We'll Always Have Paris:
an Arkansas Adventure
(send your photos, I will add them)
On a beautiful spring day in March 2009, a group of twelve brave souls embarked upon a journey into rural Logan County Arkansas to help save the lives of several hundred animals from a puppy mill. This is their story.
The volunteers drove for hours from surrounding states, passing many beautiful homes surrounded by picturesque landscaping.
There was no time to stop and take advantage of the shopping opportunities along the way, because these animal rescuers had more important things to do.
The fabled vineyard in the area drew many tourists every year, but our volunteers wouldn't start their serious drinking until 12 or 13 hours later. Most were excited just to be able to drive thru Paris, since many never thought they would see the fabled City of Light.
Barely had they arrived at their destination before they learned that the Petsmart Charities truck had to be unloaded. Animals were on the way, and they needed crates to live in for a couple of days.
Nobody had time to enjoy the spectacular scenery or tour the world famous monuments, they had to fill an empty pole barn with hundreds of wire crates to get ready for the dogs!
Three veterinary teams set up exam and treatment areas, while the hard working red-shirted crew put the pee-pee pads in the last few cages. Then the trucks started rolling down the driveway.
This photo of team member Judi helping
unload Yorkies was used on the UAN
website, the HSUS website, and in at least
two lectures at the HSUS Animal Care
Expo in Las Vegas in April. The rest of the
team felt that even though Judi was
a superstar, she still worked as hard as
a regular person. (photo courtesy of HSUS)
The once neat and tidy cages with the papers and pee pads so carefully placed became soiled rapidly. It became quickly apparent that these dogs had no idea what it meant to walk on a leash, and they had to be carried everywhere. Since they were used to going to the bathroom in the cages at their former home, they had no problems going multiple times a day on their clean papers. The volunteers had plenty to keep them busy.
Everyone quickly developed some little tricks for making things easier and more efficient. For instance, this cage was labeled "SOFT", which meant that they needed soft food. However, it could also mean that these dogs were soft and cuddly if there was time for a snuggle break with a cute pup.
Every animal in the place had to make the trip to the vet tables. One Yorkie weighed only three pounds, one pound of which was fur with feces matted in it. They were examined, photographed, numbered, vaccinated, and dewormed, and then went back to their crates or into the hospital ICU unit.
At first the ICU was set up near the vet tables, but with the wind and noise, and the availability of a building nearby, the hospital was quickly moved indoors. There were dogs with fevers, moms with nursing puppies, bitches close to whelping, and a dog with a broken jaw. The most labor intensive patient was the 3 week old pup that came in without his mother and required nursing every two hours.
With the hospital moved inside a building and the cages up on tables, it was easier to feed, clean, medicate, and keep records. Although the ICU nurse was shut in there for hours by herself, she got occassional visitors like her hotel roommate Statia. Unfortunately, after only 24 hours in here, the ICU had to be moved again when the fairground manager announced that no animals were allowed in the building.
This was the third ICU location, inside the HSUS big rig. It made for a nice dry shelter during the rain storm that rolled in that afternoon, but it got pretty dark in there when the generator shut off and the lights went out while their nurse was caring for the sick animals and tiny babies. Thanks to a flashlight, the work continued uninterrupted.
It turns out that puppy mills aren't just full of puppies. There were eight cats, mostly Siamese, that had probably been used for breeding. Two had sinus infections, two were wild, and one Russian Blue was the sweetest cat ever. The cats had been happy inside the building with the ICU animals, but ended up outside covered with a tarp during the storm.
The kitties with an upper respiratory infection went home with Julie, and this poor little girl named Logan had to be put to sleep after her infection got worse and she tested positive for FIV. The male recovered and is now named Miller.
The ICU also held the "Exotics Ward", which included five cockatiels in cages that hadn't been cleaned in months, and nine various turtles in filthy tanks. Volunteers and HSUS staff kept wandering in to visit the zoo and see the wild animals.
Seventeen miniature horses (and one full sized horse that came after this photo was taken) had been gathered up from around the 82 acre puppy mill property.
This little mare was so pregnant that she moved slowly, and she was the smallest horse in the herd.
It seemed that we had barely gotten the 361 animals settled in and figured out a routine by the third day. Next thing we knew, it was time to load them into the trucks. Maybe now there would be time to go visit the tourist attractions.
Nope, no time for tourism. There was a doggy jigsaw puzzle to be figured out. Large carriers on the bottom, smaller ones on top, and keep 'em coming fast!
Some dogs got to fly to their new homes instead of riding in a truck. The HSUS big rig made several trips to the airport as a few special dogs, including the tiny orphan puppy, made their way to shelters around the country.
Somehow, even with all the work, a couple of romances blossomed!
While the volunteers worked 12 or more hours a day, the paid staff sat around chatting, reading, or watching the worker bees. Weren't they lucky that those red shirted EARS volunteers were there! (just kidding folks, don't get mad!)
So here they are (minus Dee, who was still working while the rest of the team sat around) looking pretty perky considering the hard physical labor they had done for the past three days. The Paris (Logan County) Arkansas 2009 United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Rescue Service shelter team (with a couple of HSUS groupies hanging around trying to pick up chicks). What a great group of people!!!
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May 23, 2009, update:
After everyone read about Judi becoming a star, more photos came in of other "wannabe" superstars from the EARS team.
Finding a dog with hair color that matches yours makes for a good photo, but still not quite good enough to be famous.
You can dress in designer clothing and carry an expensive handbag, but that still doesn't make you a star.
Judi just smiled, knowing that nobody could match the superstar qualities that got her featured on websites and at conferences!
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