The Beginning

In December 2003, we were told about some dogs that "don't seem to have food or water and are attached to heavy chains." The very next day, with directions in our hands and praying that it would not be true,  we traveled to this house. When we got there we were shocked at what we saw. In the backyard, there were 5 dogs and the area was littered with trash. The dogs were chained to dog houses that were falling apart. The chains were so heavy that the weak and starved animals could not even hold their heads up. The dog houses were chewed up completely - a testimony of the horrible, frustrating and painful lives these dogs were forced to live.

There was no water or food anywhere and no signs that there had been any. We were processing the horror of what we were seeing when a next door neighbor shouted at us, "get over to this side and check this one out - it is dead, it is dead!  It died of starvation. I have never seen these people feed these dogs." When we reached the neighbor's side, we saw that poor creature dead, lying in its own feces, with heavy chains still attached. Each of us there died a bit inside thinking what incredible suffering that dog must have gone through before finally passing.

After reporting what we saw to animal control, all the dogs were taken away. The owners were nowhere to be found. The five dogs that were still alive were put to sleep because, according to Animal Control, "they were too far gone - they were not adoptable." The man that caused all this suffering and death was charged with animal cruelty. In order to get him to surrender the dogs, the court gave him a lesser charge. The penalty for such cruelty is a joke - 30 days in jail and/or an $1,100 fine. However, this man never showed up to court and is still walking free today.

After this sad event, we realized we needed a group to speak for the voiceless, neglected and abused animals in our community. Speak for Animals' goal is to: 

·         work with animal owners to educate them to take better care of their animals

·         to break the cycle of animal cruelty/neglect through humane education to kids and

·         advance legislation to make animal cruelty crimes strongly punishable.

Speak  for Animals is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the welfare of animals. We offer humane education, a low-cost spay/neuter program and a Chained Dog Campaign to help all the animals in our community.