PLEASE READ THIS STORY FROM ONE OF OUR PONTIAC ANIMAL CARE NETWORK VOLUNTEERS.  She is talking about “Buddy’s”, the frozen dog.

I’m reposting this — sorry if its disturbing to some. It’s terribly disturbing to me — so much so, I cried the entire drive home tonight. I cried out of sadness for this poor little one — out of anger toward the owner — out of desperation for not being able to do more.

I spent Saturday on an ACN street team in Pontiac — 25 stops. Of those, only 3 people had their dogs in the house. When we warned how cold it would get that night, time and time again we heard that the dog “makes a mess of the house”. How much would it have taken to shut this little guy in the bathroom for a night or two so he wouldn’t have died such a horrific death?

I cried out of guilt — did I pass this one up on Saturday? Did I drive by the house and not pay enough attention to the yards to see him there? Could I have saved him? Could he be curled up on my couch with me tonite getting a decent meal in his hollow tummy?

Pam, and I , and all the other ACN street team volunteers could spend every waking hour of every living day on these streets trying to save them all — and trying to educate these selfish, uncaring, and hateful people — and it would do nothing. For every one we save, there are 30 more suffering. And for every animal we spay or neuter, there are twelve more greedy asses out there “breeding” their poor dog and trying to sell the puppies for cash. This picture here is a prime example of where 99% of those puppies end up. Sometimes it just seems like a losing battle — with these poor souls suffering and losing the battle, with the few of us out there fighting and trying to help — but there’s always one more, and one more, and one more……

This is horrendous — and unfortunately he won’t be the last this winter. Hopefully, the work we do will matter to one or two of these guys — stuffing their homes with straw — giving them a good meal while we’re there — giving them hugs and kisses– and leaving the yard with a little bit of our heart left behind as their big eyes watch us leave and beg for more attention — just one more minute…. The day ends with us going home and having nightmares about all the dogs we saw that day — and waking up the next morning wondering if they will make it through another day. Or if they made it through the night before. Or, if they were released, like this little one.

Such innocence — and all they want is a little love in return — a little food — a little warmth. Why is that so hard to make people understand? And why are people so unwilling to provide this to such an innocent little soul? I just don’t get it….

– Kim, volunteer in Pontiac