Animal Posse Rescue on the Brink: The Animal Welfare Crisis - Animal Posse

Episode 32

Rescue on the Brink: The Animal Welfare Crisis

Published on: 5th September, 2025

Dixie welcomes Ashley Gardenier, founder of Southern Paws Inc., for a powerful conversation about the deepening animal welfare crisis in the South. Ashley shares how a trip to Louisiana nearly 11 years ago opened her eyes to the stark differences in pet culture and shelter conditions compared to the North—where dogs are often treated as family, not just property. From overwhelmed shelters and high euthanasia rates to pandemic-era behavioral issues and economic hardship, Ashley explains why rescues are stretched to the breaking point. She also highlights how Southern Paws Inc. is responding with disaster relief, spay/neuter programs, and a new training center to help families keep their pets.

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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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Joining us today is Ashley Gardenier,

an animal rescuer and dog trainer.

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Welcome, Ashley.

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Thank you for coming on the show.

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Ashley: You're welcome.

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Dixie: I'm excited to talk about

your dog training and also your

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animal rescue, Southern Paws Inc.

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Ashley: Yeah.

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I'm super stoked.

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, It's really great to be here.

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. Where do you wanna start?

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Dixie: I wanna get into how dog

training can help to keep dogs in homes,

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but before we get into that, I would

like to know a little bit more about you.

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If you could tell me a little bit about

your background, how you came to start

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Southern Paws Inc, and also Oh, okay.

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How you got involved in dog training.

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Ashley: Okay.

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So, let's see.

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I am almost 40 and . I started Southern

Paws, we're about to hit 11 years.

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I have been in animal rescue

now going on 13 years.

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And honestly it started I had gotten into

volunteering with a wildlife organization

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and they had these connections to

an organization in Louisiana called

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the Humane Society of Louisiana.

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And since Katrina, and they had

been trying to help them get lower

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preventatives, like lower cost

preventatives and helping them pay for

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heart worm treatments and stuff like this.

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And , the Humane Society had actually.

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Come through and had nominated

us for thank yous pretty much

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like , an achievement award, right?

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And a thank you.

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They were honoring us at this gala and

I think I was like 25, 26 at the time.

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And the owner of the organization

was like, do you wanna go

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to New Orleans for a week?

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And I was like yes I do.

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25, 26 me was like yes.

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Put me in the car, let's go.

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And that was how I got my first glimpse

of dog rescue and things like, that

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was my first transport I ever did.

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And when I was down there I really

got to see like firsthand what people

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were experiencing in rescue in the

South and just how different it was.

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Like, it was just a big culture shock.

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So.

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After that I came home and I

just couldn't sleep at night.

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I was having a really hard time and I just

really felt like I needed to do something.

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And at the time they were

really struggling with dogs that

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needed heart worm treatments.

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And I connected back with my mentor.

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She actually has since passed away.

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Her name is Johnna.

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And I said to her like, Hey, I

have this idea, like what if we

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started this sponsorship program?

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And that's how the heartworm

sponsorship program was born.

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And we ended up treating like 80 dogs

in the course of three or four months.

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And then that kind of snowballed because

they had this hoarding case that they

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had worked and Johnna needed somebody

to come down and help with transport.

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And it was something I had always been

like, oh yeah, I'll help with that.

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That sounds cool.

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And I ended up going down and

did my first transport and

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then it just snowballed, right?

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Johnna was telling me a lot about just

how northern organizations at the time,

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and this is going back 12 years now.

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Were really taking advantage of the

southern organizations where they were

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getting all of these animals like fully

vetted and like ready to be adopted.

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The southern organizations that were

really in these like very rural like

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poverty stricken areas that didn't

have the type of money that we had

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up here were like putting everything

they had into these transports.

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They were able to run them like once

or twice a year, and they'd come up,

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they'd give them these jobs, and then

the rescues up here would turn around and

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adopt 'em out for three, $400 a piece.

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And I said they were trying to get

like this transport program up and

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running, and I said, all right, well

what if we adopted a couple of dogs

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off the truck to pay for the trip?

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Could then, could you like do more?

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And they were like, yeah.

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So that's how it got started.

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And after I would say like a year and a

half, I really was just like, I had no

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time and I was running out of money and I

was like I really gotta do something here.

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So I went to them and I said, listen,

hey, like I either have to start taking a

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paycheck or I have to get like a real job.

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And they said, okay, well

what about, a commission?

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And I was like, okay, fine.

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And I got my first paycheck

and I deposited in the bank

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and opened up Southern Paws.

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And now our organization, it's

a very small organization,

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but it has this massive reach.

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We have all kinds of different programs.

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One of our main focuses is

helping to support our sister

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organizations that we work with.

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We do still work with

Humane Side of Louisiana.

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One of the board members there has also

started Mississippi Animal Project, which

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has been our primary rescue for years.

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But we've worked with other

rescues in Mississippi, Louisiana.

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We've started spay and neuter

programs that give back to

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the community down there.

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We started disaster relief through

the:

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Livingston and our partners down

there in assisting them, that's how

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our disaster relief program was born.

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And, it just snowballed.

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We have our facility up

here, which is not a shelter.

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We're a rescue based organization.

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But we have our facility

specifically for transport holds.

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So when dogs come up, they

stay with us for 24, 48 hours.

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I make sure they've made

it through transport.

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Okay.

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They get groomed, they get medicated.

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They get looked at by vet techs

and staff members and making sure

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that they came through everything.

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Okay.

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If anybody needs to go to the vet,

they go to the vet, we do quite a

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bit of pre-adoption, which means

they're preselected before they even

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come to the state of New Jersey.

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And then we also have now transitioned

with the animal welfare crisis.

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We've really started to transition into

more foster based stuff and working like

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I would say the big theme for the last

two years has just been like adaptability.

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And that's where.

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The Northern Spay and

neuter program was born.

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We have Spay it Forward and then

we also have the training center

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now that we opened in September.

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I figured that after all of this

time working with dogs, I mean

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I've seen all of the things, right?

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I have two trained therapy dogs that

I went through training with myself.

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I've worked with pretty much every

behavioral case in the rescue.

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I have a great support system when

it comes to a training network

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of people that I really trust and

whose opinions I valued so highly.

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And I had just seen like a lot of things.

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And I had worked in

through disaster relief.

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I had also worked in different

shelters, I've also worked in the field

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and had to work with dogs that were

terrified, in dangerous situations.

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And I just figured Hey, I

have this whole situation.

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We had always said we wanted to have

a training center, I just felt that

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training was just so important about

keeping dogs in their homes and when

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I didn't expect the upstairs of my

building to become available so quickly.

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So like the timeline was very fast.

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I was like, oh, well, yeah,

I guess we're gonna do this.

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And luckily during COVID I had this kind

of dream that I wanted to branch out and

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do more and like eventually have some

sort of eventually have some sort of like

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a property where I could do training and

we could have training and we could have

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rescue and we could have adoptions and we

could have boarding, and all these things.

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So during COVID we call it the

puppy boom, everybody was adopting.

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I was smart enough to at least

put money away for that purpose.

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And when the time presented

itself, I was like it's too good

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of an opportunity to pass up.

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Let's do it.

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I'll get my training certification so

that I can at least say, I finally have

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a piece of paper that says I can do what

I've been doing for the last, 12 years.

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But now I have a piece of paper that says

so, and it was really cool 'cause it gave

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me the opportunity to really understand

the like the evolution of dog training

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as well as a lot of the principals, but

you don't necessarily know the principals

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or like how they come about and like the

psychology of dogs and that kind of thing.

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So I know it sounds long, but it's

actually like a quick snapshot.

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It's just we do so much that, even

when you had reached out to me,

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you were like, well what do you do?

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And I was like, well, we do

a little bit of everything.

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Anytime we see a need, we try

to fill it and go from there.

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Dixie: That is a lot, but it gives us

a lot to talk about, so that's good.

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One thing that I wanna talk about, 'cause

I hear about it, but I'm from the south.

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I've been in animal rescue here forever.

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What we have going on here is a normal

thing for me because this is the

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only place that I have ever lived.

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I am used to multiple kitten seasons.

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Like I understand that.

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Oh yeah.

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We have nonstop kitten seasons here and

other areas are fortunate enough not

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to, but explain what you mean by the

culture shock in animal rescue here.

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Ashley: Well, so Dixie,

where are you guys?

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Dixie: I'm in Louisiana, in New Orleans.

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Ashley: Okay.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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And Oh, okay,

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Ashley: okay.

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Yeah,

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Dixie: yeah.

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I'm familiar with Humane Society

of Louisiana, so, I know, you

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know a lot of people there.

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Ashley: We still work with them and we

still do a lot of work with Livingston.

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Dog people of Livingston Parish

Lanelle, who runs the fix.

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The big clinics there.

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I don't know if you know

about that in Livingston.

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Dixie: No, I did not.

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Ashley: Anyway, yeah, this is

like totally off topic, but yes.

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I love Louisiana.

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I feel like there's a part of me

that just is always home there.

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I don't know if you've ever felt that,

like when you go outta state and you

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have that one state, you just fall in

love so much with, and you always feel

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like a part of you is always out there.

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That's my Louisiana, new

Orleans is my favorite city

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but yeah, and I will say we're

seeing a little bit more of it now

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because of the animal welfare crisis

that's been going on in the us.

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But when I first started, first of all,

we don't have dogs that are outside.

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Like we, nobody has outside

dogs in Northern New Jersey,

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New York, like tri-state area.

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They don't like, if people's dogs are

outside, they get the police called.

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Animal control gets called.

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It's just not a thing.

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We do have cats that like, I

know like my neighbor's got a

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cat that's an indoor outdoor cat.

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And we do have feral cats.

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We do have issues in this area

specifically with like cats in general.

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Like we do have a pretty

solid kitten season.

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There's actually a rescue I

work with that's 20 minutes

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from me 'cause we don't do cats.

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And they've really done an amazing job

focusing on spay and neuter and they're

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finally starting to see some results,

but they've been doing it for 10 years.

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It's crazy but everybody

here is a house pet.

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That's the first thing.

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We also all have fenced in yards,

or we keep our dogs on leashes.

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Nobody's animals really run wild.

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And again, if you see a loose

dog, like you call like the police

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department or animal control, and

you're like, Hey, there's a dog,

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and I think that to me was huge.

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I remember driving around down

the road the first time I was in

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either Louisiana or Mississippi.

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And I was with Johnna my mentor and

I'm driving their brand new transport

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van, and I'm giggling because it

was just such a funny experience.

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But I'm driving and there's a dog that

goes darting into the middle of the

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highway and I immediately slammed on

the brakes, pull over, and she looks

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at me and she's what are you doing?

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I was like, I gotta go get that dog.

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There's a loose dog in Jersey,

like we see a loose dog.

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I got a leash in the car.

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We got treats.

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Like the whole neighborhood

is trying to get it.

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Like we have dog trappers specifically

up here to find people's loose dogs.

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And I just remember her looking at me

and be like, you can't go take that dog.

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And I was like, what do you mean?

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She was like that's somebody's dog.

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I was like, that's not somebody's dog.

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It's running in the middle of the highway.

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I almost just ran it over and she's

like, Ashley, you can't go take that dog.

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So, that was really big.

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I remember going to the the property the

first time and there were like 80 dogs

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on the property that all had heartworm.

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And this was like the first time I had

ever even heard of heartworm, aside

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from the fact that oh, hey, we give our

dog a pill once a month to prevent it.

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But I don't think any anybody,

90% of us up here, really have,

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unless you're in rescue and you're

familiar with it because of rescue.

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The average person has

no idea what that is.

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So it was also my first time with that.

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And I remember looking at one

of the members of the team and

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being like, well, what's the deal?

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And she was like, oh.

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She's you see that row of dogs back there?

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Yeah, they all have heartworm.

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And I was like, okay.

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What does that mean?

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And they were like, well,

we gotta get 'em treated.

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And I was like, well, what happens

if you don't get 'em treated?

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And she's oh, they die.

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And I was like, I'm sorry, what?

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No.

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She was like, yeah.

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She was like, we're gonna treat them,

but we have to get the money to do it.

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At this point, we're just trying

to keep 'em comfortable until we

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can get enough money to treat them.

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And I was just like, I just remember

like my mouth being on the floor and just

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being like, that doesn't happen here.

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That would never happen here.

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Like never, there's just never a

world that we would live in the

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Northeast where like the population

wouldn't rally of humans wouldn't,

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rally together and help these dogs.

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It was just baffling to me.

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So those are the things, that we see,

under that I saw that, understanding the

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overpopulation problem, I was somebody who

was always like, not really understanding

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of the shelter system, right?

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I remember saying to Johnna well,

why can't the shelter just take them?

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And her trying to explain to me, open

intake shelters and how they have a

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commitment to the public that they have

to take things in, and how that ultimately

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leads to the overpopulation issue,

which leads to the high euthanization

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rates, which again, up here, our

euthanization rates are not anywhere

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near what they are down by you guys.

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So, yeah, so I guess that's, those

are some of the things that, we, I

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really saw firsthand on that first

experience that made me be like, somebody

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needs to do something about this.

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And then I was like, oh,

I guess I miss somebody.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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It is crazy how it is here

because, I will say too the way

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people look at spay neuter here.

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It isn't like an educational thing.

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It isn't an economical thing.

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I know plenty professionals that don't

believe in spay neuter or just don't even

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know about spay neuter, which to me it's

absurd because, every animal that we've

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had has always been spayed or neutered.

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But here, I don't know what it is,

there's plenty of people that can

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afford to get it done that don't get

it done, and there's plenty intelligent

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people that still don't get it done.

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So I don't really understand, how

you can even reach people more here

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to get 'em on board with doing it.

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Ashley: So our biggest issue here is

definitely the financial portion of it.

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Like I'm about to blow

your mind right now.

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An average spay and neuter in where,

in Bergen County, New Jersey is going

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to run you anywhere from 800 to $2,300.

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Dixie: Wow.

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Ashley: Yeah.

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So we run a low cost spay and neuter

program and our low cost, which

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really is not really that low cost.

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It's way better than that.

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But our low cost program runs

you 250-450 I think it is.

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So.

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And that's considered low cost here.

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So that's one of those needs in our

community that we've been trying

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to really give, like break into

and try and provide a solution for.

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And it started actually

in Louisiana during COVID.

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I was really just feeling frustrated that

the population numbers were, everybody's

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getting adopted, we were moving everybody

out, but the numbers weren't dropping.

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And I said, we have these finances

rolling in from adoption fees and like

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donors, we had big donors back then that,

we weren't in the same like financial

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crisis that we're in now, but we had

a lot, we had a lot more money then.

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And I said, it would be really cool if

we could develop a program to give back.

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To the communities that we've

been working with, for so long.

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And Mississippi Animal

Project had a voucher program.

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Humane Society, Louisiana had a

small voucher program and it was

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actually another rescue in Louisiana.

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Walking in the Sun, Mindy

Defender, I think is her last name.

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She actually, and I were talking one

night just girl chat, like gossiping

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and like whatever, and complaining

about, being an animal rescue.

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And she had said something about this

one neighborhood and I said to her,

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I'll tell you what, if , you can get

some people to donate spay neuter to

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that area up to 10, I will match them.

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She was like, really?

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And I was like, yeah.

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And we started this really

cool, spay neuter task force.

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There ended up being like 13 different

organizations that all jumped on the

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bandwagon in the middle of COVID.

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And we did t-shirt fundraisers, we did all

this stuff and we ended up spay neutering,

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like 60 animals just through, they

would find people that would match them.

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We would find people that would match us.

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Like we ended up all doing, 60 animals.

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We had, Tito's got

involved, vodka for dog.

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People love them.

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They donated money to the task

force, like we were able to do,

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I think it was like 60 dogs.

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I think we did when all was said

and done, which I guess doesn't

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seem like a lot, but really it was.

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If you look at the numbers of the

procreation numbers, but up here we

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don't really, everybody up here wants

to spay and neuter their animals.

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It's very bizarre here.

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If we get an app and there's an animal

in the home that's not spayed and neuter,

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we're like, okay, is it a medical issue?

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There are areas, there are pockets

of areas in and around where

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we are, where it's less common.

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And those areas are definitely areas where

the socioeconomical they're poorer areas.

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I'm trying to say this a different way to

make it sound nicer, but that's the truth.

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It's the

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poorer areas up here that

we do see more of it.

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Another program we have

is we do shelter revamps.

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I'm a hazmat technician.

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So I'll go in and from a disease

control standpoint, go in and try to

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get a shelter that's super sick, try

to implement protocols and deep clean

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and show everybody the appropriate

ways to clean and what to do.

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And we actually had a shelter right

by us and they hired me for three

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months to do a contract there.

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And there is one area and like

they're still struggling with it.

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Every single thing that comes outta

that area in New York, it's right

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over the border into New York.

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Everything that comes outta that

area is not spayed or neutered.

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There's another area that's

about a half hour from us.

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Anything that comes outta that

area is not spay and neutered.

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And there are definitely areas

that are like less wealthy.

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I don't know if that has anything to

do with it, but I do think that it's

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more common in the poorer communities.

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And I do think there

needs to be more outreach.

363

:

I think there needs to be more education.

364

:

I think that there needs to be more spay

and neuter, and I think that there are

365

:

people in these areas that would want

to do it, but at the end of the day,

366

:

they can either feed their children

or get their dog spay and neutered.

367

:

What would you choose?

368

:

Dixie: I don't see that here because , the

parish that I'm in, we have very low

369

:

cost, like spay neuter or cats options.

370

:

Ashley: Yeah.

371

:

Dixie: We have free spay neuter for

feral cats, and there's specific

372

:

breeds of dogs that are very low cost.

373

:

And then there's other low

cost programs for dogs.

374

:

Some of the low cost ones, I'm

gonna say are probably like $60.

375

:

I do cat rescue, so I could

be a little bit off on that.

376

:

But the crazy thing, like specifically

too with the cats is we have it

377

:

in this parish where it is free.

378

:

If you have a feral cat

in the trap, it is free.

379

:

And we still struggle here with

trying to get people to get them in

380

:

to go get 'em spayed and neutered.

381

:

Ashley: I'm so jealous.

382

:

Dixie: Yeah, so jealous.

383

:

It's crazy.

384

:

So, like I said here, it's not quite

what I would say, an economical thing

385

:

because I know people that can well afford

to just go to a regular vet and get it

386

:

done and they just won't go get it done.

387

:

And then like I said, with the

free programs, it's still hard

388

:

to get people to go get it done.

389

:

Ashley: That's wild.

390

:

Yeah, that's wild.

391

:

We don't have that up here

and I think that's different.

392

:

That's a big difference

between north and south.

393

:

But I also think that's a lot of why

the population up here is so much

394

:

less than the population down south.

395

:

Like our overpopulation is still

probably only a quarter of what yours is.

396

:

We're seeing a lot more now because we

had so many animals come up during COVID

397

:

that like a lot, I would say nine out 10

dogs that are ending up in the shelters

398

:

right now up here are from the South.

399

:

I do have some issues with these

organizations that have no fallback plan

400

:

that are located out of state and they

come up and they do these like adoptions

401

:

with random people in the northern states

and then they like leave and go home.

402

:

And if it doesn't work out, the

dog has nowhere to go because

403

:

there's no like northern partner.

404

:

So that's something that

I don't really love.

405

:

We see a lot of that up here.

406

:

We also are seeing a lot of, like the

puppy mills that are now bringing vehicles

407

:

full of puppies that are sick and broken

and, just these poor puppies and dogs

408

:

and they're just passing them out up here

like they're selling them for $1,800.

409

:

You go to a gas station and

you collect all of these dogs,

410

:

and they're not real rescues.

411

:

They're dogs.

412

:

That definitely came from

really bad breeding situations.

413

:

Backyard breeders puppy

mills, you name it.

414

:

And animal control is trying to cut down

on them, but they're not located here.

415

:

So it's like, how do you cut down

on that when they're not here?

416

:

They drop the dogs and

then they like leave.

417

:

Dixie: Right.

418

:

Ashley: So that's another thing

that we're now seeing that's

419

:

becoming a big overpopulation

causing our area to overpopulate.

420

:

We're not seeing the overpopulation,

I don't think for necessarily the

421

:

same reasons so much as you guys

are like, yeah, we still have

422

:

the I don't want, we have the BS

surrenders and the this and the that.

423

:

Like we still have a lot of that.

424

:

But I would say our overpopulation is now

becoming more of a problem here because

425

:

of dogs coming outta the south now.

426

:

I don't think that we shouldn't

help dogs from the south.

427

:

I think that we should just

be responsible about it.

428

:

I still get a lot of my dogs from the

south and I love helping, being able

429

:

to help out wherever we can, whenever

we can for whatever we need to.

430

:

But that's something else that like,

I would say is a big difference.

431

:

Our overpopulation rates and

our euthanasia rates here.

432

:

Are very low compared to the south.

433

:

And that's what one of the big

things that I constantly tell people.

434

:

'cause everybody's well, why

don't you help dogs here?

435

:

And I'm like, I do help dogs here.

436

:

But when our euthanasia rates start

to match the ones in Louisiana, Texas

437

:

Oklahoma, Mississippi, when Kentucky,

West Virginia, when we start to reach

438

:

those levels, then you can talk to

me about not pulling outta the south.

439

:

But we haven't reached that.

440

:

We are very lucky and I really

think that spay and neuter and

441

:

neuter has a big impact on that.

442

:

Dixie: Yeah.

443

:

You're fortunate that that many people

are pro spay neuter where you are.

444

:

With all these dogs coming in, like

you said, from these backyard breeders

445

:

and puppy mills, and as well as these

transports coming up from the south,

446

:

does that affect your adoptions?

447

:

Ashley: Yes and no.

448

:

So when I say this, these

are not responsible rescuers

449

:

that I'm talking about.

450

:

Like I know a lot of responsible

rescuers who do transports

451

:

up north like every week.

452

:

I've been doing this for a long time.

453

:

That's been like our main

source of getting dogs.

454

:

So I wanna be very clear that

I'm not talking about responsible

455

:

rescuers who are doing transport

to the Northeast with receiving

456

:

partners and, that kind of thing.

457

:

I think that there is definitely a need

for puppies that we don't typically have

458

:

a lot of puppies here that are available.

459

:

I hate to say this 'cause it makes it

sound like it's a t-shirt store, but

460

:

it is a business at the end of the day

when it comes to the nonprofit and the

461

:

rescue, there is a supply and demand.

462

:

And my thought process is, if.

463

:

We don't have a lot of puppies

and we need puppies and you guys

464

:

need to move puppies, that works.

465

:

Little fru dogs do a lot better here.

466

:

Like they go faster.

467

:

So yes.

468

:

If there's not a lot of them locally,

then yeah, I think that getting them

469

:

from the south is definitely beneficial.

470

:

The problem I have is with

organizations that are brokers

471

:

ultimately that are posing as rescues.

472

:

Some of them didn't

even get their 5 0 1 C3.

473

:

But there's a couple of them that,

like we know of that animal control has

474

:

been trying desperately to cut down.

475

:

And they go and they either breed 'em

in the backyard, they know backyard

476

:

breeders that they're getting them from,

they're going to puppy mill auctions.

477

:

That's a big one.

478

:

And they're ultimately brokers,

like they're puppy store brokers.

479

:

That's what they are.

480

:

And then they pose as rescues

and they bring 'em up, here.

481

:

Then, so in that regard, yes, because

if I can go as, as a adopter, right?

482

:

And I can go pay $1,500 and

somebody is telling me this dog

483

:

is quote unquote rescued, why?

484

:

And I can get a pure

breed, multi poo from them.

485

:

Why am I gonna come to Southern Paws

and get like a little hound, pity puppy,

486

:

Dixie: right?

487

:

Ashley: So that's where we see the issue.

488

:

The other issue is when these dogs get

up here, whether they're from rescues,

489

:

they're either from rescues who don't

necessarily have a fallback plan for

490

:

them up here, we will see a lot of

organizations from the south come up.

491

:

There's not like a receiving rescue.

492

:

And that's what I mean by responsible.

493

:

Like they're just doing random

adoptions and they don't have a rescue

494

:

that they're partnering with, so

that if that adoption doesn't work

495

:

out, the dog has somewhere to go.

496

:

So is that influencing us here?

497

:

Yeah, it definitely is because

now that dog doesn't work

498

:

out, the rescue is in Texas.

499

:

There's no way to get

the dog back to Texas.

500

:

So now the dog ends up in a shelter here

and takes away our space that we have for

501

:

our local animals that need a place to go.

502

:

Dixie: How are surrenders since you

did bring that subject up on people

503

:

that might adopt a dog from these people

that are just randomly driving it up and

504

:

decide they don't want the dog anymore.

505

:

How are your adoption returns in general?

506

:

Because I knew here it seems

to be, at a high right now.

507

:

Ashley: Knock on wood, my return

rate is still less than like 3%.

508

:

But I am also a psychopath

when it comes to my adopters.

509

:

Like I am very picky to the point

where the, probably the biggest

510

:

complaint is that I scare everybody.

511

:

And at the end of the day, if

they're still interested in the

512

:

dog, then maybe they can have it.

513

:

I am a jerk like that

and I pride myself on it.

514

:

Like I am a very real person.

515

:

I tell everybody all the time, I'm

like, you are really nice and my job is

516

:

to find a good, perfect match for you.

517

:

But at the end of the day, my

responsibility my priority is not you.

518

:

My priority is this dog.

519

:

So it's really nice that you've

had a hundred dogs and you've never

520

:

had to do training, and all of them

have been circus pets and they're

521

:

fantastic and blah, blah blah.

522

:

But I have a really specific criteria for

the things that you're gonna need to do

523

:

with any of my dogs for the first year.

524

:

And if you're not gonna do them,

i'm sure you're a great home, but

525

:

you can't have one of my dogs.

526

:

So my return rate is still less than 3%.

527

:

However, our foster program is like

overwhelmed, so overwhelmed from trying

528

:

to help out with local surrenders,

helping out our local shelters.

529

:

Last week I pulled two dogs from

our local Rockland shelter, one of

530

:

which is a diabetic like disaster.

531

:

He's the best and I love him.

532

:

His name is Remy, and he is completely

emaciated and was like a diabetic mess.

533

:

He finally made it through his

first night without wetting

534

:

his diaper, which was huge.

535

:

And he's finally stabilizing

on his insulin after a week.

536

:

Then I have two dogs right now

that I'm desperately trying

537

:

to pull out animal control.

538

:

I pulled one a couple weeks ago from them.

539

:

I tried to get my adult

dogs locally from them.

540

:

We are just so overwhelmed everywhere.

541

:

The other day, it was like before

one o'clock, I had six calls from

542

:

people trying to surrender dogs.

543

:

And they're not my dogs, so I can't say

the returns are bad in my organization.

544

:

But I can say that surrenders are so bad.

545

:

Like , today I got a call from

somebody in Pennsylvania, not

546

:

even locally in Pennsylvania.

547

:

He somehow heard about me from somebody

and heard about my organization,

548

:

and he has two deaf and blind white

boxers that he would like to rehome.

549

:

Dixie: Why?

550

:

Ashley: I didn't even call him back.

551

:

Every

552

:

day is like this.

553

:

I could read you, I have visual voicemail.

554

:

I could literally read you every

single one in my inbox for like

555

:

my voicemail inbox for the last

four days is just surrender

556

:

requests after surrender requests.

557

:

It's disgusting.

558

:

Yeah.

559

:

And it is the animal welfare crisis that

we are all in right now during COVID.

560

:

I have theories on this, like the animal

welfare crisis to me during COVID.

561

:

And I remember one night sitting here, it

was like midnight and I was on the phone,

562

:

like gossiping with Jess, my one partner.

563

:

And we said this was gonna happen.

564

:

She was like, this is coming.

565

:

And it's gonna be bad.

566

:

And to be honest, that's why I stockpiled

money because I knew that this was

567

:

gonna come and I'm so grateful that I

did because we wouldn't have survived

568

:

this last two years without the

money that we put away during COVID.

569

:

We had the puppy boom during COVID, and

during the puppy boom, everybody's big

570

:

concern was like, what's gonna happen

when everybody goes back to work?

571

:

That's, at least in my area,

like that was a big thing.

572

:

Everybody's getting these dogs and what's

gonna happen when they go back to work?

573

:

90% of these returns are not, at least

the ones that like, or I shouldn't

574

:

say returns, I should say surrenders.

575

:

Everybody that's calling me wanting

to return surrender their dog.

576

:

It's not because of their work

schedule, surprisingly enough.

577

:

Like it's because they're

behaviorally awful.

578

:

Because, they're

ultimately COVID children.

579

:

Okay.

580

:

They were never properly worked with,

they were never properly socialized.

581

:

And now , they have aggression issues,

they have they have anxiety disorders.

582

:

You name it, they've got it and

that's why they wanna return the dog.

583

:

We are seeing a lot of people that

can't afford to keep their dogs.

584

:

Our economy right now is trash.

585

:

People are having to downsize.

586

:

They're having to move.

587

:

When you move the place you're moving to.

588

:

Personally I'm currently looking

for rentals right now for myself.

589

:

I have three dogs where and I've been

looking now for three months now.

590

:

Luckily, I'm okay where I am.

591

:

Like I could stay here forever

if I wanted to, but at the end of

592

:

the day, I can't find a rental.

593

:

So I'm like, okay, so now what do you do?

594

:

Now you're losing your home,

so what are you gonna do?

595

:

Or you really have no money, you

can barely afford to feed your kids.

596

:

How are you gonna feed your dog?

597

:

So we're dealing with that.

598

:

That's a big portion of the rescue crisis.

599

:

Yes.

600

:

Do we have the people that are

like, oh, I just feel like I

601

:

don't have enough time for my dog.

602

:

Yeah, we do.

603

:

I feel like they're few and far

between than the other ones.

604

:

The other thing that's contributing

is during COVID, everybody

605

:

that wanted a dog got one.

606

:

So our adoption pool right now is

so small because everybody got one.

607

:

So these are either the kids that

are now coming up that were, in high

608

:

school during COVID that are like

early twenties, that kind of thing.

609

:

They're now looking to adopt.

610

:

So we have that population.

611

:

We also have the people that

want a second dog, right?

612

:

Like most of my adopters are actually

returning adopters for their second pup.

613

:

So that's another element.

614

:

And this is probably not

something I should say to the

615

:

public, but I'm gonna say it.

616

:

We live in a generation where

nobody is accountable for anything.

617

:

Everything is everybody else's

problem and people are lazy.

618

:

Nobody wants to put the

time, the effort, the money.

619

:

Or anything when they can dump

the dog off somewhere else.

620

:

And that's the culture we live in.

621

:

I say all the time, the only way

we're getting out of this animal

622

:

welfare crisis, like everybody's got

a band together, now the population

623

:

has to start helping themselves.

624

:

And that's actually where

the training center was born.

625

:

'cause I was like, all right, we gotta

start doing something to help the people

626

:

that are actually willing to put the

time and the energy into doing it.

627

:

So that's what led into training.

628

:

And everybody that calls me

and all of these calls, I say

629

:

to them like, can you foster?

630

:

Everybody wants me to help.

631

:

Can you help this dog?

632

:

Can you help this dog?

633

:

Can you help this dog?

634

:

But nobody wants to foster the dog.

635

:

Nobody wants to help us pay for the dog.

636

:

Nobody wants to buy food for the dog.

637

:

Where are we supposed to put them?

638

:

Dixie: We see that here too.

639

:

I know from my personal experience

we have a lot of the people here that

640

:

are, oh, I don't have time anymore.

641

:

For a dog it's a little bit

different than it is for a cat.

642

:

A cat is absolutely fine

if you go to work all day.

643

:

In fact, your cat probably is get

out the house and leave me alone.

644

:

I just like to tolerate you when you come

home 'cause that's just how cats are.

645

:

But here it's like a lot of people are

like, well, I just don't have time.

646

:

So they're reaching out to rescues

and what aggravates me about it is

647

:

a lot of these people don't realize

what a rescue is actually for.

648

:

A rescue is not for you getting

out of your responsibility.

649

:

A rescue is there for the dire situations.

650

:

And those things that

just come up unexpectedly.

651

:

Like something like a

hospitalization, a death in the

652

:

family or something like that.

653

:

But it's not for people.

654

:

That are just like, I wanna

just get rid of my dog or my cat

655

:

today 'cause I don't have time.

656

:

Ashley: Yeah.

657

:

Yeah.

658

:

And we see that.

659

:

And in that moment, have you seen that

meme that's like circling, that says

660

:

something about your dog would much

rather lay on their couch all day in

661

:

the air conditioning like, than be,

in a shelter or something like that.

662

:

Have you seen that meme?

663

:

That's how I feel about that.

664

:

And I say that to people and I, everybody

that calls me that I do talk to that

665

:

doesn't like just get our voicemail.

666

:

'cause at this point I've stopped

calling them back because I don't

667

:

have the mental capacity to be

polite anymore to sometimes.

668

:

So if I do happen to answer and they do

say it, I explain it to them and I say,

669

:

Hey, listen, you are trying to rehome

your animal in the absolute worst time.

670

:

Let me tell you about the

animal welfare crisis.

671

:

And I educate them and I'm like,

honestly, the best thing you can do for

672

:

this dog right now is go find a trainer.

673

:

Train your dog.

674

:

Okay, get a dog walker.

675

:

Go to doggy daycare.

676

:

Or, I hate to say it, but sitting

at home in the air conditioning is

677

:

a lot better than being in a shelter

and then being euthanized for space.

678

:

Dixie: We've reached all the time that

we have for today's episode, so we're

679

:

gonna cut the conversation short,

but I will be back next week with the

680

:

conclusion of the conversation that I

had with Ashley and we're gonna get in

681

:

more into talking about the dog training.

682

:

So I hope you can join us next

week . If you are enjoying our show,

683

:

please consider leaving us a donation.

684

:

A hundred percent goes to our animals.

685

:

Paws in

686

:

the night Claws in the

fight Whiskers twitch and

687

:

tails

688

:

take flight

689

:

They’re calling in Stories to spin

From the wild to the heart within

690

:

Broken wings and hopeful springs

We’re the voices for these things

691

:

animal posse hear the call.

692

:

We stand together.

693

:

Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

got it all Animal posse Saving

694

:

them

695

:

all

696

:

The vet’s got tips The rescuer’s

grit The foster homes where love

697

:

won’t quit From a pup in the rain to

a bird in pain , Every soul’s worth

698

:

the

699

:

strain

700

:

Animal posse

701

:

Hear the call

702

:

We stand together Big

703

:

and small Rescue tales We’ve got

it all Animal posse Saving them all

704

:

Every caller tells a tale, every

howl a whispered wail, we rise up.

705

:

We never

706

:

fail.

707

:

This

708

:

is

709

:

the

710

:

bond

711

:

The holy grail

712

:

Animal posse Hear the call We stand

together Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

713

:

got it all Animal posse Saving them all

714

:

Every caller tells a tale Every howl

a whispered wail We rise up We never

715

:

fail This is the bond The holy grail.

716

:

Song by Suno.ai

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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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