The dogs have been barking ever since they were awoken at 7 AM by a team of volunteers ready to feed and exercise the displaced pups. The team consists vastly of trained volunteers from the east and west coast, there are not many locals working at the shelter and when residents do come by and ask, 'where are you from?', they are shocked when one of us shouts 'New York', another 'California' then I pipe in with 'DC'. They are grateful to have us here (I must mention the home made chocolate chip cookies dropped off for the volunteers today) but the community was definately not prepared to be displaced. Mitigation, the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters as defined by FEMA. It can be as simple as having an emergency plan in place for you, your family and your extended furry family.
All of the lost dogs from this community, Conway Arkansas, are being house on these fairgrounds, the news and radio are spreading the word for pet owners to come by and look for their lost pets. It astonishes me that only a handful of the 100+ dogs that were brought to this shelter were wearing ID tags. I have seen familys cry from being seperated from their pet and when asked, was he wearing ID?, the response is "no".
We are still getting in as many animals as we reunite. Today, 9 more dogs came. One litter of shepherd mix puppies were discovered in cardboard box besides the dumpster of a trailer park. Oh, and don't let me forget 'Scratchy', an adult shar-pei mix that was brought in by some community members who were able to catch him. He is completely bald except for the scabs from the secondary skin infection he is suffering from likely as a result of his severe mange. The state vet looked him over and 'Scratchy' is in quarientine for now so he will be cared for by the livestock volunteers to try and prevent cross contamination to other dogs.
The dogs have stopped barking, I think we all need a good nites sleep.
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