All Dogs are ‘House’ Dogs; Some Owners Just Miss the Memo

So, in a surprise twist that—oh, wait—happens all the time, Dogs Deserve Better was once again painted as the bad guys in an Ohio neglect case yesterday.

Here’s the news story:

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2015/02/03/mount-vernon-ohio-mt.-vernon-dog-owner-threatened-after-online-post-goes-viral.html

Since it appears the news station only called Dogs Deserve Better for a statement AFTER our office staff went home for the day (leaving a message just before 6 p.m.), I’ll be more than happy to create our rebuttal to the above story here in my blog.

1. Was it an animal rescue, or a “violent act of harassment?”

Neither. It was a stand against animal cruelty.

Image of the dog in distress

Dog looking for help under fence

You see, while every one of you at your news station goes home to your WARM, happy, and healthy dogs sleeping on your couches, Joe Schmoe that you’ve just interviewed leaves his dogs outside for life.

Because, in his words, “They AREN’T HOUSE DOGS.”

But they are. HOUSE DOGS. Joe Schmoe is just too uncaring to know it.

Every dog is a house dog. Every dog wants to be a member of the family, and these two pit mixes you’re showing are no exception.

Pitbulls are some of the most chained dogs in America, yet they are short-coated dogs and don’t have the fur to endure the cold; they are among the first to freeze to death at the end of a chain.

2. Police are ‘concerned’ about an ‘out of state’ rescue group’s methods.

What would these heinous METHODS be, you might ask? Putting up photos of a dog in distress on social media and having people call the authorities and the news stations about it?

It’s called FREE SPEECH. Social action. Dog advocacy. Nothing sinister about it, although it sure is being purported as such.

3. Police say the viral response to our Facebook post ‘could have put lives in danger.’

Weren’t lives already in danger? The dogs who are forced to live outside in sub freezing temperatures on nights with wind chills as low as -7 are in danger of death every single day of the winter months. By people taking a stand against this treatment of our best friends, we are acting to SAVE LIVES.

4. Even ‘we’ (the news station) felt the repercussions.

So the news station and the police station get bombarded with phone calls asking for help for the dog? I would call that a success. Thanks to everyone who stood up for the dog and made a difference. We do have a voice, and we can and should continue to use our voices until laws and lawmakers and those tasked with upholding the laws understand that living beings have the right to live free of the danger of death at the end of  chain.

5. People came around his house and made threats and brandished pistols.

[I watch a lot of Judge Judy because my hubby likes her. She would say if someone DID brandish a weapon, wouldn’t that be the first thing you talk about instead of bringing it up at the end as an afterthought? I know I’d be blubbering on and on about that if it were me.]

Dogs Deserve Better asks for phone calls to police and local news on dog cases like this. We NEVER advocate violence. Anyone who becomes violent as a result of something they read online is standing on their own, and not as part of any group.

I can tell you that dog-loving Americans are getting fed up with the animal abuse and neglect. If they are acting out, I would suggest that lawmakers stop dragging their feet and get to making and enforcing better laws for Man’s Best Friend.

IF THIS REALLY HAPPENED, and I have no idea if it did or not, then it probably won’t be the first or last time.

However, neither I nor DDB are responsible for one person’s reaction to the abuse they are seeing. We simply point it out; we don’t advocate or condone violence in reaction to it. We ask for phone calls to flood the police and the media.

6. Blames it on his neighbor.

Our apologies and condolences go out to this neighbor. Do you know how much abuse she had to witness in order to decide to stand and ask for help for the dog? Can you understand for one second the fear she had to face just by going public with what she was seeing?

Can you bet that she might be harassed now that she outed the abuse she saw?  I wrote a blog already about the suffering of the neighbors who have the watch the abuse. It’s horrible, and once again, SHE is the one belittled right along with Dogs Deserve Better. https://ofdogsandchains.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/the-emotional-distress-of-watching-a-dog-chained-in-the-cold/

7. Dog warden found ‘nothing wrong.’

Color me shocked! Not. Dog wardens, animal control officers, police, seldom find ‘anything wrong’ unless the dog’s already dead. At that point they MIGHT start to think something is wrong, but you can bet in most cases there won’t even be charges filed.

News reporter—Shelby is it—do you have two eyes? Do you have a dog? Because anyone who DOES have two eyes can see that there’s definitely something wrong.

8. They are well cared for, but not HOUSE DOGS.

Joe Schmoe states the dogs were well cared for, but NOT house dogs. Then they were NOT well cared for, or they WOULD be house dogs. ‘Outside dogs’ and ‘cared for’ do not go together. Oddly, the news station continually showed photos of the dog inside, but then they admit the dogs live outside and proudly show the doghouses.

Doghouses are not something to be proud of.

In fact, I’d like to issue a CHALLENGE TO THIS GUY, JOE SCHMOE DOG OWNER. I WILL COME THERE AND CHAIN UP TO YOUR DOGHOUSES WITH YOU IN THE DOGS’ PLACE.

WHEN YOU’VE HAD ENOUGH AND CAN ADMIT THAT THIS IS NO LIFE FOR A DOG, WE WILL QUIT.  Deal?

Just give me a call at our office when you’re ready for our challenge. 757-357-9292.

9. She had a skin allergy, which is why she was red and patchy. I have ointment for it.

Did the news station ask to see the vet bill for the medicine? Any vet instructions for the skin allergy? Or, as usual, did they just believe whatever they were told.

I’ve never had a vet prescribe ointment for any of the dogs we’ve rescued with skin allergies. They had special baths, antibiotics, antifungals, and a myriad of other medicines by mouth considering what kind of skin condition the vet thought they had, but I have never been prescribed an ointment.

Do you know why? BECAUSE THEY LICK IT OFF.

So I won’t believe he had ointment for his dog’s skin allergy without seeing a vet bill and prescription for it.

10. He has doghouses with bedding, food and water, and even heat lamps.

Um, wow? Besides the obvious, that NO DOG DESERVES TO LIVE OUTSIDE and instead deserves to have a cushy bed INSIDE the home, I really didn’t see more than a few twigs of straw in the houses, and I didn’t see any food and water either.

And the heat lamp? Appeared to be on a crate INSIDE the home. What’s up with that.

11. Police chief says “because of all the phone calls and e-mails he couldn’t have responded to ‘something serious.'”

Come on! That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. Not only could he have certainly responded to ‘something serious’ but this comment in and of itself is exactly the problem.

Dogs are considered unimportant in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of law enforcement. If they HAD taken the problem seriously, the phone calls would have immediately stopped and the dog would have been safely inside and warm, and perhaps on her way to the vet.

12. Check the facts before posting on social media.

Hmmm. Ok, let’s check the facts. Yep, looks like we had our facts straight. Dog outside? Check. Dog has skin condition and low body fur to survive chained in the winter cold? Check and check.

13. Gave Samantha to a rescue group.

Well, then? I guess all’s well that ends well. I’d call that was a good day for Samantha.

Looks like you’re on your way to a new and better life, girl. Have a great one! Run, play, snuggle, do all those things that normal dogs get to do and you were deprived of. You sure deserve your happy ending.

Samantha on her way to a rescue group

14. Big FAIL for the OHIO POLICE and the TV STATION.

While your dogs sit inside cushy and warm, you condone and defend those who allow their dogs to suffer and die in the winter cold. You send a message that this behavior is acceptable and perpetuate the real crime against all of doghood: that chaining a dog outside for life is status quo when in fact it isn’t and it never will be.

We will not stop doing what is right and standing for the abused. We suggest that you use the two eyes you have to see the neglect right in front of you and do something about it, rather than defending the abuser.

P.S. To Anyone who may or may not have acted out with violence

Seriously. If anyone DID hold a gun on this guy or his family? That’s effed up. Two wrongs don’t make a right and all that.

Pip Pip.

You only give the dog owners who mistreat their pets ammo to paint themselves as the victims. Don’t do it.

Yesterday the real victim—the dog—got to safety and will get to know a loving, inside home and family. That’s what’s important.

Thank you so much to the Underdog Society-Knox County Dog Rescue who stepped up to rescue Samantha. If you’d like help with her vet bills, please fill out the form for our Hero Fund grant at this link, and we’ll be happy to help her on to a new and happier life: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/hero.html.

Freedom from Chains as a Lesson from Martin Luther King Jr.

I saw “Selma” on Friday, the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s (and so many others) march on Selma, Alabama which was a turning point in the fight for racial equality in America.

As I sat in the dark theater watching whites beat blacks to death and employ German Shepherds as attack dogs to cause them even more fear and pain, I sobbed for the cruelty that humanity is capable of. I asked myself (as I seem to do so much lately), “Why? Why? Why? I just don’t understand.”

I don’t understand why humans are so cruel to others and to animals. I don’t understand why those in power (of any color) torture and abuse those without power. I don’t understand why they can’t see that a living, breathing being is suffering and why they think it’s in any way ok to keep them down and abused.

In the days of the slaves, the white oppressors convinced themselves that the blacks were ‘happy.’ They liked living that way.

Every oppressive regime or government says the same thing about the oppressed. “They like it. They’re happy.”

But they’re not. Every oppressed people longs for freedom, and ever oppressor refuses to grant that freedom. Freedom doesn’t come without a fight.

Our fight for freedom for chained dogs is this very same fight. The only difference is that these non-human animals don’t speak with a human voice, so we must become their mouthpieces.

I picked this dog up who couldn’t stand, took him to the vet, and refused to return him to the owners who left him lay like that for three days. I was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. I didn’t care. He was worth it.

Chained dogs still speak. A dog who is laying on the ground, unable to stand, but looks at you with pleading eyes; these eyes beg for help. That anyone with eyes and a heart can understand.

A dog who is chained against his will and against his nature barks for freedom. He paces, whines, cries, and eventually gives up on life. All this is visible if you but open your eyes to see.

The dogs’ oppressors don’t see/won’t see. They tell you they are ‘happy’ out there. Sound familiar?

They’re not.

What is the biggest lesson chained dog advocates can take away from Dr. King and those who marched with him?

WE MUST GET MORE ACTIVE.

No one will GIVE the dogs freedom without being forced. And the only way to win the freedom which should be theirs already by moral law? Through the use of the collective voice of the many.

Dr. King went to the president time after time for help. He was told to be patient. He was told it wasn’t yet time for his issue. To sit down and wait his turn.

King refused. He gathered his troops (blacks and whites—all willing to die for the cause) and they marched. Some did die and some were gravely injured. But they marched anyway, for they understood the cost was necessary in order to win rights for the many.

When do we march? When do we feel strongly enough about the plight of the chained dogs to STAND UP AND DO SOMETHING?

To go EN MASSE to the site of a chained dog and DEMAND THE DOG’S REMOVAL FROM THE CHAIN? THEY CAN’T ARREST 50 PEOPLE, CAN THEY? WILL THEY KNOW THE WIND IS TURNING THEN? YOU BETCHA.

The bottom line is that lawmakers and authorities will not help the dogs until we MAKE THEM DO IT. They will stand with those in power who tell them the dogs are ‘happy’ out there.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Will we make the dogs wait another century for freedom? How long must they wait?

The Emotional Distress to Humans Who are Forced to Watch a Dog Chained in the Cold

Gideon was rescued last winter by an Ohio humane society, and transferred to DDB

A cold spell is sweeping the nation, and I watch sadly as people frantically beg online and to authorities for help for chained dogs left out in frigid temperatures near them; knowing that for most help will not come.

Will these dogs die this time, this winter, today?

Would a more appropriate question be not WILL THEY die but HOW MANY will die this time, this winter, today?

And when these precious and helpless creatures DO die, frozen to the ground on their chains, neighbors who have watched the dog suffer (but were too afraid to take matters into their own hands) will bear the guilt of the dog’s death in addition to their own feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and anger at a system that’s let them down and the dog down.

The choices for a caring neighbor forced to watch a dog try and fail to survive in sub-freezing temperatures will become 1. take the dog, aka PROPERTY OF ANOTHER, into their warm homes or the vet’s office and risk being arrested for it, OR 2. to protect themselves and stand by and watch the dog die at the end of the chain.

Some choice.

The heartless and soulless humans who left these dogs—dogs who depend on them for empathy and kindness—out on that chain in frigid temperatures to die will not suffer a moment’s remorse for their actions. That I can guarantee you.

I become very depressed when a cold spell hits, and I feel immense guilt that I am sleeping all snug in my bed while dogs are dying out there in the freezing temperatures.

I personally feel the weight of each suffering dog on my shoulders and I feel like it’s all my fault that I haven’t succeeded in freeing every chained dog in America during my 12.5 years with Dogs Deserve Better.

This isn’t logical, of course, and I know that there’s no way I could have or should have been expected to personally free millions of dogs on my own. Yet I have a hard time releasing that guilt and just moving forward to the best of my ability.

I wrote a previous blog about how to go about helping chained dogs in the cold from a logistical standpoint, so I won’t go over all that again, but you can read it here: https://ofdogsandchains.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/dog-out-in-the-cold-what-to-do-what-to-do/

Today I want to talk about the emotional distress that caring humans feel when forced to watch a chained dog suffer in the cold.

Let’s face it, there’s something ‘off’ about anyone who puts a dog on a chain and thinks it’s acceptable under the best of conditions. Throughout history, those who oppress others (human and animals alike) have justified their actions and behavior with such ludicrous phrases as “he/she likes it out there. He/she isn’t suffering. He/she is happy.”

This is what we hear daily at Dogs Deserve Better when speaking to caretakers of chained dogs. “He likes it out there. He hates the house.”

Bullshit.

One wonders, are these people truly without emotions, or have they just blocked off emotions with regard to the oppressed in order to continue the abuse which—for whatever reason—is convenient and easier for them?

When it comes to dog chaining, I’m constantly asked by our supporters (with confused expressions) “Why do they have a dog at all if they’re just going to chain him/her outside?”

I think, outside of nefarious reasons for chaining dogs such as dogfighting, most people leave dogs on chains because it’s easier for them than bringing them inside to live.

Perhaps their father did it, and without a strong moral compass that tells them not to blindly follow in their father’s footsteps, they just continue the pattern without a thought to the suffering of the animal.

It’s true that living with dogs is akin to living with children. When you come home from the store, there is no guarantee you won’t see garbage strewn across your kitchen floor, or the chewed-up, missing limb from your coffee table.

You co-exist with dog hair, tell visitors to wear their shoes inside to save yourself embarrassment, and clean up poop/pee/vomit at inconvenient and annoying times and places.

But if you’re going to live with a dog, you must accept these conditions in exchange for the benefits of loving and caring for a fur creature that gives back as much as he/she takes.

Or, you can just take the easy way out and toss the dog out on a chain without a thought as to what the dog deserves.

I go up against people who chain their dogs way too often in court, and they will lie through their teeth in order to ‘get you’. Morals are not their strong suit, which is completely obvious given that they keep their ‘Best Friend’ on a chain in the backyard next to the garbage can.

Police and judges almost always (in my case, always) side with the dog abusers. Whether our society has evolved to a police state, or those in positions of power are just set on maintaining status quo and property rights is something that could be the subject of endless debate.

Whatever the case may be, there’s a good chance that if a caring citizen tries to get help for a chained or penned dog from authorities, they will be sorely disappointed.

If animal control or the police actually DO help you and make the owners take the dog inside tonight, great! Wonderful! Call it a day and go eat some pizza. You’ve done well, and the officer is to be commended.

If not, you are left with one heluva dilemma and one heluva load of emotional distress for which there is no end in sight. It’s disheartening, to put it mildly.

How can you possibly crawl into your bed tonight and know that the dog next door is struggling just to survive the night? That each moment through which you blissfully sleep is just one more moment of torture for a being who has done nothing wrong, has committed no crime, and wants nothing more than to be part of a home and family?

This emotional distress caused to caring neighbors is an extension of the abuse caused to the dog by those who chain, by police and animal control who turn a blind eye, and by judges who uphold owner’s rights to abuse both the animals and caring citizens.

Think about this. Say your home was broken into by armed robbers, and you had to watch as they beat your husband or wife, but you were tied to the chair in the kitchen and you couldn’t physically get up to help. You were helpless to do anything but watch as this beating continued, and someone you love was forced to endure pain beyond their ability to bear. It hurt you almost as much to watch it as it hurt him/her to endure the beatings.

Even IF this happened only once in your lifetime, AND you both survived, odds are quite good you’d be dealing with years of post traumatic stress disorder.

Watching a dog, a creature most of us love and feel an innate urge to protect, go through a similar torture every day on a chain for the 10-12 years of his/her lifespan and feeling helpless to do anything about it creates a similar post traumatic stress in neighbors.

The condition goes completely undiagnosed because the caring human is too embarrassed to even talk about the pain in therapy or with those who aren’t out and out dog lovers.

Most neighbors of chained dogs become depressed from watching the suffering of the dog next door;  this is a completely NORMAL human reaction to being forced to watch abuse.

I’m spoken to hundreds of people over the years who cry when they describe the condition of their neighbor’s dog to me. They can’t sleep, they can’t eat, and are an emotional wreck from witnessing the abuse day in and day out.

Something must change.

‘Worthless’ (their name for him, not mine) on his chain in 2002

Before I formed Dogs Deserve Better, I helplessly watched Worthless suffer on his chain for six years. I was obsessed with moving—anywhere else—so that I didn’t have to see his sadness and pain every day.

But I knew wherever I ended up there would just be another dog on another chain;  moving wouldn’t solve the problem of what was happening to Worthless and every other unfortunate dog like him stuck out on a chain for life.

I took action after I formed Dogs Deserve Better, and rescued Worthless from his chain.

If you too are suffering from the trauma of watching a dog on a chain, I am truly sorry, both for you and the dog. I know this same pain, and my heart is with you in suffering each and every day.

If you have tried every method of getting help for the dog—to include speaking to the caretakers and asking authorities for help— and nothing has worked, only YOU can decide if you will act in the face of possible harassment by authorities to save the life of the dog in this or another sub-zero cold spell this winter.

Want my advice? I say you only live once (that you know of, anyway) and even IF you get in trouble for removing a dog from a chain in sub-freezing temperatures, it would be the best possible reason to go down; you will always be proud of yourself for taking the courageous stand.

I picked this dog up in 2006, took him to the vet, and refused to return him to the owners who left him to die like that. I was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. I didn’t care. He was worth it.

I know, I’ve done it.

In states with Good Samaritan laws as pertaining to animals (the only one that I know of is Ohio, but there may be more…if you know, please enlighten me), the word is if you act to save the life of an animal you won’t be harmed. I’ve never heard of a case using it yet, but I would always get plenty of evidence before acting.

I recommend that IF you are going to act to save the life of a chained dog, PHOTO DOCUMENT, PHOTO DOCUMENT, PHOTO DOCUMENT. Take both photos and video of the distress of the dog and the outdoor temperatures and conditions before removing him/her from the chain, and either taking him/her into your warm home or to the vet, depending on how dire the circumstances are.

If you live in New York state and run into trouble for helping a chained dog in frigid temperatures, Attorney Matt Albert has pledged to represent you FREE. (Regardless, be SURE to take a ton of photos and video, so he has something to work with in court!)

If you live anywhere else and you are faced with a life and death decision with a dog, I pledge to help you raise the money for attorney’s fees if needed when you take the courageous and morally right actions on the dog’s behalf. I will expect you to provide me with photo and/or video evidence of both the temperatures outside and the distress of the dog.

The bottom line is: ensure you get your evidence, and you get GOOD evidence. Evidence makes all the difference; if not in the courtroom, then definitely in the court of public opinion.

In closing, as an ordained interfaith minister, I hold a firm belief that there are man’s laws and there are God’s laws. All too often man’s laws are in direct violation of God’s laws and go against the conscience of a person of strong moral character.

Please. If you live near a chained dog out in the frigid cold, take EVEN ONE BRAVE ACTION today. Gather your courage; go talk to the caretaker.

If he won’t let you take the dog inside and refuses to take the dog inside himself, gather up ten neighbors who agree that enough is enough and go back WITH A PACK OF HUMANS STANDING STRONG AND TOGETHER. There is safety and strength in numbers.

We are stronger together, and we must stand together in order to stop animal abuse.

I’ve found that the best cure for my depression in the winter is to take action on behalf of chained dogs. You’ll find it helps you too.

Thank you for caring about them.

Ezekiel was a dog who was shot in the head and taking refuge outside a church in the frigid cold. We rescued him just as the shooter was returning to finish the job! Ezekiel got a wonderful home and family because we didn’t give up on him.

P.S. Here’s our volunteer page link where we have lots of free stuff you can print out to hand out in the neighborhood. http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/volunteer.html

So We’ll Fill Vick’s former Fight Shed with Shoes. Sounds about Right. I hope there are a lot of Nikes.

Like it or not, a lot of time is spent in the nonprofit world trying to come up with good fundraising ideas, and anyone who tells you it’s not true is feeding you a line of bull hockey.

I, for one, would much rather be protesting the abuse of dogs or single-handedly rescuing thousands of dogs from chains and having them magically trained, vetted, and into new homes, but the fact remains without keeping a roof over our rescue dogs’ heads and staff to care for said dogs daily, none of my daydreams of ending the chaining of dogs will ever come true.

Damn you, reality.

A couple of weeks ago staff member Julie hit me with the shoe collection fundraising idea, which I had heard of before. This idea sounds great in theory because you collect gently used shoes from all your supporters and they get sent overseas to those in need. Nifty.

Admittedly, the last place we need shoes is the American landfills, AND the fundraiser helps people in developing nations so it’s a win win—until you realize that you have to collect 3 bazillion pairs of shoes to actually raise any money.

Me: “Don’t you have to collect 3 bazillion pairs of shoes to make that fundraiser worthwhile?”

Julie: “Actually, it’s 300 bags of 25 pairs of shoes. So 7,500. Nowhere near 3 bazillion.”

Me: “Still. Wouldn’t I rather poke my eye out with a hot poker?” (That’s not the saying, is it. That’s redundant so it’s not very funny.)

Julie, pouting: “Fine, whatever.”

A little while later Julie pops back up: “What if we filled one of Vick’s dogfighting sheds with the shoes?” (You do know Dogs Deserve Better owns Vick’s former dogfighting compound, right? If not, now you do. You can read more about it here: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/ddbcenter.html)

Me, interest piqued, wheels turning: “Now you’re talking my language. Go on.”

Julie: “Well, with Nike re-signing Vick, and people wanting to boycott Nike because of it…AND, therefore, wanting to get rid of their Nike’s…wouldn’t they maybe just send them along to us?

“We could take the used Nike’s and whatever other shoes people send us and fill up one of the dogfighting sheds before we send them off to be put to good use…

“And with all the publicity lately about football players and the NFL beating their wives, kids, girlfriends, animals, stuffed flamingos (yeah, I made that last one up), and DDB taking these Nike’s and other shoes and sending them to those most in need; well, it just seems symbolic to me.”

Me: “I like it! Combining an activist move WITH fundraising. Brilliant.”

The photo you see below is one of the promo photos for this fundraiser and campaign. The Nike’s are hanging from the wooden beam where Vick and his friends initially wrote “TBK” which meant Too Bad Kennels. But then they changed the name of their dogfighting ring to Bad Newz Kennels, so you can see written overtop the initials “BNK” in yellow.

This beam held the dogs firmly in place via leash or chain while they were forced to walk on a wheel that turned on the axle you can still  see pictured below. Most of the stuff was removed for evidence, but the axle and beam still remain.

I can’t wait to see this entire room filled with shoes that are meant for the greater good and will not end up in a landfill!

Will you help us by dropping off or sending along your new or gently used Nikes and any other shoes you no longer need or want?

We want to see floor to ceiling shoes here!

We only need to collect 7,500 pairs of shoes. Or 3 bazillion…whichever comes first. No pressure.

Our address is Dogs Deserve Better, 1915 Moonlight Rd., Smithfield, VA 23430. For more information on how you can get more involved to make this a reality, call Julie at 757-357-9292 or drop her an e-mail at info@dogsdeservebetter.org.

Also, we’re issuing a public challenge to Nike to send along some shoes of their own to benefit the dogs of Dogs Deserve Better, who spent their lives on chains before coming to rescue with us, AND women and children in developing nations who might not have a pair of shoes to call their own.

Do you think Nike will rise to the challenge and donate any shoes to fill the fighting shed? Sound off here!

P.S. If you’re like me and would rather poke your eye out than collect shoes and mail them in (but I will collect shoes, to be noted!), we do take donations the old fashioned way…with the click of a mouse. And the signing of a check. And the push of a button.

Via mobile device: http://ddb.givemodo.com/
Via our website: http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/donations2.html
Via mail: Dogs Deserve Better, 1915 Moonlight Rd., Smithfield, VA 23430.

Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Here’s a link to the media release. http://www.expertclick.com/NRWire/Releasedetails.aspx?id=61347

P.S.S. Oh, and as a special gift to you for reading today, a pic of my dog Sloan, who was rescued from his chain in 2011, trying to frantically get the grass out of his teeth—all the while denying to me that he was eating grass. Love it.

Every dog deserves the simple pleasure of eating grass and throwing up on their family’s carpet. Most chained dogs don’t even have grass to eat…because they’ve worn down their patch of ‘home’ to just mud. True story. We all know they deserve so much better.