This dog may have been a victim of budget cuts

Yesterday Jon and I experienced an hour of frustrating trauma, feeling very helpless. Jon had been on his way to an appointment when he spotted a dog on the side of the road, half sitting and half lying down, tongue out and clearly in some distress. Jon felt he might have been hit by a car and he was still in the street where he could have been hit again, and this was on Power Inn Road, a major north-south thoroughfare.

Jon and I are both animal lovers and clearly he didn't want to just drive away and leave the dog there, but he needed to get to his meeting and if the dog was injured, it might be dangerous to try to move him, so Jon called information, got the number for Sacramento County Animal Care and Control, and tried to call them to come out to get the dog some help.

All he got was a recording that suggested that if he left a voice mail message, someone would get back to him within 24 hours. Obviously that would be no help. He said he tried a couple of other numbers but still couldn't reach anyone. He couldn't think who else to call, so he called me and asked me to call someone to get out there to help the poor dog.

I called several other numbers for county services and got the same type of recording, then called the Sacramento SPCA and Happy Tails Pet Sanctuary and still got no live person and the 24 hour bit. By this time I was close to tears and Jon had called me several times to see if I'd found anyone yet, so he was really upset too. He even called me once form his meeting.

We didn't know if the dog would still be alive, or lying there in pain or what, and just thinking about it was very upsetting. I was about a half hour drive away and didn't know if I could do anything if I went there anyway.

I called around, trying numbers that had anything to do with animals. Finally called the number to report animal abuse and was finally given some numbers on their recording. I learned that animal issues are now being left for the cities instead of the county. I scribbled down the numbers for Sacramento, Elk Grove, and Rancho Cordova, and called the Sacramento one.

Lo and behold! I finally got a live human being, and a sympathetic and friendly guy too. Of course I dissolved into tears at the relief and had to pull myself together to explain the situation, giving him the approximate location of the dog, that it was a mostly white pit bull with some brown markings, and repeating what my husband had said about the dog's condition. Since it had been most of an hour, I was afraid we might be too late, but he said he would call someone to take care of it and they would call me.

A little bit after that I got a call from a very nice gal who told me she had dispatched a fellow out to the area to look for the dog and she asked me for more details. I called Jon and got the answers to her questions, called her back directly and she relayed the info to the fellow in the field. While we were still on the phone he checked in and said he had found the dog and it was sitting up, so he was going to bring it in and see what they could do for it.

Yay! What a relief! I hope that little guy will be okay. I called Jon right away and he said that news made his day.

With all the drastic budget cuts and reduction in the number of volunteers that the non-government agencies can count on, it is getting harder and harder to know how to find emergency help for our animals. If you are in our area and need to get help for an animal, here are some numbers that can hopefully get you some assistance. I know the Sacramento one was wonderful.

City of Sacramento: (916) 264-5011 (answered 24 hours)
The number I called the dispatcher back on was (916) 808-8693.

Elk Grove: (916) 687-3023

Rancho Cordova: (916) 851-8852

I really wish we could resolve this budget problem so that the most helpless of our creatures wouldn't be left to suffer.

******************
Susan Neal

Broker / Realtor
Century 21 Noel David Realty
Fair Oaks, California

Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 30+ years experience.

I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction.

"Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916)705-8951or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

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