I woke up today in a funk I supposed. I've read so many articles that are just making me bonkers. I have a really bad feeling about where our country is headed and I know that, couple with the weather, just started the day on a bad foot. It's been rainy and overcast all day with a storm rolling in, brining colder weather. Normally I'm all for colder weather, but this is just that yucky cold that's not cold enough to bring snow and not warm enough or dry enough that you can toss on sweats and socks and be comfy. It's just..............yucky!
Then my daughter came by with the grandbabies. We had a great night, watched lots of awesome old cartoons, but both babies are sick and have been for a while. She'd given them their meds before coming over, but after several hours it was wearing off and the poor things were just miserable. When their temps started to climb I had to say good bye so they could get them home and get some meds in them.
Shortly after my daughter called to let me know the youngest, only 2 years old, has a temp of 104.8!! She got him meds and in the tub to see if it will bring it down but if not they'll have to take him to the ER. Then she said there was also something on her door from the sheriff's office. That really ticked me off. She was kind enough to take in a cute little husky mix when she bought her house a year ago. No one claimed the dog. She already had three and adopted a fourth as well, so didn't have room for a fifth, but she wasn't going to let it starve. When temps were bad it stayed inside with them. Not much else you can do. I used to run the shelter and know what happened to it when I left and she didn't want the dog to die, so she just kept asking, hoping someone would offer to take the poor dog.
She's had problems with another neighbor that lets their dog roam all over. It's been more and more aggressive and last week it attacked and killed her chihuahua when he went outside to potty. The dog she'd been feeding had started hanging out with it as well. After that she was afraid to let it near the house. Her sister had spent the night with her when this happened and called to tell me and asked if I could come over. When I got out of the van the dog that killed her dog charged me growling. I kicked it to keep from being bitten and both dogs ran off. I took care of what needed to be taken care of there and bundled up the family and they came to stay with me for the day. I called the sheriff's office and asked them to go get both dogs.
Well, because she's tried to help the dog out, the state law says it's her dog. The ACO didn't bother to go get the dogs for days and in the meantime the one that killed her dog and snapped at me attacked another small dog in the neighborhood. The owners said they think it was the dog my daughter was trying to help, but she doesn't think it was because that dog has always gotten along with the other. It's this other dog that's caused problems. Regardless, the state law classifies it as her dog and she had a notice on her door when she got home tonight.
Now, I'm not sure if this is because of me but it's how I feel at the moment. When I was fired from the job there, I'd been trying to work with the county with a major issue with the ACO. He had violated not only policy and procedure, but also state and federal laws. I had asked for over seven months for help with it. At one point the sheriff was going to have me file charges against him and he'd arrest him. I talked to a girl that was there before me who had been subjected to the same abuses I had and we both didn't want his wife and children humiliated by his arrest. It didn't excuse what he did, but I thought we could work with the county to come up with a better solution. This went on seven months until I was fed up. I had photographic and video evidence of so many things this man was doing that were just horrible. I finally went to the sheriff and had him watch the videos and look at the photos. I told him I was contacting an attorney and possibly the media if something wasn't done. Right is right, wrong is wrong and this was all very wrong and very illegal. He had me go to the County Executive again. But he had no computer that would play the photos and videos. VERY small rural county with no money. I told him also I was speaking with attorneys.
Next thing I know the county moves to fire me, stating to the media that I lied about the County Executive canceling the prisoner trustee program I'd put in place. The county never asked me for anything, never interviewed me, never gave me a chance to speak. The meeting was held late at night and no notice was given. I wasn't even told I was fired!! I showed up to work to get a dog to take to the vet and found the locks changed. That was my notice; figure it out yourself.
I did get an attorney and we did file the paperwork through EEOC. But I realized that 1) it wouldn't change anything. This was going on way before me and would continue much long after I was gone, and 2) all it would do is destroy the reputation of the shelter that I'd worked so hard to fix. That doesn't save a single animal life. So I dropped the lawsuit.
In the meantime I put up with the girl who took over the position I had (and coincidentally is the best friend of the ACO) lying to people about me, stating I abandoned a mother dog and litter of puppies from the shelter to die (another rescue took them, not me), told people I stole money and items from the shelter (I can account for every single penny I took to that courthouse for deposit and there was nothing at the shelter that could have been stolen; as a matter of fact when I left, I left behind a TON of things I purchased for the shelter with my own money), etc.
In all the time that shelter has been opened, I begged the county to get more involved in owners that let their dogs roam at large. I even did policy and procedure for the county to vote on. And yet not a single thing was ever done, regardless of how many times we picked up various pets. And yet all the sudden when my daughter tries to help an abandoned dog, she gets penned as owner and cited?? I'm just so frustrated.
I get small town politics, I do. I was so very fortunate to be raised in a town that placed so much emphasis on truth and integrity. I guess I was naive. But I learned the hard way when I moved to rural TN that people here are different. It's the good ol boy network and animal don't matter. But I never in a million years would have thought the sheriff of that county, a man that I once had a tremendous amount of respect for and called friend, would turn out to be just like the others. I just don't enjoy being here anymore. I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of corrupt jackasses that are just looking to nail me or my family to the wall for anything, even if they have to fudge the truth.
As a side note, the only person who has seen the videos and photos of what happened at that shelter are the admins from that county, a couple very close friends and my attorney. I have NEVER released them to the media. And yet, here we sit. I'm just done. My kids and grandkids are here. I don't want to move far. But I'm seriously thinking of going a bit north to get out of this corrupt little rural backwoods pocket we're in. And that kind of makes me sad.
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