Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-27-2011, 10:04 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,118,213 times
Reputation: 10355

Advertisements

I know several people in rescue, for a while I was VP of a rescue (until I got sick of the politics), have transported, fostered etc for years.

Tonight a good friend of mine called me up...she is a crazy cat lady (LOL) who feeds and cares for cat colonies in the ghettos of Flint, Michigan - I live a little north of Flint.

If you have never been to the blighted parts of a city as bad as Flint, you have absolutely no idea how bad it is. I have travelled a lot in the Middle East and Mexico and South America: Flint is nastier and more dangerous, hands down.

So...this evening my friend put out a call to rescues. She has been feeding these cat colonies, and started feeding two pit bull mix females on the north end of the city. These were stray/loose dogs (very common here) one young and very needy and friendly, one older and more skittish. She just found out that two houses on an adjacent street were dog-fighting houses, both abandoned; about half the houses there are. Cats, kittens,feral puppies and approachable dogs are used for bait - either tossed into a yard or pen with fighting dogs, or tied up, duct-taped or put into bags so they are defenceless and tossed to the dogs. I walked by one of the houses, there were cat carriers and small crates in the yard. So, she is very concerned that these dogs are at risk.

Anyhow...so by the time I get there, they have the younger dog; she is a lovely pit bull/shar pei/ yellow lab mix looking pup, nervous but absolutely soaking up the attention. The older dog (white pit bull) took off when the first responders got there. A couple of us talked with kids who knew the neighborhood, and they directed us (discreetely, so as not to get, you know, shot) to the dog-fighting houses. They told us how they'd watched dogs and cats get thrown into cages with "fighting dogs", how the older kids in the neighborhood would go out and lure animals for bait, how the men and women who were involved with fighting would shoot dogs who lost, or leave them on chains to die, how certain houses always smelled really bad because of rotting dogs. We went behind a couple of abandoned houses...sure enough, there were skeletal remains of dogs on chains.

I know this goes on in this city. I have heard descriptions of dog-fight busts from people - friends - who have been in on them and have been called in to clean up the aftermath. I guess what I wasn't prepared for was the matter-of-fact accounts from these kids who lived with this as a fact of life. They were graphic, detailed, and while they knew it was wrong (they said), it was pretty much normal life in their world.

One of the other folks who showed up this evening commented that she wished she was armed and could just do away with people responsible for this violence - towards animals and children. I agreed. I was walking into abandoned houses with a flashlight and stick in my hand (looking for the older pit who is known to hide out in abandoned houses) almost hoping to come across someone and beat that crap out of them with the stick, or whatever I had. I was that mad.

Please give good thoughts for the white pit bull my friend has been feeding for months...several people are staying late to find her. Please don't hate pit bulls for what people have turned them into. Please donate if you can to local organizations dealing with dog fighting. It is absolutely a horrible thing. Thank you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-27-2011, 10:11 PM
 
18,660 posts, read 33,267,745 times
Reputation: 37077
Thank you for your post.
And may the people who have hurt these animals burn. Slowly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2011, 10:20 PM
 
6,497 posts, read 11,788,237 times
Reputation: 11123
Thank you for all you're doing.

Perhaps you should carry a stun gun?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-27-2011, 10:33 PM
 
Location: Mountains of middle TN
5,245 posts, read 16,385,510 times
Reputation: 6130
Quote:
Originally Posted by steelstress View Post
Thank you for all you're doing.

Perhaps you should carry a stun gun?
Agree. You're a saint and this world needs so many more like you.

However I'm thinking getting your carry permit and drop the first POS that makes a threatening move. Be safe out there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 05:50 AM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,118,213 times
Reputation: 10355
Yeah! They found the white pit, after I left. Just got a call. There were about eight people looking, I left at about 11 pm.

That's two dogs that are now safe.

There are some extremely dedicated folks willing to go the extra mile (I just showed up and helped look for a while)...two women drove about 50 miles, a couple came from further away than that, a really sweet young woman who lived in the neighborhood said she sometimes fed the dog and had named her, so she came out to help as well. The younger dog is going to be cared for by a rescue several counties way, I am not sure who took the older one...an Ann Arbor-based rescue, I think.

My crazy cat lady friend is SO relieved. She's been feeding these dogs for a while and has gotten increasingly worried about their fate. She's the real saint here. She is on disability and still manages to feed, care for, and spay/neuter when possible, several cat colonies. She drives around these neighborhoods alone...she is brave and dedicated.

mrs1885....I have been considering getting a concealed carry permit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 06:15 AM
 
4,231 posts, read 15,391,097 times
Reputation: 4099
Great update, very happy 2 will be safe but sad for the ones who didn't make it. Sadly, these things happen all over but it's a good reminder that there's good people out there who work behind the scenes b/c they love animals, it's tough work but must be so rewarding when everything comes together and some make it and go on to have great lives.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 06:24 AM
 
6,441 posts, read 5,238,378 times
Reputation: 13564
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiroptera View Post
Yeah! They found the white pit, after I left. Just got a call. There were about eight people looking, I left at about 11 pm.

That's two dogs that are now safe.

There are some extremely dedicated folks willing to go the extra mile (I just showed up and helped look for a while)...two women drove about 50 miles, a couple came from further away than that, a really sweet young woman who lived in the neighborhood said she sometimes fed the dog and had named her, so she came out to help as well. The younger dog is going to be cared for by a rescue several counties way, I am not sure who took the older one...an Ann Arbor-based rescue, I think.

My crazy cat lady friend is SO relieved. She's been feeding these dogs for a while and has gotten increasingly worried about their fate. She's the real saint here. She is on disability and still manages to feed, care for, and spay/neuter when possible, several cat colonies. She drives around these neighborhoods alone...she is brave and dedicated.

mrs1885....I have been considering getting a concealed carry permit.
You and all the people you mentioned are greatly appreciated. By the way, your "crazy cat lady" friend is a CatWoman (just one word but give it two caps - I use it as a logo for my graphic creativity and also have it on the front tag of my car). She is proof that a true CatWoman takes care of cats *and* dogs.
A concealed carry permit is a good idea.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Andrews Texas
135 posts, read 387,824 times
Reputation: 226
What a wonderful thing to do. Thank you!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 08:01 AM
 
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
1,457 posts, read 4,045,676 times
Reputation: 1479
So glad they found the white pit. Be very careful when you go to areas like that, and I'd second the CWP. That's sad that those kids know that this is wrong and consider it normal. Hopefully one day they will stand up to those people and start to change things in their neighborhood.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-28-2011, 10:48 AM
 
7,329 posts, read 16,377,510 times
Reputation: 9693
Thank you so much for helping these dogs. And yes, please do be careful.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top