Jonathan Jackson, a 23-year-old psychology and education major, was home in Houston about four months ago when he and his brother stumbled upon an unfortunate scene. They found a dog in a bucket at the edge of someone’s yard, swimming in her own waste with an open wound in her side. It appeared someone had shot the dog with a BB gun and left her to die.
Jackson took the dog, as it was clear no one was caring for her. They found no chip or evidence of vaccines and chose to nurse the dog, now named Sarabi after a character in the musical “Lion King”, back to health. Sarabi is estimated to be about 9 months old and was found when she was about 5 months old. The brothers are planning on finding a more permanent home for Sarabi because their work and school schedules don’t suit the needs of a puppy.
“Despite all she’s been through, she’s a sweet, playful dog who loves people and making new friends with fellow canines,” said Jackson.
Stories like Jonathan Jackson’s represent why DallasPETS is so interested in teaching the public about illegal dumping and loose dogs. DallasPETS is a new campaign that is dedicated to educating the public about three main animal issues plaguing the city: illegal dumping, loose dogs and adoption.
It has been launched by the city of Dallas, where thousands of stray animals live on the streets. Exact numbers are difficult to come by, however in 2013-14 there were 28,326 dogs taken at the Dallas animal services shelter. This is one of the lowest numbers since 2007 when over 36,000 animals were taken.
With a current average of 80 intakes per day at the DAS shelters, euthanasia rates are high. DallasPETS campaign will focus on spreading the word about the pets one can adopt from these shelters as well as awareness of the issues plaguing Dallas animals through targeted social media.
This campaign comes at a turbulent time for Dallas Animal Services (DAS), which is struggling to keep up with the increasing demands that loose and stray animals create.
Though Animal Control officers increased patrols in five Dallas neighborhoods since October, issues with strays persist throughout the area. In November, Marina Tarashevska, who runs Dallas DogRRR rescue, made a statement by dropping two dead dogs on the sidewalk in front of the city animal shelter. She was dissatisfied with the slow response to the stray and dead dogs of southern Dallas, and when a dog she had reported as dead was not picked up as shown on the 311 program, Tarashevska decided to take matters into her own hands.
While some animals are left to die on the side of the road, others are given away. Walking back to the Blvd apartments from homecoming in 2012, Sydney Schor, a 21-year-old finance major at SMU, and her ex-boyfriend came across someone holding a puppy.
Schor approached the man and asked to pet the tiny dog. As she held it the man told her and her then-boyfriend to just keep it and then ran off.
They named her Barley, and she was only about 8 weeks old; she was malnourished and had fleas.
Schor believes that the reason this man was giving away a puppy was because he may have gotten a surprise litter. “It must have happened by accident, like someone didn’t know their dog was pregnant,” she said.
Schor and her ex took care of the dog together for about a year, but 50-pound Barley now lives with the ex.
Barley was luckier than most in finding a good home, but many others are not. Unfortunately countless dogs end up in abusive or neglectful homes, and as recently as 2013 the animal cruelty unit of Dallas Country district attorney’s office was formed in order to prosecute these incidents.
Though maximum sentences are rare in animal cruelty cases, a 10-year maximum has been the precedent; a case currently on trial may receive the harshest possible punishment if the accused is found guilty. Buddy, a 2 ½-month-old Chihuahua was left in his kennel on top of a hot stove, by 61-year-old Bradley Glenn Boley, and had to be put to sleep due to severe burns.
Incidents such as this are shining examples of how important it is that along with the DallasPETS campaign there is also extensive teaching about responsible pet ownership to Dallas citizens. Dallas based non-profit organization Duck Team 6 is taking advantage of social media, as DallasPETS suggests, in their efforts to save street dogs, catch them, and place them in adoptive care.
Duck Team 6 uses Facebook to reach out about strays and rescues, telling their stories and helping find some good homes. As recently as December 9, a street dog, renamed Holly, was posted as looking for a worthy home. Good Samaritan Ute found Holly wandering the streets with a severely embedded collar and called for help.
“The vet thinks the collar was probably put on Holly when she was a young pup and she’s now estimated to be 6-8 months old. The embedded collar has been removed and they’ve started laser therapy” posted Rekka of Duck Team 6.
Though the social media campaign DallasPETS is relatively new, and organizations like Duck Team 6 are taking advantage of social media, they are not the only ones. SMU journalism student Emily Heft found her dog through social media at a pound in LA.
Heft had a friend working at the shelter in LA who would post photos of animals needing adoption. When Heft saw Buddy, a dog with a bad leg was in line to be euthanized she felt the need to save him.
“I saw his picture and he was so skinny and had the saddest eyes and for whatever reason I decided that I couldn’t let him die … so I called for a few days in a row to say I was interested until I could go get him! I had to pretend I was different people every day, because it had to seem like there was a demand for him other than just me,” said Heft.
Heft was able to adopt Buddy in July 2014, which just goes to show that these social media campaigns really can make a difference. Only time will tell how effective DallasPETS will be.
