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"The Team" made it home to Colorado at about 10:30 pm on Thursday February 6th. The 'stop-by' in San Antonio ended up being a bust. The folks that were supposed to accompany The Team on to the property in order to assess the abandoned animals, never showed. The property was fenced and guarded by Dobermans, which prevented access to the other animals. The Team waited for quite a while but was unsuccessful in getting anyone via cell phone to show enough interest to come out.
The trip back to Colorado was fairly uneventful, outside of the weather slowing them down and fatigue forcing them to stop again for the night. The reunion that Pat & Cheryl received from the animals at Wolf was tearful. Both ladies rejoiced at being able to hug healthy, happy animals. As we started hearing the stories and reviewing some of the photos taken at the facility, we are amazed that the remaining animals are alive at all.
Yukon - scared & skinny
We now wait for all of the blood work to be analyzed and comprehensive treatments to be established. The preliminary red flags indicate what The Team already suspected from their exams. All the animals are about 10 to 15 lbs. underweight, severely dehydrated, and suffering from stress.
Timbre is suffering severe liver and kidney disease. The immediate prognosis from the vets is extremely guarded. She will not be able to be moved any great distances without serious complications from the trauma involved with moving.
As Gaya Dihi
The requirements from the vet are to give all of the animals a chance to regain their health before they are moved anywhere. They need to be rehydrated, gain weight, and given time for the antibiotics, which are continuing to be administered, a chance to work.
This process may take from 2 to 8 weeks to insure the health of each animal. The other factor that this will insure is that indeed the remaining animals will not have developed distemper. One of our vets did some extensive research on distemper and it appears that "in some cases it can hang on for months and then break with symptoms." This is the last thing that anyone wants to have happen.
There are still no firm alternatives for permanent suitable homes for these animals. As we get more results on the analysis of the blood tests and options on permanent sanctuary we will send further updates.
Please continue to send these updates to everyone you know. Our tab so far, just for the trip to Texas and those treatments, is $8,455. Although we were able to get some of those supplies and services donated, we still have $4,765 that needs to paid. In order to continue to help these animals we need to find some significant dollars. Thank you.
As Gaya Dihi & Ahyokah
The treatment plans have been developed for all of the animals. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the last update four of the blood samples had been frozen due to poor handling, rendering them unusable. We have set up a treatment plan for these four animals based on the physical exams that they were given and will seek to draw blood again. Additionally, 7 other animals will need new blood tests, as well, due to either poor serum levels in the samples already extracted or for additional information on their conditions.
Outside of a few animals that have very specific problems, the majority of the treatment plans revolve around four basic problems.
High Temperatures - some undiagnosed infection requiring antibiotics.
Dehydration - most likely from severe diarrhea requiring electrolytes in the very severe cases.
High Eosinophils - most likely from some undiagnosed parasite requiring regular doses of parasiticides.
Low Red Blood Cell Counts - most likely from poor diets requiring red meat and bone.
The breakdown of the treatments is as follows:
7 antibiotics - for severe temperatures.
2 pedialyte supplements - for severe dehydration.
9 parasiticides.
1 lasix - for a congestive heart problem.
1 Rimadyl - for hip dysplasia.
1 milk thistle - for liver problems.
1 calcium supplement - for severe red blood cell problems.
1 mineral oil - for constipation.
10 anti-oxidant with glucosamine - for joint problems.
20 lysine (anti-oxidant) - to build immune systems.
20 multi-vitamin supplements - to aid recovery.
20 good red meat/bone diet.
Apache
All of the animals are starting to respond to the original treatments and the introduction of quality food. Volunteers have noticed marked improvement in all of them. Although everyone is anxious to get the animals moved to larger enclosures and bug-free soil, this part of the recovery phase is very important. It is anticipated that this phase will require two to four weeks in order to insure that all of the animals will be healthy enough to be moved. We will continue to bring you updates of this situation as new information becomes available.
Timbre Wacipi
The animals are being treated and responding to all that has been done so far. As they regain their health and put on some very necessary pounds, the vet is beginning to release some of the animals that homes have been found for. Timbre and Wacipi were moved today to a facility that already has a USDA license and has been inspected by county animal control officers. Both county animal control and the USDA inspector were on hand for the move of both animals. They did fine with their trip and are already acclimating to their new home. We wish them and their new guardians tremendous success.
The way it currently stands - all but 8 of the animals have been scheduled with at least temporary accommodations. The organizations that are helping with this effort are busy getting their new enclosures set up.
Wolf has successfully negotiated an arrangement with a sanctuary in Texas to use some of their land to build 4 half-acre enclosures for the remaining 8 animals and potentially 2 additional enclosures for two of the other groups of animals that may need permanent sanctuary as well. This sanctuary is a large facility with all of the appropriate precursors in place, such as: licensing, accreditation from a national sanctuary association, volunteer organization, proven management, etc. The 6 enclosures will be built in 4 phases, in order to get the 8 animals moved as soon as possible.
Phase one will consist of building the front portions of 4 of the enclosures as well as the perimeter fence for all 6 enclosures. That will make the initial portion 50' x 150'. Once phase one is complete the animals will be moved to the new location. Phase one is estimated to cost $13,000 for materials and we are hoping to get volunteers to accomplish the labor.
Phase two will consist of building the back portions of those 4 enclosures so that the 8 animals will be fully accommodated before continuing. Phase two is estimated to cost $6,000 in materials and again volunteers will provide the labor.
Phase three will consist of building the front portions of the remaining 2 enclosures. At that point the remaining 2 groups of animals will be moved if there temporary homes have not become permanent homes. Phase three is estimated to cost $3,900 in materials using volunteer labor.
Phase four will consist of building the back portions of the 2 remaining enclosures. Phase four is estimated to cost $3,000 in materials again using volunteer labor.
That brings the total tab to build all 6 enclosures to provide permanent homes for 12 animals to $26,000. Needless to say we will need a significant amount of help to raise the funds necessary to accomplish this goal. We are busy trying to get grant applications sent out in order to raise some of this, but we need your help too. We will continue to bring you updates of this situation as new information becomes available.
Beowulf Frackette
We have purposely neglected to keep you updated because of very strange events occurring in Texas that were beyond our comprehension. Bottom line - we didn't know what to say. Even though we believe we have now sorted out all of the craziness, it is still very difficult to communicate what has transpired. We will give it our best though.
In our last update, on February 21st, we indicated that animals were starting to be moved to their new homes. The way the situation unfolded involved the original custodian, who had been given authority for the well-being of the animals, after they were determined to be abandoned property by the local constable. This individual, in turn, signed over the custody of the animals to three different entities; five animals were signed over to a person named Jean, two other animals were signed over to another person named Lisa and the remaining 13 animals were signed over to Wolf. We were not totally sure why the choices were made the way they were, but we had no say in that process. We focused our efforts on the animals whose well-being was now our responsibility. We had received a signed and notarized document transferring that custodianship. We had our representative in Texas make arrangements with the land owner, where the animals were located, to use the property until we could get all of the animals moved. A document to that effect was in the possession of our representative. We also arranged to have liability insurance taken out on the property and required all volunteers working with the animals to sign a liability release. We then moved forward with working out arrangements to get the animals moved. This was all going pretty well, and allowed time for the general health of the animals to improve while arrangements were being made.
During this time several individuals approached us wanting permanent custody of a number of the animals. One organization that had been formed by previous volunteers wanted to take four of the groups and put them into 25' x 25' enclosures. Jean, the individual who had custody of 5, wanted custody of one other animal (Duchess) and was going to put her into a 25' x 30' enclosure. The original custodian wanted custody of one animal, but never answered our questions about the size enclosure he was building. We looked for ways to accommodate their desires without compromising the long term well-being of the animals. We recommended to the group, of previous volunteers, that they take fewer animals and build fewer, larger, enclosures (minimum 100' x 100'). We recommended to Jean that, because of her current responsibility for 5 animals, she focus on those and we would find a good place for Duchess. We never heard back from the original custodian.
On Friday, February 28th Lisa showed up and removed the two animals in her custody without incident. That same day, a member of the volunteer group, the original custodian and a constable showed up at the facility and began to remove Duchess saying they were taking her to Jean's. Our representative informed them that this was not an acceptable option for Duchess and that Jean had already been informed of this. He also presented the supposed legal document that gave Wolf custody of Duchess and the document that gave him authority to act on behalf of Wolf. The constable would not recognize the validity of either document. Our representative put Frank on the cell phone with the constable and nothing Frank could say would change his mind either. In fact, at one point, the constable stated that Wolf did have legal custody of the other animals, just not Duchess. He would give no reason why Duchess was different or why Jean was not taking the other three she had a legal right to take. He went on to explain that we should be concerned about getting them moved because in two weeks they would all be killed. They removed Duchess forcibly, screaming, kicking and biting in a two and half hour ordeal.
We were all left wondering what the heck all of this was about. If the constable could overturn what we believed to be legal custody, why were we spending the time and money necessary to get these animals moved to quality homes? Also, where did the two-week deadline come from?
Due to the fact that it was a Friday afternoon, we were unable to get any answers from local authorities. We were now in a do or die situation and could not wait until Monday to get things going. Wolf filed a formal complaint with the Sheriff's department and proceeded to figure out how we would get the remaining animals, which were supposedly in our custody, moved within two weeks. We found a situation where we could build enough enclosures to accommodate the animals temporarily in 50' x 100' enclosures, which could be opened up to 100' x 100' and accommodate 3 of the groups permanently. The cost was going to be $5,000 which Wolf committed and construction began Saturday morning.
After waiting for a couple of days for a response from the Sheriff's department, Wolf finally called them to follow up on the complaint. We were informed that the county attorney had been given the information. A call was placed to the county attorney who was very rude and condescending. The attitude was very accusatory, indicating that all Wolf was concerned about was getting free animals so they could raise bunches of money. And, "if you're lookin' for me to say the constable did somethin' wrong, you're gonna be watin' a long time, the constable can do whatever he wants with those animals." Again, we were left wondering what was going on - Texas really is a different country. If it were not for the animals, Wolf would have pulled out of the whole situation.
Our last effort was to see if we could get the constable to give us some assurance and written ownership of the animals. We initiated a call to the constable. He immediately assured us that we did have legal custody of the remaining animals. We indicated that three of them were in the legal custody of Jean. He replied saying that he was told that she couldn't take three of them; all she could take was one, which is why he gave her Duchess. He figured he was at least getting one taken care of. We tried to let him know that we were not going to continue spending the exorbitant amount of time and money to move the animals without some legal document that would insure that there would still be animals to be moved. Finally, when he acknowledged that we had a formal lease on the land he agreed to write a transfer of ownership if we sent him a copy of the lease. He also indicated that there would be no two-week deadline. Although this same information had been verbally communicated to him when he was at the facility, somehow now it made a difference. We weren't going to question any of this - all we wanted was to get these animals safely into good situations. Within a day and a half we had the ownership document and were moving forward again. However, we now had spent $5,000 we hadn't intended to spend, we had ownership of 15 animals not 13 and were still wondering what to do about Duchess. We are communicating with an attorney in respect to the situation with Duchess.
As we move forward we are still considering many good options for the most effective and efficient means of accommodating the needs of all the animals. The 15 animals left are broken up into 7 groups of 2 each and 1 additional older animal. We have firm placement for 5 of those groups and are still discussing situations that would potentially accommodate 5 groups. All of these placements require some time to allow money to be raised and building to occur. We believe however, that this approach will be the most economical and still provide the animals with a high-quality permanent.
We did postpone the building of the permanent enclosures at the sanctuary in Texas, due to the money that had been committed for the temporary facility. If the majority of our current discussions, for placement, pan out we will not have to build at that sanctuary at all.
We will continue to bring you updates of this situation as new information becomes available.
The move is on. On March 27, a team began darting animals in order to relocate them. The team expects to finish up this morning and head back to Colorado with one of the packs. The team is made up of Pat Wendland (Wolf), Sue Cranston (Indigo Mountain Nature Center), Cheryl Budler - Vet Tech (Wolf), Priscilla Dressen - DVM (Wolf), Jim Hathaway - DVM (Wolf), Gina Kettells - Vet Tech (Wolf), Doug/Kathy Joslyn (Texas), Jerry Mills (Texas), and Pam Thompson (Texas).
As you notice in the team - this time we brought our own vets. Getting vets last time, from Texas, was such a major battle that we did not want to go through those frustrations again. Evidently, any vet familiar with NAWA was very reluctant to be involved with the situation in any way, shape or form.
The team organized their approach in order to thoroughly examine, treat, spay/neuter, secure blood/feces for testing, provide distemper boosters, apply parasiticides and then relocate as quickly as possible. Although I do not have a tremendous amount of detail or specific information about the events, I will pass on what information I do have. I will bring you more information as soon as the team has had a chance to catch their breath and be able to talk to me again.
The events have gone spectacularly well, so far. On the 27th, four animals were darted, examined and thankfully only one needed to be neutered. They were all treated and relocated without incident.
On the 28th, five animals were darted, one was able to be leashed and treated. Again, thankfully only one surgery was required, a spay. The events again went without a hitch. The transport to their new homes also went without incident.
Today, five animals will be moved. The team believes that three of the animals will be able to be leashed in order to perform all of the required functions. The other two will be darted last and then moved to Colorado. We are confident that the activities for today will go as flawlessly as the previous day's events.
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