Daniel in the lying den
When we found Daniel, he was so malnourished he couldn't use his front legs. Now, thanks to the wonderful care he received from staff members at our Emergency Placement Partner shelter he is happy and healthy and in a wonderful forever home. Your donation today on #GivingTuesday makes these kind of happy endings possible. Jacob Meyer/Great Plains SPCA
In March, the HSUS Animal Rescue Team freed about 300 animals from the horrors of an Arkansas puppy mill, which confined living dogs among their dead and decomposing kin. Inside a dilapidated shed filled with trash and used equipment, our team found Daniel, a little tri-colored Shepherd puppy, along with his mother and sibling. As usual, the puppy mill operator said all was fine, and that the animals were well treated.
Daniel spent his few weeks out of the womb in darkness, with only a reed-thin ray of light squeezing through the crack in the bottom of a door. Our team became alert to his presence once they heard faint whimpering and barking as they walked the property. The malnourished and ill little puppy was too weak to use his front legs. But when he saw his rescuers, he scooted to them, dragging himself forward. It was both a heartbreaking but hopeful sight, given that he showed such a strong will to live.
Daniel was given a tentative diagnosis of rickets and prescribed cod liver oil, lots of Vitamin D through a nourishing diet, and plenty of fresh air and sunlight. Each day, his front legs were massaged and stretched out. Staff members at our temporary shelter took him out for time in the grass, holding him up so he could stand and build up more muscle in his atrophied front legs. Within a couple of days, the resilient Daniel began to take his first tentative steps. After a period of convalescence, we placed him with Great Plains SPCA who found him a caring home where he is now able to run, and has a family that dotes on his every move.
On #GivingTuesday today, we highlight the important and lifesaving work done by our Animal Rescue Team which has, over the years, turned around the fortunes of thousands of animals. Before we rode to their rescue, they seemed doomed. These creatures had been trapped in delinquent puppy mills, other situations of extreme cruelty or neglect, or even animal fighting rings.
Over the years our Animal Rescue Team has deployed to or assisted with hundreds of cases to help animals in need, throughout the country. This year alone, the team delivered the full scope of our services to a dozen deployments, and offered financial or expert assistance in support of over a dozen more. We have rescued animals in disaster-ravaged areas and responded to a wide range of human-caused crises for animals.
This is physically and emotionally taxing work. It is hard to confront these sorts of life-threatening circumstances and also know that human beings have typically created the situations in which such animals are suffering. But it is empowering to be able to turn the lives of these creatures around. With the right equipment, staff, and medical skills, along with no small dose of compassion and resolve, we answer the call.
Each rescue requires a well-coordinated response: working with local law enforcement agencies and shelters, setting up temporary housing, transporting the animals, coordinating with veterinarians and species experts, and working with our Emergency Placement Partner shelters and rescues who will eventually place the deserving animals with their forever families. And it all requires financial resources, with major operations running into the tens of thousands of dollars because the animals typically need months of care.
For #GivingTuesday today, a Global Day of Giving distinctly different from the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, our goal is to raise $200,000 to help continue the lifesaving work of our Animal Rescue Team. For every $1 you donate today, HALO Pet Food, in coordination with Freekibble.com and GreaterGood.org, will donate a bowl of food to help feed the animals we rescue and the many animals our partners care for every day. On #GivingTuesday, I hope you’ll consider making a gift.
We don’t trust the false assurances of the mill operators. And we’ll continue our investigations and interventions, and deliver animals from misery when that’s exactly what we find.
Help our Animal Rescue Team reach their goal of $200,000 on this #GivingTuesday!
My heart is broken. It has been broken since I heard about the inspections last week. I know I have to rely on the professionals which are you guys, but I’m overwhelmed with sadness thinking of animals that are not getting the care they need. Is there anything I can do except pray?
Can I write letters? What can I do? These animals didn’t ask for this life, but because someone isn’t doing their job, they are probably going to lose their life to sickness or the weather. Please help them if you can.
Thanks
Well done again, HSUS! Thank you for rescuing Daniel, yet another victim of the puppy mill industry.
We applaud your work to end all puppy mills and other forms of animal cruelty. Please never stop until they are all gone, and we will never stop supporting you!
SO SAD, SO HEARTBROKEN EACH TIME I READ THE HSUS BLOGS. WHY OH WHY DO SOME PEOPLE NEGLECT OR ABUSE THE ANIMALS WE SHARE THE PLANET WITH, I ASK. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE AMONG US PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG-WIRED. SOCIOPATHS, PSYCHOPATHS,
HEAD-SICK MONSTERS WHO MAIM AND TORTURE AND KILL
EVEN THEIR OWN , CARING NOTHING AT ALL FOR ANIMALS.
HOWEVER, I THINK MANY PEOPLE WHO ENGAGE IN CRUELTY TOWARD OUR FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS ARE JUST PLAIN INSENSITIVE AND UNAWARE OF THE FEELINGS OF
CREATURES THEY MAY CONSIDER INFERIOR TO HUMANS.
IF WE COULD RAISE AWARENESS OF OUR CREATURES NEEDS, THEIR EMOTIONAL LIVES, THEIR UNIQUENESS AND
VITAL ROLE IN THIS WORLD, WE MIGHT EVENTUALLY SEE LESS CALLOWNESS. THE HSUS, OF COURSE, GOES A LONG WAY TOWARD THIS GOAL. MAYBE OUR SCHOOLS, STARTING WITH KINDERGARTEN, SHOULD REQUIRE CLASSES DEVOTED TO THIS GOAL. LET TEACHERS AND PARENTS INSTILL AWARENESS AND EMPATHY TOWARD OUR PLANET-MATES.