Saving Baby: A Miracle In Lee County

The following is the story of "Baby," a German Shepherd puppy that was all but abandoned in the small town (Moro) in Lee County, Arkansas. The story reveals the routine neglect of animals, many of whom are "pets" but are ignored. This is the second dog that has been rescued by the efforts of my wife and I, or her family. The first was "Rookie," a large female black lab that was all but abandoned by a minister that took a job outside of Lee County and decided to lock the dog in a hot external building that had no air ventilation (a real problem given the heat down here), often without allowing her out to urinate and defecate. Later, Rookie was allowed to run free throughout the town without proper care. The result was that Rookie was infected with heartworms and needed to undergo a horrible treatment involving arsenic compounds, extreme toxicity, and potential death. Rookie now lives with my wife's relatives and lives the life of Riley, going to work with one of my wife's relatives everyday, and having her own chair in the main office of the business.

Since rescuing Baby, my wife and I have made a commitment to develop funds and plans for a shelter in Lee County, with hopes that we can network and assist the development of Humane Society resources for Lee, Monroe, Phillips Counties (none of which have genuine resources for stray, abused or neglected animal care), as well as develop additional resources for St. Francis County.

But the attitudes of the folks down here do not support decent care for animals. Many folks allow their dogs to run free, often laying or wondering on the highways and byways, risking a head-on collision with a car, farm equipment or an 18-wheeler. Far too many are not treated with heart worm prophylaxis, or even fleas and tick prophylaxis. The shelter in Forrest City is brand new and is already overwhelmed with animals, and many are euthanized because of the severity of neglect or abuse.

Late in the afternoon I sat down at my computer to check my email. A message popped up on the screen and then disappeared into the anti-spam folder. What was that I saw? Something about a dog in trouble? I quickly retrieved the message.

The subject read "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro." I opened the message and began to read what would become the first chapter in the story of a dog who became known as "Baby" and the man who was trying to save her. The last words of the message were "Please help me find her the help she needs."

With this awful scenes of other cases of neglect and abuse still fresh in my mind I began to read the words of the message from a stranger in Moro:

We just moved to Moro, AR. There is a pack of dogs, mostly labs, running loose around our neighborhood. There is also a female German Shepherd that sometimes runs with them. She is a sweet youngster (I estimate 9 months to a year old) that has been hanging around our house and the house of our relatives. I was finally able to get her to come to me after she was caught in a torrential downpour yesterday. She is flea and tick infested, and her skin is filled with scabs from the bites. She doesn't appear to have any major hair loss at this time. However, I am almost certain, given the number of mosquitoes in this area and the fact that she appears so neglected, that she would test positive for heart worm. This morning I offered her some dog food and she gulped it down like she hadn't eaten in a while. She is not emaciated, but she was very hungry and very thirsty.

She is not very socialized with humans, being very skittish when approached. She is also skittish around new dogs, but seems to get along with the others in the local pack she runs with. But she is very sweet and friendly. I do not know if she has been spayed, or if she has been vaccinated in any way... so I am careful to keep my Dachshund away from her (even though he is fully vaccinated). But I am very concerned about her well-being.

I have left a message on your answering machine, but I do not know if your shelter is the appropriate facility serving Moro or Lee County. If I could afford it, I would round her up and take her to a vet, but that is not a possibility at this time. The neighbors believe she belongs to someone here in Moro. But even if she does belong to someone, she is being seriously neglected. I cannot say whether this is deliberate or due to the inability of the owner to care for her fully.

Please help me find her the help she needs.

My heart went out to this newcomer and the dog he was writing about, but I could only answer with the truth. I cared very much and wanted to help but he was out of our county and officially, our organization could do nothing. To which he answered:

I am sorry you can't help either. I called seven different organizations today, including the Marianna PD, the Lee County Sheriff's Department, and a couple Humane Society folks. Each time I was referred to either some other number/organization, or to one I had already called. Lee County Sheriff's Dept referred me back to you folks.

As a new resident of Arkansas I am getting very frustrated with the lack of service provided by the various government entities I have encountered...

But I thank you for the response and the concern. I am going to contact a German Shepherd rescue organization and see if I can somehow get the pup in their hands. Unfortunately, this may open me up to expenditures I can barely afford, and possibly legal entanglements if the owner somehow surfaces in the process. But there is a moral and ethical issue at hand. No animal should be neglected in this manner. In the interim I am going to coax her into a tub, give her a flea bath and remove the ticks, and treat the scabs and any wounds that might be present (I am a former US Navy Corpsman and Army Medic)... even if I have to suture wounds myself. Hopefully I will find a sympathetic vet who will help.

If the pup were a Dachshund I would have all kinds of resources through DARE, Coast-to-Coast and other Dachsie rescue organizations (I got my bubala from C2C).

He was being led in a circle and that circle was coming back to me. I began forwarding his emails to other members of the FCAHS and answers started coming. If he could get a picture and if he could feed and care for the dog we could help in some ways, maybe we could help.

A little miracle began to happen. A donor came forward with an offer to pay up to $100 in vet bills for the dog.
I passed this news to my new found friend in Moro along with information about vets in the area.

However, the next message from Moro was discouraging:

I really appreciate your efforts! Unfortunately, the pup is nowhere to be found since the day I started this process. I received a call from someone you were networking with. Rest assured, if the sweet girl comes back into my sight, she will be washed, de-ticked and given some tender care...

In my efforts to find help for this German Shepherd pup I talked to 8 organizations. I kept getting passed from one office/person to another. The Marianna Police referred me to the Sheriff. I had called them before calling the MPD and they were the ones that referred me to you. One of the officials referred me to the Humane Society in West Memphis. My first thought was that the shelter in West Memphis wouldn't want anything to do with this issue... and then I thought that just maybe there is a regional approach. As it turned out, my first thought was correct...

Again, many thanks for all of you efforts and networking. As soon as I track down the pup, I will follow through with the necessary steps.

Another message arrived, this time with good news:

The pup returned yesterday. Unfortunately, we were on the way to the 4th of July gathering and could not deal with her then. But she decided to stick around, so we were able to feed and water her with some healthy stuff.

This morning I bathed her three times, taking no less than 30 ticks off her body. I am not sure we got them all. I cleaned her ears and placed tick-mite drops in her ears. We put a flea and tick collar on her (we could not afford the stuff that I know works). She is now tied out on a thirty-foot lead near a doghouse with plenty of water.

She is the sweetest thing. Although she was not happy about any of the baths, she loved being brushed and wiped down. Even though removing the ticks caused her pain, she never once snapped or even tried to mouth our hands. She recovered quickly from the pain response and fast became friends again. She is still skittish around strangers and other dogs with whom she is unfamiliar, but she comes to us and looks for attention when we go out. I was even able to move her bowl of food without a growl or warning...

She is okay for now. I am going to try to contact the vet you recommended ASAP.

Then the news got better:

I took 'Baby' to the vet today. She was negative for heartworms, but I have to find a way to get her started on the prophylaxis treatment ASAP. The technicians advised me that I have a window of 1-3 weeks and that she will need a follow-up check for heartworm in 6 months just to be sure. She is positive for two types of intestinal worms--as I figured she would be given the neglect of assuring her clean chow. He gave me meds for the deworming process. She also has a new tick collar, which he recommended over a dip because it lasts three months... and costs a little less than the dip. But since she was ticky all over, I had to get the collar out of my own pocket to protect her and my own dog. She also has bilateral ear infections, so he gave me drops that have to go in twice a day, as well as an oral antibiotic that has to be given twice a day.

The total for today's visit was $92.50, including her vaccinations for rabies and the three basic concerns (distemper, parvo and rabies). The tick collar cost me $13.00, which was almost all I had on me at the time. She was registered as Moro Shepherd...
Thanks very very much.

And so the "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro" became "Baby". She had a name! I smiled at that because I believed that she would also soon have a home. The next message contained the pictures and something I will not forget.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my soul for your help. It is a "mitzvah" (Yiddish for "honorable deed") that will not go unmentioned in heaven. Even though I am not Jewish, sometimes the Yiddish words sum things up better than English. A person that commits a "mitzvah" is usually referred to as a "mensch" (a great soul or person).... I think you may just qualify. Attached are two pictures taken while "Baby" was being a bit rambunctious. I attached them as files and as embedded pictures.

“Baby” became real in the pictures. I posted them on Lost & Found as promised. Then came bad news and good news.

Well, we were given an ultimatum by my wife's uncle, who is our landlord: we had to remove "Baby" from the tie out because she was bellowing late at night. So, we gave her another bath and combed her really well, checked her for ticks all over and allowed her to spend the night in our house.
At first we had a tough time getting her in the house. She did not know what to make of the idea of going into this "big cave." But she eventually saw the benefit of air conditioning and no flies as a good thing.

She did alright overnight, except that her way of telling me she needed to go out was to wake me up at three AM by licking my face and insisting that we play. When I finally figured out that she needed to go out, I walked her and my Dachsie in the dark until bladder matters were well resolved. There upon she returned to the bedroom and took the philosophical position that if the Dachsie had bed rights, she should have them as well.

Fortunately, I won that philosophical argument and she slept at the foot of the bed on the floor. She also woke me up when she began chewing on my best pair of dress shoes, which resulted in another philosophical discourse that I won by removing the temptation.

Although she is a bit afflicted with attention deficit disorder (because she has apparently never had anyone tell her no, ask her to sit, or lie down, or stay), she is now responding to commands to sit, lie down and stay, She still tests the limits of my resolve, but she is learning. Fortunately, she is very food motivated and a treat gets her attention rather adeptly.

She is responding to the antibiotics the doctor prescribed, and her ears are no longer as tender as they were a few days ago. The oral antibiotics, however, have a steroid component and have affected her appetite and she is literally seeking out every scrap of food on the planet. Her energy level is up and she is playing, rolling on the floor with me and looking for toys.

My wife spoke to me this morning about working on the issue of having a shelter resource in Lee County. After she returns to work she wants to work on finding the funds to build a shelter and provide educational and rescue resources for the county. She has become disillusioned with the way some people treat their "pets." My suggestion was that we needed to not only develop a shelter for Lee County, but also develop a working network with all the existing shelters and organizations in the region.

Anyway, my wife is now worried that I have allowed "Baby" to occupy a spot in my heart. She sees the playing and rolling around on the floor as a sign that I will have difficulty surrendering her to an adoptive family. As much as she has touched my heart, I genuinely see my role as a short-term foster parent until I get her into a loving and caring family home. My Dachshund has my heart and first place... But "Baby" is a sweetie and should be in the loving arms of a family ASAP.

I have been trying to coordinate with a man from Forrest City, who called me and expressed an interest in "Baby." I will try contacting him again today.
Many thanks to all of you for the help that you have provided. This pup's life and health have improved 100% in just the few days we have helped her. She is a tremendous pup that has responded very well to our structure, love and kindness. She is learning to walk on the leash without struggling, she is responding to basic obedience commands (she still needs a lot of work before we can call her "trained"), and is learning when she can be rambunctious and when she needs to settle down. I could not have done this without your support with the vet, the medications and the hope of getting her placed in a good home.

I wasn't sure at this point whether he would have to relocate Baby immediately because of the landlord but I could also see that he was becoming very fond of her and would keep her for as long as he possibly could. Baby received the heartworm prevention she needed from the same donor who this time merely answered "Done!" when told that it was needed. The man who saved Baby learned that there were some wonderful people in Arkansas after all! Then came the best news of all.

My new friends,

We have successfully found a home for Baby. He owns a piece of property on the outskirts of Forrest City proper with a big fenced in yard (fence is 8 feet tall) and has automatic watering and feeding devices set up for all his pups. He was more than willing--and quite familiar with the process--to continue the regiment of medications prescribed. The six-month supply of heartworm prophylaxis was a godsend and he has committed to maintaining that prevention year round with Baby and his other pups.
It turns out that he is a friend to one of my wife's cousins and comes highly regarded by many in the family. He has a family (one daughter) that took to the pup like a duck in water. He was also impressed when I related to him that I had only been working with Baby for about a week and she was responding so well to the basic obedience commands (as demonstrated in the driveway where we exchanged her). I think this was a good match.

This is one dog rescued from neglect and discard. We need to continue the process.
In that light, my wife and I have been discussing how to proceed with developing a shelter and humane society affiliate in Lee County.

But we have pulled off a small miracle. Baby is set on a road toward happiness as a healthy and well-loved pup. Again, this miracle was pulled off with your help and I thank each of you from the depth of my soul.
Jim

If through this experience other Humane Societies are formed and other shelters are built to care for and endeavor to find loving homes for homeless and neglected or abused animals then we have done our job! Thank you, Baby, for the good things you may have started and the lessons we have learned because there was a "German Shepherd in Trouble in Moro!"

NOTE: Since the story of Baby ended with her adoption by a firefighter in Forrest City, there have been numerous stories about animal neglect in Arkansas, as well as throughout the United States, including a bust of eighty people for cockfighting throughout Arkansas, the involvement of major NFL players in pit bull fighting, and the broadcast of cockfighting over the Internet in violation of a law passed during the Clinton administration (one that will probably not stand up in court because of constitutional issues).

Like far too many things involving our legal system, politics and daily living, the abuse and neglect of animals takes a back seat unless there is some sensational reason--like the involvement of an NFL superstar in the process--to make it news. But we have a moral obligation to intervene in all cases of abuse and neglect.

There is a striking bit of irony in these matters: The very first case of child neglect in this country was brought to court in New York under the provisions of laws against cruelty of animals. Now there are many laws protecting children, and many organizations, agencies and governmental bodies involved in child abuse and neglect intervention, and so few such groups dealing with animal abuse and neglect.