UPDATE 3/23/08 on the 19 Seeley Collies Rescued in Upstate NY
Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt
The Volunteers
Part 2
In the previous update (March 16, 2008) you met volunteer "Gretchen". Now I introduce you to another volunteer who worked with the Seeley Collies and Dachshunds at the SPCA of Upstate New York located in Queensbury, from last fall until January 5 (see the January 13 report). As always, her real name will not be used.
"Renata"
Renata has owned and trained Collies since her first tricolor Collie in childhood. She is active in her local dog training club and has trained her Collies in obedience, agility, and therapy dog work, as well as a little conformation showing. She looks forward to trying herding and tracking with them in the future. She also shares her life with her husband, two cats, and a son in elementary school. She is employed as a mental health counselor specializing in clients with chronic disease.
This is her story:
"I remember the exact moment I first heard of the Seeley Collies. I was at an agility class on a beautiful fall evening. A woman active in Border Collie rescue said "did you see tonight's news..?" I'd missed it. As I glanced down at my boy, pampered from the moment he was conceived, I thought how incredibly lucky all the dogs in that class that night were. We chatted about the best possible supplements, showed off new dog toys, and swapped plans for the next events.
"At the time I assumed it would be a relatively straightforward issue of local dog lovers, especially Collie lovers, bonding together to walk, groom, and help place these dogs. Time would prove me wrong. I still do not understand the road blocks which kept incredible resources and people from being utilized. I met many volunteers at the shelter who clearly love animals and try to make their lives better, but this was countered by outdated practices, over-crowding and inflexible decision making by some members of management.
"I took a beautiful rough blue boy, Collie #13, who carried himself with great dignity, out for a walk. At the time I did not know the property boundaries and took him to a small frozen pond. A flock of Canadian geese flew overhead and he froze to watch them with such interest. I could not help but wonder when was the last time he'd had the chance to see such a thing.
"I took a white rough girl with a sable head, #10. She walked well on a lead and played so happily with #14. I wondered if she was his mom. She was the only dog who would walk with me toward the road and pause looking off into the distance searching.. who was it she missed, what was she looking for?
"So many questions about their past. We tried to tease out their separate personalities and skills. The shyest of the triplets loved toys and was an ace at the keep-away game with her litter mates.
"The crate confinement, the lack of outdoor time, the unwillingness to consider foster placement, all meant I was left with a great deal of sadness, confusion and worry for the dogs' future.
"Months have passed; I am sad for the Collies still crated and hopeful for those who were placed. How is their rehabilitation going? I wonder if I ever chance to meet one at a Collie gathering, will they remember me? I remember them and the walks we shared."
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Folks, we continue to be very concerned about the old gentleman, and the remaining Seeley Collies and Dachshunds held in crates at the SPCA. Based on the veterinary experts' descriptions of the results of excessive crating, discussed in our February 17, 2008 report, we worry a great deal about his heart, his breathing, and about his chronic arthritis and the pain it brings him.
We are also very saddened by his lonely state; Collies especially yearn to be with their people and other dogs. Yet for all these months he has been forced to live confined in a small crate, away from people and even his Collie and Dachshund friends, in the last period of his life. As Dr. Lund said earlier, "I have a hard time picturing an adult Collie that perceives long term crating as anything less than rejection and punishment .... leaving such a kind and devoted breed to suffer silently, tortured by not understanding 'why?'"
Again we thank you for your many messages of concern about the old gentleman and the remaining Seeley Collies and the Dachshunds. We simply cannot understand the reasoning, let alone such an unfamiliar interpretation of "animal welfare", behind this continued solitary confinement for the past 159 days.
Calmly,
Jean Levitt
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