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A Brighter Future for Dozens of Hopeful Tails
 A
Brighter Future for Dozens of Hopeful Tails
by Greg Harman, Education & Advocacy Coordinator
It's not the portrait of success I was hoping
for: a cowering shepherd mix pressing herself firmly against
the back of a kennel peeing uncontrollably on my approach.
I whisper softly to her, kneeling at the other end of the
concrete slab. I tell her how pretty she is. Call her precious.
She's lost to waves of terror. It's the same
whenever a visitor crosses inside the chain link of her temporary
pen. She smiles a smile that is sheer stress tightening the
muscles of her face and she pees in reflexive spurts. Her
eyes never lose their wide, placating alertness. They don't
move off me until I'm out and well away from her kennel.
She's only one of 59 rescued
from an abandoned home in northeast San Antonio back in April.
I realize suddenly I never stopped to give her a name. Her
look-alike, a fluffy black-and-brown female I unimaginatively
called "Barky" for her most vocal of dispositions,
was one of the few I had. That was because Barky was an anomaly
among this pack. She yipped relentlessly in a fruitless attempt
to drive us from her litter when we first arrived at the Stahl
Road property while the dozens of others silently wove their
way back and forth about the feces-covered yard.
The pack had been here for many years, fed
and watered and left alone. There were no leisurely brushings
or games of catch; no one ever took them out of the yard for
a walk or introduced them to the world outside. Critically,
none was ever spayed or neutered.
It was for that reason that the majority of
these dogs were likely born in this parasitic swamp. Bones
and fur discovered in castaway corners of the yard were the
only evidence of the litters that expired before we were able
to mount a rescue. Still, we managed to pull four existing
litters from the filth. The veterinarian attending the puppies
said the lot would have likely died within days had we not
recovered them when we did.
 But
it was not a simple story.
Cited multiple times by the city's Animal
Care Services, the owner was at her wits' end. For decades,
this woman had lived on the edge of San Antonio. It was just
the sort of end-of-the-road locale that callous city residents
would use to dump unwanted pets. For all those years, this
woman took in the discarded. She did what she could to care
and feed for her growing family. But soon enough San Antonio's
growth overtook her and somewhere among all the new residents
a complaint emerged. ACS came out to inspect and saw how badly
things had grown.
It had been years since the animals' savior
had left the property. Into her 80s, she needed to be closer
to her remaining family. She had become forgetful. Her eyesight
wasn't as strong. Still, she was terrified that the city would
seize and kill the dogs she had tried for so long to save.
ACS was only days from seizing the dogs when
word of the situation reached the staff at Wildlife Rescue
& Rehabilitation. Though we typically do not get involved
in issues involving companion animals, it quickly became apparent
that no one else was stepping forward to mount a rescue. Our
resolve only strengthened after we toured the property.
We held many meetings to determine the best
way to proceed and were able to negotiate a "stay of
execution" with ACS. After weeks of seemingly constant
telephone lobbying, I was able to assemble a caring team of
volunteers, including the Animal Defense League, Bulverde
Area Humane Society, and D&D K-9 Concepts.
In the end, ACS even loaned us staff and vehicles
to catch and transport the more difficult dogs. To date, none
of the dogs have been lost. A couple months after being pulled
from trash heaps and outbuildings, most of the puppies are
safe with loving families. Many of the adults, including Barky's
sister, have been accepted by a dog sanctuary. Others are
slowly learning how to live with people again, thanks to talented
trainers like Diana Ross in Kerrville.
 Best
Friends Animal Society put out a call for more trainers to
work with the frightened animals. We were lucky to not find
an aggressive dog in the bunch. But time in shelter can be
hard. We're still fighting against the weathering influence
of confinement with the few remaining dogs.
Of course, I know how Barky's sister got to
that San Antonio kennel — where the fear that seized
her body came from. But for the life of me, I still can't
understand how people of conscience allow these things to
happen.
A compassionate woman fears her friends will
be killed, and so shrinks from authorities. The animal control
apparatus is so flooded with unwanted pets that the unspeakable
is allowed to become commonplace. Still, unwanted dogs and
cats are born every day in plain sight in the homes and alleyways
of San Antonio.
With the odds so stacked against them, that
these 59 dogs live and breathe today is a miracle. And, to
my mind, those who joined in their rescue — from the
woman at the road's end to the volunteers at the final rescue
— are the saints.
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