Burger King To The Rescue
As I drove through Kayenta, Arizona this past week I noticed something odd. I passed the McDonalds and clustered around the front was a group of about five or six dogs. Same with Burger King and the gas station. Each location had its own group of dogs hovering in the sunshine. With three of my own in the car I didn’t have the opportunity to do anything but get gas and keep traveling. On the way back through, however, I made some inquiries.
As I pulled up to the window of Burger King’s drive-thru to get my Whopper Jr. I asked the gal at the window the story about all the dogs.
“They get dropped here from all over,” she said. “They’re all strays with no place to go.”
“Don’t you have a local shelter or rescue?” I asked.
“Nope, they are on their own here.” She pointed to a larger brown dog just across the drive by the gas station. “That one over there was hit by a car about two months ago. Nobody took it to a vet, that’s why it drags its back leg around.”
I looked at the dog she indicated and at the others sitting or walking about. There was an Aussie that was obviously nursing pups she had hidden someplace. The other six or so looked cold and rightly so. It was below freezing at 2:00 in the afternoon.
“Where do they go when the temperatures get cold?”
“Wherever they can find to get out of the wind. They are lucky if the kids use them for target practice. At least they’re put out of their misery,” she replied.
I was shocked not only by the plight of all these dogs, but by the casual way she talked about them being used for target practice. I pulled into the lot, got out and counted the dogs then went back into Burger King and bought a hamburger for each – the largest I could buy. 
I walked out with the bag and all wary eyes were on me. There was snow on the ground but I imagined a good drink of water was also hard to come by. I got out the water bowls I always keep in my vehicle and filled them from the gallon I also haul with me. The dogs all looked at me, the injured one and the mother of pups kept to the back of the group. If they were going to get any food they’d need to be fed separately from the rest.
Unwrapping the burgers brought them all in closer, but still they were wary. I quickly threw all but two burgers further across the lot and approached the other two dogs. Setting the food in front of them I stepped back and they ate. My presence kept the rest of the pack away. When they finished I looked around. The others were drinking as if they hadn’t had a drink in weeks. I took one bowl over to the other two and let them drink also. The one that was struck by a car got up and wagged its tail and came close enough to let me stroke his head. He was dragging one leg behind him. The tears came as I sat there a minute giving this poor soul a bit of kindness. I’d have taken them all home with me if I could have but that was impossible. I wished I had a truck and trailer so that I could go back for them. I’d make it my mission to find some no-kill shelters for them, but those are hard to come by as more and more pets are abandoned.
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I certainly can understand your point of view, and I initially did not go into this with judgement of any kind - if you read the blogs from 1 - 19 my mission was to help your nation in any way I could to solve the problem with the dogs. As to taking some home with me, that would have been a completely irresponsible act, as many have distemper and other diseases that would be unwise to transfer over the state lines. I raised quite a bit of money, and I went in and spoke with Dr. Begaye - who took the food I brought but then did not disperse it to the dogs. I was willing to help with more funds, I had homes lined up for many of the dogs from different rescues in 4 different states, but for some reason Dr. Begaye and Frank just couldn't seem to pull it together enough to get any dogs pulled into the clinic or get any help from people on the rez to dispense the food.
I'm not here to judge you, nor am I part of your problem there on the rez. I didn't put you there - it was done by people before I was even born. I don't approve of what was done back then, but neither do I take the blame for what you live with. I have been a single parent and struggled with tough times and no income, but I never took a cent from our government even when I wondered how I would pay the next bill. I'm not immune to human suffering, but nor am I prone to sit back and constantly complain about my situation without doing something proactive to change it.
If you don't like your life on the rez, which is paid for by the taxpayers, then move someplace where you can earn a living and make your life what you envision. We are all free to do that in the United States. You have the same opportunity as the rest of us, and I'm just a bit tired of hearing every excuse in the world. If I were of a wealthy family and had never had to struggle for what I had then you might be able to state that I 'don't understand your plight.' But as a woman alone with a young child I had to struggle and kick and scream and make life happen for myself and my son. And when I lost everything I worked for due to a catastrophic injury that took everything I had including my house, my business and my life as I knew it - I began all over again. So I have little sympathy for those who whine and complain and blame everybody around them for their own decision making.
I don't enter the Navajo Nation with any more expectations than I would enter any other neighborhood, in truth, I've had very little experience with the rez and what it represents. I'm certainly not naive enough to think that those living there today would have any more of a connection with the past and their forefathers than any of the rest of us may or may not. But when you constantly represent yourselves as people in touch with the earth and it's creatures in your advertising and blogs and video's you misrepresent YOURSELVES. I don't expect anybody, because of their race, to behave in a certain way. I do expect humans of any country or background to have a basic understanding of kindness and caring. This is something your nation does NOT demonstrate with they way they treat their animals. If anybody has an expectation it's due to your own false advertising, not a preconceived notion.
I raise money and donate my time to rescue animals in the Phoenix area of Arizona also, I'm part of a rescue group and I have rescue animals of my own. Don't prostelatize to me about what I should be doing without knowing how much I do to help animals in need. I write a series of children's books and donate to animals rescue groups across the nation. I do my part. What about you?
it is discouraging to read your peoples' comments of my people as they have never lived on any rez, never have been assimilated and placed on lands that the government did not want or need at the time. i have lived off the rez for more than 15 yrs in flagstaff so i can say what is out there. in your towns & cities, you have 10-20 more dog catchers compared to our 3 for the entire navajo nation who are overwhelmed with calls to come and take dogs down who have attacked their livestock. can you even imagine if you were called to pick some strays in kayenta or go tend to the dogs who attacked and killed other animals, and in some instances, dogs have attacked and killed people on our rez. no one seems to think about the nature of stray dogs and their instinct to form packs. let's talk about that. it is disheartening even to my people to see our strays.
i can say for myself and my fellow neighbors, we do not have the money to gather these dogs and begin to feed them. when i moved back to the rez in 2006, myself and my grandsons were feeding 7 stray dogs who came to our home from who knows where. it was obvious they were hungry and thirsty. we do not have the income to take these strays to the vets, where would i get $50 for gas to transport these strays and when we get there, where would i get the customary $25 fee for each dogs to get their exams and shots? we do not have that type of money.
your people make comments like it is nothing to them to spend $225. i will invite each and every one who has that type of money to come here and perform these deeds. once these strays are examined and treated, what would you suggest we do? set up an adoption center? and who do you think on our rez would spend $50 to adopt another dog to their already 3 or 4 they might have at home? that is how it is here on the rez.
your people come to our rez believing that they are entering sacred grounds because of us being native americans. that is all that you know. none of your people who have commented so far have not an ounce of knowledge of our people. you drive through our rez thinking "the beautyway" but you see trash and stray dogs and assume that we don't follow our own words. the beautyway is not all about trash, stray dogs and alcoholics. but that is all you see on your 2-3 hrs. drive thru our rez.
what do you expect from my people when we have been placed here on the rez where you will not find a humane shelter. what anglo businessman would come to the rez and set up his business? not one because there is no money here. the only money he will put in his pocket is from tourism. it bewilders me when anglo people come driving thru our rez and begin to criticize our way of life when they were the ones who put us here so they could have the prime lands and money. you speak of the trash, do you really think we are the only ones littering our highways? your people drive thru here, thousands and thousands every day to see beauty they believe, throwing their trash out of their luxury vehicles because the next trash can is 75-100 miles away. i have seen that many of times. trash coming out of vehicles from new york, illinois, california, etc. after that they arrive home and tell their families and friends that our rez is trashy and filled with dogs who are not taken care of their owners, the navajo people. and because of that they go on to theorize that we are cruel, heartless and indifferent, and most of all we do live by our "beautyway". your people are the ones who came up with the "meaning" of the beautyway in your own "ideology".
i read a comment about "the navajos' failure to understand their own culture. apparently, they only want to appear to be connected to the earth and all its creatures, for the sake of tourist dollars.". where did this person come from to believe this? an anglo person who could not sit down and speak to one of my people, an anglo person who could not comprehend our culture in the first hour or even 10 hours. let me share one thing with you all about our culture, we do not place the gain of money anywhere in our culture unlike your people who see it as a status or whatever but it is placed at the highest in your way of life. one thing i see even in this day and age is what most anglo people think of our people is what they thought when they first came to this continent. how they believed they could make this a better place to live. what happened? is it easier for you to look at our rez and its people and make comments of this sort?
yes we do have a huge problem with stray dogs among many, many and many more other problems with health, schooling, jobs, transportation, etc. every single day I go down to the only gas station on our rez and see dogs wandering around, most of the time its the same dogs, if i do have leftover chips from my grandsons, i will feel it to the dogs. yes, i see an anglo woman occasionally feeding some dogs living under an abandoned building. i wonder why doesn't she just take them home with her? maybe to care for them on a daily basis, getting them neutered, spayed, immunized, setting up dog houses, buying and feeding on a daily basis is too much for her which i understand because that is where i'm at. i see emaciated ones and my heart hurts also and i know my people feel the same way. we are not cruel or heartless. what answer do you have for us? most recently, a stray we had been feeding turned on our own family dog, a dachshund causing injuries to her on two separate occasions. we made a trip to the window rock vet instead of gallup where the fees would be too much for my family. what were we to do about the stray? call animal control? before the stray attacked another dog or our own again, or maybe anyone walking down the road, i borrowed a 22 from one of the neighbors and shot the stray even though i felt bad about it. i didn't want to do this but i have to take care of everyone else around my home.
i have just read the first page of what is posted and the comment "I'd have taken them all home with me IF......" yes if this and if that. isn't that always the case? if you really felt inspired about it, you would have done that. no ifs or ands about it. but i see it as alot easier to criticize our way of life as you sit in your town or city with its many facilities that can handle every stray dog in your clean community with many other people who can afford to go down to the local shelter and adopt a dog for $75 with money they have. thats the way i see it.
Hi, Susan
Thanks for the response to my second email yesterday. Before sending my initial email, I hadn't perused your archives, so I was unaware of all your efforts to help the rez dogs and cats. Thank you once again!
I was somewhat saddened to hear that Dr. Begaye feels that feeding the dogs is a conflict of interest. I guess I can see her point. That being said, I'm sure that my monthly donations are being put to other good use, perhaps toward spaying and neutering.
I was really troubled to read about problems with the shelter itself. When I was out there, Frank Ramsey drove me to the site where it was to be built and pointed out the stacks of building materials to me. He was really excited after all his dogged--no pun intended--persistence that the facility was finally becoming a reality. One day I hope to be able to help Frank and Dr. Begaye get those problems fixed once and for all.
I watched the first half of the video yesterday. It tore my heart out because it was just like being back there and seeing those pitiful sights firsthand.
Thanks again, Susan, for all you do.
Sincerely,
Russ Mann
I apologize for failing to mention the main reason I wrote the first letter to you. That is, thank you for what you did for the animals!
I wish more sympathetic people were aware of this dreadful situation. When I traveled to Kayenta to deliver the donations I received during my cross-country trip, I saw more heartbreaking scenes which I made note of in my travel journal. I couldn't believe how indifferent some people were toward the strays.
Meanwhile, you can read the article I wrote which explains what inspired me to do the fundraising trip by googling kayenta animal shelter and clicking on the link below
http://www.wickedlocal.com/chelmsford/newsnow/x684393731/Guest-commentary-Easing-a-dogs-life
Thank you for helping those who can't help themselves.
Sincerely,
Russ Mann
Just read your heartbreaking story. I can sympathize with you because I have been there.
There IS a shelter that cares for these forlorn animals, but they can only handle so many. It's called the Kayenta Animal Care Center, formerly known as the Kayenta Animal Control and Shelter. The website is www.kayentaanimalshelter.org. I did a charity fundraising ride for them by riding cross country on my Harley several years ago. (You can see my smiling face by logging on to the website and clicking on the "Progress" link.) The faces on these pathetic animals struck a nerve with me, and I help out with donations on a frequent basis. In an effort to generate more donations, I recently wrote an article for the local paper about this deplorable situation.
Thanks for bringing this subject to light. The rez dogs (and cats) are always on my mind, and helping them is my number one cause.
Sincerely,
Russ Mann
Could Best Friends be alerted to this problem? They do wonderful work for animals. We humans have done much harm in this world but can redeem ourselves by reaching out and helping the helpless who share our planet.
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire"
We have a Wendys near my hometown and there are about five ferral cats that live in the tall grasses just on the other side of the drive-in window. The workers built shelters for them and feed them everyday...along with other folks buying extra food and throwing it to them. Why can't the people in this Arizona community have the same compassion that the individuals at my Wendys have?