MORE PINE RIDGE REZ DOGS IN NEED - COMING NEXT SUNDAY 26TH OF OCTOBER Connor, in the first picture has had it rough. He has a bad hind leg that will need to be looked at. Most likely fractured or broken and he needs an obvious grooming. Next to him, Momma is said to be staying on the reservation, but her 8, six week old puppies would be getting off. They will all need a foster home once we arrive. Below is more information regarding the round ups - So far we have raised a total of $2,500 toward a needed $5,000. This funding goes towards paying a veterinarian for vaccinations and health certificates of dogs able to transport, fuel for the vans, and extended veterinary care including surgeries, x-rays, spay/neuter, worming and the more once these dogs arrive. There are a total of 75 dogs needing rescue on the Pine Ridge Reservation, approximately 20 will come to Denkai while others will be transported to rescues across the United States. About a year ago, Lakota Animal Care signed a legal agreement with the Tribal Housing Authority which put an end to this horrific practice that had been going on for decades in which on average 600 dogs a year were rounded up, thrown into horse trailers and taken to the dump where they were shot. Now, according to this message from the Tribal Department of Public Safety, the dog round ups which so many Tribal members are against, are about to resume. Although there are indeed some packs of dogs that need to be removed because of attacks on people, the vast majority of dogs that were rounded up in the past were not vicious, were not attacking people, and their only “crime” was to not be chained (which only turns nice dogs into vicious dogs) or not be in a fenced yard (which few people can afford). Many of the dogs that were killed, like for example, Margaret, Dee Dee, Tenessee, Sapa (just to name a few of the hundreds killed) were family dogs up to date on vaccinations and fixed. These dogs do not deserve to die and certainly not in this horrible way. Lakota Animal Care would like to help stop this horrific practice from being started up again as it is not only a horrible death for a sunka, but also only teaches violence to our children and others who witness the round up knowing full well the destiny that awaits the dogs crying for help in the trailers while families look on horrified but unable to help. There is a better way. Lakota Animal Care needs to resume and dramatically increase our relocation program in which dogs are relocated to no-kill shelters in Colorado, Wyoming and other parts of South Dakota where 100% of them find new homes. We also need to dramatically increase the number of spay/neuters we do. Over the past 3 years, Lakota Animal Care has helped families with free spay/neuters for more than 1000 dogs but we need to do much more. Dogs who attack people must be removed but we request the Department of Public Safety & Tribal Housing to: 1) specifically identify the problem dogs instead of taking a blanket approach to kill all dogs they can catch, most of whom are perfectly innocent and not a threat to people at all, 2) hire a licensed veterinarian to dart the problem dogs and remove them from the population in a targeted fashion, 3) work with Lakota Animal Care to help enable us to relocate off the reservation to no-kill shelters the dogs that need new homes instead of killing them. There is no justification for a general dog round up. There are much better solutions to reducing the dog population and doing this in a humane way. Dog round ups are an ugly part of our past. Let’s keep that in the past and move forward with a more humane future. Lakota Animal Care will be contacting Tribal Housing to try to work out a humane solution but without a great deal more funding and other support, we will not be able to provide a viable alternative.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 17:15:24 +0000
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