Animal Posse Pawsitive Personals: Tales from Mark's Animal Rescue - Animal Posse

Episode 1

Pawsitive Personals: Tales from Mark's Animal Rescue

Published on: 31st January, 2025

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Mark Animal Advocate. We delve into his journey as a published author, the founder of a 501(c)(3) animal rescue, Mark's Animal Rescue, and a creator of educational content for his popular YouTube channel, Pawsitive Personals. Mark discusses the challenges and rewards of animal advocacy, sharing stories from his rescue work and offering valuable advice for pet owners and those looking to make a difference in the lives of animals.

Check out Mark's YouTube channel, Pawsitive Personals, for more great content! - youtube.com/@pawsitivepersonals

Visit the Pawsitve Personal Website at Pawsitive Personals

Mark's books can be found here: amazon.com/stores/author/B07BH8RTLV/

If you are interested in being a guest, please text us at 504-385-8588

Support the work we do at Unwanted Feline Organization! Visit www.linktr.ee/uforescue to learn how you can contribute.

Transcript
Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today we're joined with Dr.

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Mark, animal advocate.

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He is a published author and

a longtime animal rescuer.

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Hi, Mark.

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How are you today?

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Mark: I'm doing fine.

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I'm doing fine.

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Good to hear from you.

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Dixie: Yep.

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Good to hear from you.

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So can you tell us a little bit

about how you got involved in animal

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rescue and give us a brief bio?

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Mark: Oh, I would love to.

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It was I'll start off real far back

as I can, and then I'll catch it up

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to speed, but anyway, as a young child

of six years old, I actually got my

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first puppy, my father had given me,

and it's like, that was a world to me.

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Well, I grew up with animals ever since

I was six years old, and I wanted to

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actually be a veterinarian, but at the

time that I applied for veterinary school

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it was you know, I didn't quite have the

GPA, and back at that, during that time,

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It's almost like you, you didn't have a 4.

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0 in college and you weren't going to

get into vet school and what have you.

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So I didn't make it into vet

school, but later in life I actually

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wanted to work with animals.

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So when I retired from my profession

I decided that I wanted to go and be

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a animal advocate, animal rescuer.

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So what I did is I wind up Going

back to school, learning how to

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be a true animal advocate, also

how to be a true animal rescuer.

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So, a couple, about 10 years ago, I opened

up an animal rescue in close to Miami.

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It's a place called Pompano

Beach where I lived.

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Well, I opened up a forester based animal

rescue due to the fact that I was not

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allowed actually to have animals on the

property that I had had bought there.

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So anyway I ran a forester

based and learned a lot from the

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forester based animal rescue.

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I did that about six years in Florida.

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And then I decided that I wanted

to be a full time, on hand rescuer.

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So I moved to Louisiana.

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I bought seven acres here in Louisiana

and became an an owner and manager of a

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large rescue where there were times that

I had over 100 animals that was farm

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animals and domestic animals as well.

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Now, I didn't have cats only because

I had so many dogs, and I truly didn't

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have a cat house where I could actually

put cats, but I love all animals.

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But I did what I could do, and

I took on horses, ponies, goats.

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Many horses and of course, dogs.

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Because at any one time during my

early years of rescue when I got to

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Louisiana, I had like a hundred plus dogs.

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Most of them were puppies

that were actually discarded.

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In the in the parish of

Washington, which is located

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about 55 miles from New Orleans.

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But anyway, that was a that's

a quick history of how I got

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into the rescue business as well

as being an animal advocate.

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Now that I'm 78 years old,

it's, it has gotten a bit much.

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I've cut down my rescue.

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I do not take any more animals now

because of the fact that I'm just not

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able to take care of that many animals.

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But what I do, is I work mostly

now as an animal advocate.

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I have several channels that I do.

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One of them is called Pawsitive Personals.

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I have about 160 videos from pet care

to pet training, to how to become

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an animal advocate, how to become

an investigator investigating animal

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cruelty, how to become a journalist.

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All of that you can find.

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Actually on my YouTube channel

again called Pawsitive Personals.

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And I also have a news channel

called Pet News USA Advocate.

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And you can go on that channel and

you'll find stories of rescues.

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Actually a lot of rescue

type stories on that channel.

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Something that may, will hopefully

help you, make you feel good

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about society today because there

are some really good people who

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really works hard to help animals.

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So, when I became an animal avidist,

like, I thought everybody was evil.

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They hated animals because

there's so much animal abuse,

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but there are some good people.

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Anyway, I hope that You know, kind of

gives you an overview of how I got here.

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Dixie: It does.

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And what is the name

of your animal rescue?

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Mark: Mark's Animal Rescue Incorporated.

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We're a 501c3 rescue.

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We've been a 501c3 for about 10 years now.

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My first 501c3 rescue, of course,

was my foster based in Pompano Beach.

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And then when I moved here,

I took on, I got a Louisiana.

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Corporation, but we've been a

501 C now for about 10 years.

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Dixie: That's great.

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And how many animals do

you have in your care now?

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Mark: We're all together.

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I have 47 animals that's counting

my farm animals and my dogs.

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I have dogs right now.

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I have 19 dogs.

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Those dogs except for two, are

your medium size to large dog.

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When I say medium size, 40 pounds to,

I got one dog that's about 120 pounds.

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And they've been with me, unfortunately.

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I've tried to find them, them

homes without great success.

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People will, I've had a lot of luck

adopting smaller animals, but your

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big animals, your big dogs it's really

hard to find a good home for them.

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So, I would say while I'm on your

broadcast here that if anyone

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is looking for a large animal.

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I really do have some good, and I

don't just say that, I have some

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really nice, beautiful, sweet, large

dogs that are looking for a good home.

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And most of them is going

to need a large dog.

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yard or a field or, you know, for for you

to adopt him because they're large dogs.

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Dixie: Hopefully we can reach somebody

that would be interested in a large dog.

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It is sad too.

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Cause I mean, we see that too

with the adult cats, where

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they're just often overlooked.

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And I mean, they're perfect animals.

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They're great animals, great companions.

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And for some reason, large dogs, adult

cats, people seem to overlook them.

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Mark: Yeah, exactly.

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May I ask you how long have you

been doing, because I know you

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do cat rescues, but how long

have you been doing cat rescues?

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Dixie: I've been doing cat rescues

probably about maybe 18 years.

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Mark: Oh, wow.

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So, long time.

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Good for you.

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Dixie: Yep.

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Mark: I did not know that.

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I didn't know how long you were doing it.

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I knew you were doing cat rescues,

but I didn't know how long.

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Dixie: I've always had cats my

whole life, but it's been about

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18 years where I've got involved

rescue fostering and, tNR.

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For your animals at your rescue,

you do that all by yourself

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Do you have any help?

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Mark: I don't.

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I do it by myself.

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Fortunately, God's been good to me.

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I've had I, I retired with

a fairly decent pension.

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And I say that only because of the fact

that anyone considering getting into

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rescue I'm gonna say right up front,

even though you might become a 501 C3,

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don't expect people to donate in any

sums that's really going to help you.

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If you become a really true animal

rescuer and you take on a lot of

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animals, that cost becomes tremendous.

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And I will say that I have been

disappointed in rescue people

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before because I have, when doing my

investigations, found animal rescues,

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actually not animal rescues, people

had to rescue the animals from the

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animal rescuer because you can't.

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Like, I have people come to me and

say, Well, you've got room, you can

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put It ain't a question of room, it's

a question of You need to vet this

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animal And that's expensive You need

to feed this animal, and shelter this

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animal Well, all that cost And I've

had people say, well, I'm a 501c3.

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I'm gonna get donations.

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I can tell you right now,

those donations do not come.

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They're rare when you get a

donation that's really going to

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help you, because the cost of

running a rescue is very expensive.

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I wanted to just, when I moved here

from Florida I just opened up my rescue.

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In fact, it wasn't even opened up

yet, didn't even have a place to live.

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And so anyway a neighbor came down

and said there's a lab, looked like

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a chocolate lab dead in a ditch.

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Anyway, I went over there and

didn't find out, but the lab wasn't

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dead, but he did have a broken

back, broken hip, broken leg.

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Well, my first cost when we talk about

cost and when you want to rescue this lab

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needed about 6, 000 of work to get him to

actually and In almost 90 percent shape,

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according to the vet, but he said, you

know, for 2, 000, I mean, we can get the

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dog walk and he'll be fine, we'll mend.

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And I said, well, we'll

just have to do that.

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I just moved here and

6, 000 is a bit much.

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So anyway, we did, I did

get the dog fixed up.

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In fact, I still got him

because I love that dog.

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It's a chocolate lab and he's

still with me after seven years.

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I've been here seven years.

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But anyway, it just costs

when you want to rescue.

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You know, you got to be sure that

you have the funds to do that.

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The dog that was in the ditch?

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What's that dog's name?

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Oh, that's highway.

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I named him Highway.

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Oh, I like it.

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I like it.

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That's a good one.

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That's a good one.

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He's been with me, I've been here seven

years and Highway was my first rescue and

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highway's still with me 'cause I didn't

have the heart to, to adopt him out.

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And I, and it's not like I couldn't,

they had several people that

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wanted a beautiful chocolate lab.

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But I put so much time and effort in

nursing him back that there was no way

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that I was going to let Highway go.

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That's wonderful.

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So Highway is still with me, one healthy

little, one healthy, I say little,

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he's not little, one healthy dog.

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Yeah, that's a great story.

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I agree with you, when you said that

you do have to have some kind of funds.

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You can't just go out and rescue

without having any kind of funds.

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You do have to have that.

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You can't rely totally

100 percent on donations.

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You do have to realize that you

are going to come out of pocket.

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Yes, it's going to be you know, for me

personally, it's been, it's a lot out

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of the pocket and for most rescuers,

and like I said, you know, I find a lot

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of rescuers, you know, call themselves

rescuers, but, you know, these animals

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aren't provided, the ones they rescue,

they're not provided with everything

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that they need, and and I'm gonna tell

you that, that becomes a heavy burden

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on people, and I see people, I know they

feel sorry for animals, And they have

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a great love for animals, but you know,

there's sometimes you've got to draw a

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line because you need to take only care

of the animals that you can actually take

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care of, because again, I have a fairly

decent place here that's well built

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for rescue, but I tell people all the

time, I can't take on any more animals.

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And the first thing they'll tell

me is, well, you've got all this

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space here in these buildings.

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So this rescue is full.

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And and it's not only that, it's

not, again, it's not the space.

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You've got to be able to take

care of these animals and vet

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these animals and feed them.

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And that's not cheap.

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Well, let me ask you this, Mark.

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How many rescues do you think Bite

off more than they can chew as far

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as you know, take it on too many.

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You know, I don't know Yeah,

I don't know an exact number.

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I really don't but I will tell

you in my investigations Of 10

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years and i've done quite a bit.

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I was a deputy sheriff for a while and

and he's baton rouge parish and then

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Maybe six months here in washington

parish But I will tell you that most

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rescuers with their love and passion for

animals take on more than they should.

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Because they are not able to actually take

care of these animals like they should.

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So the percentage of people who

take on animal rescue takes on

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more than they, they should.

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But for me to tell you a number,

you know, I'm not able to do that.

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Now, you consider yourself

an animal advocate.

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Can you explain what that means?

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I fight Every day for animal

rights, animal welfare.

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And I've done that for about 10 years.

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There is a LA Institute where I received

my doctorate from on animal advocacy.

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That I learned a great deal about

that particular subject in terms of

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animal rights throughout the country.

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And I speak of country, the USA I've

learned a lot about animal welfare,

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I've learned a lot about animal rights,

and wherever a person is located,

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if you truly want to be an animal

advocate, that requires a lot, because

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that means that you need to work

with your local government, you need

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to work with local law enforcement.

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And unfortunately, both

are not easy to work with.

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And I'm gonna give you an example and

I know a lot as I've been doing this

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for a long time, but in Washington

Parish, where I live at now is I have

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been to several local government council

meetings trying to get our parish to

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bring about some animal ordinances.

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We have no animal ordinances

in Washington Parish.

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And basically when I go and meet with

the the council members during their

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meetings, they have on a Monday evening,

6 30, once a month, they have an open

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council meeting for the public, which I.

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Attended and unfortunately all they

will tell me basically is, well,

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we're going to give that some thought.

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Well, they've been giving that a thought

now for, oh, four or five years, they've

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still been giving it some thought.

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And and really I asked for a lot and

I drew up along with someone else, we

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drew up this, some animal ordinances.

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I'm sorry about that.

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That's all right.

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Animal ordinances for the parish.

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Excuse me, just a minute.

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Okay.

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Hey, Dixie?

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Yes?

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Dixie, just, can you kind of just

for a minute give me five minutes?

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I'm sorry.

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Yeah, no problem.

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Okay, I'll be right back with you.

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Okay.

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Somebody drove up in my driveway

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I'll tell you what that was.

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I'm sorry for the break.

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The little chihuahua I was talking about.

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That was the owner.

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Oh, wonderful.

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So, what happened with this dog, if you

can tell our audience, cause I know we

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know about it, but our audience doesn't.

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So if you can give us a brief

synopsis on what just happened,

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cause I think that's kind of cool.

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We just had a reunion on a podcast.

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Well, this morning a neighbor of

mine, Bill came by here because

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he wanted, he wasn't able to see.

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The dog had been microchipped,

because he microchipped to see

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if the dog had one, and he did.

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But Bill was not able to read the number.

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So anyway he brought the little dog

over, and I looked at the number,

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and I was able to read it, even

though I'm old, I got great eyes now.

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I was able to read it, but we were

not able to find that the microchip.

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At least on the search that I

did, was not able to find it.

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The name of the owner.

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So, I think, and this is, I think this,

because this builds out here, this is

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the lady who picked the dog up, that

they went to one of the shelters, and

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a local shelter had shipped that dog,

and so they had a record of that dog.

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And so Bill was able to find the

owner, and he just called me and

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said the owner would pick the dog up,

because I offered to foster the dog

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until we found a place for the dog.

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Well, anyway the lady here just

picked up the dog, so the dog is,

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fortunately went back to the owner.

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Oh, that's wonderful.

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Great job.

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Great job.

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Pretty simple.

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I didn't do a whole lot.

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I just offered to foster the

dog, which I don't mind doing.

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I don't take in animals for myself,

but, you know, and a little dog

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like that, you know, I'm not

gonna, I'm not gonna turn him down.

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So, anyway that's what happened.

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But the little dog was able

to get back with his owner.

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What happened was, though, the

owner, I just talked to the owner,

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is that the fireworks actually

was what scared that dog off.

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And and that happens a lot every year.

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I find that dogs that I found

dogs every year I'd come across

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a stray dog and find the owner.

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It was a fireworks that

the dog just ran off.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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That does happen a lot.

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I know it's 4th of July and, New

Year's that's the top two,

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holidays when you have lost pets.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So anyway, but fortunately, you know,

and the one thing I do, and I have

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to say this, my own horn gets sick,

but in my time here in Mount Hermon,

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Louisiana, where my rescue is that

we have saved over 2, 000 dogs here.

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We've rescued 2, 000 dogs and we have

found homes for over 2, 000 dogs.

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That's amazing.

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I'm very proud of the record

that we have established here.

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And the only, again, the only reason

I don't do it anymore is because I got

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to the point where at 78, even though

I still feel good, I just never know.

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So I don't take on any more.

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New dogs, and and I work on trying

to get the ones I have adopted.

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Okay.

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And just to back up for a second,

really quick to let the listeners know.

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So that dog was just now, reunited

with its owners because of a

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microchip that was in the animal.

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That's exactly right..

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Fortunately for that

dog, he had a microchip.

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Yes.

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Yes, and a lot of animals

are not microchipped.

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But just give us a quick

idea on how microchips work.

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Yeah.

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You take the little

dog, or your dog, I see.

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And to

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your vet.

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They will and it's actually a little

bitty chip that they put under the

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skin and there's information on

that chip and it goes to a registry.

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So anytime and the, there's a, there's

an apparatus that one can use if a

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dog is lost or something like that.

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'cause usually chips are pace

placed over the neck area.

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So there's a little apparatus

that you can pass over that area,

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we'll pick up, if that dog has

a chip, we'll pick up a number.

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On that dog.

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And then once you do that, then you

can go to a national registry and

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search that number and and if that

person registered that dog, because it

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doesn't do any good to put a microchip

in if you don't register the microchip.

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So it's very important if people know

that once you put a microchip in,

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the microchips not gonna do anything

unless you actually register that dog.

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Under that microchip.

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So I want that, I want

people to understand that.

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'cause I have picked up a lot of animals

that I ran a check on and actually they

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were microchipped but unfortunately

people don't don't register the microchip.

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So there's no way of

knowing who the owner is.

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And just so everybody knows, the

microchip is not a GPS tracking device,

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so you cannot track your animal.

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That is microchipped That is correct.

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That is correct.

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It is not a tracking device.

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People are under that assumption,

Philip, that it is a tracking

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device, and it is not.

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It's only good if people put it in, they

register it, and then if the dog gets

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lost, then any shelter that may come in

contact with that dog or a rescuer, they

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should have something that will detect

whether or not that dog has a microchip

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and hopefully that dog's been registered.

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But like you said again, I'll

repeat, it's not a, it's not a GPS.

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It's not going to track your dog down.

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Okay, now something else that I would

like to add to that, because a lot of

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people don't know this, when they do find

an animal and they get what's called a

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dead end microchip, where, you know, it's

a microchip, the dog was microchipped,

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but the microchip was not registered.

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So one thing that if you come across a

chip like that, one thing that you can do

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is you can call up that microchip company

and say, hey, who did you sell this chip

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to or who was this chip implanted by?

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And then a lot of times you

can go backwards from there

367

:

and find the owner as well.

368

:

And you were absolutely correct.

369

:

I'm sorry I forgot to say that,

but you were absolutely correct,

370

:

so I'm glad you brought that up.

371

:

Mark: Okay, now before we had reunion,

you were talking about animal advocacy.

372

:

Did you say you, have a

doctorate in animal advocacy?

373

:

I'd like to know a little

bit more about that.

374

:

Like where did you study to get that?

375

:

Well, what it is it's a program

that I had taken plus it's one

376

:

of those it's one of those life.

377

:

Experiences Doctorate where you get

a honorary doctorate and I received

378

:

the honorary doctorate from the L.

379

:

A.

380

:

Institute and that was from my

work in five years as a animal

381

:

rescuer and animal advocate

without any designation whatsoever.

382

:

My, my rescue, my, my Forrester

based animal rescue in Florida which

383

:

I reached out to a lot of people.

384

:

I also had a animal

channel that I work with.

385

:

It was an animal news

channel, and that's how the L.

386

:

A.

387

:

Institute recognized me as working

as an animal advocate, because it was

388

:

called Mark's Animal News Network,

which I had done for several years,

389

:

along with my animal rescue, along

with my fight with government.

390

:

and law enforcement to try

to get them to do their job.

391

:

So what happened is as a consequence

of my studies and my life experiences,

392

:

I was awarded a honorary doctorate

from the LA Institute in Los Angeles.

393

:

And that's how that all came about.

394

:

Okay, that's wonderful.

395

:

That's great.

396

:

It just goes to show, it just, you

know, my, my passion is animals.

397

:

That's, that people ask me

about that all the time.

398

:

But that's what I do.

399

:

That's what I everything that I do today

it's all toward animals, helping animals.

400

:

Okay, so now you do also have a YouTube

channel called Pawsitive Personals.

401

:

So can you tell us a little bit

about that and what can people

402

:

find on that YouTube channel?

403

:

Oh, Pawsitive Personals, and

that's let me spell that, make

404

:

sure, it's P A W S I T I V E, and

then personals, P E R S O N A L S.

405

:

And sometimes people ask me,

why did you name a channel that?

406

:

Because plosive, of course, is the paws,

it recognizes animals with that, or paws

407

:

are four legged animals for the most part.

408

:

And then personals is, animal

rescue is a personal thing with me.

409

:

It's a passion, it's a personal thing

with me, so that's why I called my channel

410

:

Positive Personals because everything

I do is a personal thing for animals.

411

:

Now, I have roughly I think the last

count Don't quote me on this, but my

412

:

last count is about 160 videos that

I have done on this YouTube channel.

413

:

My last count is I have about

9, 000 subscribers right now.

414

:

I have over 62, 000 views

for my my YouTube channel.

415

:

I've been in existence for four

months doing this particular channel.

416

:

I have And I have about 160 videos

that cover everything from animal care,

417

:

animal tips animal advocacy animal

training, a lot about advocacy, because

418

:

I I focus on working Trying and trying

to get our local government and law

419

:

enforcement to start doing their job.

420

:

And I'm sorry to say in my opinion

that local governments and law

421

:

enforcement have left animals behind.

422

:

It's almost like they're invisible.

423

:

And I just don't do well with that.

424

:

And as a prior law enforcement

officer, I've seen that firsthand.

425

:

Where.

426

:

We might take care of a

problem that's in the home.

427

:

Family squabble, what have you, and

somebody might go to jail, two people,

428

:

and what happens to the animals?

429

:

Nothing.

430

:

We don't do anything.

431

:

They're left abandoned.

432

:

I mean, it's just unbelievable.

433

:

Dogs that are kicked out.

434

:

And particularly Louisiana, I'll speak

about Louisiana since I live here.

435

:

But the people who dump animals,

well, you know, something

436

:

really happens to that animal.

437

:

That animal dies for whatever reason.

438

:

When they were dumped.

439

:

Well, that's actually a felony.

440

:

In Louisiana.

441

:

I mean, you can go to

the statues of Louisiana.

442

:

That's a felony to dump animals.

443

:

And I, and again, in my opinion, that

law enforcement does not take animal

444

:

abuse, animal neglect seriously.

445

:

You know, you can put it in

their face and it's like, they're

446

:

going to make up some excuse.

447

:

Well, we can't do this.

448

:

We can't do that.

449

:

We can't.

450

:

It's always, we can't do something.

451

:

Instead of being positive and wanting.

452

:

work to help animals, I

find that doesn't happen.

453

:

It's not a priority for them.

454

:

And they'll tell you that, well,

we don't have the resources.

455

:

It's not a priority.

456

:

Or they just don't care.

457

:

And that's exactly what I found.

458

:

They just don't care.

459

:

So, I work every day.

460

:

To push animal rights and animal welfare,

and I find that because of my age, I do

461

:

this through my YouTube channel, through

my website, to get people fired up

462

:

about doing something to help animals.

463

:

And so I feel that my videos may

teach people elsewhere that you

464

:

need to get involved with your

local government representative.

465

:

You need to start pushing them.

466

:

You need to start pushing law

enforcement to do their job.

467

:

Law enforcement's there to

protect people and animals.

468

:

That's what they're there

for, but they don't.

469

:

They're just animals, they're

just totally invisible.

470

:

And if we all should know this, no, I

say that, I take that back, the data

471

:

that I have read over many years strongly

suggests and that people who abuse

472

:

animals at some point is going to start

abusing people and I don't get That we're

473

:

law enforcement ignores animal abuse

because if they took care of that, they

474

:

take care of the animal, they're going

to make people realize, well, you know,

475

:

that they're serious about animal abuse.

476

:

And I better be and put these

people in jail or find them or do

477

:

something because at some point, these

people are going to act on humans.

478

:

And I can't get law enforcement or either.

479

:

They don't care again.

480

:

They don't care.

481

:

They don't want to do it

or it's not a priority.

482

:

What have you, but they need to understand

if they take care of the animal abuse,

483

:

that's going to be less human abuse.

484

:

That's going to happen because downright.

485

:

There's a lot of people who are

evil and there's a lot of people

486

:

I, you know, I cry at night.

487

:

Because of all the abuse that I've seen

the animals and it's been horrible.

488

:

And I still think about that in my mind.

489

:

It's like I went to war and I saw

all these, you know, soldiers, my

490

:

friends who died and what have you.

491

:

But, you know, for me, it's animals.

492

:

And when I go and see animals that's

been tortured and what have you,

493

:

it's hard for me to sleep sometimes.

494

:

And I've cried a lot of nights over this.

495

:

So I'm asking people on your podcast

and whoever's listening to this, I'm

496

:

asking you to please start working

with your local government to get your

497

:

representatives, if they haven't passed

animal ordinances, work to get that done.

498

:

And work with your sheriff's office

and your local city police officers,

499

:

because somebody, we've got to

push these people to do their job.

500

:

Because it seems like they're not.

501

:

If we don't put a little pressure

behind our law enforcement, local

502

:

government, nothing's going to happen.

503

:

And I chastise people, and I don't

mean to, but people who go on social

504

:

media and say, you know, this dog is

going to die if we don't rescue this

505

:

dog out of this shelter, they're going

to euthanize this dog, they're going

506

:

to do this, they're going to do that.

507

:

You know, I appreciate people

that do that, and they do help

508

:

some animals, but that's never,

ever going to solve the problem.

509

:

It's a continuous wheel that

just goes around and around.

510

:

And unless we get the root

cause of it, and that is, local

511

:

government needs to make the laws.

512

:

Law enforcement needs

to enforce those laws.

513

:

And until that's done this circle

of abuse and neglect is going to

514

:

continue and I would hope that people

who's listening to this podcast

515

:

understand that A lot of animals are

going to die because we don't really

516

:

take care of the root cause of this.

517

:

I'm sorry I'm talking too long about

that, but that's quite a passion for me.

518

:

No, that's totally okay.

519

:

I mean, I understand that.

520

:

Seeing all animal abuse and all the

stuff that you see on social media, all

521

:

the negative things, , it's overwhelming.

522

:

It really is.

523

:

Yeah, it is, and it's tough, you know,

and I, even though I don't rescue

524

:

anymore, I've seen so much, that even

sitting at my computer and gathering

525

:

information and what have you, it, it

saddens me that so many animals, Or

526

:

dying and tortured and neglected and

in local, our local government and law

527

:

enforcement just turn a blind eye to it.

528

:

That's just how I feel.

529

:

They turn a blind eye and until we

get those things changed, it's not

530

:

going, it's never going to change.

531

:

You know, and then going

back to local government, I

532

:

couldn't get Washington Parish.

533

:

To do a spay and neuter law,

where every person who owns an

534

:

animal here should be licensed.

535

:

Every animal that owns should be

not only licensed, but their animal

536

:

should be spayed or neutered.

537

:

And that's the only thing I was asking,

couple of, you don't have to take all of

538

:

the animal, let's just start with two.

539

:

Let's let people pay a small

license fee to have an animal.

540

:

And the second thing is they

must have that animal spayed

541

:

or neutered within a timeframe.

542

:

And that's all I was asking.

543

:

I was not even able to get that.

544

:

Does that tell you anything?

545

:

Now, let me ask you this, Mark.

546

:

Don't you have a book on Amazon that

talks about animal abuse and law

547

:

enforcement or investigating animal abuse?

548

:

I have I have written

14 books about animals.

549

:

And there, there's many of them that

cover a different training and again, pet

550

:

care, emergency care and what have you.

551

:

I have several books if people

are interested, I wish they

552

:

would go to Amazon under Dr.

553

:

Mark McMorris Jr.

554

:

And those books are, one is, there's

one is How to Become an Animal Advocate.

555

:

It takes you, it's a great guide.

556

:

It takes you from A to Z on how to

become an effective animal advocate and

557

:

what you need to do and how you need

to do it and who you need to talk to.

558

:

It's a great book.

559

:

And I put a lot of effort into that book.

560

:

The other book.

561

:

is for those who really want to

be more involved, not only as

562

:

an animal advocate, learn how to

be an animal abuse investigator.

563

:

That book takes you also from

A to Z and what to do in terms

564

:

of animal abuse and how to use.

565

:

To recognize animal abuse, after you do,

what you need to do as far as collecting

566

:

evidence and one big thing about

investigating animal abuse is nothing like

567

:

investigating a criminal act by humans.

568

:

It's just nothing because animals

themselves can't go to court and

569

:

be a witness against Another.

570

:

The bottom line is evidence collecting

for animal abuse is totally different

571

:

from collecting evidence in terms

of criminal offenses by people.

572

:

And this book covers that exclusively

dealing with animals and the collection

573

:

of evidence in order to, because it's very

difficult to go to court and get a guilty.

574

:

Sentence on our plea on that because

of the fact that there's really not

575

:

witnesses per se unless you have evidence.

576

:

In terms of photos and videos

and all the other things that

577

:

you might collect around there.

578

:

And there's a lot of things that you

don't think about that you need to collect

579

:

for your evidence in order to do this.

580

:

And I'll tell for people who are

not law enforcement officers but

581

:

for let's say volunteers, shelter

managers, shelter volunteers someone

582

:

who wants to learn how to do this.

583

:

It tells you how to.

584

:

Collect the evidence and how to

safely, and I mean safely, Give

585

:

evidence without putting yourself in

jeopardy because that's a big thing.

586

:

You cannot go on people's

property to get and take pictures

587

:

of animals or what have you.

588

:

There, there's a way to do this and

this book teaches you how to do that.

589

:

So anyway, I got carried away,

but there's two books that

590

:

people would be interested in.

591

:

I think that if you wanted to get

involved with this is how to be

592

:

an animal advocate and help you.

593

:

How to investigate animal abuse.

594

:

Lost my train of thought

there for a second.

595

:

Not one though.

596

:

It's something definitely good to

discuss because I wonder how many

597

:

animal abuse cases are dropped

in court due to lack of evidence.

598

:

So for someone to know what they need

to collect to try and get the best

599

:

case possible, it's great to know.

600

:

Oh, exactly.

601

:

And I will tell you that

it's a great percentage.

602

:

I can't tell you what that percentage

is, but a great percentage if

603

:

not, if that 99 percent these law

enforcement officers today, they

604

:

don't have any animal training.

605

:

They don't I'm sure chief of police and

sheriff departments, they don't train

606

:

their deputies on animal abuse training.

607

:

I will almost guarantee they don't.

608

:

So I've been trying to get my group

out to different departments to see if

609

:

they would be interested in in doing

this because it, it's a great guide

610

:

for people who actually want to learn

how to be an animal abuse investigator.

611

:

And again, I want to stress to

people, you don't have to be a law

612

:

enforcement officer to help animals.

613

:

I would at least know how to be a

good advocate, an animal advocate.

614

:

And then I would learn how to be

a good investigator because I can

615

:

help you if anybody's interested.

616

:

I can help you get registered

as a journalist, as an

617

:

investigative journalist.

618

:

So if anyone ever thought about doing

this, if they listen to your podcast,

619

:

that I, yeah, I have no problem with

me, with him calling me emailing me and

620

:

getting information because I can give

them more information about the books.

621

:

I can give them information

about how to become a journalist.

622

:

And the things that you need to do.

623

:

I can help those people do that.

624

:

If you're truly interested in being what

I call a really good advocate for animals.

625

:

Thank you, Mark.

626

:

What I'm going to do is I'm

going to put all your links

627

:

to in our podcast description.

628

:

So that people can go to your,

they can go to your website.

629

:

They can go to, , your YouTube channel

and get the information and I can also

630

:

include some contact information in

there for you too, for those that are

631

:

interested getting more involved in this.

632

:

And if there's people I mean my

phone number is okay too, but

633

:

I don't answer phone numbers.

634

:

I don't know, but if someone will

text me if they want to, I take texts.

635

:

I look at my text and my email address.

636

:

I do not answer phone numbers.

637

:

I don't know, be up front with you.

638

:

I don't but if someone wants to text

me or they email me, I'd be real happy

639

:

to give them the information that

they're seeking to do what I am doing.

640

:

And again, you don't have

to be a police officer.

641

:

If someone who really actively

wants to help animals, this

642

:

is a great way to do it.

643

:

And and you should try to take the

steps to do it the way I written in my

644

:

books because I don't want to see people

get in trouble trying to help animals.

645

:

And I see that all the time.

646

:

People.

647

:

Go into people, go on people's

property and try to help animals.

648

:

You don't understand that,

but you can't do that.

649

:

And you don't want to take the chance

of being arrested for trespassing.

650

:

You won't, don't want to be shot.

651

:

You gotta do this in a safe way.

652

:

And that's what my book's we'll tell you

how and what to do, and that's important,

653

:

you know, you just can't go out there

willy nilly and think that you're going

654

:

to help this animal because you might

be putting your own self in jeopardy.

655

:

All right, and before we, wrap up

this call too, I just wanted ask

656

:

you first, all dogs that you do

have, do you have those dogs listed

657

:

on Petfinder where people can see

them or get more information on them?

658

:

They're there.

659

:

Yes, they are on Pet Finder.

660

:

Yes, but I have not had a lot of success.

661

:

I think that you told me that you have.

662

:

I have not.

663

:

And I just recently went back

to Pet Finder and put several

664

:

dogs to see how They do.

665

:

One of them was my big

shepherd that I have.

666

:

He's a he's a German shepherd in all

the colors and he's about 120 pounds.

667

:

He's a big, he's a big guy and very gentle

but he doesn't, you know, people say,

668

:

well, he doesn't, he has the floppy ears.

669

:

So he has a little bit of hound

in him and I have not been able

670

:

to, Headfinder has not helped me.

671

:

Social media has not helped me.

672

:

This dog has been with me

at least six years now.

673

:

Beautiful dog.

674

:

And it just not as helped me.

675

:

You know, I don't know what to say.

676

:

And I've tried it with a couple of

dogs first, but I have not gotten any

677

:

response from that and it's kind of

disappointing, but it is what it is.

678

:

Right.

679

:

Well, hopefully we can get you

some more exposure for them.

680

:

Now, also too, for your rescue, what is

it that you could use for your rescue?

681

:

Could you use help?

682

:

Could you use donations?

683

:

What is it that you would need for

your rescue ? You know, I, I will.

684

:

You need, and I hate to say this, but

money is always a needed factor in rescues

685

:

because a lot of that money goes out the

door to the vet for vet care and feed.

686

:

So if you're going to do anything, if

money is the problem, then the next best

687

:

thing you can help a rescue with is food.

688

:

Food is always needed.

689

:

You know, people do bring blankets and

pillows and dog beds and stuff like that.

690

:

But I'll tell you, in my opinion,

it's either, you know, a donation

691

:

I say cash, but a money donation

or either the food itself.

692

:

Those are the two big things

that rescues need or shelters

693

:

shelters need is food or money.

694

:

And money is a priority because many

of these animals are, especially when

695

:

you rescue them, they all need to

go to the vet, they all need their

696

:

vaccinations they all need all the

care that one's afforded when you take

697

:

a rescue dog, so it's always a need.

698

:

That's my opinion.

699

:

And for the most part and working

with animal rescues and shelters.

700

:

In fact, I did one book.

701

:

My first book was on an

animal shelter in Miami.

702

:

And it was very disappointing to

me because people has this idea.

703

:

Oh I'm going to bring

my dog to the shelter.

704

:

I'm going to surrender

my dog to the shelter.

705

:

I can't take care of the dog anymore.

706

:

Well, they got this.

707

:

This notion that a shelter

is going to adopt that dog

708

:

out to a very lovely family.

709

:

That, in all probability,

that is not going to happen.

710

:

That dog is going to be euthanized.

711

:

And if the owner of that dog turns

that dog in and says, I don't want him,

712

:

that's the first dog to be euthanized.

713

:

Stray dogs, for the most part in most

areas of the country, there's a 72 hour

714

:

waiting period and some of them are,

some of them are three days, some of them

715

:

are 10 days in between, but those dogs

actually are not euthanized right away.

716

:

It is the owner's surrender that

dog is going to be euthanized

717

:

and that's so unfortunate.

718

:

And my book was about that.

719

:

And about how, you know, what

I saw in animals when they were

720

:

in those pens in the shelter.

721

:

And what happens to those

dogs and how they shut down.

722

:

It was a very sad book.

723

:

It was my first book that I wrote.

724

:

It was extremely sad because I was

actually trying to look through the eyes

725

:

of of the animal being in the shelter

and what I experienced and what I saw.

726

:

And And anyway, and the book,

in fact, is, it's on my website.

727

:

I mean, not my website,

but it's on Amazon as well.

728

:

And and it's called Read

This Book and Save an Animal.

729

:

That was my very first book that I did.

730

:

Again, Read This Book and Save an Animal.

731

:

If you're interested in seeing how

you think dogs will look at shelters

732

:

and how they react and what have

you, it's a great book to read.

733

:

It's great to that, you wrote something

that is out there for people so they

734

:

can get a better understanding too.

735

:

Now do you want to provide your, huh.

736

:

The bottom line is that you, I really do

want people who listen to your podcast.

737

:

Shelter is a misnomer.

738

:

These dogs for the most

part are euthanized.

739

:

Yeah, I'm being honest with you.

740

:

Now, there is a no kill movement, and it's

called, and Best Friends has started this,

741

:

if anybody's not familiar, Best Friends

is a huge organization, and they've

742

:

done so much for animals, I mean, a lot.

743

:

And anyway, if you get a chance to donate

to Best Friends, please do because they

744

:

work very hard in, in helping animals.

745

:

But I would say that, again, I don't want

people to be misled by the term shelter.

746

:

For the most part,

shelter is not a shelter.

747

:

It's a euthanizing center.

748

:

And they euthanize.

749

:

Every day, millions of animals

throughout this country.

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And it's so horrible that and

that's why I attack law enforcement.

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I attack local governments because, you

know, I feel that's on their hands their

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watch, that they let these animals.

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Healthy animals die in shelters

because they don't want to do anything.

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They don't want to work and they

don't want to enforce the laws.

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:

And every day my videos are actually based

a lot of this on, on, on law enforcement

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:

and government not doing their job.

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:

Well, Mark, before we wrap up, is

there any contact information you're

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:

willing to give out as far as?

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Email, phone number . How would

someone contact you for information?

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:

You know, the best way to contact me

would be to use my my email address

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that I use for my YouTube channel.

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And that's positive personals at gmail.

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:

com.

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:

That's a P A W.

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S I T I V E, Personals, P

E R S O N A L S, at gmail.

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com.

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:

That would be the best way to contact

me, because I answer, I always look at

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my emails, I'm constantly on my emails,

so I will address any email that someone

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sends me, if they want information,

they want to, look at getting a book.

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:

They want to look at being a a registered

journalist to help them with their

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:

process and give them a little bit

more leeway in, in helping animals.

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:

I can help them with that.

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:

So if they're truly interested

in doing that by all means, I

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encourage you to get in touch with

me because everyone that I can help.

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Do this become a better

person at helping animals.

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:

I'm more than happy to do that.

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:

This, again, this is my whole

life is helping animals.

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:

And I say that, well, when I got left

of it, at 78 years old, when I got left

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:

of it, people see my pictures sometimes

and they'll And he said, well, you

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:

don't look that bad because I tell you,

I, the picture that is on my website

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:

makes me look a lot better than what I

am because actually it's a likeness of

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:

me through an avatar that I had done.

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:

So it's not actually, it's not actually

me, but certainly makes me look good.

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But I would be, I'd be happy to

help anyone who is wanting to do

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:

something that's going to help animals.

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That's who I am.

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And thank you so much for taking

the time to speak with us today.

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I really enjoyed our conversation.

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:

Oh, well, thank y'all.

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:

I appreciate what y'all do,

especially with helping cats.

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:

I gotta say this last thing, though.

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I am so happy that you saved cats

because I'm gonna tell you, I feel like,

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:

kittens and cats, they get a raw deal.

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:

That's the best way I can say

it because, you know, you hear

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:

there's many people saving.

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:

Dogs.

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:

There's a lot of rescues

out there and it's all about

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:

dogs and then there's horses.

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But you know what?

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:

Rarely do I find many people who are

rescuing cats and that's a shame.

801

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And that's a, that's an utter

disgrace that we don't have

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:

enough people doing that.

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:

So, you know, I really appreciate and

thank you for being a cat rescuer.

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:

Well, thank you.

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:

I appreciate that.

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:

Well, what else can I do for y'all today?

807

:

I love my little talk and I'm, if you

ever want me back please let me know.

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:

I'll be glad to, yes, we'll

definitely have you back.

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:

Thank you.

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:

We appreciate you talking with us.

811

:

Okay.

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:

You're welcome.

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:

All right.

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:

Okay.

815

:

Bye.

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:

Dixie: And that's all the time

we have for today's episode.

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:

If you are in animal rescue, or if

you know someone that has a story that

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:

should be told, please contact us.

819

:

We would love to have

you or them on the show

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:

.

Thanks for listening, and please join us next week as we continue to

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explore the world of animal rescue.

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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