Help Support The Efforts Of Big Fluffy Dogs

Fans, I thought when I started in rescue that I was going to make a difference. I naively assumed that through sheer effort, I could put a stop to some of the senseless cruelty all around me. After ten years, I know this was pure hubris on my part. I don't think I am ever going to make a difference in the South because the local governments are the enemy.

In Tennessee, more than half the counties don't have animal control facilities. What this means is that when a pet is unwanted in rural places that have no shelters, they end up dumped to starve, be hit by cars or many times, simply shot. Today, I got another call about a dog that was shot and the pictures are so horrifying I can't stand to share them. The picture below is of another dog shot in the same county five years ago who did survive. The dog from today did not survive although I tried. I simply cannot stand it anymore.

If I hear one more person tell me we don't need government, I am probably going to shoot them myself. Lack of government services would be just fine if people were responsible. Guess what? They aren't. So if the government won't be responsible, someone has to be and the same local governments who turn a blind eye to animal cruelty expect someone else to pick up the tab because they don't have the resources. We've taken in nearly 100 dogs from hoarding situations over the past 8 weeks because we did not want to turn our backs. Here's another newsflash: we don't have the resources either, but we have the absolute conviction that someone has to do something. I am tired of being the solution. Please don't suggest HSUS because I have yet to see them take on a government shelter. They'll do hoarding cases, but not government-run shelters.

So many times, the government is engaging in state-sponsored cruelty. I have been to countless government-run shelters in godforsaken places with dogs they starved, allowed to die of hideous diseases or simply allowed them to fight each other to death for resources they wouldn't provide. I do get that poor places can't afford to take care of their own people, let alone dogs, and there are places we deal with that have unemployment rates that realistically exceed 20%. There has to be an answer because shrugging our shoulders and saying "we don't have the money" is not acceptable.

Leaving aside the money argument, there's the complete indifference to suffering we see from local governments. One in particular knows very well that a "rescue" has over 300 dogs living in abject squalor and misery and refuses to lift a finger. It's visible from the air and they know all about it. They simply don't care. If the local government doesn't care, the animals are screwed and there is nothing I can do legally to force them to action. Legislation to change that will never happen while the no government jackwads at the house stand up an applaud when a member of the Senate gives a speech telling the Senate its his God-given right to shoot a dog if he wants to. Not kidding. True story. 

I am a tough person and I can shrug off a lot of things. I can't shrug off a dog shot in the face on a road crawling away to die. That's my reality fans and I have had enough. If the government is the enemy, then we are worse because we put them there. 

BFDR has wiped out everything we have to take care of government messes. We can't afford to help the ones we want to take in that are completely normal because we are doing their job for them. If they want war, I'll give them a war.  

BFDR needs help now to address these dogs. I can't do it alone and it's the height of arrogance to think any one person can do it. But we are 300K strong and we can make things change. 

If you would like to donate, please do so here: http://bigfluffydogs.com/pay-online.php. Stay tuned for updates. I promise that one is coming and there will be hell to pay.