For several months, there have been rumblings about 2 dogs living in a backyard tethered with chains and no protections from the elements.  A neighbor of these dogs had send out pleas for help to her friends, family, acquaintances, anyone that would listen.  They contacted Travis County Sheriff, Pflugerville Police Department, Pflugerville Animal Control, Commissioners, Mayors, and anyone to whom she could find contact information.  No one stepped up to help (not our jurisdiction, no one answered the door, etc). So the dogs stayed out in the elements (Halloween rains/floods, sleet, etc).

Desperate pleas for help came again as the cold wet weather was moving in.  Several compassionate animal volunteers decided they had to help.  They were stressed and worried about these dog.  One contacted us for some help and then headed to Lowe’s ready to buy some houses.  A plea went out on the Pflugerville Pets Alive Facebook page and offers for donations, dog houses, and straw came into the organization. (Thank you all for helping us help the pets of Pflugerville)  One volunteer found some used igloos on Craiglist and began negotiations.  So the scurrying began to beat the sleet.

There was some concern about the dog owners not accepting the houses – they had received complaints and had been reported to authorities.  A volunteer went by the house to see if the owners would accept the donation.  The bell was rung and the door knocked on several times and no one answered.  Hearing people inside and seeing cars in the driveway was very discouraging.  Leaving disappointed, she went to discuss a plan with Pflugerville Pets Alive (PPA!) to help the dogs she heard barking and splashing in the back yard.  At the same time, unbeknownst to her, other volunteers were out picking up a donated dog house and buying dog houses off of Craigslist.  So a “quick” trip out to Lakeway to pick up dog houses and then the team (including a coerced dad) were off to help these dogs.

So now there are three crazy women and one apprehensive father going to a home where we have no idea on how this was going to go down.

Debbie was a valuable asset in such an effort to help these dogs.  She states while the others unloaded the dog houses, she knocked on the door. This time it was opened and she started talking so fast so as to not allow the owner to say no.  Debbie says,

“Hi, my name is Debbie and I am a volunteer with Pflugerville Pets Alive. Today is your lucky day because we have had two dog houses donated to us and we want your dogs to have them. We had heard via grapevine that they didn’t have any shelter and we wanted to help out with free dog houses. Yes, I said FREE! You are under no obligation, other than if the dogs leave and you don’t need them anymore, you contact us and we’ll come back and get them and give them to another needy dog.”

Debbie  also told her that this was something we did as volunteers to keep dogs from being turned into the animal shelter.

The owner was quite skeptical in the beginning but the more Debbie talked, the more she gave in. The owner mentioned that they were just about to go and get houses, which after more than a year of seeing these pleas, Debbie seriously doubted that was the truth but she couldn’t dwell on that – there were dogs to help. Our goal was to get these dogs shelter and Debbie had to bite her tongue to prevent her from saying something that would prevent us from helping the dogs. She stepped out of the house and said, “Wait a minute, its cold out here, let me get my jacket.” Duh!!!! Don’t forget it was pouring down rain. But again, Debbie’s thoughts were in her head not her mouth. {Good Job Debbie!!}

Next thing we know we were with the owner dragging the dog houses thru the privacy fence gate and back to the dogs. One of the German Shepherds is an adult and the other was not fully grown so maybe well under 2. They were chained with heavy link chain to a fence and neither dog had anything near them for shelter. There were no trees in the yard and the dogs were just in water, mud and feces.  The dogs were separated, out of sight of each other in 2 different yards separated with a privacy fence.  We pushed the houses as close to the dogs as we dared, keeping in mind to not get within range to risk getting bitten. The lady pushed it the rest of the way. We could not determine if the dogs have been spayed or neutered at this point but a plan formed to go back after Thanksgiving to check on how the houses were working out and leave some information about EmanciPet. We left some towels and blankets in the houses.  By the time we got back, we had notice of someone donating some hay.  Debbie lived in the country for 4 years and they always put hay in our dog houses so that is something she made a mental note for future assistance. In the end, the lady appeared to be genuinely grateful and thanked each of us.

Debbie has a calling (and a talent I might add) for this type of help for dogs.  She learned something from this experience that she wants to share with everyone.  “None of us condone animals having to live in deplorable conditions and it will probably be many more times that we cannot change that through law enforcement or owners agreement.  Let’s be positive and make a difference with actions not just words.” Debbie has decided that she want to incorporate a program into PPA that assists owners with dog houses, fixing fences, Emancipet, and just general information to help keep dogs out of the shelter systems.  She is planning to get this started, if you would like to help with these efforts – donating, building, finding materials, guidance on how to run such a program, etc – please contact volunteer@pflugervillepetsalive.org and we will put her in touch with you.

This will be new for Debbie and PPA! and we will be learning as we go along. We are asking for volunteers to help with this new adventure.  This volunteer commitment will not have specific time frames – except for any preplanned project, help is needed (especially this time of year).  This will be a very rewarding opportunity in helping animals and their owners.  Talk about win-win!!  If we can educate/assist owners with positive energy, our animal friends will benefit from our endeavors.

“Unfortunately (right now) we can’t save them all, but let’s give it one heck of a try!” I want to be able to say, “We saved them all!” – Debbie