We Don't Have a Crime Problem in Savannah

I can't say how many times I have heard that. Growing up on Tybee, we never locked our doors until the night some drunk crawled in and fell asleep on our living room couch. But to me, I never felt unsafe or worried about my personal safety. Until last night.

I stopped watching the news for years because I was tired of nothing but shootings being shown. I didn't want to feel like I had to become a recluse; I enjoy life and I enjoy living life not confined to my house. But around 9:50 pm last night, my world of security faded.

I've been to enough redneck parties to know the sound of gunshots, and sitting at my computer last night, paying bills and making pet sitting arrangements, I completely froze with what I heard: rapid fire and tires squealing. I hit the arm mode on my alarm remote and sat back. It wasn't long before the cops showed up, so apparently, I wasn't the only neighbor who heard the noise. I turned off the lights and peered out my window, trying to figure out what happened and where. I walked to the back to peer out to the kennels; all the puppies were quiet, perhaps frozen in fear as I had been. Right around 11 a WTOC van showed up. I walked out to ask what he knew. What I found out was that this wasn't the first time cops had been to this house.

I never thought I'd live somewhere that I didn't want to know my neighbors, but since moving to the ranch last year, that's how I've become. I've heard the yelling, screaming, cursing so many times that I no longer think anything of it. I pretty much mind my own business and hope they mind theres. I have enough to contend with just keeping my puppies alive and safe.

So a few weeks ago, my parents decided to have an alarm system installed on my house. I thought it was a ridiculous thing; I had dogs, and I really didn't think anything could happen to me. Not that I am invincible, but I don't believe I provide a threat to anyone and I certainly have nothing valuable in the house (unless you count Beneful for Puppies which is expensive when buying 100 pounds at a time). But I called my mom and told her thank you for knowing what was best for me even when I thought I knew it all. There was comfort in being able to activate my alarm system from the exact spot I was sitting. I just hate that I now have to have an alarm system to feel safe in my home.

Angels When You Least Expect Them

A year ago, I got a funny idea to build an actual shelter for Coastal Pet Rescue. Well, turns out, those are pretty expensive to build, so I settled for buying an acre of land and putting up temporary kennels. The kennels allow us to save litters at a time from euthanasia at animal control when we don't have foster homes available. So far, they have helped us save 30 pets since December 31.

While this is a great idea, I underestimated the amount of time and care it would require of me, since I live alone and don't always have help available. I learned a routine that takes about an hour and a half in the morning, an hour in the mid to late afternoon, and another hour and a half before I go to bed. Some days it goes slower, others faster, but always reminds me that I am where I am supposed to be.

Lately, I've been getting a little worn down. I had a minor MCL tear which put me on crutches, however, I couldn't get around the property as well as I needed to or get things done in a timely fashion, not to mention Hannah thought they were a big chew toy and tried to take them from me... while I was using them! So after a week and a half, I had to put them down and just bear through the pain. I feel it every night but I'm sure there are worse things in life.

It was getting to be time to do some major repairs and cleanup work on the kennels. So, I decided I would tackle one of the four kennels each weekend in April so I would be finished by May. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, and I made a punch list for myself so as not to be overwhelmed or surprised. I had made a request for help on the volunteer message board, but the interest was not there. I shrugged it off and started to go forward, setting up my schedule of what tasks would be completed and when. I was already pricing delivery options from Lowe's when I got a message from our secretary from someone in Maryland that wanted to volunteer. I called the young lady and was astonished - she had ten volunteers arriving to Savannah the second weekend in April and they wanted to know if I had anything they could do to help. You can never begin to imagine my joy at their offer.

I started my day yesterday just a little before seven, rising to let the house dogs out to go potty, then throwing on shoes to go let out four dogs I'm pup sitting for another foster home. I returned back and began the routine of feeding everyone and picking up poo, always a fun way to kick off the weekend. By 8:30, I was wide awake, and with my Jimmy Buffett music blaring from the speakers I had just put up on Friday, I decided to get a head start on the kennels, filling holes and patching chainlink with chicken wire sections and aluminum ties.

The group arrived right on time, in a big white van, but it may as well have been on white horses to me. They were eager, wanting to know where to start and if it was ok to play with the dogs, too. I had set up task sheets on each kennel listing all the items that needed to be done: scooping up all the old mulch, filling holes, putting down new mulch bleach cleaning and scrubbing each dog house then placing it on a platform, and scrubbing all the dishes. Two of the volunteers took on yard duty, picking up poo and dead toys and removing brush from the fence line. I took on dog house duty in one kennel, scrubbing away and answering questions from the various volunteers about CPR and how we started, what we do, the dogs, etc. Right about noon, all the kennels were finished. It was amazing; it all looked so beautiful, I wanted to cry.

Another CPR volunteer, Betty, drove from Wilimington Island to bring lunch for the group. They were so incredibly thankful. Betty always takes such good care of me, coming out to the ranch every other week to help out, so I was not surprised at her generosity for these volunteers. As they sat eating, they asked about what else they could do while they were here. I was stunned. I thought for sure they would be "thanks for the grub, we're out," but it was just the opposite. One of the guys asked if I had a lawnmower so he could cut the yard for me. It hasn't been cut since I started growing grass, and it really needed it, but I felt bad that these young folks were doing so much for me. But by the time we walked back with the lawnmower, the other volunteers had already cleaned up all the stuff from lunch, put it back in the house, and were out in the yard playing with all the puppies. They looked so happy, and it felt wonderful for me. But they still wanted to do more. So, we went to the back of the property and loaded a trailer full of junk that I had been pulling out of the woods and dirt for the last eight months. It went so quickly having so many people to help, I actually teared up. But still, they wanted to do more...

Three of the young ladies came up to me in the house and asked if they could please bathe the puppies. I asked them if they were sure about that as they would probably get a good bit wet and dirty. I told them if they really wanted to, then sure. They were so thrilled about it, just big grins across their face. Then they said, "don't tell the others; we want to do this ourselves," but one of the guys had walked by and heard and he wanted to bathe the puppies, too. I couldn't believe all these young adults were fighting over who was going to bathe the puppies. Knowing everything was under control, I got a glass of water and retreated to my lounge chair that I hadn't had time to sit in since I built my "Isla de Lisa" retreat. When I went in to get a refill a short while later, I found six volunteers crowded into my bathroom bathing, drying, rotating puppies. I just shook my head and laughed, knowing that is how excited I get every time I go to animal control to bring someone home.

The AmeriCorps angels left around 4:30, and told me they would call me tomorrow (today) to see if I need any help with the six new puppies I'm bringing home from animal control. I told them to enjoy their day on the boat (I made arrangements for my parents to take them out on a dolphin tour as a thank you) and if they got really bored, that they were welcome to come back and play with puppies.

It just goes to show that we are never faced in life with challenges we can't overcome... and when we really need help, it, too, will find us.


Oh, and let me know forget to mention my other blessed angel, Gary from Daniel Kitchen and Bath who came and did the front lawn and driveway.

Oprah Shows Truth About Puppymills

For the last week, my inbox has been flooded with emails from rescuers around the country, advising me to watch the Oprah show on April 4 as she exposes puppymills. I've been in rescue a number of years now and just completed my humane leadership bachelor degree. There's not much more I can learn about puppymills, but I was interested to see a national talk show finally take on the dirty and often heartbreaking topic. And I was pleased.

The video footage shown was not much different than that I had to watch for classes, or those that I watched from other rescues that I helped coordinate puppymill busts transports. While it is not something I have had to be involved in locally, I am aware that these places exist very nearby to me and have worked with a couple of other rescuers to go through the proper authorities to see them shut down. Sadly, it still hasn't happened yet. I continue to see these puppies sold at our local flea market, noticeably younger than the breeder says and shouldn't be away from their mom yet, and often lacking any sort of social skills. I've been by on cold days when I was wrapped in my warmest jacket (ok, windbreaker as we are in the South), and saw these babies completely exposed to the elements while their breeders sat wrapped in warm jackets or even blankets. I've been on incredibly hot days where I was sure I would pass out from the heat and excessive thirst and not even seen water available to these pets. There is little value given to their wellbeing; they are a commodity, and these breeders prey on the compassion of those that walk by.

Even after the puppymill footage was shown on Oprah, I was more amazed that they took it further to show the reality of animal shelters and the euthanasia process. I had to admit, what they shown was almost sugar-coated. All the animals walked willingly with their handler and sat well on the euthanasia table. I know that's not how it always is because I've been involved in the euthanasia process before.

Last year, I worked for a couple months at our local animal control, back when the gas chamber was still the primary method for euthanasia. I had always only been in the shelter as an animal rescuer; I had the good job because I was there to save the pets. So I felt it was important for me to fully understand my mission and the importance of our work and to do so, I needed to participate in the euthanasia process. The guys asked me if I was sure I could handle it, knowing that animal rescuers are incredibly compassionate people who do shed tears often. I've prided myself at only crying in private due to the nature of a lot of the cases we take, so I told them I'd be fine.

I can still remember every little detail of that first day. We did the dogs first. What you don't see on the Oprah footage are the dogs who know something is going on and use all their strength to stay put or try to fight you at the cage to stay away from them. Even after being given a tranquilizer, some still fought to have control, wobbling, trying to stand up and get away. They don't understand that this is your job, to take up for other people's irresponsibility. And it's a hard job. All I wanted to do was hold each pet before we did anything, but there's no time for that. We had a time frame by which we were to be done before members of the public came through the shelter so they would not see the truth that takes place. The worst for me was the kittens. There were so many of them, and the mound was so big by the time I was finished placing them all in the chamber cage. Once the door was closed, I left the room. It was then my job to take all the cage cards and fill out the euthanasia log. I wrote down 47 animal ids that morning. They didn't have names, just numbers, and most were never given much of a description past DSH (domestic short hair for cats) or Mix for dogs, where the majority had the word "Pit" in front.

And that was part of my job four days a week for two months. Some days there were less, others more. But it never got easier. I still cried when I got home, thinking about the ones that should have had a chance but never will.

So thank you, Oprah, for showing the rest of the world what too many people try to ignore.