The No Kill Kids of Texas, Part Two

The following article is an update to a story that appeared in the January/February issue of Best Friends magazine.

The Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary (D.A.W.G.S.) is an ever-changing place. Not surprisingly, then, a great deal has happened since the story about the group was prepared for Best Friends magazine.

There have been some crises along the way, as well as a number of very encouraging developments.

The Dalhart children continue to inspire. New children continue to volunteer all the time, while many of the regulars are still reliable, and some kids have stepped up from the background to take on prominent roles. (For more on the Dalhart kids, see Young Volunteers.)

Some of the adult volunteers have been taken away by changes in their lives, but a new adult volunteer, Cindy Hiener, has proved invaluable. Hiener works at the sanctuary nearly every weekday, and covers for Mark and Diane Trull on weekends when they have to be away doing transports.

"She's been a really big plus for us," Mark says. "She is very supportive and understands what we are trying to do."

In addition, a new volunteer in California has agreed to develop a DAWGS website, which the group hopes to have up-and-running within the next couple of weeks at www.dawgsntexas.com.

And the sanctuary's population is starting to reflect what Mark and Diane had begun to see on the streets of Dalhart: The sanctuary is making a difference in the number of homeless dogs in the tiny town, and the intake numbers have finally begun to drop.

Wanted: Food for 300 dogs

The biggest negative development involves the sanctuary's food supply.

For a long time, DAWGS received food regularly from Merrick Corp, a company that exports dog food overseas. When the company's food happened to be mislabeled, it couldn't be shipped outside the country. Whenever that happened, as it did with some frequency, the company gave the food to DAWGS.

Unfortunately, positive developments for the business had a negative impact on the Dalhart sanctuary. As quality control improved and business mistakes were eliminated at the source, the food donations for DAWGS gradually disappeared.

The last donation from Merrick was several pallets of canned wet food. Although Mark and Diane were grateful to have it, it also proved to be a less-than-ideal way to feed the entire sanctuary -- just opening the hundreds of cans necessary to feed the sanctuary's nearly 300 dogs can take several hours.

Mark and Diane have been forced to scramble. They travel to Amarillo weekly to pick up damaged bags of food donated by area Wal-Marts -- enough to cover a day-and-a-half worth of feeding.

"Plan B," which has been covering the majority of the food used by the sanctuary, is rather simple, but very costly. "We just write the check and buy everything we can find," Mark says with a chuckle, noting that they often clear the shelves at all the Dalhart-area stores.

Mixing this dry food with the donated canned food, the cost of feeding the sanctuary's nearly 300 dogs comes to about $150 a day. But as Mark sees it, "We have no choice."

DAWGS has been offered some help, although the isolation of Dalhart makes the situation difficult. Some Texas humane groups have donated their excess food to the sanctuary when possible, although distance precludes this as a regular arrangement. A humane society in California has developed an exclusive arrangement with a pet food supplier, and negotiations are under way to have stores of donated food shipped to DAWGS.

If the venture comes to pass, it will provide some much-needed relief, although it certainly won't yield enough food to solve the problem in the long-term. Mark and Diane are actively looking for pet food companies that will agree to donate the food needed for the DAWGS sanctuary on a consistent and reliable business.

Winter hits the Dalhart DAWGS

Other recent obstacles were long expected, revolving around Dalhart's unpredictable and unfriendly winter weather.

When the mercury dips near zero, and the wind chill plunges far below that mark, Mark and Diane make the kids stay at home.

"We really don't want the kids coming out in those conditions," Mark says.

So, while on most nights there will be at least four or five kids helping feed and clean up after the nearly 300 dogs, when the weather gets really bad, the burden falls entirely on Mark, Diane and their daughter, Katie. On those nights, they are often at the sanctuary until 11 p.m., feeding in the dark.

Fortunately, the Dalhart dogs have stayed nice and warm, thanks to a semi-truck load of straw that Mark and Diane purchased in the fall. The sanctuary is using the straw liberally, to soak up the excess moisture that accumulates from the frequent rains and snow melts, and to make sure that every dog has a warm, dry bed when the weather is cold.

One recent cold snap came when Mark and Diane were away on a transport. A few kids were at the shelter during the day, but as the sun and mercury fell, it fell on Mark and Diane's son, Tyler, to come to the rescue.

Tyler enlisted four of his buddies to help, and together they finished feeding and stuffed each kennel full of new straw, providing the dogs with ample protection against the elements.

Daily struggle yields big rewards

Although the day-to-day efforts of running the sanctuary are often a struggle, the DAWGS people have been rewarded by clear signs that their efforts are really making a difference.
Since its inception in March 2003, DAWGS has saved some 1,819 animals. (Mostly dogs, obviously, although Mark notes that this number also includes many cats transferred to rescues in Amarillo, as well as "raccoons, goats, owls, a fawn and a rabbit.").

Another number that stands out is 283. That is the number of dogs who were housed at DAWGS as 2004 drew to a close. The number is significant because it represents a drop-off in the overall number of animals at the shelter. For a time, the sanctuary's total was well over 300, and threatened alarmingly to keep climbing.

But now, intakes are dropping, adoptions are increasing, and the DAWGS population is starting to decline. Mark attributes the drop to the sanctuary's focus on spaying and neutering, and on their ability to transfer and adopt dogs out of the area -- a necessary development given Dalhart's small population and geographical isolation.

In that arena, Mark describes the Petfinder online adoption site as "bright and shining." Through the on-line service, DAWGS has broadened its adoption base dramatically, and given people around the country exposure to the Dalhart dogs. (Visit DAWGS on Petfinder.)

"We're getting people from Dallas, San Antonio, Washington, Denver, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Florida," Mark says. "A lot of people are picking up on the Petfinder site and inquiring. We are adopting most of our dogs outside the area, which is what we need to do."

In addition to direct adoptions, Mark and Diane have been able to increase the transfers of dogs to shelters and rescues outside the Dalhart area.

In one recent venture, they took 16 adult dogs and seven puppies to Operation Kindness in Dallas -- and returned with a trailer load of dog food.

Several transports have also been arranged through the Best Friends Network, which has worked hard to line up transfers of the Dalhart dogs to groups in Colorado, Utah, and even New York.

A transfer of some dogs to a lab rescue in Arizona is on the horizon. And, the Best Friends Network is eyeing several transfers in January, with the hope of helping the sanctuary to move large numbers of dogs by the end of the month.

Each of the transfers helps the Trulls advance toward their major goal: getting their numbers down.

They realize that their small staff (in both number and physical size) can't continue to handle such a large population of dogs. The dogs need more attention, and the kids need to have a little more fun. And the financial burdens rise or fall right along with the numbers.

A serious dip in the number of dogs will provide much-needed financial breathing room, and Mark and Diane are doing their best to make sure this trend continues, by aggressively pursuing new avenues for adoptions and transfers.
Spay/neuter policy shows local results

And the impact of DAWGS on the streets of Dalhart is beginning to show. This December, fewer than 30 dogs have come through the gates, compared to close to 60 in December 2003. Mark says month-by-month comparisons continue to show that fewer and fewer dogs are running the streets or coming into the shelter, a trend that is borne out by their daily observations as they drive through town.

That conclusion supported by the observations of the town's animal control officer, who says he is going on fewer calls, and picking up fewer dogs, than at any time since he started work. The city dog pound has been uncharacteristically empty at times, sometimes for as long as a week straight, and there are "fewer dogs, fewer puppies, fewer accidents, fewer dog bites," Mark says.

Much credit in that area also goes to the spay/neuter policy used by DAWGS. Animals coming into the shelter are spayed or neutered before they are adopted out again. And dogs who were once running the streets and breeding are now safely housed in the sanctuary.

And, there are even bigger guns on the horizon. A major spay/neuter organization has agreed to host a clinic in Dalhart in the near future, as long as a few details can be worked out.

A local building will need to rented for the week-long clinic, to be used as a recovery area and a place for dogs to stay overnight. The hope is that people from the Dalhart area will be able have their animals altered for free, while at the same time the clinic will also offer its services to a number of the sanctuary dogs.

The clinic may also offer reduced-cost vaccinations, allow people to purchase licenses and rabies tags, and possibly provide microchipping. Mark and Diane hope that the clinic will be a collaborative effort between the spay/neuter organization, the city, and local veterinarians.

Nobody at DAWGS thinks their path is going to be easy. But they are buoyed by the positive effect of what they are doing, the tangible results that they see reflected every day in the faces of the dogs and the children.

With help, the Trulls will realize their dreams of creating a permanent teaching sanctuary, which will continue to give new life to hundreds upon hundreds of homeless dogs, and teach scores of young people the value of hard work, commitment and caring.