Schroeder woman provides caring heart and home for abandoned pets
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Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend.
- Corey Ford
If dumping trash on the roadsides out in rural Victoria County is a misdemeanor crime, and it is, then I think dumping dogs or cats should be a felony.
And folks, it's happening all the time.
Just ask Jo McKissack, who is feeding a whole kennel of discarded dogs and cats that have been dumped from vehicles near her home in Schroeder.
"People may have good intentions. They may be thinking they're doing the humane thing," she says, giving them a lot more credit than I would. "They can't take care of the animals for whatever reason. They're so cute at first, and maybe a kids says, 'Ooh, can I have it?' But after a while it's not as cute, or maybe it poops inside, and so they think someone out here will take care of it."
Jo leaves large pans of water out for the animals, and feeds them what she can, but it's a strain.
"My boss gave me a 50-pound bag of dog food and a case of canned food, so that has helped, but now I've got a bony, pregnant female, not even a year old, who's about to have another litter."
Jo realizes the animals are only doing what comes naturally, but she says humans have no excuse for the explosion in animal numbers. "There are ways to have animals spayed and neutered at no cost. Some shelters will do it, and some vets do it."
It's gotten so bad, Jo says, that an older couple down the road has 25 feral cats hanging around their house.
After being dumped, as punishment for just being alive, other animals end up at Jo's, and she becomes their adoptive mother. She has taken over the feeding of three feral cats - "two of them are males, thank God" - and four dogs, also shy of humans. "I try to catch them, so I can get them taken care of, but they're afraid and they run," Jo says.
And can you blame them?
Imagine you're one of these refugees, suddenly pushed from a vehicle that takes off and leaves you in the scary surroundings of a strange landscape. You had trusted that human as a friend and kindly master, but now, as the noise of the engine fades away, only the frightening rustle of leaves and the sound of a few birds are there to keep you company. You sit there in the middle of the red dirt road, your keen nose picking up strange animal smells that makes the place even more frightening.
Still, after the initial shock wears off, you must concentrate on the first order of survival - food and water.
And that's how these poor animals end up at the home of charitable people like Jo McKissack. She simply can't let them go hungry.
Truthfully, I weep when I think of each and every one of these little friends, because they did nothing to deserve this callous abandonment.
Once, in fact, they lovingly licked the hand that now has pushed them away.
The county has no animal control, and the city's small animal control force has its hands full and won't go out in the county.
And so, these orphans of the night grow in numbers, never understanding why they were suddenly so unwanted.
Jim Bishop is a senior editor for the Advocate. Leave him a message at 361-574-1210 or jbishop@vicad.com or comment on this column at www.victoriaadvocate.com
Comments
This was a well written article, but should have included contact information on solving the dumping problem.
First off, Adopt-A-Pet of Victoria is your best bet on getting animals fixed at the lowest-cost. If you are not able to handle even their prices, one should call the shelter at 361-575-7387 to talk with the people making appointments there. They can tell you about other programs where you might be able to get your cat or dog spayed/neutered at an even lower cost, or free, no matter what county you live in.
Victoria County Animal Shelter has a grant that offers free spaying/neutering of all pets/strays an individual has, if you are on any type of government program. (WIC, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Disability, etc.) The only other requirement they have is that you also live in Victoria County. Call them for more info to see if you qualify. 361-578-3564
Dumping animals never solves a problem. You just create new ones for other people. It is more humane for that animal to be taken to the local animal shelter and euthanized, than it will ever be to dump the animal, and leave it in the wild to fend and starve itself.
If you live in Victoria County, but not in the city limits, while the animal control officers will no longer pick up your animal, you can still take the animal to the local county animal shelter, and relinquish it at no charge to you. Please use this option, and give your animal a chance at life and adoption. It is better than dumping, and/or stopping the care for the animal completely.
Also, if you try to find a home with one of the local no-kill facilities in town, please do not take your frustration out on them, if they are not able to help you at this time. Because people do not spay/neuter, shelters are normally overwhelmed with animals. They do their best to help everyone they can, and they deserve our help and understanding, not our wrath, when they cannot help everyone.
As for finding new homes for your unwanted pets, please also try the following (and make sure your pet is spayed/neutered through one of the above programs--so you're not contributing to the overpopulation problem when you give your animal up):
The Victoria Advocate will let you run an ad under "miscellaneous free" free to you for 3 days.
American Classifieds will let you run a free ad for 4 weeks free.
Also, check with friends and family. Post pictures at your apartment, school, or workplace bulletin boards.
And please, if you have to move and know you will not be able to take your pets with you, start looking immediately! Hardly anyone can ever help you the day before a move. Let go of your loved pet early, so you can be sure to find it a well-deserved home.
June 8, 2009 at 3:07 p.m.Mr. Bishop - a timely and well-written article. God bless you for bringing this tragedy to the forefront, and God bless Ms. McKissack for helping these creature who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in need.
People, for the love of God, SPAY AND NEUTER your animals! If you are blessed enough to be a pet owner, STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Take care of what you have been blessed with. If you cannot or will not, then give them to someone who will! DO NOT just dump them or take them to a shelter, thinking they will be able to fend for themselves.
I have mixed feelings about animals being dumped in the country or anywhere else. I despise people who do this with every fiber of my being. BUT if someone had not dumped the pets I have (and every cat that has become a part of my life, with rare exception, has been a stray) then I would not be blessed with their presence. I dearly love the pets I have, and the truth is, they have done so much more for me than I could ever do for them. I think sometimes it is I who have been rescued. I thank God I am able to take them, and will never refuse an animal, but what if I couldn't? So many just are not able to do this.
While I am convinced that there is a special heaven for animals when they pass on, I am equally sure that there is an opposite and unsavory place for ANYONE who mistreats, abuses, or neglects an animal.
June 3, 2009 at 7:59 p.m.