Sep. 20th, 2008 at 10:40 PM
I spoke with Joanne at the humane society late this afternoon. There are a total of 8 Akitas at this farm. She was told by the owners that there are 3 males that were born last December. The rest are adults, one male has a questionable temperament, described as a very dominant male that the owners are afraid of.
Joanne said that an all breed rescue has stepped forward and offered to temporarily house the Akitas, get them vaccinated and tested for heartworms, brucellosis and erhlichia. All 8 Burmese Mountain Dogs that came out tested negative for heartworms and brucellosis, BUT tested positive for erhilichia. The all breed rescue will not be able to treat the Akitas for any insect borne diseases. BMD rescue stated that all 8 of their breed that came out were in fairly good health and appeared well fed. But they have not scene the "outside world" and "showed no signs of mishandling, just NO handling".
Rebecca Payne has offered to travel to Paris, AR next weekend to assess the temperaments and get a better handle on their medical conditions. I have provided Joanne with Rebecca's contact information and asked her to coordinate with Rebecca date/time for the evaluations. Rebecca does not feel, at this time, that she will need additional help.
The all breed rescue that will be temporarily housing the Akitas has a vast transport network to the northeast, so getting a couple of these Akitas to ARWNY should not be a problem. Joanne Dimon has several contacts that can assist with getting a couple transported for ARSF to Georgia. I'm not sure if MARS can take one or two, but ARMAC has offered to take one.
So we should wait to hear further from Rebecca as to what she finds when she meets the Akitas. Rebecca will be taking pictures of the Akitas and providing us with further details. In the meantime, please have your groups prepare a transport plan to your respective areas. And if there are any other Akita rescue groups that can even one of these dogs it would help alleviate the burden on everyone involved. All our rescues are overflowing and many of us will need to board these Akitas because no foster space is available. The expense of boarding of boarding yet another Akita is one that we could all do without.
PLEASE remember to save all receipts associated with these Akitas. The ACA Rescue Committee will be urging the ACA Board to reimburse for many expenses that might not otherwise be covered under the Rescue Fund Guidelines.
For those rescues that will be taking an Akita(s) from this mill, please start soliciting your supporters for donations to help defray your costs.
I will update everyone again soon.
Sincerely,
Lisa Gray
Akita Rescues need donations. They need your help. If you can help, even if it's only a few dollars,by all means, do so.
