As the cost of living continues to rise, people are forced to make more difficult decisions about how to spend their hard-earned cash. For many, those decisions are painful, forcing them to make choices they never thought they’d have to.
Many rescues have seen an increase in abandoned animals, and they believe there’s a link between inflation and the number of animals being dumped.
One person driving home from work in late October spotted an abandonment in progress as they drove near a bridge in Lexington, Kentucky.
According to a post later shared by Paws 4 the Cause rescue, the good Samaritan watched as a person dumped a momma dog and her three pups, and the pups ended up crying and panicking in the creek below.
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The momma, who was skittish at first, ran off — but the good Samaritan managed to rescue the three puppies. The next day, more people went to the area to search for the pups’ mother, and once she was found, all four made their way to Paws 4 the Cause.
“Those puppies wouldn’t have had a chance,” vice president and general manager Anita Spreitzer told WKYT-TV. “So, this story could’ve turned out really, really bad but because a village of animal-loving people got involved, between transporters, good Samaritans and rescues to get these animals into safe havens.”
At least one of the puppies had a skin infection, and all were treated for parasites. The mother was also treated for parasites and an infection, but all are in good hands now and should be able to find forever homes soon.
“Somebody loved that dog at one point,” Spreitzer said. “I mean we’ve seen dogs and worked with dogs that you couldn’t even touch them when they first came in, or they’d cower in the corner. And this is not like that.”
Thankfully for the four dogs, someone was able to realize what was happening and jump in in time to save them, something that doesn’t happen for every abandoned dog.
“We see a lot of the dogs that never get rescued,” Spreitzer told WLEX-TV. “We see the dogs that end up in bad situations. We’ve had some rescuers in some of these rural areas that found puppies that were already deceased in bags that were thrown into the rivers and stuff like that, so I don’t know what makes people this desperate, but it breaks our hearts.
“They can’t feed themselves, how can they feed the animals? So instead of letting them starve to death, they make a rash decision … If you ask for help and we can give you help, we are gonna do it.”
But according to a recent post from the group, the rescue is at capacity. It is unable to take in any more dogs until they can find foster homes for some of their current dogs — including the momma dog, who has been named “Laurel.”
Good Samaritans are what keep the rescue alive, whether they spot needy animals, open up their homes to foster and adopt or help support rescues financially.
Paws 4 the Cause has said that the pups will be listed on their website once they’re available for adoption. They have been named River, Dixie and Sandy.
