December 3, 2009 We live on a private dirt road off another dirt road that crosses railroad tracks and then intersects with the main highway to town. The nearest house is at least two miles away. The local humane society, when it was open, would only take dogs in by appointment scheduled weeks in advance, even if they were starving strays. Waycross is not a good place to be if you're an unwanted dog.
Since February 2009, the following dogs and cat have been dumped on our road, at our mailbox, at our garbage can, or by our driveway:
- Two (sisters found three days apart) red hound mix adolescents at my mailbox. Demodex (inherent mange) and starving.
- Two (sisters) black lab mix puppies frantically circling my garbage can with their tails between their legs. Starving.
- Three adult hound dogs, one in heat, on my porch when I came home from shopping. Starving, loaded with hookworms and ticks.
- Exhausted female beagle puppy found walking on side of highway in 102 degree weather. In pretty good shape, other than being hot, thirsty, and tired.
- Female adult beagle found by RR tracks. Jack found this one. Pregnant and heartworm positive.
- Young male shepherd/pitbull mix found by RR tracks on 10/14. In good shape and climbed right in the van. We decided to keep him.
- Two (brothers) adult mix breeds showed up at the house 10/23. Very hungry, but not skin and bones.
- Black male young adult cat found in the front yard 10/25 that was probably dumped with the two dogs on 10/23. Thin, hungry, extremely friendly, obviously a house and lap cat. We kept him.
- White and black adult male large pit mix in the front yard 10/26. Evidence of a removed collar. Friendly and just a little thin.
- Bernese Mountain Dog in our front yard 2/2/10. Later found out he was dumped the week before by a man in a green pickup truck. I have to believe the man fell on hard times and thought he was doing the dog a kindness by bringing him to the country. "Jethro" is in perfect health, housebroken, good with other animals, and an all-around great (77 pound) dog.
- Lab/chow mix about 5 1/2 months old found near the RR tracks late afternoon 2/20/10. Excellent shape except for healed break in tail. Very friendly, soft pads on her feet, loves the other dogs. Taking her to rescue tomorrow after filing found dog report with the local humane society which has reopened to a limited extent.
- German shepherd and probably golden retriever mix male adult dog found at the top of our road and the highway mid March 2010. In good shape and very friendly.
- Very friendly, housebroken, medium sized young male mixed breed found just before RR tracks evening of 5-19-10. Very hot, thirsty, and hungry. Gobbled food so fast, he nearly choked. Has staff infection, the beginning of demodex, or sarcoptic mange. Fur on face and down legs is patchy looking.
- Young mixed breed with demodex and eye infection found on our road at daybreak on 8/14/10. Skinny, skiddish, very hungry. She wags her tail and wants to make friends, but any sudden move makes her jump.
- Young, healthy-looking feral cat spotted by our tool shed mid-May 2011. I can't get near him/her, so I put food and water out for it every night on the back of Jack's truck. Update on cat 9/5/11: still putting food/water out for him/her in the evenings. Have only seen him three times, but he's grown and he looks healthy.
- Tan mixed breed young male dog with demodex and fleas (but otherwise healthy) found sleeping in our tool shed 6/11/11. Tried to find a rescue group that would take him; no luck. Had to take him to the humane society in Douglas, a city about 45 minutes from here.
- Red Siberian Husky with collar and in reasonably good condition visited with a pitbull mix companion for about two weeks when I had girls in heat. On 9/3/11, he let me pet him, but the pit mix slunk off into the woods and we didn't see him again. Fed Wiley, who started out hanging around the pond but soon moved to the front porch. Let Max out at 7am on 9/4; he was gone for 16 (agonizing for us) hours. Wiley was also gone, so I went for a drive to try to locate his owner. Went from house to house meeting relatives of his owner until I was finally directed to his owner's home. Wiley had not come home, and he hadn't seen Max. Max and Wiley finally returned (exhausted - Max could barely keep his eyes open) here around 11pm. Called Wiley's owner morning of 9/5. He drove right over to pick him up, but Wiley, although happy to see him, stayed mostly by me and kept trying to follow me back to the house. I ended up walking Wiley to the car, and his owner picked him up and put him in the back seat. No fence at Wiley's house, so I'm sure he'll be visiting again. Wonderful dog, but my poodles bark at him when he and his pitbull companion (neither of which are neutered) hang around at night.
Click on the thumbnail pictures to see galleries of more pictures. We had Max and the black cat neutered in mid-November. The other dogs went to rescue organizations after being bathed, wormed, vaccinated, and fattened up, except for Muffin. Jack found her owner, who was very happy to get her back. Muffin was the only dog actually lost; the rest were dumped.
Max and one of Tay's puppies on 12-03-09
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