Animals In Crisis-Trending: Animal Abandonment In Broward County, FL

ANIMAL ABANDONMENT ON THE RISEDue to area shelters "high-kill" reputation; animal owners have avoided our tax-funded animal shelters for the surrender of their loved ones when hardship has befallen them. As an alternative to an almost certain death-by-shelter, many well-intended individuals have "rescued" animals from area shelters in an effort to save lives, then boarded them in private facilities only to abandon them later as the kennel bills mounted. This is happening not just in Broward County, but also throughout the state of Florida as a result of few no kill shelter options.

So is this case in Pompano Beach, FL The Abandoned 14DOGS ABANDONED IN PRIVATE BOARDING FACILITIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA

A small group of animal lovers came together for the sole purpose of working one very large project To re-home dogs left behind in Broward County boarding facilities by "rescuers" or their owners and forgottenUntil now! "These amazing and resilient souls have been out of sight for years. No one outside of the kennel knew they existed. Alone, with no one coming for them, and no hope of ever getting out of their kennels, they sat for years," said Debi Day, President and Co-founder of No Kill Nation, Inc.

Sadly, when there were basic medical needs, they were not addressed. These dogs had no sponsors, no one to pay for vet visits, injuries, and vaccines, even the essentials such as flea and tick prevention were not available to them. They did have food and water. That's it. From 1 years to 3 years, they may have well been invisible. Endo, Gia (now Bria), Buster, Max, Lucy, Tiffany, Carl, Prince, King, Jethro all abandoned at the Dog House in Pompano Beach, FL. Mojo and Bingo were abandoned at other facilities and have been added to this project as they too have no one. Out of all dogs above the first five are in homes. Two out of five have been adopted. Three are in foster. It's a start!

To date, a private donor has paid for their initial vetting: Heart-worm tests, Ehrlichia tests, all annual vaccines, antibiotics and other medication prescribed for various non-contagious illnesses, heart worm preventatives, flea and tick preventatives, de-worming, and boarding expenses.

However, funding is still needed for three spay surgeries, two injury treatments, and one major surgery, a trachea repair scheduled with The University of Florida's Small Animal Veterinary Hospital in Gainesville, FL.

The trachea surgery alone has been quoted at $3,000-$3,500. Your tax-deductible donations are very much appreciated, but placing the dogs in good homes is our main goal!

"These dogs are all young, loving, playful 'babies' who deserve to be in a home of their own. They love belly rubs, toys, but most of all, human touch," said volunteer, Kristen Wolf.

Volunteer, Danielle Riggin agrees: "Despite all being abandoned and confined to their kennels day in, day out (for years), all of the dogs have so much love to give and are so amazingly affectionate to the volunteers who show up to take them out for walks. They are very resilient and crave nothing more than the human touch."

When we asked Debbie Beracha, another volunteer, to sum up her experience with these dogs she said, "These dogs are all so loving and resilient. Even though they have all experienced abandonment and possibly worse, they all display nothing but love, happiness, and gratitude for any kindness shown to them. They only want to be adopted to prove their love."

While almost half of the original "Forgotten 14" have been placed in homes, eight dogs still remain in kennels, some for up to over 3 years.

As animal advocates who have dedicated their lives to benefiting companion animals, the volunteer group working together with No Kill Nation, Inc. will not remain on the sidelines and do nothing knowing that their efforts can benefit the remaining dogsit may be their last chance.

After exhausting all attempts to get local rescue organizations involved, No Kill Nation, Inc.'s board of directors has voted to take the necessary steps to raise the money and facilitate the adoption of these dogs in order to prevent them from spending any more time without families of their own. All funds collected through this project will go towards all needed medical attention, to include vaccinations, spay/neuter where applicable and other surgeries as deemed by veterinarians. The "Abandoned Dogs of the Dog House" project will be operated as an external special project for No Kill Nation, Inc.

So there you have itAll, good dogs! Please check out these great dogs and tell your family and friends there are dogs in need. Let's get them into homes before spending another holiday alone.

If you are on Facebook, you can view the dogs currently available for adoption at: The Abandoned 14 page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Abandoned-14/695387243886003

Our website: www.theabandoned14.com

Our donation link: http://www.DH.org
Contact us via email: Theabandoned14@gmail.com

All of "our" dogs have been assessed by international behaviorist/dog-bite expert, Jim Crosby and local behaviorist/trainer, Dawn Hanna of Oh Behave Dog Training. To see video behavior assessments on YouTube, click
below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhgDxy4PDZnW6pp1gDR0bemktw882x1rz

SO WHY THE ALARMING RATE OF ANIMAL ABANDONMENT IN BROWARD COUNTY? We have a theory.

The Broward County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a No Kill Resolution on April 3rd, 2012; a promise to implement the steps and programs to the proven life-saving "No Kill Equation." The No Kill Equation (NKE), developed by The No Kill Advocacy Center, is THE "blueprint" implemented in No Kill animal shelters nationwide, saving all healthy and treatable animals in our tax-funded shelters, upwards of 90% of the total shelter population. To date, over 500 communities have successfully achieved No Kill status. For that we celebrate. The programs of the NKE are:

Rescue Organization Partnership
Volunteers-Using volunteers to augment staffing.
Foster Care
Trap, Neuter, Release-Manages free-roaming cats population.
Pet Retention-Counseling and resources to keep pets in the home.
Comprehensive Adoption Programs
Public Relations/Community Involvement
Medical & Behavioral/Prevention & Rehabilitation
High Volume, Low Cost Spay and Neuter
Proactive Redemptions-Return to owners.
Hard Working, Compassionate Shelter Director

Read more on the No Kill Equation here: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shelter-reform/no-kill-equation/