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Army town struggles to save pets left by troops
Dogs of War - Army town struggles to save pets left by troops
Hinesville, Georgia -- The 32 dogs look up with sad eyes or wag their tails as animal control officer Linda Cordry walks the row of chain-link cages ending in a door concealing a gas chamber that resembles a large oven. "These guys are mine," Cordry says with weary resignation. "These are basically on Death Row." Liberty County Animal Control and the humane shelter that shares its small cinderblock building have been crammed to capacity with dogs and cats since Army troops from neighboring Fort Stewart deployed to Iraq. Both agencies say it's no coincidence. "I would say 95 percent of these animals come from military homes," says Beate Hall, who runs the humane shelter where dozens of soldiers and Army spouses began dumping pets during the holidays. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have prompted national efforts to alert deploying soldiers to alternatives to abandoning animals when they leave for war. But the hundreds of unwanted pets turning up in this southeast Georgia military town indicate many aren't getting the message. Since the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division deployed 19,000 troops to Iraq in January, animal control officers took in 321 abandoned dogs and cats. Of those, 119 have been euthanized. Smells of dank fur, urine and bleach linger inside the Animal Control offices, where donated food in dented cans and torn bags are stacked in a corner. Dogs are doubled up in several of the 4-by-10-feet cages that allow some room for running. None are empty. Neither are the 14 cat cages, two of which hold mothers with litters of nursing kittens. Cordry says she's found an abundance of dogs in predominantly military neighborhoods - from emaciated dogs in back yards of vacated homes to puppies left in Dumpsters. She says many of the abandoned pets she finds are wearing collars, but with their tags removed. Animals with collars get up to 10 days before they're euthanized. Those without collars are spared for only three days. "We get in so many with personalities, we know they had to belong to somebody," Cordry says. "It's hard to say, `Today's euthanasia day - let's load them up and go for it.'" In Hall's case, soldiers and their families have come to the humane shelter in person to leave their dogs and cats. Those pets won't be put down, but Hall only has room to keep 45 animals at a time. Though Hall has found homes for 118 pets since January, the shelter remains full. "We didn't realize how bad it was going to be," says Hall, whose husband is retired from the Army. "I didn't think this many military families would just dispose of their animals because of the deployment." In some cases, single soldiers leave their pets because they have no one to keep them at home. Many animals are given up by spouses planning to stay with family while their soldiers are deployed. "The wives go back home and their parents say, `No, you're not bringing the cat,' or, `I don't want the dog here,'" Hall says. "This is supposed to be a last resort. I can only take so many animals." Animal rescue groups say they've put a serious dent in wartime pet dumping, largely by using the Internet to find foster homes to care for soldiers' animals until they return home. Steve Albin, president of the nonprofit NetPets, says he's found temporary homes for 8,000 military pets nationwide since starting his Military Pets Foster Program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He believes organizations like his have stopped most deployment dumpings. "This is not rampant, where a shelter winds up being overwhelmed," says Albin, a retired dog breeder in North Myrtle Beach, SC. "Even though this is available, there's still the 5 percent of the military, they say, `Nah, we'll get another pet when we get back.'" Fort Stewart veterinarian Capt. Karen O'Connor, who has taken in about 25 pets at the post's small shelter since the deployment, says many Army families giving up pets aren't being callous, but are overwhelmed by stress. "A lot of times when people come into my clinic and want to turn an animal over, it's not easy for them," O'Connor says. "There are tears involved. There's an attachment there." In the Fort Stewart area, a small number of pet lovers have stepped up to foster dogs and cats that otherwise would have been euthanized by animal control. Terry Wolf of nearby Savannah has taken in 85 abandoned dogs from Liberty County since January through her shelter, Southern Comfort Animal Rescue. After clocking out from her public relations job, Wolf spends most of her time posting the pets' photos and information on the Internet and exchanging e-mail with potential adopters. She's found permanent homes for about 40, and foster homes for 25. Wolf can be picky when adopting her animals. She says she's looking for people who truly want a pet, rather than those seeking to make a patriotic gesture. "I had one lady, she was very interested in a dog, say to me, `I want a soldier's dog. And that made me question her commitment,'" Wolf says. "We're not putting yellow ribbons around their necks here. They're all dogs of war to me." Michelle Dombrowski of Hinesville says she's been "cleaning my carpet every night" after rescuing eight dogs and eight cats - including a pregnant Siamese - from animal control. She also has two young daughters, four dogs and seven cats of her own to care for while her husband, Staff Sgt. Joe Dombrowski, is in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry for his second tour since 2003. "It irritates me because we knew last year that we were deploying, so these soldiers have had ample time to find homes and take care of their animals," Dombrowski says. "I didn't pay attention during the war to really see what was going on. It just blows my mind." While rescuers such as Dombrowski and Wolf have saved many of the abandoned pets, Cordry worries they're running out of room. And while Hall has seen steady pet adoptions, it's not enough to keep up with the influx. "We just took in five today," Hall says, "and adopted out zero." ON THE NET Liberty Humane Shelter http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/GA21.html Southern Comfort Animal Rescue http://www.southerncomfort.petfinder.com Military Pets Foster Project http://www.netpets.org/militarypet/foster.php -- Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler, Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid |
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This is heartbreaking. I hope that lots of people who can provide a good
home to animals see this article and adopt pets. I'm not in the military, but seeing stories like this just sadden me. After all, it's not just deployment that can suddenly leave a pet without its human(s). Accidents, illness, and so on can happen at any time. I read this and thought, "I would HOPE that my family and friends, all of whom know how much I love these cats, would see fit to ensure that they got a good home if something happened to DH and me". And if I WERE in the military, I'd bend over backward to find someone I trust to care for my pet(s) for the duration of the time I was away. Including making sure that I sent funds for pet food and upkeep, etc. Or maybe I'd sign on for the repeat-order thing that some online pet supply sites have, where they send an order of supplies you select (food, litter, etc) every month and your credit card is charged. Then my friend/relative would have the correct food, litter, and so on arriving right on their doorstep every month. I'm fortunate, though. I have a LOT of people in my life who genuinely love animals, and know how much *I* love *my* pets. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't got people like that in their lives. Donna |
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And if I WERE in the military, I'd bend over backward to find someone I
trust to care for my pet(s) for the duration of the time I was away. Including making sure that I sent funds for pet food and upkeep, etc. Or maybe I'd sign on for the repeat-order thing that some online pet supply sites have, where they send an order of supplies you select (food, litter, etc) every month and your credit card is charged. Then my friend/relative would have the correct food, litter, and so on arriving right on their doorstep every month. This is precisely why I didn't have a cat for my first five years when I was serving in Borden and Trenton. I had no stable home for MYSELF, let alone for an animal. I was being shipped around on a moment's notice, living out of a duffel bag--my greatest "Stability" was my car that provided me a bit of personal room to keep stuff in when I was between barracks or rooms or tents whatever I was living in (I got that after a year and a half of living out of the duffel bag alone--saving up for the car). When I adopted Nocturne, I had a year-round apartment and DP living in it year-round to care for Noxy when I was on service. When things came up for both of us, my parents willingly pet-sat. If you cannot provide for a pet, you have no business adopting one. Now Smokey's case might be something different...no one adopted him. He just showed up at the unit. When accom. tried to kill him, getting him somewhere, ANYWHERE, safe would buy him at least a bit more life, if not a permanent home. In that case I could see taking him in even if you didn't know if you could keep him, just to save his life. Fortunately for Smokey poke, my home/his home is permanent. I feel for those who have pets like Smokey, and no family/friends to care for them. They really should be working on stand bys willing to pet sit if they get deployed, and able to provide the sitter with food etc, just as one would for a human child. For those who can't be bothered...HISS. CLAW. --Fil |
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Enfilade wrote:
And if I WERE in the military, I'd bend over backward to find someone I trust to care for my pet(s) for the duration of the time I was away. Including making sure that I sent funds for pet food and upkeep, etc. Or maybe I'd sign on for the repeat-order thing that some online pet supply sites have, where they send an order of supplies you select (food, litter, etc) every month and your credit card is charged. Then my friend/relative would have the correct food, litter, and so on arriving right on their doorstep every month. This is precisely why I didn't have a cat for my first five years when I was serving in Borden and Trenton. I had no stable home for MYSELF, let alone for an animal. I was being shipped around on a moment's notice, living out of a duffel bag--my greatest "Stability" was my car that provided me a bit of personal room to keep stuff in when I was between barracks or rooms or tents whatever I was living in (I got that after a year and a half of living out of the duffel bag alone--saving up for the car). When I adopted Nocturne, I had a year-round apartment and DP living in it year-round to care for Noxy when I was on service. When things came up for both of us, my parents willingly pet-sat. If you cannot provide for a pet, you have no business adopting one. Of course, I had no pet whilst at sea, but promptly got a cat as soon as I went to my final shore duty. I was with a staff command which was on permanent 24-hour notice to deploy to [censored] for [censored] durations. (Ekshully, we were so good, we more than once proved to the Pentagon that we only required 8 hours from initiating order to on-the-tarmac. Brag, brag, brag...) Each time I left, I put Freddie in a vet's for boarding. Didn't cost all that much and they loved him. No hassle. Now Smokey's case might be something different...no one adopted him. He just showed up at the unit. When accom. tried to kill him, getting him somewhere, ANYWHERE, safe would buy him at least a bit more life, if not a permanent home. In that case I could see taking him in even if you didn't know if you could keep him, just to save his life. Fortunately for Smokey poke, my home/his home is permanent. I feel for those who have pets like Smokey, and no family/friends to care for them. They really should be working on stand bys willing to pet sit if they get deployed, and able to provide the sitter with food etc, just as one would for a human child. For those who can't be bothered...HISS. CLAW. --Fil -- Cliologist, Philanthropologist, Prothonotary Wibbler, Paleoconservative, Surface Warrior Squid |
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