I live in rural Alaska about 70 miles away from the brand new facility for the Matanuska Susitna Borough Division of Animal Control.
I am a licensed kennel, I have 22 sled dogs and I stopped in to see the new facility in Dec. Beautiful!
They had a "rooster" and a turkey, so I decided I would adopt. I haven't had chickens for too long and had a concern about the legs of the "rooster" and called my "chicken mentor" and described them to her. She said, "sounds like scaley leg mites". I questioned animal control staff, and was assured that the bird had been there for well over a month, had been under a vets care, and was PERFECTLY FINE. Her comb ws grayish, so weak and anemic.......................... If I only knew then................
I didn't think it was a rooster and stopped at my friends, and boy am I glad I did. Not only were there scaley leg mites, but she also had lice everywhere. This is a pic of her the morning after she was treated, you can see all of the lice that fell off of her. She stayed at my friends for a few weeks and got better, I had no place to isolate her.
I called Animal Control from my friends house, and got hung up on. They didn't want to hear it. I spoke with the vet a few days later and she assured me that she was very experienced with livestock, and all I got was excuses. I called the newspapers, nobody cared. My friend and myself went to an Animal Control board meeting armed with pictures. and nobody cared. The new AC Chief's answer was that they saw the lice when the bird came in and since the "ROOSTER" looked SOOOOOOO BAD, they thought that they were going to put it down. He could not give me an answer as to why the bird was allowed to suffer horribly for more than a month. Their treatment of this chicken amounts to animal cruelty.
The new facility also has a beautiful section for livestock that cannot be used. The flooring needs mats, which they do not have, and is not safe for horses, cows, anything without the mats. SO, all winter, and THANK GOODNESS it was a mild one, the new stalls cannot be used, animals have to stay outside. Before they got the new facility, the phone was always answered, now, even with a few more shelter employees, it's rare to get a live person when I call. The Mat-Su Borough is HUGE, and there are only 3 or 4 officers.....I could go on and on
TODAY...................................
The "rooster" IS A HEN.........I KNEW IT!!!!, and she is a happy & healthy, and laying eggs.
This whole thing has angered me, and NOBODY CARES. That's what really makes me angry. There is no enforcement of the "rules", laws for animals. I turned a guy in 4 yrs ago, they took all of his 30 some dogs away from him. He only got I think, 2 counts of animal cruelty, maybe a $300 fine, and what REALLY gets me....HE HAS 30 dogs again, after being told........never again. One of my sled dogs was stolen and taken to WI, the Eastern WI SPCA shipped her home to me, the man that stole her was never even presecuted or charged for the crime. Since no prosecution............. the EW SPCA could not sue the man to recoup the cost of shipping her home to me.
I wish something could be done to help animals up here, my point being, NOBODY CARES, nobody with any power, only folks like me.
THANKS FOR LETTING ME VENT!
I am a licensed kennel, I have 22 sled dogs and I stopped in to see the new facility in Dec. Beautiful!
They had a "rooster" and a turkey, so I decided I would adopt. I haven't had chickens for too long and had a concern about the legs of the "rooster" and called my "chicken mentor" and described them to her. She said, "sounds like scaley leg mites". I questioned animal control staff, and was assured that the bird had been there for well over a month, had been under a vets care, and was PERFECTLY FINE. Her comb ws grayish, so weak and anemic.......................... If I only knew then................
I didn't think it was a rooster and stopped at my friends, and boy am I glad I did. Not only were there scaley leg mites, but she also had lice everywhere. This is a pic of her the morning after she was treated, you can see all of the lice that fell off of her. She stayed at my friends for a few weeks and got better, I had no place to isolate her.
I called Animal Control from my friends house, and got hung up on. They didn't want to hear it. I spoke with the vet a few days later and she assured me that she was very experienced with livestock, and all I got was excuses. I called the newspapers, nobody cared. My friend and myself went to an Animal Control board meeting armed with pictures. and nobody cared. The new AC Chief's answer was that they saw the lice when the bird came in and since the "ROOSTER" looked SOOOOOOO BAD, they thought that they were going to put it down. He could not give me an answer as to why the bird was allowed to suffer horribly for more than a month. Their treatment of this chicken amounts to animal cruelty.
The new facility also has a beautiful section for livestock that cannot be used. The flooring needs mats, which they do not have, and is not safe for horses, cows, anything without the mats. SO, all winter, and THANK GOODNESS it was a mild one, the new stalls cannot be used, animals have to stay outside. Before they got the new facility, the phone was always answered, now, even with a few more shelter employees, it's rare to get a live person when I call. The Mat-Su Borough is HUGE, and there are only 3 or 4 officers.....I could go on and on
TODAY...................................
The "rooster" IS A HEN.........I KNEW IT!!!!, and she is a happy & healthy, and laying eggs.
This whole thing has angered me, and NOBODY CARES. That's what really makes me angry. There is no enforcement of the "rules", laws for animals. I turned a guy in 4 yrs ago, they took all of his 30 some dogs away from him. He only got I think, 2 counts of animal cruelty, maybe a $300 fine, and what REALLY gets me....HE HAS 30 dogs again, after being told........never again. One of my sled dogs was stolen and taken to WI, the Eastern WI SPCA shipped her home to me, the man that stole her was never even presecuted or charged for the crime. Since no prosecution............. the EW SPCA could not sue the man to recoup the cost of shipping her home to me.
I wish something could be done to help animals up here, my point being, NOBODY CARES, nobody with any power, only folks like me.
THANKS FOR LETTING ME VENT!
