A fellow stopped into the shelter the other day and asked my dad, “How much are y’alls’s dawgs?” My dad, who sometimes confuses hilarity with boorishness replied, “Same as any other breed of dog, but we don’t have any here right now.”
I don’t often write about the GARD shelter itself so I thought I’d slyly use that little anecdote to launch into a little piece on what we’re all about. GARD is not your average shelter. My dad wrote a piece (which can be found in the links section of the GARD homepage) to kind of warn people ahead of time what to expect (and what not to expect) when they come here. We try to make it as nice as we can but the reality is that any resources we put into luxuries are detracted from what is available to keep puppies out of the landfill so, although it’s clean and orderly, it remains utilitarian. Utilitarian does not equate with substandard but you won’t find paved walkways with graceful palms shading you and flowers at your feet (although the dogs all have shade and fans). This is no pooch parlor. GARD is always on the front lines saving dogs (and dawgs) from euthanasia, abuse and neglect and has the general atmosphere of an army field hospital. Dogs go through our intake process, are quarantined for 2-3 weeks, vetted, socialized and otherwise made ready for adoption. My dad hasn’t put together the figures for 2010 yet but in 2009, we placed 687 dogs in homes where they are now valued and loved so, as you can imagine, it gets pretty hectic around here. Although the GARD staff do not receive pay, there are paid kennel staff on hand during business hours to clean, feed and treat animals as well as process adoptions. After hours I, along with the support of my minions and several security cameras, keep track of things and try to assure that everything is right.
We generally have 100 or so dogs in the shelter and a couple of score more around the premises. In theory, we subscribe to the no-kill philosophy that we will not have an adoptable dog put down but in reality, we are almost as much a sanctuary as we are a shelter. I share my home with a number of dogs who, for one reason or another, are unadoptable. Dad calls them the blind, crippled, crazy’s but we love ‘em all. Some have little quirks that render them unsuitable for the general public, like the Chihuahua who would happily kill and maim all that he encounters. He’s good as gold here but nowhere else and so here he remains. There are others that are old, have lead a horrible life and all that can be done for them is make their remaining weeks or months enjoyable. It’s sad to see them die knowing that their life was so lousy but we take comfort in knowing that they at least got to experience some good in life. Beyond the pale, we have our greeters, Cinder and Henry. Cinder was dropped off here years ago and is probably the spookiest dog I have ever known. She lives, by choice, in a house outside to fencework. She loves me but is very wary of humans. Although my dad feeds her and keeps her treats in his car, she goes for regular walks with me and Lil, dad has only touched her once in 5 years. Henry is a great little Beagle mix who doesn’t wander 50 yards unaccompanied by a human but REFUSES to be adopted. When he’s done playing greeter, you’ll find him upside down on a leather chair in the livingroom. One of our next projects (after we get the road repaired) is going to be to clear about an acre and fence it to be used as a turnout area. This will be good for all the dogs but particularly for the long term residents. Being no-kill, we have several dogs who are great dogs but are hard to place. Most everyone wants a puppy or a designer breed so the big old Black Lab or Carolina Dog may wind up staying here for years before the right home can be found for them They do get a turnout now but this project will make it better and more frequent.
GARD endures, from time to time, some criticism for our approach to companion animal rescue. We’ve been repeatedly told, “you can’t save ‘em all." but that won’t stop us from trying. It literally makes us sick to see how some others conduct their affairs. Although it makes much better business sense to go into a county shelter and take the 2 white puppies from a litter and leave the 5 black ones with the knowledge that they will be dead before we get to the house, we cannot and will not ever go that route. Our motto is that “Every Pet Deserves a Life Worth Living” and that philosophy (as well as our heart) dictates that we will try to save every critter we can get our hands on. It may be harder and more costly to find homes for some but that doesn’t make them less deserving of a good life.
The point of all this, other than to give you a better idea of what we’re all about, is to encourage you to come on out here and visit us. Come see our dogs and talk to our staff and we wouldn’t be offended if you brought a bag of food or some blankets or dog bowls with you. And yes, we now have Y’alls’s Dawgs!
