Pet Talk

By Cathy Davis
    You often see headlines about the state sweeping into a puppy mill or other situation to rescue large numbers of abused animals. We are fortunate to live in a state where the director of animal welfare is not afraid to use all resources available to him to make sure that every animal is treated humanely.
    What you don’t see is what goes on after the headlines die down. I wanted to give you a little peek behind the scenes. This is real information but based on a fictional case, you’ll see why as we move through the scenario.
    A call comes in to Augusta or local animal control. This is the first step. Someone has to report the abuse and the report has to be from an eyewitness, not a third party. So if you call me tomorrow and tell me a lady on B Road is hoarding dogs and the situation is atrocious, I will let you know that you should call local animal control, they will investigate and then they will get state animal welfare involved if necessary. I’m not passing the buck, but I have no authority to investigate cruelty complaints, nobody at Houlton Humane or any other rescue has that authority. 
    Once someone in authority has confirmed the situation the negotiations begin. The cities and state do not have unlimited financial means and they would prefer that individuals voluntarily give up their animals rather than go through a court battle. It’s faster, which gets the animals out of their situation more quickly, and it’s more cost effective. It also has a greater chance of success for this situation, although in the long run a court hearing could rule that an individual cannot have pets in the future, the immediate goal is to get the pets in the house today, out of the house today.
    Once an owner turns over their animals, the town, or state quickly begins a series of networking calls and emails. Let’s say they take 30 dogs out of a house, this is a reasonable assumption as most cases of abuse or neglect involve large numbers of animals. I’m not saying if you have 30 animals you are a hoarder, please don’t misunderstand me. There are people with many more animals than this who take very good care of them, but there are those with the financial means to care for one who just keep taking them in until they are way over their heads and suddenly it’s a crisis.
    So these 30 animals have to be placed in a secure facility where they can be quarantined, vetted, temperament tested, and if there is going to be a court hearing, held for a court date.
    The local or state official often cannot place all of these animals in one shelter. Sometimes they want to put the animals in a shelter far away from the offending owner, because some of these people are not very nice and are known to harass shelter personnel, break into facilities, vandalize shelters, and in order to protect the staff and the animals in their care, it’s not uncommon to place these pets in shelters 100 miles or more away from their home of origin.
    So in this case we have 30 animals, let’s say they are dogs, and Houlton Humane takes five of them, Central Aroostook Humane takes five of them, Bangor Humane takes five of them and so on.
    Now Houlton Humane would like to be able to bring you right into the shelter that very day and let you see these dogs, but in a case of a state seizure, we can’t do that. These five imaginary dogs that come into Houlton Humane still have to see our vet; they have to be worked with and socialized to make sure they are not aggressive or dangerous in any way. Most of these animals are terrified, many of them have lived their lives in cages, basements, sheds, or tied to a car bumper with a short chain. They have no real sense of having a “loving” relationship with humans.
    Shelter staff has to have the training to recognize the difference between a dangerous aggressive dog and a dog that is scared to death. Most of these animals are just terrified beyond words, many will not make eye contact, they shy away from human touch, they cower in a corner, shaking so hard that they almost fall over and if you do reach out to pet them, they will often urinate in fear. Most of these animals are filthy, thin, and in much need of gentle loving care, a good diet, and time, just time, to learn to trust.
    So if you see a headline that this shelter, or that shelter, took in dogs from a state seize, and your heart goes out to these animals who have been so abused and neglected, please know that the staff is not being difficult or rude if they won’t let you visit with these animals or adopt them right away. You can’t imagine the trauma of being removed from a bad situation, put in a cage, approached by strangers, and then to top that off, have a parade of visitors walk by and poke their fingers at you.
    I am so very proud of our staff because they recognize this and their goal is to protect these animals, work with them, give them time to learn to trust, give them a chance for a normal life with a family that will love them.  It takes weeks, sometimes months.  It costs a lot of money. It takes a toll on the hearts and souls of the animal welfare professionals who cry silently every time they look at the sad eyes of each abused dog.
    If you would like to help us, then please understand the reasons why these animals are in quarantine, respect the staff, respect the process, and if there is anything that you can do, a financial gift to help with the care of these animals would be appreciated. We know you want to help, we love you for it.