March 17, 2003

Dear Diary,
 
Computers! Several of us are having problems sending/receiving e-mail. I was having trouble doing anything. I had to remove some programs from my computer so that it would operate. So Complicated. 
 
I spent some time reflecting this week. I needed to write a thank you letter to the wonderful people who are responding to our latest Project Hope appeal. Funny, most of my reflection came after I had finished the letter.
 
March 10, 1993, 10 years ago, I was in court with my first Mississippi puppymill case. It was a cinch. The woman operating the small facility, and her boyfriend were sliding into hot water over the neglect of her 4 children. It was heart breaking. The reports I received seemed so blatant – a naked 2-year-old in the freezing cold found by a neighbor at the edge of his pond, dead animals rotting in her yard, and in cages, & on & on… Why weren’t the authorities that had been contacted acting? Bureaucracy! The answer was short and bitter.
 
When I contacted Human Services they basically told me they would act if I would. I told them I had seen the animals. Something had to be done ASAP. Not only were the living animals in a pathetic state, but also the children could not live in an environment of death and decay. The soonest they could make it would be 2 days later, February 10th.
 
I contacted the Tate County Sheriff’s Dept., and they readily agreed to assist. How tragic it was that the delay cost the toddler horrendous suffering. Late night of the 9th Chief Deputy Hadsky called to let me know that the youngest child, the toddler had been rushed to a Memphis hospital. Seems her thigh had been “wrenched” in half. We would get a very early start of things in the morning. DHS had been forced into play and we didn’t need them for the clean-up.
 
To complicate matters we were hit with one of the worst ice storms in history. Our travel to the site was hazardous, and we barely made it before I55 was littered with fallen pines.
 
While my partner, and the Sheriff’s Dept. pried open the frozen gates of the dogs pens, I worked on the rabbit hutches, documented, and assessed the number of living and dead. Alive: a pony, a goat, only 12 dogs, and only 2 rabbits. What does it take to alarm the folks who were supposed to have done something about this – DHS, the County Supervisor, the “Health dept.”?
 
The trip back was horrendous. There were 2 humans in the cab, and 10 dogs, and a goat in the camper shell covered bed (2 dogs stayed with a local vet for placement). The goat, our Nanny, and one of the dogs got into it over space. She was the culprit. I had to hold her head through the rear window opening the entire trip home. How we made it was amazing. Trees crashed in front of us. We drove off the road most of the time. There were times that we stopped while well wishers held up phone lines for us. The downed power lines we avoided.
 
March 10th was the day of reckoning for the mother. Her boyfriend would get off because they “couldn’t prove who hurt the child. She couldn’t tell anyone. All four children were placed in foster care. We kept the animals. The mother was fined for the suffering of the animals – State law allowed for fine, or time. She did spend time in jail, because she didn’t bond out right away. 
 
The boys’ father, who had been looking for them for a couple of years read about our action. He came to court and we aided him in getting custody of his sons. The little girl’s remained in foster care. Precious angels. I kept up with them for about a year. They were still in foster care.
 
Ten years later – so many sad stories later, and we have just begun. I no longer measure success in terms of lasting, and earth-shaking change. For me it is the individuals pulled out of their misery, and given hope – one at a time. One chicken, one pig, one rat, one cat, one turkey, one snake, yes and one child too – each with captivating watery eyes. The true mark of misery is the eyes that stare in a daze, or sadder yet meet you from a side stance, head turned in fear, only one eye cautiously daring to meet you.
 
Nanny, our precious Nanny. She has had such a happy life with us. I know she gives those horrid days not a moment of her memory.