[angelbarn]

I have come across some animals who are in a bad situation. They are located in a rural area and each humanes society or spca I call tell me that its not their duristiction. Who is responsible for saving animals in rural areas from animal cruelty? How do I help these animals before they get seriously hurt or die?

[lJ.]

You could try contacting the police dept to ask where the closest humane society is. Try looking up on the internet if there are any humane society's in your area. Could you provide what state you are in? Where are these animals now? What animals are they? What condition are they in? Try to keep them safe until you can help them, get them help.

[Fr_Chuck]

Check to see if there is a animal control department , often part of either the sheriff office or the code enforcement.

But in many rural areas there just is no one beyond the police if you can get them to even investigate

[angelbarn]

Thanks for your replys! I have tried the police and they basically laughed me off and told me to look in the phone book for someone who cares! I couldn't believe it. There are 5 puppies. Ths about 3-4 months old and their mother (who looks like she's dying). They are constantly running the road looking for food. Their spines are portruding, ribs are showing and bellies are bloated. This tells me that they're not being fed and are full of worms. Also they are covered in fleas. The mother is in terrible shape. Even though the puppies are 3-4 months old, it looks like her milk is just drying up now. I guess the puppies are a little better off because they've been drinking from her but she can't have much to offer them considering it doesn't look like she's being fed either. After talking to some people in the area I found out that only 2 weeks ago, her previous litter of pups were rescued by a concerned citizen who just asked the owner if she could take them. This tells me that this poor mother dog is constantly being bred (every heat) and not being taken care of. She will not survive if this continues. I'm pretty confident that if I go and ask this person for his pups then he will give them to ome but I want to get the mother as well so that this will stop. If I just take the pups... the mother will still be in serious trouble. I can't seem to get anyone to give a 'you know what' which is really making me angry as I am sure that there are people in rural areas which DONATE to their organizations, yet when there is an animal in distress... where are they??

[lJ.]

That is sad. In this situation, I think maybe you should try to go [car, bus] if possible to a city or big town, and try to find an animal shelter or even a vet if you can't find a shelter anywhere and maybe work out a payment plan. To find a shelter I would suggest looking up online by your region, try searching by a bigger city, or just a general region such as your state: ASPCA | Find a Shelter
Here is a very helpful site I think:
Animal Shelters, Animal Rescue Groups, Dog Shelters: Petfinder
I really hope you find one! Try to get them to one very soon!

[Aurora_Bell]

What about the department of wildlife or Department of National Defense (DND)? Do you have any rural animal control places there?

[Aurora_Bell]

Please keep us updated as to what is going on. My heart goes out to you and these animals.

[Fr_Chuck]

What many forget, in many parts of rural America there is no department to enforce many of the laws on the books,
Just like local police not suppose to inforce some of the federal laws like immigration many of the police do not enforce animal control laws.

A few years ago in rural Tennessee, someone must have come on to my property and shot my dog who was in the pen.
I could not even get the sheriff department to come out and take a report

[lJ.]

I think they should try getting to a bigger town or city or somewhere specific if they find a shelter, which I think they would be able to do with the links I provided. This is an unfortunate situation.

[angelbarn]

Thank you for your answers. There is, unfortuantely, no animal control that will do anything. I have been told that unless they get a flood of calls about these animals they won't even go to investigate. I have spoken to many people in the area who have called numerous times so I'm not sure what animal control considers 'floods of calls'!!
I'm considering going to the media and reminding the humane society that they can't afford anymore bad publicity. (by the way... is this an american website only? I noticed some of you are from the states. I'm in Ontario, Canada)

[lJ.]

Try to get everyone to sign a petition or call in, and explain it to people. Do you have any family that lives in a larger town or city in Canada? If there is any way you can get to somewhere that has an animal shelter you need to! I'll search animal shelters in Ontario, Canada.

[lJ.]

Use this and enter Ontario and then your city:
Animal Shelters in Ontario | Petfinder

[Emily94]

Cough, steal them, cough.

Kay maybe that is really bad advise... but... go ask the owner if you could take the pups and MOM, maybe even offer him $50. If no one is going to help you help them, just help them! Bring bags of food and feed them, bring them bowls of water, try and take care of them until you can sort it out. You can buy cheap dog food for $10 a bag, and it may save the moms life.

And by the way, nope this is not a states site, I am from Manitoba, there's people on here from coast to coast in Canada... There is also some from over sea's... were pretty diverse :)

[lJ.]

Honestly, I agree. I don't know if everyone on this thread would. But if you have to, stealing the puppies and mother dog may save their life. When my mother was younger, one of her neighbors had a cat that they named Satan and abused, and one day my mother stole their cat, and starting taking care of her, and renamed her Sadie, and she lived for 19 years.
Anyway, if you steal them, pay the owner for them, or convince people to help you, you will need to get them to a shelter, and soon. From your description they seem to be in poor condition and they need help.

[Emily94]

My neighbours have a lab, she is about 1 1/2 now, they neglecte her as soon as she wasn't a cute pup anymore. No food, water, walks, nothing. She was chained up all day and night. I tried calling animal control but when they asked my age they wouldy take me serious. I took matters into my own hands and went and talked to the neighbours, I knocked on the door and asked if I could take there dog for a walk (this was just after the passing of my lab so it felt good to have something similar again) they said sure, but that the dog wad uncontrollable, I still took her for the walk. I walked her often and always mentioned her food bowl was empty, they'd give me a bowl of food for her and I'd feed her and fill her water bowl up from the hose. A year later and she is an amzinh dog, I taught her basic commands and now they can control her when she is on a leash, they take her for walks now all the time, she is also an inside dog now that she is leas hyper and destructive.

Moral of the story: just because no one will help you help someone, doesn't mean you can't do it on your own. I may not have been able to get the dog out of the abusive situation, but I made her situation better with the people she knew, they are also more educated and I won't have to worry about the next dog they get...

It's a little of topic but I hope it may help you figure this out..

[Alty]

Hi Angelbarn. This site is universal, we have people from all over. I too am in Canada, but I'm in Alberta.

Some of the suggestions you've gotten are great, and I really hope that you can find some way to get these dogs the help they need. I wouldn't go as far as to steal them because that could and likely would land you in a lot of trouble. The police may not care about the dogs, but they would come investigate a robbery, which is what this would amount to.

A few people have suggested that you get these dogs into a vet, cover the cost yourself, even go so far as to set up a payment plan if you have to. They must have more money than I do, because there's no way I could afford vet care for a mother dog and her puppies that are all very ill, need all their shots, deworming, and most likely a lot more. Still, if you have thousands of dollars and this is something you'd be willing to do, that is an option, but I would make sure that if you're going to do that, you get custody of the dogs first, through legal channels.

You could try to find a vet that would be willing to do this pro-bono. It's unlikely, but worth a try.

Of course you could always get the dogs from the owner, take them to the closest shelter, and relinquish them to the shelter (spca or humane society). There they'd get the medical care they need, and they'd have a chance to find a permanent home. Also, they'd be spayed or neutered before being adopted out.

I think that's your best option.

I hope things work out. Please keep us posted.

[lJ.]

I think it's important that you try to get the dogs to another area where there are shelters that can help them since they are in a poor health. Try to find by your specific town the closest ones near you. Hope they get help. I had suggested earlier in thread if you couldn't find a shelter anywhere [which will probably be easier and better in this situation- a shelter], to try to set up a payment plan, because there have been cases depending on the situation where a plan can be worked out according to the owner's financial situation. I think you should try to find a shelter though.

[Alty]

LJ, I would agree that a payment plan is something that should be considered, if the OP was the owner of these dogs. But she isn't.

Asking someone to pay what could end up being thousands of dollars to care for 6 dogs (the mom and 5 pups) in today's economy, when they're not even her dogs, is asking a lot of anyone. In a perfect world that would be a great suggestion, but it's not at all realistic, and the OP needs help finding a realistic solution to this.

The best bet is to find a way to get the dogs, drive them to the nearest humane society, and relinquish them. But, until the OP gets permission to take the dogs, she could be in trouble if she does this. It shouldn't be that way. Animal cruelty is a crime in Canada, and the owners of these dogs should be made to pay not only for the treatment these dogs need, but for the situation they're in because of him/her. Sadly no one the OP has talked to seems to be willing to enforce the law or help these animals.

[angelbarn]

Thank you everyone for your help. I returned to where I thought the dogs were living... the mother was there but the puppies were not. I'm not sure what happened to them or where they are. I'm not going to let this go though. There were 5 little pups and their mother that needed help and despite all my calling around, all my effort... not one place I've contacted helped. This is disgusting to me.

[Aurora_Bell]

Thanks for the update! Good luck on your mission. :)