Day Two

We arrived at the location where the animals are being kept at 7:30 am with much work to do. I learned more about the situation where they had come from. The pit bulls had been chained to the ground on 6 foot heavy chains. They had to use a bolt cutter to get them loose. The roosters had also been tethered to the ground, on 4 ft leather tethers with little tepee tents. The hens were in a barn of some kind.

I wasn't there, but this is what I was told about the "bust." The local sheriff's office refused to go in first because the last time they tried to serve a warrant on this guy he shot at the police. So they expected a gun fight. The SWAT team, the FBI and ATF were all there. The SWAT team knocked on the door and the guy opened the door. They had him on the ground within seconds, he didn't know what hit him. He had cocaine in his pocket. The sheriff and the HSUS along with local animal control went in. There was on elderly white female pit that was loose, and it appears she belonged to a woman who was living there because she "had no place else to go" but she was not a fighting dog. They took her, along with 25 other dogs and 100 roosters with 25 hens, three of which had 10 chicks each.

So our second day there was actually our first full day of normal operations at the temp shelter. We walked all the dogs first. The men walked the dogs while myself and another female volunteer cleaned out the crates. There were rules. There could only be two dogs walked at a time because of the logistics of the location. Also, there could never be two dogs in the same proximity. So, we had a system. One dog would be out walking, the next dog is taken out of his crate and brought to his walking area, the first dog would then come back. Since these are fighting dogs, we have to be more careful than with regular pit bulls who have not been trained. These dogs never had any human contact other than when in training. We don't know what their triggers are. When they get near another dog's cage, as when we have to walk them out and pass cages, all the dogs go crazy. But the dogs appear to be lovable and very submissive towards humans. They wag their tails, their whole bodies wag when we show them a little kindness. They are starved for attention and affection. They are very, very small for pits, but they are all muscle. There are three or four dogs with lots of battle scars about their faces and hindquarters. These dogs have been put through a lot and yet they don't hate or fear humans. They don't want to hurt us. Most of the dogs come bounding out of their cages, happy as can be. But a few of them are so terrified, they refuse to move. They actually freeze with fear. It's so sad. We know they do that because in their lives, coming away from where they 'live" means a fight, or training, or something bad. They cower. Two have submissive grins. We are getting to know them as individuals. Many have blood in their crates, some from tails wagging and hitting the wire windows of the crate, some in heat, and one has an open sore near his tail.

Meanwhile, back at the roosters, we cleaned under their cages and put sawdust down. It was hard physical labor because the sawdust pile was far away and we didn't have a wheelbarrow. So, we took the bottom half of a crate, tied leashes to it, and used it to haul sawdust. I did it once, but needed help it was so heavy. I used a pitchfork to put the sawdust into the crate bottom. First time ever using a pitchfork! I thought of the Greenacres song-Laura and I had sung it the day before when we first saw the farm-like atmosphere of the location. Chris went to the store and bought two wheelbarrows, along with a whole lot of other supplies.

We fed and watered the birds. One little chick had a broken leg, and we called the vet. He came out and assessed the chick, said to give it a few more hours to see if it gets any worse, and left us with Beauthanasia. A few hours later, I noticed the leg was swollen and purple, and went and got the shelter manager, Melissa. She had to put the little guy down and it was really sad.

Two of the pit bulls went to an area shelter. I am not sure why, it had something to do with the way they were behaving. I will try to find out more about that.

Everyone here is very nice. There are two volunteers that are fading fast. It is hard physical labor. By about 3:00 yesterday, one had quit altogether and the other one decided he was not really cut out for all the hard physical labor after all. It's curious how and why they deployed. The new lady who showed up yesterday, Fran, is my age and has experience and is from Tampa. We bonded very quickly and made fast friends. She just weathered a very nasty divorce after thirty years of marriage and so she is entering a new phase in her life.

Chris is in charge of the animal fighting division. He's a former police officer and very sweet. Jeanette is also with the HSUS, and she works under Chris. This is her case. She is being very careful to preserve all the evidence and keep everyone safe. Melissa is on contract with the HSUS, she has a lot of experience with managing temporary shelters in these situations and she is very capable and I like her a lot. Jim is a volunteer from Florida, as is Marty and Cheryl, two other volunteers, and then Fran showed up yesterday and that's our team. The vet, Barry, comes in to check once a day. Laura Bevan is here, but she was out with a migraine all day. I hope she comes back today.

I met the ACO's from a nearby animal control agency. They were here for the last two days and participated in the raid and setting everything up. They went home yesterday. Everyone is so professional and capable.

I love learning about all the procedures and challenges of the work we are doing. I hope to be deployed again and often. It's hard work, but every second that I am there, I feel like I did when I was a child and would go to church. As a kid, whenever we went to church, I would feel like I was in "God's House." That is what I was told. So for me, the church was a very spiritual place. Well, being in service to these animals who have been so very victimized makes me feel as if I am in a spiritual place. When I am in the presence of these pit bulls and fighting roosters I am just so humbled and awed by their ability to forgive. Working in service to these victims makes me feel like I am alive in a way nothing else does. I so love these animals that my heart burst with joy at seeing them comfortable, safe and happy. That they will never fight again, or be hurt, or be treated with anything less than the respect they deserve makes me proud to be a part of this effort. The roosters crow all day long, and though other volunteers complain, the sound is music to me. I love it so much. I am going to record it. They also coo, coo, coo, almost like a cat's purr. Melissa say's it's because they are happy and content and it shows. They eat A LOT of food. As soon as we feed them, they go for it. They drink water all day long too. I think these animals were really neglected. Melissa says' they are very skinny too, though I really don't know what a good weight for a rooster is.

It's 6:00 am and I am preparing for day three. I wonder what I will learn today?