December 30, 2002

Dear Diary, It’s I again.

My expectations for what should have been never change. I am always spellbound, dumbfounded, or exasperated by the beginning of a new week. Thank God I have the desire to fight what seems unbeatable – ignorance, apathy, and flat out selfishness.

A small tan pit bull remains chained to the fence where is meets out his fate an hour at a time, day-by-day in wonderment as to why he sometimes has water, and, or food, and other times he has neither. Until recently he had no shelter. Boomer is close to his third birthday, weighs about 20 LB., has a head nearly as big as his little body, and catches your heart with his opiant eyes, and one erect, one flopped ear.

Boomer’s man left some time ago. He was no guardian either, but the woman holds on to Boomer despite her clear apathy to his needs. My friend has called animal control until she is blue in the face. Dec! . 12th, I got fed up and asked the police chief with help for this little fellow. He had one of his officers accompany me to speak with the woman, and perhaps to take action. I gave her the how tos, and what tos. I told him I would return in two weeks. If the dog still looked under nourished, and I received more complaints about his neglect I would act.

Dec. 26th, I returned after receiving a call that Boomer had gone three days without water. It is too painful to relive the details of the next four days. On the 26th I got an officer to go with me. He did, but he spoke to her alone. We did not leave with Boomer. She would not surrender him. I saw the officer expressly telling her of her neglect. What I couldn’t hear, I certainly could see in his gesturing.

I went and filed charges. When I cam back the dog still did not have wat! er. The next day the dog still didn’t have water, and I ! set out to seize him. I got full cooperation from a seargant I know. We had to go to 4 offices, 4 buildings just to find current State Statutes. The joke was too cruel. After attempting to get the City and County clerks to allow him to file an affidavit under the seizure statute, we went to the City Prosecuting Attorney for his aid. He said he would be talking with the Judge that afternoon, but the Judge was going to want to know why animal control had not cited the woman. We set out to accomplish that task, even though I had already filed a criminal affidavit under State Law.

The ACO reported that the dog had water, and didn’t look as bad as another “pit” that is at the shelter. My Lord! I returned and took another picture of the overturned, and chewed “water container”. I took photos at 1:35, and now at 2:10. HELLO! NO WATER THERE.

I returned to the station to ask that the dog be picked up. The shift offi! cer told me that his men weren’t going to get further involved. That his officer told him the dog was okay, and the woman’s mother called to speak to him about filing harassment charges.

I went to the assistant chief. He told me he would have the ACO go out the next am and pick the dog up, then he said he would go with him. Well the ACO went out by himself, the neighbor on the other side had put water there, and gee the dog still wasn’t totally emaciated.

Now I called Doc. He said he would go have a look at the dog through a knot in the fence behind the dog. I gained permission to access the property for this purpose. Sat. & Sun. passed. Today Doc Boomer. He will write w report that he is thin, and that there are no records of him receiving medical attention, or vaccinations since his man took him in for mange in 2001.

The report isn’t finished yet. Boomer is still out there.

The men who rescued the! pup that the vet put in the garbage have not returned me cal! ls. I will be persistent. If I have to I will file the criminal affidavit and subpoena them.

A reporter is going to Ripley with me Sat. She is interested in aiding us. After we do the rounds we will meet with a local woman who contacted me regarding the horrible shelter there. She remembered me from the time her pit bull mix was picked up by Grenada ACO, they wouldn’t let her get him out until Monday when the city Clerk’s office opened (so she could bail him out) and he came up missing that weekend. IDA put up a reward for his return, and info leading to the arrest & conviction of his nabber. Sadly nothing came of it. It was probably too late, or the folks simply weren’t newsreaders.

I am supposed to go look at three groups of dogs & puppies that have been abandoned. I will see what we can do for them. Rick & I are also setting up a rescue fro over ten cats that were left behind when their guardian d! ied. ACO picked up her dogs, but they won’t pick up cats.

I wrote a Greenwood resident about his/her/their dog. A neighbor is concerned that the dog is neglected. I need to see if they respond. I just don’t have the time to go right now. If they correct the situation, no one will have to.

A duck Hill man came by today to borrow our humane trap to catch two dogs that need help. I was thankful that he was willing to participate in catching them.  There are too many irons in our smothering fire.

I am working on the Ripley Trade & Sell Day guidelines.

I am working on other campaigns, and cases. Rick and I are besieged. That’s just the way it goes Diary. Just the way it goes.