Meet my newest foster, Delilah. (Rumor has it is considering me for her new mommy...she talks in her sleep when she's snuggled up to me at night, and I swear I heard her say it!)
She, like Riley who so many of you generously sponsored this Holiday Season, had been living on a chain without even the ability to see to relieve the daily boredom, loneliness, and yearly sojourn into Pennsylvania's winter cold. For she's blind.
Can you imagine even for a moment living your life on the end of a chain not able to see? How terrifying, so helpless to even defend yourself against intruders.
Thanks to a network of Pennsylvania volunteers, Delilah is now free and loving her inside home and family here with me, even sharing in the Christmas joys with her siblings.
Sadly, her beagle friend remains on a chain at the home where she lived; he's a 'huntin' dog', and they would not release him. I have sent them a special letter offering fencing if he could come into the home to live with them, but have not heard back yet. He will be one of the 25 new addresses I am personally pledging for our 2008 Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Campaign. But I know there are hundreds of thousands more of them out there across America and Canada!
I don't need you to pledge 25, but I am asking each of you to send us just 1 ADDRESS.
If everyone who reads this sends in 1 address, we will have well over 10,000 dogs receiving Valentines this year, and our 2008 HAVE A HEART FOR CHAINED DOGS campaign goal will be met and even exceeded!
To make it 'more anonymous' and easier than ever, I've put a form on the Valentine's page where you can submit your addresses simply and quickly, and include pertinent information such as how many dogs live there and whether they are chained, penned, or in some cases, both.
Drive by chained dogs Daily? Weekly? Please get those addresses today!
Truly don't see a chained dog anywhere near you? Consider making Valentines, sending coupons, or donating to cover the cost of the campaign.
Here's the link to our Valentine's page
Read this great article by Sandy Eckstein of the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the Valentine campaign:Some construction paper, glue and scissors could help a dog get a better life... Read More
Tamira Thayne is the founder of Dogs Deserve Better, a national nonprofit working to bring dogs out of the backyard and into the home and family. She is an artist and animal advocate living in rural PA, the author of Scream Like Banshee: 29 Days of Tips and Tales to Keep your Sanity as a Doggie Foster Parent, and editor of Unchain My Heart: Dogs Deserve Better Rescue Stories of Courage, Compassion, and Caring.
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