DDB is not really a dog rescue group in the conventional meaning of the word although they…read morecertainly do rescue dogs, foster dogs and find homes for them. But they have taken on a much bigger task..changing laws to protect chained dogs.
To my way of thinking, Tamira Thayne and her nation wide group of volunteers are more like...animal suffragettes. Arrests and all.
Growing up in what Tami likes to refer to as "Pennsyltucky" she was dismayed by the accepted practice she observed of dog owners leaving their animals virtually abandoned at the end of a chain, year in and year out, through hot summers and freezing winters, without sufficient food, water or shelter, treating them not as pets, but ersatz burglar alarms..maybe because the people who did this had seen their parents keep dogs this way, and their parents parents did..and the neglect of dogs in this manner was just endemic to much of the country.
Tami made the decision to help these dogs. She started out very unofficially, talking to dog owners who really did not care for their dogs, ya know now that burglar alarms are available pretty cheap..and for those who would not give up their dogs, she brought dog houses and straw to insulate them, and food and water, and she documented everything on video. She was becoming known as a dog advocate.
A fateful day came when Tami heard from a woman whose neighbors had gone away and left a dog chained up to die, with no food or water for 3 days, because the dog was old and apparently didn't deserve anything like humane euthanasia..this is not as isolated an incident as one might want to believe. The lady was listening to the poor dog cry for much of this time..but couldn't do anything because of trespassing laws.
The Humane Society has been called with no results..Tami was a last hope.
Well, Tami went in there with a friend, a bolt cutter and a video camera and she rescued the dying dog, who they renamed Doogie. She broke the law to save this poor dog from suffering further, and when the sheriff came by to retrieve the "property" she'd "stolen" she refused to return Doogie (who was by then resting comfortably at a vet's office) to the owners who'd abandoned him to a slow, painful death. Doogie lived another 10 months, happier than he'd ever been and thriving on love, food and shelter.
For her efforts, Tami was prosecuted and convicted of theft, but strangely, Doogie's owners were never charged with animal cruelty.
Well, Tami was just not having it, and neither were the people who, through myspace and other internet sites, were learning of this travesty of justice.
Thus, Dogs Deserve Better became a national phenomena, and it has become a group on the forefront of changing nationwide chain laws, educating people and raising funds for dogs who, truly deserve better. DDB doesn't just fight to change dog chaining laws, they also lobby for harsher penalties against animal abusers. And their work is making a difference.
Tami is a hero of mine. To paraphrase a sage quoth, she and her volunteers really are the people their dogs thinks they are. I urge all people who love animals to become a contributing member of Dogs Deserve Better.
**Currently, 3 states in the U.S have dog chaining laws; California, Nevada and Texas. 11 States are considering bills, and the greater majority of the country has no laws and are not considering them. The fundamental law DDB is trying to pass is a nationwide ban against chaining dogs for life. Life. Imagine being left on a 12 foot chain for your entire lifetime.
(happy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzyIjIY4m8&feature=player_embedded
(graphic) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYJjnYfhaC0&feature=player_embedded#!
