Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dogs in Danger

DogsInDanger.com has, somewhat surprisingly, been a rather controversial website. Dogs In Danger is a non-profit site dedicated to listing dogs who are on their last few days in the hope that adopters or rescues will step up and save their lives before their time is up. What raises the hackles of some people about this site is that fact that it lists the euthanization date for the dogs.


This beautiful Plott Hound / Lab Mix, for example, is scheduled to be euthanized on Wednesday, January 16.

This handsome fellow is located at the St. Martin Parish Animal Control Shelter in St. Martinville, Louisiana. If you can help him, please contact Sara Glasgow at 337-394-1220 IMMEDIATELY.

This guy is a large male brindle Plott Hound mix, who weights about 90 lbs. He's about 4 years old and energetic but also very sweet, and the pound staff absolutely loves him. He is also available to foster.

His adoption fee is $65 which includes a $50 neuter certificate and a $10 rabies certificate.

St. Martin Parish Animal Control Facility
1004 Industrial Park Road
St. Martinville, LA 70582
337-394-1220

Yes, it is very disturbing thought that this beautiful dog and thousands more like him may very well be dead within three days, but I firmly believe that people need to know that these dogs WILL die unless they are rescued. And they also need to know that the killing will go on until people stop dumping their pets and stop allowing them to breed indiscriminately.

DogsInDanger.com might offend some viewers with delicate sensibilities, simply because they are forced to think about the fact that perfectly good cats and dogs die needlessly every day. But they also provide a great service in bringing public awareness to the unpleasant fact of pet overpopulation, they put furry faces with the numbers of pets killed daily, monthly, and yearly, they allow potential adopters to see which dogs need their help most urgently, and last but not least, they provide exposure to dogs that otherwise might never be seen by anyone except animal control staff between the time they are picked up or surrendered, and they time they are euthanized.

***UPDATE: 1/17/08. I HAVE RECEIVED WORD THAT THIS BEAUTIFUL BRINDLE BOY HAS BEEN RESCUED.***

I have been terribly concerned about this boy, and was fearing that I would have to post my first "bad news" update since I started this blog. You see, big, brindle, hound-mix dogs like this are a dime a dozen in the South, and they hardly ever make it out of shelters alive. Most people go for the small dogs, the fluffy dogs, the puppies, and the purebreds.

Several wonderful people from various rescue groups banded together to get this guy out of the shelter just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, his vet check revealed that he is heartworm positive, which is very common for shelter dogs in the south. He will have to stay at the vet's for a while while his treatment begins, then he will have to be boarded.

While it is incredibly easy to prevent heartwork by simply giving a dog a preventative, heartworm treatment is very expensive, intensive, and often risky. Dogs undergoing heartworm treatment must be kept from any kind of physical exertion for up to a month to protect against the risk of a dead worm blocking an artery, which can cause death.

After this guy goes through his heartworm treatment, he will be transported to the Northeast U.S., where he will find a new home.

In the interim, his heartworm treatment and boarding costs are going to be very expensive. Come back soon to find out how you can donate to help offset the costs of his medical treatment and boarding.

6 comments:

Breezie said...

I sure hope someone can save this beautiful girl and give her a forever home. She is beautiful.

Meadow and Her Kitties said...

Me too! I'll try to post an update in a couple days.

Anonymous said...

It is disturbing to see these poor creatures only have a couple days to live, but you're absolutely right - we need to see it and be reminded of what is happening to them through no fault of their own.

Anonymous said...

My family just rescued a plott hound mix from a high kill shelter in the south. At first my husb.was not in favor of this unknow breed. I have to tell you that our 3 month old plott hound has been the best addition to our family and our greman Shorthair pointer loves her. SHe will be a big girl, but she is all heart. If you want a dog that will love you back get a Plott Hound.

Anti-Federalist said...

for all of you wondering about the plott hound brindles of mixed origin... let me tell that i have just lost my boy Herschel at 10 1/2 years of age due to hemangiosarcoma.he is the best looking most intuitive, intelligent friend i have ever known! not just owned but known. he loves everything you do with him, but needs a chase! he will never tire on you and will protect his family. he does like his space but in the morning would always manage to find my warm spot as soon as i got out of bed. so we had great after shower snuggle time! he never left my side and i never leashed him! he loved all animals in his presence, even cats, but outside the house he was a true hound...if it moved he spotted it and wanted to go after it. these are an amazing breed. they shed only seasonally if that and never smell "like a dog." they are truly bred for this land, they have a camouflage that suites the southeastern US perfectly. my boy loved to chase geese in particular and squirrels as we never saw a bear but he loved the water like nothing i have ever seen, he would swim in river, lake or ocean, and learned how to use the waves and currents with very little experience... i have had german shephaerds, golden retrievers, Labrador's and few a few various mutts in my life and the plott hound mix is the best i have ever encountered for a person who is active likes to take their dog outside and loves the unconditional love that only a good dog can bring. make no mistake this is a working dog, he will need a job, Herschels is fetching his tennis ball and deflated soccer balls, he runs like the wind... the reason i am writing this is cause i also saved him from the pound here in atlanta and he was my "second" choice... at the time i had a wolf shepherd mix and she was getting older so i wanted to get her a friend and i was hooked on the husky shepherd type. so the dog i chose at the pound that was a husky was on hold for someone else. so i kept looking and then at the bottom of the cages i noticed this little tiger striped brown guy and i thought..."i've never seen a dog like this before, what is he?" so i stuck my hand to his cage and all he did was look at me and begin to ceaselessly lick my hand...that was all it took! do not overlook this breed he was the best "second" choice that could have been possible

Anti-Federalist said...

for all of you wondering about the plott hound brindles of mixed origin... let me tell that i have just lost my boy Herschel at 10 1/2 years of age due to hemangiosarcoma.he is the best looking most intuitive, intelligent friend i have ever known! not just owned but known. he loves everything you do with him, but needs a chase! he will never tire on you and will protect his family. he does like his space but in the morning would always manage to find my warm spot as soon as i got out of bed. so we had great after shower snuggle time! he never left my side and i never leashed him! he loved all animals in his presence, even cats, but outside the house he was a true hound...if it moved he spotted it and wanted to go after it. these are an amazing breed. they shed only seasonally if that and never smell "like a dog." they are truly bred for this land, they have a camouflage that suites the southeastern US perfectly. my boy loved to chase geese in particular and squirrels as we never saw a bear but he loved the water like nothing i have ever seen, he would swim in river, lake or ocean, and learned how to use the waves and currents with very little experience... i have had german shephaerds, golden retrievers, Labrador's and few a few various mutts in my life and the plott hound mix is the best i have ever encountered for a person who is active likes to take their dog outside and loves the unconditional love that only a good dog can bring. make no mistake this is a working dog, he will need a job, Herschels is fetching his tennis ball and deflated soccer balls, he runs like the wind... the reason i am writing this is cause i also saved him from the pound here in atlanta and he was my "second" choice... at the time i had a wolf shepherd mix and she was getting older so i wanted to get her a friend and i was hooked on the husky shepherd type. so the dog i chose at the pound that was a husky was on hold for someone else. so i kept looking and then at the bottom of the cages i noticed this little tiger striped brown guy and i thought..."i've never seen a dog like this before, what is he?" so i stuck my hand to his cage and all he did was look at me and begin to ceaselessly lick my hand...that was all it took! do not overlook this breed he was the best "second" choice that could have been possible