It was an oh-so-typical situation. An unwed mother of four was rejected by the man in her life. At least the man took her and the four youngsters to a shelter instead of turning them out in the street to fend for themselves.
As he was preparing to take them into the shelter, a couple saw the situation and offered to take two of the little ones to prevent them from being in the shelter. Their plan was to find fosters or adopters.
Whoa! Before going any farther, you need to know that the mother was a two-year-old Lab mix named Little Girl. She was “a sweet, loving dog who always aims to please. As a mother of six-month-old puppies, she was a patient and nurturing momma who cared for her babies with gentle affection.”
Unfortunately, this was a typical situation that Dallas Animal Services (DAS) faces all too often, where an owner for whatever reason didn’t have animals fixed to prevent the pregnancies, grew tired of them and then dumped everything on DAS to solve the problem.
Little Girl and her remaining two six-month-old pups, Mary and Shelley, were lucky. Because of the relationship between DAS and organizations like Operation Kindness, the trio was rescued.
According to Operation Kindness Marketing Manager for Brand and Communication Lilly Watson, “Little Girl is currently resting in our upper respiratory infection unit in the Rees-Jones Foundation Medical Wing, but Mary and Shelley are vaccinated, cared for and ready for adoption.”
Not all animals luck out of DAS. With the DAS facility at 139% capacity, DAS Director MeLissa Webber and her team are forced to euthanize animals for “space.” To relieve the overload, area rescue groups do their best to transfer animals like Little Girl to their own adoption programs.
But even the area rescue organizations are overwhelmed with requests to the point that they’re transporting adoptable animals to parts of the country in need of pets. Yes, you read that right. There are actually cities where people want to adopt and there are no animals to be found.
* Photo credit: Lilly Watson
Christy Coltrin says
You are a great champion for our animal friends. Thank you.