Arkansas: Day 4!

On our fourth day of our trip to Arkansas, we visited the Warren animal shelter. The day started out with about a 2 hour drive out to the country where Warren is located. A tree covered dirt road led us to a small 3 sided structure with 6 kennels inside. One side of the structure was completely exposed to the elements which was tough to see because we knew that meant the dogs in this shelter had to deal with limited shelter from the extreme heat and cold, as well as the heavy rains, winds, and ice storms that Arkansas experiences. The kennels contained 7 dogs in total, and there was also a chain link pen off to the side with a small black puppy inside. I asked the shelter volunteer why the puppy was in that pen instead of the kennels with the others, and she explained to me that they called that the “dump pen” which meant that this puppy had been dumped overnight by her precious owner. My heart sank at the sight of this innocent puppy who was so confused as well as the other barking dogs in the kennels, so desperate for a human touch.

The kennels needed some serious attention as they were falling apart and unsafe for the dogs to remain in there, so the team immediately jumped into action pulling dogs out of the kennels while the rest of the team worked to disassemble the old kennels. Thanks to our wonderful supporters who donated to our fundraising page we were able to buy new kennels for the shelter that were much more stable and sturdy for future use. The half of the team that took dogs out began bathing and grooming them, as well as testing them for heartworm. Unfortunately out of the 7 dogs we tested for heartworm, only 3 were negative. Although this was a disappointment, it was not a surprise as heartworm is extremely common in Arkansas. The team assembling the new kennels worked extremely hard and were able to put together a great looking new structure in a matter of a couple hours. While we were working two local newspapers came to interview us on what we were doing at the shelter which provides great exposure for our cause and hopefully some education for the local residents on dog rescue.

At the end of the day we left with an extreme sense of accomplishment, and although we weren’t able to pull all of the dogs out of the shelter that day, we left them better than they were when we arrived which was huge.