?...

As for breeding, no I don't agree with it at all, that's my personal feelings. But what I can agree on, is the ones that make the choice to do so, be held accountable for their actions. If you really want to see what breeders do to the unwanted animals go to the Peta website (bet you want get through the first story without anger and tears)...

I will say this about PETA before someone jumps on that. For along time I thought some of the actions of PETA was to the very extreme til I watched that HBO special. Now I understand why they go for the outragious, to bring attention to their cause. To get an average storied aired on television is almost impossible because there are so many. In order for them to get the spotlight on their cause they have to be crazy with it at times... I get it! The lady that started PETA, worked in an animal control facility years back. And said it was the worst thing she had ever seen in her life. She started going in early so she could hold the animals and show them some care before they were euthanized. Her description of the situation the animals were in was horrible abuse... That's what started her fight for the cause!

"Mur", on your note of the IDIOT, I mean horseman. I will tell you, for such neglect of a horse in Florida the law would bust his a$$. I no a cop there that was driving by a place and saw a field of cattle upto their knees in sh*t and mud. The officer requested dispatch send him a semi-truck to load the cattle and take them to a safehaven ranch. They did it too! I thought that was so cool. If you own a horse in Florida, you have to have it in a pen with so much footage of running room or you can't have one...

The stuff we have all mentioned is really just common sense, unfortunately we no longer live in a common sense society. If laws are not mandated for the IDIOTS to be forced to follow, they have no morale fortitude to do it on their own... Now if we just had the right enforcement to do the enforcing, problem solved!

WHL, you are right about PETA and Florida law. What might surprise you, though, is that the State of Georgia has a pretty good body of law pertaining to equine welfare and even a good mechanism for enforcement. The trouble is that it is at the state level and requires some cooperation from local law enforcement for it to work. And, as you have often said, the local web of families that rule the roost in our two counties at least often gets in the way of that sort of thing.

Morgan,
Kudos to you for having a kind heart and rescuing animals. I myself have rescued every animal i have or had. I got my husbands cat from the local shelter and two other ones i found. One actually followed my daughter home,lol. We kept him for a while but he decided he didnt like sharing with the other cat i had and would pee all over everything so we had to give him away. But my female cat i found her as a kitten in the Comcast parking lot one night when i was dropping off my bill. She had a flea collar on and was just a baby kitten staring at me. So i coaxed her in the car and now she is family. Only issue is that i so need to get her fixed. Shes had 2 litters which Stewart Pets took one set and another family fell in love with the 4 i had last year and took them all. Its really expenisive to get it done and if ANYone knows where i could get it done for less than 200 id appreciate it. Ive called vets and its 50 for the shots and 175 for the spade. Erin i know you would probably know and actually we worked together a long time ago at Rubys:).

Armywife,

Go to Bryan Animal Caregivers' Site: http://www.bryanac.org/toc/spay.html

They have a few options, including a very low-cost one through SNAC. You don't have to live in Bryan County to take advantage of them.

I have two rescue dogs that I literally pulled off the street and put in my car. One was a starving puppy with the mange and the other is about 2 and a skeleton. I am going to have to take her back to the vet because in 2 mos she has failed to gain any significant weight. (I took her to the vet when I first found her and got her dewormed and her shots). Then I have two rescue cats. That doesn't count the numerous animals that I've found and gotten homes for. You should see my vet bills, LOL.

I am a veggie. Wish I could go vegan but I like cheese too much. I have a personal issue with the tour guides that use horses. Those animals suffer in the heat and have no business in heavy traffic. I am sure there are those out there who will defend the practice but I am just stating my own POV on this issue.

I do take SOME breeders to task for doing too much interbreeding and therefore produce sick and geneticly flawed animals. These animals are then sold and end up abandoned or disposed of. Some breeder and pet stores sell the unsold puppies and older dogs (cats too) to labs for experiments.

Look up what they do to calves in order to make veal. Often chickens are raised in small cages and have their beeks cut off to keep them from pecking each other. Even free range chickens aren't usually raised naturally. It may mean that they were allowed out of their cages for an hour or two each day.

Armywife,
That was a long time ago!
Murrelet suggested the right place for your spay and neuter vouchers. The people of Bryan Animal Caregivers are great. There are no veterinarians in Hinesville who honor the vouchers though. I usually take my rescues into Cedar Animal Hospital in Richmond Hill for their spaying and neutering. My only cost after the vouchers is the mandatory rabies shot and the optional pain medication which I always get for spays. I also choose to have older animals get checked out first before the surgery just to be certain they are up for it.

There is also SNAC http://snac1.com/ who you can go through.

And better still, Bryan Animal Caregivers is celebrating Spay Day USA this year by partnering with SNAC and issuing much reduced vouchers. Here is the information on it copy and pasted:

In support of Spay Day 2010 Bryan Animal Caregivers will be issuing spay/neuter vouchers for a co-pay of $25 for cats and $35 for dogs to be used at the Spay/Neuter Alliance & Clinic (SNAC) in Ridgeland, SC.
There is a limit of 5 per family.

February 6th
10am - 1pm
Ellabell Feed and Seed
7354 Hwy 280E
Ellabell, GA 31308

February 20th
10am - 1pm
Anderson's Feed and Seed
5826 W Oglethorpe Hwy
Walthourville, GA 31333

While on site BAC will also be accepting monetary and pet food donations as well as selling raffle tickets for a prize basket that will be drawn for at the 5th annual See Spot Run 5K. A representative will be on site to answer any questions.
Please call us at 912-727-2694 with any questions.

up2sumptin,
I used to think I couldn't give up cheese either, but then I did it, dealt with the craving for a brief while and then was totally over it. Now I see my bf eating pizza covered in cheese and it kind of grosses me out.
Those veal calves are a direct result of the dairy industry which is responsible for cheese.
For me it came down to a matter of my wants versus their suffering. I decided that eating something that was totally unnecessary for my health simply because I grew up liking the taste was a really poor excuse for contributing to the mass cruelty.
Now instead of cheese, I have nutritional yeast which is a great source of B12 and far healthier than cheese. Best of all, it doesn't involve supporting an industry which I find so appalling.
Give it a try and have faith in your ability to get beyond the cravings. If you slip up, forgive yourself and get over it. Try again until you find that it's no longer an effort and not eating cheese is just natural to you.
Do it for the animals and the environment. Do it as a consumer taking a stand. Most importantly, do it for yourself, your health and your conscience.

Don't for get the circus & rodeos...

I would like to think someday as an intelligent society we can move beyond cruelty.

We can't stop being cruel to each other let alone to animals.

So true Up2, so true!