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Why Chain Off Matters!
From DDB
Founder Tamira Thayne--I remember the moment eight years ago when I
first thought of chaining myself to a doghouse. I was filled with a
sense of rightness and excitement at the notion, yet fear and
trepidation dogged my every mental step.
I tucked
the idea away and ruminated.
The image
wouldn't budge, however, no matter how often I told myself it was
impossible, it would be too embarrassing, people would laugh, etc.,
etc., etc.
What would
they think of me?
But in the
end the fear and uncertainty didn’t sway me from my vision. On July
3-4, 2004, I chained myself to a doghouse for the first time, facing my
own inner demons about social acceptance and the prejudice of
others—others who either chain their own dogs, love their own dogs but
don't extend that compassion to others, or know in their guts that
chaining is wrong but aren't willing to stand against it.
I chained
myself to make a statement about chaining a dog for life.
I.e., it's
morally wrong.
And,
ethically indefensible.
It should
be the same no-brainer for the "Absolutely Immoral List" as kicking a
puppy or molesting a child.
Sticking a
dog on a CHAIN despite the fact that he's the absolute most-social of
animals, affixing him to a doghouse or tree, ignoring his pleas for
help, and watching him die ten years later--a mere shell of the glorious
creature he was intended to be--IS a criminal act.
Yet,
inexplicably, it doesn't make the list for a large percentage of
Americans.
I was
raised on a 100-acre farm, and I grew up with a beagle chained to her
doghouse behind the honeysuckle bush at the top of the lane. Granted,
perhaps on the surface Maggie's lifelong chaining didn't top the list of
abuses in my household, but looking back I can see that what we did to
Maggie was absolutely WRONG.
I just
didn't have the power to stop it.
But don't
you see?
NOW WE DO!
Now We DO!
When
enough of us burst forth from the fear bubble we've put ourselves in, we
CAN make things right for America's chained dogs.
This IS a
no-brainer, but we have to be willing to stop tolerating the abuse.
Are we
ready yet? Will you work with me to put an end to the abuse?
When I
take my place in front of my doghouse on the hot and humid grass of an
Alachua, Florida shopping center this July 3rd, it will be my seventh
year living chained for 24 hours or longer--suffering one day in
comparison to their 365.
I’ve yet
to die of embarrassment for doing it. When I spend those 24 miserable
hours chained on behalf of chained dogs, what I'm doing matters to me,
and it matters to the world we live in--a world which needs to see
people strong enough in their belief of the wrongness of an action that
they are willing to look stupid on behalf of a creature who has no
voice. I'm depriving myself of comfort, adequate food, enough water, a
nice soft bed, and protection from the elements because I know that they
DO DESERVE BETTER.
Please
join me in chaining yourself for them, or in supporting our Chain Off
fundraising efforts so we may continue to be their voice.
When you
see your dog on the couch tonight, give him or her a hug. And realize,
no matter purebred or mutt, there are thousands more dogs who look just
like yours living chained at this very moment, needing someone to be a
voice for them.
Will you
be that voice?
You can help by donating or participating
today!Get
signed up! Donate
for your favorite individual or team!
Are you following our friendly fundraising
competition? If you remember, the last two years Rhonda
Sims has kicked Tamira
Thayne's butt in their friendly donation competition. Currently, Rhonda
Sims is #1 with $1775; Shannon
Allen of VA is #2 with $1360; and Tamira
Thayne is #3 with $1310. Donate to one of these worthy candiates or
someone in your area!
This year's main event has two locations--
Alachua, FL and at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. We have
others across the country that are planning Chain Off events in their
neighborhoods. See
all the locations and participants!
Join one of these events or start your own! Or
you can click to sponsor any one of the participants.
Our fundraising page is up and going at www.firstgiving.com/dogsdeservebetter. You can create a webpage to raise funds and
send to all your family and friends. If you have questions, contact
Tereza Marks at tereza@dogsdeservebetter.org.
For more information visit
our website
Dog
Days of Summer are Back
The Dog
Days of Summer are upon us...and dogs will languish, suffer, even die in
the heat.
DDB has a
unique challenge for the second summer in a row: Let's Rescue a
Chained or Penned Dog a Day! That's 90 Chained or Penned Dogs in need of
foster and vet care, not to mention new, inside, loving homes and
families. Can we do it?
Well, we
are well on our way! We have already rescued 15 dogs that
have lived their lives at the end of a chain!
Here
is the story of one dog rescued this summer:
Penned for 7 years. I received a call from
vet tech, Teresa, from my Vet clinic. This clinic is very supportive of
the efforts and cause of DDB. Teresa informed me that an owner of a Lab
mix wanted to schedule an appointment the following Saturday to have
their dog put to sleep. She promptly called me sensing that something
didn't seem right in the care of this dog and asked if I would be
interested in rescuing her. She told me the address of the owner and
"ding, ding, ding…" bells went off in my head. This is the dog I
received an anonymous tip about and has been on my list of DDB dogs for
sometime now. I replied with an adamant "yes". I had never seen this
dog, as her pen is covered by sheets of corrugated metal and the pen
only slightly in view from an adjacent side street.
Kalli now has a new lease on life and will be
fostered with my wife and I until her forever home finds her.
Tim Treybal
MN area DDB representative
See
the stories of the other 14 dogs rescued so far...
Photo
by Redheaded Ninja
Update:
Happy Ending for Sugar and Cinnamon!
In January
2010, Dogs Deserve Better Founder Tamira Thayne was charged with
trespassing for providing food, water, and straw to two underweight
chained dogs in Lilly, PA. Thayne lost the case in magisterial court,
but the charges were not prosecuted on appeal.
In a twist
that is being described as miraculous, dog caretakers Jason and Krystal
Cann came to her and Dogs Deserve Better in June with the willingness
to release the dogs to her organization. On June 6, 2010, everyone got
their miracle.
Video of the rescue can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzyIjIY4m8.
Renamed Sugar and Cinnamon, see the video of their happy
ending http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzyIjIY4m8
Read the full story...
Donate
to the Welcome Waggin'
With
generous support of donors such as Nylabone, Petstages, Kyjgen, Premier
Pet Products, and Flexi-lead, we have been able to provide these items
for the first few months of the program. However, supplies are dwindling
due to high demand. We are fostering over 300 dogs per year.
We need
your help to keep the program running. The costs associated with foster
these dogs can be considerable and some foster parents may be unable to
provide these items. In addition, this program allows previously chained
dogs to have items of their very own that can be taken with them to
their new "furever" homes.
Please
consider making a donation to the of new, good quality toys, leashes,
collars, beds, bowls or other pet care items to Welcome Waggin.
Donations can be mailed to PO Box 1864, Bonita Springs, FL 34133
for distribution to foster homes across the US and Canada. Also, if you
order over $100 from http://www.premier.com Premier Pet Products, mention DDB so that we
can get a credit toward our orders.
If you
have a pet retail outlet and want to donate large numbers of items,
please contact Tereza Marks at Tereza@dogsdeservebetter.org.
New
Program: Spay Me-- Don't Chain Me!
Thanks to a generous grant of $3000 from the
Petco Foundation, DDB will be able to provide spay/neuter surgeries to
chained dogs whose owners want to bring them into the home. Behavioral
issues such as marking, roaming, and aggression can be issues
that lead to dogs being chained and left outside. Many of these
issues can be assisted with spay/neuter surgery. The new Spay Me-- Don't
Chain Me program will provide up to $100 for spay/neuter surgery to
caretakers who chain their dogs as a result of these types of behavioral
issues. As with our fencing program, these caretakers must agree to
bring these dogs into the home as part of their agreement with DDB.
Are You on
Facebook? Join Our Causes and Donate to Chain Off 2010
In addition to raising money for Chain Off
through our Firstigiving pages, we have intiated a Chain Off 2010
through our 13 affliated Causes on Facebook. We are hoping to raise an
additional $20,000 from our Facebook friends and social networking. If
you are on Facebook, join one of our Causes (download the Causes
application then search Dogs Deserve Better). Once you join, you will
have the opportunity to donate through Causes secure website to Chain
Off 2010. You will also receive updates on our progress... SO FAR WE
HAVE RAISED OVER $1000 FOR CHAIN OFF 2001 THROUGH OUR CAUSES CAMPAIGN.
Thank you Facebook friends!
Children's
Book Main Character Contest
Speaking of raising funds, one way to help
with our major fundraising effort is to sponsor our newest children's
book and get a chance to have YOUR DOG be the star of the show! We
thought we'd be engulfed with people wanting the chance to get their dog
in the book: however, sponsorships are LOW! Please help us get this
book off the ground as it's so needed in our schools, while earning
yourself the chance to have a lot of extra fun! Sponsor
TODAY.
Dogs
Deserve Better will be publishing our second children's book in October
of 2010, entitled A New Name for Worthless, and this time
we're looking for the STAR of the show!
Written and illustrated by Rocky Shepheard, it's a
delightfully poignant tale of the love of a man for his dog, and the
lengths both man and dog will go to for each other and freedom.
There are lots of fun characters to add camaraderie and humor
to the plot and adventure that will keep you turning the pages. The
ending will surely bring smiles to the faces of both you and your
children.
Of course, as with everything else Dogs Deserve Better does,
our book has an important message for children that dogs are part of the
family, and they want to live inside with us.
So how do you get involved? Well, all of the characters are
currently being developed graphically except one--the lead protagonist, a
dog named Worthless (named for the
real-life dog who started Dogs Deserve Better).
DDB will be giving one of our supporter's dogs the chance to
be drawn as Worthless, the star of the tale, who receives a miraculous
transformation and a new name!
How do you get YOUR dog in the
running to be the star? Just sponsor the book, and indicate whether you
want your dog to be eligible for the drawing or not. (You can sponsor
without entering your dog in the contest too, of course.)
We will choose the winner of the contest from eligible book
sponsors on July 12th, and announce it on our site.
For more
information, go to the website...
The Shelter Challenge is Back!
Help DDB win $10,000
Dogs Deserve Better wants to win $10,000 to
support our mission and programs. Click everyday to vote until August
22nd. Remember to vote for DDB in Altoona, PA. Vote
now.
Another Chance for DDB to Win
$5000 in the Pepsi Refresh Project
Dogs Deserve Better wants to win $5000 to
provide coloring books to over 20,000 students in areas where dog
chaining is a big problem. Since we placed in the top 100 last month and
the month before, Pepsi is giving us a third chance to win.
EVERYONE needs to vote EVERYDAY through the end of May. Click here to vote (you will need to register
From the
Mailbag
Although at the start we thought "what have
we done by taking on a puppy!" we quickly fell in love with this little
goof and after lots of dedication and training classes he's really come a
long way and is definitely part of the family. Mac is now 6 months old
and loves to play, constantly with anything and everything. Some things
about Mac...
Likes
-Dogs,
any dog. EVERYBODY is his playmate (even if they don't want to be)
-Long
walks in the forest (allows for the consumption of dirt and moss)
-Empty
coffee cups (he loves to carry them- not sure why)
Accomplishments
-
Diploma in puppy school
- Shaking a paw
- Leave it and drop it
-
Sitting for dinner and treats
-He has also just graduated to having
the full run of the house when he is home alone!
Among all the
hard work, having a rescue dog feels good and is extremely rewarding. I
feel very lucky to have found our little man and he's becoming a very
socialized, well adjusted, and well mannered dog. Darn cute too
Cheers,
Tammy & Will
I got your
email and am replying with a brief bio on Darla and our adoption of
her. We adopted her through Deana Whitfield as her mom was a chained
American Bulldog that had gotten pregnant.
We have had her for a
month and a half now and she is growing like a weed and doing great. Our
family has 3 young kids who all adore her. We named her Darla after the
Little Rascals as she has a brown patch over one eye. She is so smart
and loves to cuddle and play with all of us. She has started puppy
training and we are working on sit, stay, heel. She eats like a horse
and loves to chase balls. She has a wonderful temperament and we are so
glad she is part of our family.
We have attached a few pictures.
Love,
The Schulers
****************
Silva was
adopted by us after her mother, with her and her sister, was left on a
chain outside of Terrace, BC. After a
probably terrifying flight to Vancouver, she quietly rode home with us,
and quickly settled into her new bed. Instantly she was part of the
family, and has claimed our home as hers. She has had a few firsts the
last few weeks, first time on the beach at a weekend getaway, and her
ongoing obedience/socializing training.
Silva is a
very intelligent dog, learning quickly, sometimes a little
distracted/stubborn, but quickly getting the hang of her day to day
routine, walks, playtime, sleep, and eat. We just need to work on her
liking car rides better. Next week she has her little surgery to
complete her role in a pawsitive society. My wife and I are extremely
happy that we were able to change her life for the better, as she has
changed ours.
Dave and
Norine Warfield
****************
Dogs
Deserve Better,
I have another story for your page of success
stories on your
site. This happened several years ago, back in 2004.
I was 14
years old at the time, and volunteered with a local animal
rescue
every weekend.
I had become aware that an
acquaintance had a dog who they kept
chained in their yard out in
the country. He rarely had access to
clean water and had no dog
house. They didn't even have a collar
for the dog, they just looped
the chain around his neck and hooked
it to itself. He was never
allowed off the chain, and was even
left chained to the tree to fend
for himself during Hurricane
Charley, a category 4 hurricane that
remains to this day one of
the costliest storms to ever hit the
state of Florida. He was
filthy, matted, and covered in ticks, but
despite this he was an
extremely sweet dog. I asked them if they
would be willing to give
up the dog for adoption, since they
frequently voiced that they
did not like him and would rather get
rid of him. They said yes,
if I could find someone to take him then
they would be more than
happy to be rid of him.
I searched
high and low for a rescue that would accept him
(keeping him with us
was not an option at the time). Every rescue
in Alachua County told
me that they would not take animals
directly from people, the dog
had to be sent to the pound. Sending
him to the pound where he could
potentially face death was not an
option, so I kept making calls,
begging for someone to take in
this essentially abandoned dog.
Finally
I found Dogs Deserve Better, and after hearing the dog's
story they
told me they would be more than happy to take him into
their
rescue. Ecstatic, we drove out and picked up the dog that
weekend,
and brought him into the hands of Dogs Deserve Better. I
have no
idea where Bandit ended up from there, but I know that he
was put
into good hands and without your organization having
stepped in, he
would probably still be chained to that tree. Thank
you so much!
I
have attached two pictures. The first is of the dog chained to
the
tree, and the second is of the dog after we got him into the
car and
on his way to Dogs Deserve Better.
Keep up the great work,
Katherine
Gainesville,
FL
****************
She was chained up on a giant tow chain inside of a fenced in area.
Surrounded by mud and feces, everything in her pen was filthy and wet.
She had 6 puppies I'm told. She had ushered them into the little
doghouse for shelter and then her chained twisted so badly that she
couldnt reach them, 3 of them died. Especially now that I've met
her and seen what an amazing, caring mother she is, it shatters my heart
to think of what she went through while her puppies were dying. I try
to block it out now.
Anissa found her and contacted DDB about her situation. After some
miscommunications we finally got everything straitened out and I picked
her up May 30th.
Reese is heartworm positive and in rough shape. Her coat is rough and
dull, her teeth need some attention and she needs to get some weight on
her. But her puppies... She has taken phenominal care of them through
this whole ordeal. They have soft, shiney coats and they are fat and
happy. My hubby named them Lyric, Sosa & Hooch! Reese gets along
great with all of my dogs (even the wild aussies!) and even the cat. She
loves people and her tail is always stinging my legs and clearing my
coffee table. She always has an eye on her pups and she hasn't had an
accident in the house yet. I cant say enough good things about this
girl. She's fantastic, and she definately deserved better than the hand
she'd been dealt.
Emily Northrop
Dogs Deserve Better ~ MN
****************
Hello Everyone,
I had 6 dogs surrendered to me that were living in horrible
conditions in a trailer park. The adult dogs were kept chained, and one
dog ,Sabrina a flat-coat retriever, had given birth to 8 puppies. The
other dogs were a golden retriever named Ginger, and a little boxer mix
named Gracie, who we suspected was also pregnant. The family gave up
Ginger, who went to a great golden retriever group , and Gracie, who
they were going to take to a high kill shelter. They wanted to keep
Sabrina the flat-coat retriever, but called a couple weeks later and
were going to be evicted because she kept getting loose, so we got her
too. She is in a great foster home, and Gracie was adopted also, and
spayed before she was too far along. Sabrina will be spayed when our vet
gives the OK.
Sadly, they gave away 5 puppies but let us take the remaining 3,
which 2 were adopted into great homes, and the last one Luke, is being
fostered by the same family who adopted his sister Lily.Here are before
pictures of all the adult dogs, and after pictures in their new homes.
What a way to start the summer
Tammi
Ky Rep
Make a
Difference for a Chained Dog!
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Staunton,
VA Passes Anti Tethering Ordinance
*************
Tethered Dog Dies in Shadeless
Lafayette, MO Yard
*******************
The Legality of
Helping Chained Dogs
*******************
Attack on Dog
by Stinging Insects Has Left Experts Perplexed
*******************
Dogs Deserve Better in
Sarasota, FL
*******************
Boy's
Ear and Face Injured in Pit Bull Attack in Rock Hill, SC
*******************
3-Year
Old Boy Recovers from Pit Bull Bite in Fort Mill, SC
*******************
Pit
Bull Mauls Man Going to Buy Drink in Jacksonville, FL
*******************
Neighbors
Concerned About Big Dog in Hamilton, ON Canada
*******************
In
Baltimore, MD, Officier Rescues Abused Dog and Adopts It
*******************
Constant
Chaining Behind Many Preventable Bites
*******************
Omaha
Man Charged with Abandoning Dogs
*******************
Mauldin,
SC to Consider Ban on Tethering Dogs
*******************
Update: Teddy
the Guard Dog Returned to Berwyn, IL Owner
*******************
Marion,
IN Police Crack Down on Dog Ordinance
*******************
In
Ocean City, MD, Press Covered Barking Dog Issue
*******************
Petition:
Stop Cruel Chaining of Dogs in NY State
*******************
PA
Residents: Senate CoSponsors Needed for Anti-Tethering Law
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Bainbridge,
GA When Tethering Becomes Life Threatening
Upcoming
Events
Join DDB at the Animal
Rights 2010 Conference July 15-19 at the Hilton Alexandria, VA. For
more details see the website.
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| IN
THIS ISSUE |
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Why
Chain Off Matters!
Dog
Days of Summer Are Back!
Update:
Happy Ending for Sugar and Cinnamon!
Donate
to the Welcome Waggin'
Spay
Me- Don't Chain Me!
Are
You on Facebook? Check Out Our Causes!
Children's
Book Main Character Contest
Shelter
Challenge is Back-- Help DDB Win $10,000
Pepsi
Refresh Challenge--Yet Another Chance to Win
From
the Mailbag
Make A
Difference for A Chained Dog!
Upcoming
Events
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