If you have read my earlier post, you would know that I am behind schedule on several pieces and works. My belatedness is due to multiple personal commitments and a nearly overwhelming schedule. With that said, I strongly feel that commentary is in order about an article I recently read in the Dogs in Review March 2016 issue. On page 84 is the article "Breed Club Rescuers" by Elaine Waldorf Gewirtz and reports on several, but not all, breed rescues that have taken place since 2012. Gewirtz's piece is on breed club rescuers who jumped into action for 200 English Shepherds, 160 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, 66 Chinese Shar Pei's, 61 Shetland Sheepdogs and 47 Samoyeds. Sincerely painful, shocking stories but at the same time also heartwarming and comforting. I, for one, am grateful that there were and are generous, decisive, organized fanciers who prevailed, well deserving of celebration.
I was surprised though that there was no mention of what is now commonly referred to as the Texas 72 Irish Wolfhound rescue. What was an extraordinary and enormous seizure and liberation of a reported 72 emaciated, neglected, abused dead and dying Irish Wolfhounds in Texas of 2014 went unmentioned in this piece. Why did it NOT merit an inclusion? Any dog industry magazine publisher could recognize this undertaking for what it was and appreciate that it was a logistical nightmare. Still, the rescuers involved in this event were not covered. I can only surmise about the possibilities as to why.
Was it because the journalist did not have the space to include an abstract on the Texas rescuers as it did the others? If that were the case, why wouldn't the Editorial staff have made a concerted effort to accommodate such an exceptional event, particularly when dealing with a GIANT breed? Of course, only after the taking did wolfhound society discover that mostly all these Irish Wolfhounds were so greatly atypical in height and weight for their breed that under normal circumstances, they would not be classified as "giant." Nonetheless, putting aside their cadaverous physiques due to lack of any nutrition and feed, along with poor breeding and most likely high coefficients of inbreeding levels, this was nevertheless a monumental undertaking that deserved to be shouted out around the world. It was the first in the history of our breed, most certainly not to be celebrated but to have been recognized for what it was -- a terribly, loathsome man-made tragedy at the hands of a person who can only be described as pure evil. On that note: To hell with the excuses that he was very ill and to hell with the unresponsive people that had knowledge of the situation and to hell with those who stood by him. If terminally ill, an empathetic human being would make concerted efforts to ensure these CAGED dogs' welfare was supreme.
"Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy" Captain Gilbert, Army Psychologist stated at the Nuremberg Trials after the atrocities of World War II. Many people might agree that the Texas event was akin to the crimes against humanity in WWII. Just because the victims were dogs does not lessen the severity of the crime. In my opinion, it magnifies the depravity as these caged creatures could only rely on this evil human for all their needs, there was no escape. Simply, he had no humanity; he was void of empathy.
Perhaps another plausible reason for the omission of the Texas incident was that someone wanted it swept under the rug, in a 'just let the story die' reasoning. Mind you, Dogs in Review is the same publication that Gretchen Bernardi, one of our senior Wolfhound breeders has been a regular contributor. She previously had written a brief article on the rescue of the Texas 72 for the magazine and in doing so blunted the ordeal stating that other published accounts on the wretched incident had been exaggerated. Rather, this implied criticism was directed at me as I wrote about this appalling incident, 'Born to Die,' for a competing magazine, The Canine Chronicle in its October 2014 issue. Interestingly, this was the same magazine that Bernardi once also contributed to, that is until I joined the magazine's roster.
In Bernardi's original piece for Dogs in Review, she included a report from the Texas rescue coordinator Melanie Mercer who unashamedly wrote, and I paraphrase here, that on the whole, the conditions of the rescued wolfhounds were not that bad. As I understand, this vastly brazen understatement raised more than a few eyebrows within the wolfhound community. Breed fanciers were aghast at such a claim causing many to question her motives behind such an alarming distortion of the facts. We could not fathom how a rescue coordinator, moreover a veterinarian, could so innocuously describe the scene. A crime scene with dead dogs; starving and emaciated Irish Wolfhounds sheathed in ticks; several pregnant but still living skeletons (for that is the best way to describe these bitches); rampant heartworm infestation; and the presence of severe upper respiratory infections that killed several post-rescue, to name just a few horrors. How is this NOT seen as grievous? Just look at the attached photo to see for yourself as this was but one of the living skeletons after impoundment by the Houston SPCA.
Perhaps Dogs in Review Gretchen Bernardi was unaware that Gewirtz's article on Breed Club Rescuers was in development, but I find that hard to swallow. Could it be that another reason for the exclusion of the story about the Texas 72 liberators is that, still, over a year and a half later, finger pointing and blame games persist about the tragedy? Accusations continue to swirl about the mishandling, mismanagement of the entire rescue process beginning with an alleged delayed response to saving the hounds. Then the purportedly acrimonious dispute surrounding fostering and placements of these pitiful, undomesticated shells of wolfhounds and the timing of such because The Irish Wolfhound Foundation was paying over $5,000 per week in boarding costs. Legitimate criticism abounds as to how and why groups of these 'skin and bone', severely distressed hounds, were transported cross-country to different regions of our country. Some of whom were pregnant; nearly all untamed, only to find that one or more died during or shortly after the arduous journeys. One, for example, dying of aspiration pneumonia. Even more, some foster homes did not have extensive experience in the breed, and others lacked valuable knowledge of working with abused dogs. Dogs whose mentality is desperate and requires great caution.
Sadly; these concerns proved well-founded to the detriment and life of one wolfhound when a female escaped her foster guardian while traveling to her new home. Frantic and wild, the bitch managed to survive for a few days while almost taking refuge at a stranger's home who was reportedly trying to feed her, and who were slowly gaining some of her trust. Alas, the female was killed by a passing vehicle. What a pity. Having survived the unimaginable cruelty only to die tragically after tasting freedom. Today, disagreements continue about adoption homes who supposedly are still receiving reimbursements for medical costs related to a rescued wolfhound(s). There are many reasonable, valid concerns and questions circulating still today about the whole operation. I, for one, am perplexed as to why this rescue did not have one of our most skilled and schooled rescue coordinators in the country, Mrs. Shirley Pfarrer, either at the helm or on constant speed dial consultation before, during and after this unprecedented crisis?
Who knows the real reason why our tragic tale was excluded but it goes without saying, I do have admiration for many of the fanciers who volunteered their time, money and emotions attempting to save and rehabilitate these hounds. It was a heart-wrenching, profound experience for many of these people and they deserve commendation. However, I doubt that many people in our wolfhound community learned any lessons from this inescapable nightmare. It's the "sweep it under the rug" mentality. Meanwhile, the puppies keep coming, whether they are from show breeders, backyard breeders, commercial puppy mills; it does not matter. Apparently, the supply of wolfhounds is being met and as of February 2016, AKC's list of the most popular dogs in America has the Irish Wolfhound ranked #69 and climbing, out of 184 recognized breeds.
Texas 72 Irish wolfhound rescue renamed Rosie