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Cover Stories Summer 2003 Emaciated Greyhounds Discovered on Defunct Arkansas Breeding Farm Paragould: According to a Greene County Sheriff's Department incident report, the Paragould Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) responded to an anonymous tip Thursday morning, May 28 that a number of dogs, most of them greyhounds, had been left unattended on a farm without access to food or water. At 9:30 a.m. two PAWS volunteers arrived at the farm four miles south of Para-gould. After a brief assessment of the situation, they contacted the sheriff's department for permission to enter the property. Six emaciated greyhounds and several other dogs, including puppies, were found. One of the volunteers then returned to Paragould to collect supplies and search the Internet for greyhound rescue groups. Alane Shultz, director of the Springfield, Missouri chapter of Greyhound Pets of America (GPA), told Greyhound Network News June 20 that she had received a call from a PAWS volunteer on the day of the rescue; both volunteers were still at the property. Shultz told her to take the greyhounds to the nearest animal clinic and assured her that GPA would pay for all veterinary costs. During the next three days, arrangements were made to take the greyhounds into GPA's adoption program. On Monday, June 2, Shultz and three volunteers traveling in two vans made the four-and-a-half-hour drive to Arkansas. The six greyhounds, three males and three females, were picked up at the Paragould Animal Clinic, loaded into the vans, and transported to the Spring Valley Veterinary Hospital in Springfield. All six dogs were heartworm positive. According to their ear tattoos, the dogs are between 4 and 5 years old. Brindle males Wolf and Lance, and Helga, a brindle female, remained at the clinic for several days before they were released into foster care. Shultz took in Lamar, a white and brindle male, who had other medical problems, including a bladder infection. The four dogs are in the secondary stage of heartworm; as of late June, Lance has had a few setbacks. "They are not out of the woods yet," Shultz said. The two remaining females, Libby, a fawn, and Lori, white and fawn, remained at the clinic for 12 days. The dogs were assess-ed as fear biters and Shultz had no suitable foster homes for them. Lee Lavery, president of Greyhound Guardians, Inc. based in Crown Point, Indiana, agreed to take the two females into her adoption program. On June 14, a GPA volunteer transported the two females 900 miles to Lisa Douglas, DVM, at the Palos Animal Hospital in Palos Heights, Illinois. Douglas is a board member of Greyhound Guardians and provides veterinary services for the non-profit, all-volunteer group. Douglas examined both dogs and found that Lori was pregnant. Addendum: Libby has successfully completed heartworm treatment and is now in foster care. Lori went into labor July 5 and underwent an emergency C-section after her uterus ruptured. Seven of her nine puppies survived; all are white with either fawn or brindle markings. Lori was released from the veterinary clinic 36 hours later to recuperate and nurse her puppies in a home environment. She will begin heartworm treatment after her puppies have been weaned. Sources: Greene
County Sheriff's Department Incident Report [Editor's Note: Rhonda Phillips, a PAWS board member and one of the two volunteers who responded to the anonymous tip, gave the following information to GNN during a telephone interview June 23: Of the six greyhounds found alive on the property, one (Lamar) was found running loose outside and a second (Lance) in a weed-choked kennel run. Two greyhounds (Helga and Wolf) were found in one room of a two-room outbuilding, which also contained three non-working freezers. Two of the freezers contained the decomposing bodies of an estimated 20 greyhounds. A dead female greyhound confined to a crate was found in the second room. Two dead male greyhounds were found in a shed. Two greyhounds (Libby and Lori) were found inside the house, which reeked from an accumulation of feces and urine. A chow-mix also was found alive in the house and a Labrador and six puppies were running loose outside. Phillips is caring for five of the puppies. Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Heath arrived at the farm and inspected the entire property. The farm's caretaker, the son of the owner who died in December 1999, arrived after receiving a call from a neighbor. He signed a release form surrendering all of the dogs to PAWS. Greyhound Protection League (GPL) director Susan Netboy also had been contacted by Phillips. Michigan-based GPL representative Lenka Perron sent out a press release June 4 and followed up with a call to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Ken Heard, a Gazette reporter, left several messages at the sheriff's office, as did GNN. None of the calls were returned. GPL filed a property inspection request with the Greene County Sanitarian on June 23; as of July 10 there has been no response.]
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