Little Victories As Seen With My Own Eyes.

pup with hair

sibling pupJust a tummy scratch is all this little guy wants.

This is just one of the houses in "PuppyTown." See how relaxed the dogs are! They are all that way. Happy and secure.

Today, 5/3/08, I went to Wire Branch Rd. off Rt. 60 in Ona WV, to visit a no-kill shelter called Little Victories that has been the subject of controversy by the residents living on this road. The founder and president, Sue Brown, gave me permission to take pictures while I was there, and I did. What I found were extremely healthy, happy and in all but one case, animals that felt secure. This one animal had been so horribly abused, he just couldn't trust anyone. But, it seems that since the new caretakers took over, he will now sniff the hand of the lady caretaker. That is reassuring.

As I drove down the road to get to the shelter, I passed sign after sign in people's yards that were all against this shelter being built on their road. When the caretaker, Twana, (I am sorry if I misspelled her name) showed me the property line I was amazed. Where the property owned by Little Victories starts, it is over 2 football fields from the nearest house. And, as I cruised down this road, I had my radio off and my windows both down. I heard absolutely nothing until I was abreast with the play area for the shelter dogs. One little fella was in there getting his daily romp, and he alerted I was there. And naturally, the other dogs followed suit, but only for a very short time. The caretaker, Twana, seems to really calm them. I was impressed by this.

The letter from the lady in the Voice of the People of this newspaper, saying that the dogs were dirty and no-one was there is what prompted me to call Sue and get permission to take pictures to show the public that, well, I just don't know what that lady is talking about. The pictures I have on this blog show that they have actual houses, called PuppyTown. Kudos, by the way to the Eagle Scout Troop that built it for the shelter. And, the dogs they have in lots have the entire top of the lot covered, and good houses to get into. All the dogs were clean and their areas are cleaned twice a day. With help, this can be a fabulous place for dogs to get a second chance, and the ones that can't be adopted, will have a place to live out their lives peacefully and securely.

Normally, my personal business is just that, but I am going to put Little Victories in my will. I have the library, too, because of an extensive book collection. But, after seeing what this organization is trying to do, makes me start to believe that there really is some good left in the world. What impressed me the most about the lady that took me around, was the attitude of all, and I mean all the dogs when she approached. They were so happy to see her and they just licked her hands. Even the one dog that is not approachable, he will sniff her hand. Gentle way about her. I liked her. I didn't get a chance to meet her husband.

She told me a story of this blue merle dog that she showed me. She went to bed one evening, and the next morning when her husband got up at 6am to start feeding and cleaning, he came back in and asked her who put the dog in the pen with the little fella already in there? She said there is no "other dog". Sure enough, someone came up there through the early morning hours and put her over the fence and into the pen. They(caretakers) said she was rail thin, but the bizarre thing was, the people left a garbage bag full of treats and food and toys. But the dog was so malnourished she almost died. But now, she is beautiful. And, if you go to the website: http://www.littlevictories.org and look at the 2 puppies they found that didn't have any hair, well I saw them today, and their coats are fabulous. They are pictured up on the left top. Both have full coats. Good work Little Victories!

They are working to get enough money to build an indoor kennel. Chad Pennington gave a donation specifically to be used in the building of the kennel. (The dog blog has a small story about his donation) The lady caretaker was very excited about it. Go see for yourself. I went up without calling the shelter. I had talked to Sue last week and got her permission, but didn't tell her when I would be going. So, no one knew I was coming. What I am relaying to you, comes first hand. With my own eyes.