To say I am fed up with animal abuse, irresponsible owners who abandon their pets and unacceptable responses to rescuing these poor creatures, is an understatement. Recently, I have been appalled at all the animal abuse, neglect and abandonment that happens in McIntosh County and surrounding areas. It’s downright disgraceful and disheartening.

Having lived in this county for over 50 years, I have never seen such acts of cruelty go on with little to no consequences. I have seen too many people disregard these animals’ lives like they were simply trash that could be tossed out with no remorse. Has compassion left our community? Will we sit back and let evil run its course or will we stand up and fight against this monstrosity?

Since starting a volunteer animal rescue group with just a few concerned volunteers and citizens, I have become quite aware of the dire need for animal control in our area, for owners to be responsible with their animals and for laws to be put in place and enforced to protect these animals. We all have to step up to do our part. This is why we started our Paws N Claws rescue to help with the Eufaula pound pups, but now the cause is greater.

Since January our Paws N Claws – Eufaula organization has helped clean up the pound, rescued and rehomed 20 pound pups from being euthanized, and helped over 48 abandoned animals in our county find new, loving owners. It may not seem like much compared to how many are in shelters or on the street or in homes being neglected and abused. However, it has made the difference in the lives of the ones we have been able to save.

Every single day and night my Paw partner’s phone and mine have literally blown up with text messages, social media messages and direct calls begging us for help with these poor, put-out animals. We have not had any breaks because we have felt an overwhelming urgency to save these animals from death’s door and to encourage citizens to stand up against the abuse going on around us.

I’m proud that through our own personal efforts and through our organization, we have followed our motto, “Don’t just make a statement; make a difference.” It’s not enough to talk about the problem; we must be willing to come up with solutions and actually do something. Though we have made a significant difference in the lives we have touched, there are still so many waiting to be saved. So we cannot give up the fight, even if it’s an uphill battle.

I’m so grateful for those who have stood up against abusers because we are finally seeing charges filed. Unfortunately, animal abuse still seems to be such a huge problem in our county and I wonder how many animals have suffered an untimely fate during the wait?

I know I have been “the squeaky wheel” in several cases that have been brought to my recent attention over the past few months. I know I have personally called, texted and emailed our county sheriff, county deputies, associate district attorney, state senator, city management, local veterinarians, rescues, and anyone I could think of to help these poor animals escape their plight. Why shouldn’t I voice my concerns to those who can actually address these issues? Why wouldn’t we all want to work together to help solve this problem? I know that there may be bigger problems to solve also, but I still believe all lives matter, whether man or beast.

Recently even PETA has reached out to our newspapers because of animal abuse going on in our county. How can anyone say that they didn’t realize it’s a problem? You can literally open up your social media and see case after case of animal abandonment, neglect or abuse everywhere. So yes I’m pushing for our communities to come together and work tirelessly to change our current policies to better protect these animals and others in the future. I know for some animals these better protocols will come too late. But hopefully it will mean the difference between life and death for others.

I have always been an animal lover, but now I see I must become an animal advocate to save these animals that have no voice and no hope without human compassion. It’s not enough to just see suffering, we must end suffering. We must be the voice of reason and resilience. We must demand justice and seek solutions to a problem that is not going away without more severe punishment. We must implement stronger laws against animal abusers with greater penalties and consequences. We must vote in leaders who see the situations, are sickened by the abuse and are ready to roll up their sleeves to stop this insanity.

Eufaula has an upcoming county commissioner election next week. Why not ask these candidates where they stand on animal control, abuse and abandonment in the county and then vote for the one who has an active plan to do something about the issues.

The older I get the more I realize I am my father’s daughter. He was an OSBI agent for 25 years who worked in 22 counties, including McIntosh County, helping to identify evidence and punish the perpetrators. If he taught me anything, he taught me to fight for justice and truth. So I will continue to keep the faith and fight for truth.

I know there are still plenty of people who care in our communities and we will continue to fight for this cause to make a difference where we live and work. We will not just make a statement on social media or in our local newspapers. We will do everything within our power to end animal abandonment, abuse and neglect in our county. Though I know we can’t stop it all, we can still take one heck of a bite out of it!

Remember perpetrators, some dogs bark, and some dogs bite, but it’s always the little dogs that get you in the end.