RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
The sheriff may not be the right place to call. Does your area have a dedicated police force? In all the cities where I've lived in GA, the police investigate crimes and the sheriffs deal with the criminals. I know in some rural areas the county sheriff does both. If you have a police department, they are the ones to call with complains of illegal activity. They are the ones who should get the call. Whoever is supposed to check on these things, you may want to call back and remind the law enforcement that while you did not witness the violence, you know the animals are injured and failing to provide medical care for an animal is a crime (assuming it is where you live!) and the pet owners should be investigated. Does your town even have regulations covering the situations like this, where an animal needs help but the vets are closed? Do they have a plan of action for when the vets are open? If not, this seems like a perfect catalyst to get some! What do responsible pet owners do if they need emergency vet care on a weekend? Heck, I just came from the emergency vet clinic where my son had to put his new little hamster to sleep. I realize not everyone would take a rodent to the vet, but I think a dog dragging it's back legs is a no-brainer!
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
Maybe a squirrel fell out of the tree recently and she saw it but couldn't catch it, and is now patiently waiting for another one? When Boomer was a puppy, we went for a walk in the nearby park. Someone had used the pavilion for a party and thrown a pizza box into the trash, dropping a bunch of pizza crusts on the ground as they tried to fit the box into the trash can. Boomer grabbed a pizza crust and was the happiest dog in town until I wrestled it from her little puppy jaws. Even now, 4 years later, when we go to the park, she will make a bee line right for that trash can and checks it all over for wayward pizza crusts. There has never been another one in the 4 years since she met that first one, but she has to check *every time we go!*
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
The dog I had in college had a femoral head osteotomy when he was a relative youngster, due to severe hip dysplasia. He was in such pain that he would go outside to run around and would literally run and wimper at the same time! He was already a good 50 pounds when he had the surgery and the vet hoped that he'd recover quickly since he was so young. Instead, he gimped around on 3 legs for nearly a year! I think he was enjoying the attention! Eventually, we did get him to walk on 4 legs, it just took some creative 'therapy' and time. It was nice to see him pain free though, even hopping around funny!
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
What about contacting the SPCA groups that are nearby, or even not nearby. Call Atlanta, Cobb county, places where the is more money and more people looking for adoptable pets. If they understand that there is no rescue options available, maybe they will come out and make a big to do about the rescue. If they can get some publicity, maybe they can drum up some extra enthusiasm for adoptions.
RE: Stone Mountain park campground GA
According to their newsletter, they are making improvements to the campground. I am eager to see how they fix it up! My family usually gets season passes as we live less than an hour away. We've stayed there once, as a way to spend more time in the park and not be bothered by parking and traffic inside the park (there is a boat that goes over to the theme park and a tram that goes to the major attraction areas) When we were there we were in the last loop. As far from the pool as possible. We were parked on a pretty good incline with a sheer drop behind us...and yet, somehow, people managed to climb the drop off and walk through our site to get to the bathroom!! Other than not being level and landscaped, it wasn't that bad, the staff was friendly, the place was packed but there weren't kid running around screaming or riding their bikes through my site (other than the 2 adults that used my site as a potty cut through.) Like a few other people have said, it's not a destination in itself, it's a place to stay while you are enjoying the park.
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
Dixie, can the lawyer for the AFBCAR look into the laws about animal abandonment? Perhaps there is a way to do like the SPCA's do on tv, leave several notices to show the animal was not cared for, get permission to take the animals for their own safety, then petition for custody at a hearing a few days or weeks later.
I hope you can do something for the dogs and the colony of cats! The dogs clearly are ready for some time by the hearth, but the cats might be better off in a spay and release situation if they are feral and not adoptable.
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
Wow, that's a heck of a waist Peaches has now! What a blessing for her and her long term health! Dixie, if you think Suzie's car sickness is anxiety, it should be easy enough to treat in time with a lot of exposure to cars and treats, and cars and short field trips to fun places. Obviously, she's made the mental connection that one specific vehicle equals fun trips and has learned not to be afraid of the beige truck, perhaps a lot of getting in other people's cars and having a treat, or trips to the park and back should help her have more good experiences with cars than the bad ones. Maybe in a few months, she won't be puking at all! Getting in a car will be just one more thing on her list of fun things to do in a day!
RE: A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}
What's probably more ridiculous is that the web designer was trying to be dog friendly! There's an image of a dog pointing at a duck in the top left corner and the spiffy dog on the chain is a classic hunting breed, with the hallmark orange collar, clearly ready to run off and get to work. That IS the ideal dog in the rural south! Live in a kennel outside, ride in a box in the back of a truck to and from 'work.' A treasured family favorite may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, yet never set foot in the house!
Welcome to the south!
