Speaking for Marley

 
 

Every suffering animal needs to be heard. Dogs try to be heard by barking, but most of the time their barking is silenced. They have no voice — they have no choice. Unless someone speaks for them.

Animal Advocates Society hears — and truly listens — to the voices of many suffering dogs. Marley was one.

AAS heard about Marley the usual way: an email from a person who drove every day past the field Marley "lived" in, on her way to work. The animal welfare agency said that no law was being broken.

Marley's chain wrapped around the tree, making even less area she had access to.

The vision of Marley, huddled in her dog house, unable to even stand and step outside without getting muddy and wet, haunted this person.

One day she pulled over to the side of the road, intent on helping this dog. She didn't know if she tried to just take her if the dog would bite her, so she knocked on the farmhouse door to ask why they kept the dog this way. She was told to protect the property by barking. Was she ever allowed in the house? No.

Was she taken for walks because I would like to walk her for you, if you don't have the time. No, the dog is a farm dog and they're dirty and don't come in the house. And No, you can't take it for walks, that would just spoil the dog.

Her last-ditch attempt was offering to buy the dog. The response was an angry threat. Yelling that he was taking her licence plate number and reporting her to the police, he shook his fist in her face.

Distraught and helpless, she told this story at her workplace, and one of her colleagues told her to contact AAS. "They'll do something."

And we did.

Dogs barking at night, when all is quiet, are more easily heard than during the day. Marley was chained close to house and would definitely be heard at night. She had to be rescued in broad daylight.

Soon after, when it appeared that no one was home (and hoping that there was no one in the barn or the nearby field), Marley was rescued. And No, she didn't bite. She was scared, and her rescuer had to kneel in the mud to pat and calm her and drag her out, because if she weren't rescued this time, she might never be rescued.

As with most rescued dogs, Marley dug in her heels at the open car door. She had never been in a car and it must have seemed to her to be a terrifying trap. Before she could decide what to do, she was quickly boosted into the car, the door shut and she was driven to her new life — a real life, not just an existence.

Five minutes down the road, Marley was licking and kissing her rescuer — and grinning.

Thank you for your generous support of our dear rescued animals. You make it possible. Donate here.

You can also help more suffering animals get rescued simply by sharing this story.

 

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