Texas Tears
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The Brazos, Sabine, Rio Grande, Colorado, Angelina, Pecos, Nueces, Guadalupe … the list of historic Texas waterways goes on and on.  There was a new river in Kaufman County, Texas, after the puppy mill raid that began on the morning of August 11th.  It was a river of tears.  I had been warned upon deployment that this, my first puppy mill experience, would be an emotional undertaking.  There were tears aplenty that first day, and in those that followed, as we examined the dogs one by one and uncovered more and more of the deplorable conditions they were living in.  Sometimes they were tears of joy as we released the animals from the ugly prison where they had lived for years, sometimes they came from anger at the fact that a human being would subject animals to such conditions, and sometimes they came from sheer exhaustion after working seemingly endless hours each day to provide the care that we were determined the dogs would now get for the rest of their lives.

Personally, I did not cry until long after the deployment was over.  All I felt during the 12-hours-long animal seizure, as we carried each of the 540 dogs and 15 cats to their freedom, was almost uncontrollable anger at the woman who was responsible for the animals being in those miserable circumstances.

I was not allowed to take pictures (that, too, could be why I was angry – it almost killed me to not be allowed to take pictures! You know how I am!).  This was a legal case and all of the animals were evidence.  Any photos of them taken by volunteers might have created circumstances that would have caused the case to be thrown out of court.  None of us were going to risk that!

Later in this story I will give you a link to the HSUS videos and photos of the seizure so you can see the conditions for yourself.  I won’t spend a lot of time trying to describe them in detail.

The case started long before all of us descended upon Kaufman County, when the woman running the puppy mill called the local humane society to ask for some dog food to tide her over during some lean times.  Hundreds of pounds of dog food were taken to her and once the conditions of her dogs and buildings were seen by the humane society folks, they reported it to the sheriff’s department.  It was then that an investigation was started.  When the investigation showed that there were instances of cruelty and more dogs than the local shelter could handle by itself, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and United Animal Nations (UAN) were called in to assist.

In this case, HSUS handled the seizure and transportation of the animals; while UAN organized and manned the emergency shelter.  Both were supported by some wonderful volunteers.  We also worked closely with PetSmart Charities who donated all of the caging and supplies that were needed to set up an emergency shelter for over 500 animals.

PetSmart Charities to the rescue!

They also provided the labor to unload the supplies and construct the cages for us – we couldn’t have done it without them!  Well, we could have, (we had to in the Hawaii hoarding case, for instance), but it would have been a lot more difficult.  We count on PetSmart Charities to show up with that big truck full of supplies at each deployment.  At the end of the event, all of the supplies stay with the local humane society as a donation from them.  Any question why I shop at PetSmart?

Once all of us were in place, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department entered the property with a search warrant and our evidence team.  I was in the HSUS semi, “tucked away” at a little corner grocery store where we were told to wait until we received further instructions.  It wasn’t difficult duty, since the truck was air-conditioned and it was freaking hot and humid in Texas.

The animals' air-conditioned chariot awaits ...

Within short order, the evidence-gathering team had clear proof of animal cruelty so that a seizure warrant could be requested from a judge.  It took a little while for that to be processed because, just like in the movies, the judge had gone to lunch!  It wasn’t long, though, before the semi was backing down the long, long driveway to get itself into position to be loaded with the pitiful creatures who had, for so long, been living in the most disgusting conditions. 

We were quickly divided into three teams – one evidence team and two capture teams.  The evidence team threw up a couple of cabanas near the back of the semi trailer to give themselves and the animals some shade against the blistering sun.  It was here that each animal would be taken, assigned a number, given a collar with that number, and photographed with a whiteboard beneath its face with identification information written on it – just like a mug shot.

I was assigned to one of the capture teams.  Occasionally, after encountering a killer Chihuahua or Fox Terrorist, I would approach the evidence team with the little savage almost completely encased in a blanket or towel (for my protection – I like my face and fingers) and we’d laugh as we tried to photograph the little darling.  I’m sure the picture showed mostly blanket because I wasn’t about to get my fingers, gloved though they were, near the snarling end of the critter.

Sometimes I would carry an armful of squiggling puppies.  Another time I might cradle a very weak nursing mother, with matted, stinking fur and a vacant stare in her eyes.  I would murmur words of comfort to her and promise that she had seen her last litter, that soon she would be someone’s cherished couch potato.  One old dachshund was found in the woman’s house, unable to move.  We thought he might be paralyzed, so I carefully carried him to the vet.  His toenail had grown into his pads.  The vet clipped them away, and the sweet old dog didn’t know what had happened, although probably his pads were so sore it would be a while before he could walk normally.  Did I mention I was angry?

For the most part, the animals were just frightened and, treated gently, easily handled.  The poor breeding mothers had been trapped in cages for their whole lives and were coated in their own urine and feces.  Their coats, if they had hair left on them, were stained, matted and reeked.   Their puppies were the lucky ones – they escaped this chamber of horrors.  Did I mention I was angry?

Click here to read the HSUS press release, complete with video and photos, on the seizure of the animals.

We started seizing the animals at noon on Tuesday.  Once they’d been photographed and collared, they had the pleasure of going into a clean cage in the air-conditioned HSUS truck.  I so wanted to stay in there with them (did I mention it was freaking hot and humid in Texas?).  The Red Cross magically appeared with snacks and with cold, wet cloths that we used to soak our necks and heads.  We kept the water and Gatorade flowing.

It took us until midnight to clear the property of all the animals.  By 1:00 AM we had all of them comfortably into new, clean cages in the emergency shelter with fresh food and water.  The volunteers back at the shelter did an amazing job getting it set up and ready to receive the hundreds of animals.  It is always impressive to see how people who do not know each other,  who have never worked together before, can pull something like this off like a perfectly choreographed ballet.  I’m not saying there weren’t a few glitches, but for the most part, we all start moving and the job gets done, lickety-split.  Everyone is there for the same reason – the animals – and that keeps things moving pretty smoothly.  This also speaks volumes for all of the training that the volunteers have gone through, not to mention the experience provided by previous deployments.

The next days are a blur of long hours stretching endlessly to Friday, when the court case began.  I worked each day with the veterinarians, doing the required health checks on each and every animal in our care.  Every animal was flea-infested (and I am still scratching my flea bites) so they were treated for fleas, wormed, vaccinated and given rabies shots.  Many, many dogs had grossly overgrown nails so they got a quick clip. We worked in the seemingly constant flow of emergencies that cropped up.  Miraculously, very few animals had to be euthanized.  Sometimes we had as many as six volunteer veterinarians working at one time.  Of course, some days we had only one vet, a man who was always there.  On those days it was amazing that he didn’t crumble under the pressure.  Despite the strain, the load, and the poor operating conditions he was always a joy to work with.  Indeed, all of the vets and vet techs were a pleasure to work with; they all gave most graciously of their time.

The court case started on Friday.  We had high hopes that the trial would only take one day, that we’d quickly emerge victorious, and that on Saturday we would be able to start shipping dogs to shelters.  Unfortunately, the woman on trial decided to act as her own lawyer.  You all know, I’m sure, that old saying about what happens when you represent yourself in court … suffice it to say, she didn’t know how to practice law.  It slowed things down to a very painful crawl.  The judge was forced to continue the case to Monday when, thankfully, the case ended in our favor.

Click here to read about the court case and to see more pictures.

I had to come home before the court case was over.  As usual, it was hard to leave the animals.  However, it was so gratifying to know that they were out of the hell that they had been in that I was able to walk away feeling like I had done some good.  I was also 99% certain we would win the case.  I was bone-tired and more brain-dead than I realized.  It took a few days of making really dumb mistakes at home for me to realize that perhaps I shouldn’t try to accomplish too much right way, that maybe I should rest for a bit.  I had nightmares for my first few nights back.  I guess that was my mind’s way of letting it all out.

And I didn't cry until I watched some of the video and relived what I had seen on seizure day.  What makes some people so cruel?