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Pawsitive Personals: Tales from Mark's Animal Rescue
Episode 1 • 31st January 2025 • Animal Posse • Unwanted Feline Organization
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Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today we're joined with Dr.

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Mark, animal advocate.

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He is a published author and

a longtime animal rescuer.

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Hi, Mark.

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How are you today?

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Mark: I'm doing fine.

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I'm doing fine.

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Good to hear from you.

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Dixie: Yep.

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Good to hear from you.

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So can you tell us a little bit

about how you got involved in animal

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rescue and give us a brief bio?

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Mark: Oh, I would love to.

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It was I'll start off real far back

as I can, and then I'll catch it up

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to speed, but anyway, as a young child

of six years old, I actually got my

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first puppy, my father had given me,

and it's like, that was a world to me.

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Well, I grew up with animals ever since

I was six years old, and I wanted to

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actually be a veterinarian, but at the

time that I applied for veterinary school

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it was you know, I didn't quite have the

GPA, and back at that, during that time,

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It's almost like you, you didn't have a 4.

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0 in college and you weren't going to

get into vet school and what have you.

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So I didn't make it into vet

school, but later in life I actually

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wanted to work with animals.

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So when I retired from my profession

I decided that I wanted to go and be

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a animal advocate, animal rescuer.

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So what I did is I wind up Going

back to school, learning how to

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be a true animal advocate, also

how to be a true animal rescuer.

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So, a couple, about 10 years ago, I opened

up an animal rescue in close to Miami.

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It's a place called Pompano

Beach where I lived.

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Well, I opened up a forester based animal

rescue due to the fact that I was not

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allowed actually to have animals on the

property that I had had bought there.

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So anyway I ran a forester

based and learned a lot from the

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forester based animal rescue.

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I did that about six years in Florida.

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And then I decided that I wanted

to be a full time, on hand rescuer.

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So I moved to Louisiana.

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I bought seven acres here in Louisiana

and became an an owner and manager of a

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large rescue where there were times that

I had over 100 animals that was farm

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animals and domestic animals as well.

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Now, I didn't have cats only because

I had so many dogs, and I truly didn't

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have a cat house where I could actually

put cats, but I love all animals.

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But I did what I could do, and

I took on horses, ponies, goats.

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Many horses and of course, dogs.

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Because at any one time during my

early years of rescue when I got to

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Louisiana, I had like a hundred plus dogs.

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Most of them were puppies

that were actually discarded.

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In the in the parish of

Washington, which is located

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about 55 miles from New Orleans.

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But anyway, that was a that's

a quick history of how I got

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into the rescue business as well

as being an animal advocate.

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Now that I'm 78 years old,

it's, it has gotten a bit much.

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I've cut down my rescue.

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I do not take any more animals now

because of the fact that I'm just not

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able to take care of that many animals.

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But what I do, is I work mostly

now as an animal advocate.

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I have several channels that I do.

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One of them is called Pawsitive Personals.

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I have about 160 videos from pet care

to pet training, to how to become

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an animal advocate, how to become

an investigator investigating animal

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cruelty, how to become a journalist.

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All of that you can find.

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Actually on my YouTube channel

again called Pawsitive Personals.

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And I also have a news channel

called Pet News USA Advocate.

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And you can go on that channel and

you'll find stories of rescues.

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Actually a lot of rescue

type stories on that channel.

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Something that may, will hopefully

help you, make you feel good

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about society today because there

are some really good people who

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really works hard to help animals.

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So, when I became an animal avidist,

like, I thought everybody was evil.

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They hated animals because

there's so much animal abuse,

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but there are some good people.

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Anyway, I hope that You know, kind of

gives you an overview of how I got here.

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Dixie: It does.

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And what is the name

of your animal rescue?

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Mark: Mark's Animal Rescue Incorporated.

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We're a 501c3 rescue.

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We've been a 501c3 for about 10 years now.

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My first 501c3 rescue, of course,

was my foster based in Pompano Beach.

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And then when I moved here,

I took on, I got a Louisiana.

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Corporation, but we've been a

501 C now for about 10 years.

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Dixie: That's great.

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And how many animals do

you have in your care now?

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Mark: We're all together.

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I have 47 animals that's counting

my farm animals and my dogs.

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I have dogs right now.

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I have 19 dogs.

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Those dogs except for two, are

your medium size to large dog.

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When I say medium size, 40 pounds to,

I got one dog that's about 120 pounds.

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And they've been with me, unfortunately.

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I've tried to find them, them

homes without great success.

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People will, I've had a lot of luck

adopting smaller animals, but your

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big animals, your big dogs it's really

hard to find a good home for them.

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So, I would say while I'm on your

broadcast here that if anyone

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is looking for a large animal.

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I really do have some good, and I

don't just say that, I have some

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really nice, beautiful, sweet, large

dogs that are looking for a good home.

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And most of them is going

to need a large dog.

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yard or a field or, you know, for for you

to adopt him because they're large dogs.

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Dixie: Hopefully we can reach somebody

that would be interested in a large dog.

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It is sad too.

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Cause I mean, we see that too

with the adult cats, where

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they're just often overlooked.

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And I mean, they're perfect animals.

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They're great animals, great companions.

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And for some reason, large dogs, adult

cats, people seem to overlook them.

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Mark: Yeah, exactly.

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May I ask you how long have you

been doing, because I know you

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do cat rescues, but how long

have you been doing cat rescues?

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Dixie: I've been doing cat rescues

probably about maybe 18 years.

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Mark: Oh, wow.

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So, long time.

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Good for you.

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Dixie: Yep.

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Mark: I did not know that.

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I didn't know how long you were doing it.

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I knew you were doing cat rescues,

but I didn't know how long.

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Dixie: I've always had cats my

whole life, but it's been about

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18 years where I've got involved

rescue fostering and, tNR.

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For your animals at your rescue,

you do that all by yourself

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Do you have any help?

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Mark: I don't.

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I do it by myself.

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Fortunately, God's been good to me.

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I've had I, I retired with

a fairly decent pension.

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And I say that only because of the fact

that anyone considering getting into

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rescue I'm gonna say right up front,

even though you might become a 501 C3,

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don't expect people to donate in any

sums that's really going to help you.

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If you become a really true animal

rescuer and you take on a lot of

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animals, that cost becomes tremendous.

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And I will say that I have been

disappointed in rescue people

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before because I have, when doing my

investigations, found animal rescues,

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actually not animal rescues, people

had to rescue the animals from the

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animal rescuer because you can't.

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Like, I have people come to me and

say, Well, you've got room, you can

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put It ain't a question of room, it's

a question of You need to vet this

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animal And that's expensive You need

to feed this animal, and shelter this

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animal Well, all that cost And I've

had people say, well, I'm a 501c3.

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I'm gonna get donations.

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I can tell you right now,

those donations do not come.

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They're rare when you get a

donation that's really going to

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help you, because the cost of

running a rescue is very expensive.

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I wanted to just, when I moved here

from Florida I just opened up my rescue.

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In fact, it wasn't even opened up

yet, didn't even have a place to live.

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And so anyway a neighbor came down

and said there's a lab, looked like

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a chocolate lab dead in a ditch.

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Anyway, I went over there and

didn't find out, but the lab wasn't

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dead, but he did have a broken

back, broken hip, broken leg.

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Well, my first cost when we talk about

cost and when you want to rescue this lab

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needed about 6, 000 of work to get him to

actually and In almost 90 percent shape,

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according to the vet, but he said, you

know, for 2, 000, I mean, we can get the

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dog walk and he'll be fine, we'll mend.

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And I said, well, we'll

just have to do that.

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I just moved here and

6, 000 is a bit much.

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So anyway, we did, I did

get the dog fixed up.

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In fact, I still got him

because I love that dog.

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It's a chocolate lab and he's

still with me after seven years.

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I've been here seven years.

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But anyway, it just costs

when you want to rescue.

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You know, you got to be sure that

you have the funds to do that.

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The dog that was in the ditch?

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What's that dog's name?

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Oh, that's highway.

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I named him Highway.

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Oh, I like it.

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I like it.

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That's a good one.

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That's a good one.

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He's been with me, I've been here seven

years and Highway was my first rescue and

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highway's still with me 'cause I didn't

have the heart to, to adopt him out.

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And I, and it's not like I couldn't,

they had several people that

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wanted a beautiful chocolate lab.

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But I put so much time and effort in

nursing him back that there was no way

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that I was going to let Highway go.

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That's wonderful.

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So Highway is still with me, one healthy

little, one healthy, I say little,

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he's not little, one healthy dog.

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Yeah, that's a great story.

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I agree with you, when you said that

you do have to have some kind of funds.

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You can't just go out and rescue

without having any kind of funds.

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You do have to have that.

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You can't rely totally

100 percent on donations.

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You do have to realize that you

are going to come out of pocket.

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Yes, it's going to be you know, for me

personally, it's been, it's a lot out

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of the pocket and for most rescuers,

and like I said, you know, I find a lot

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of rescuers, you know, call themselves

rescuers, but, you know, these animals

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aren't provided, the ones they rescue,

they're not provided with everything

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that they need, and and I'm gonna tell

you that, that becomes a heavy burden

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on people, and I see people, I know they

feel sorry for animals, And they have

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a great love for animals, but you know,

there's sometimes you've got to draw a

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line because you need to take only care

of the animals that you can actually take

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care of, because again, I have a fairly

decent place here that's well built

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for rescue, but I tell people all the

time, I can't take on any more animals.

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And the first thing they'll tell

me is, well, you've got all this

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space here in these buildings.

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So this rescue is full.

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And and it's not only that, it's

not, again, it's not the space.

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You've got to be able to take

care of these animals and vet

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these animals and feed them.

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And that's not cheap.

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Well, let me ask you this, Mark.

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How many rescues do you think Bite

off more than they can chew as far

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as you know, take it on too many.

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You know, I don't know Yeah,

I don't know an exact number.

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I really don't but I will tell

you in my investigations Of 10

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years and i've done quite a bit.

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I was a deputy sheriff for a while and

and he's baton rouge parish and then

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Maybe six months here in washington

parish But I will tell you that most

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rescuers with their love and passion for

animals take on more than they should.

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Because they are not able to actually take

care of these animals like they should.

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So the percentage of people who

take on animal rescue takes on

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more than they, they should.

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But for me to tell you a number,

you know, I'm not able to do that.

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Now, you consider yourself

an animal advocate.

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Can you explain what that means?

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I fight Every day for animal

rights, animal welfare.

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And I've done that for about 10 years.

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There is a LA Institute where I received

my doctorate from on animal advocacy.

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That I learned a great deal about

that particular subject in terms of

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animal rights throughout the country.

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And I speak of country, the USA I've

learned a lot about animal welfare,

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I've learned a lot about animal rights,

and wherever a person is located,

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if you truly want to be an animal

advocate, that requires a lot, because

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that means that you need to work

with your local government, you need

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to work with local law enforcement.

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And unfortunately, both

are not easy to work with.

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And I'm gonna give you an example and

I know a lot as I've been doing this

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for a long time, but in Washington

Parish, where I live at now is I have

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been to several local government council

meetings trying to get our parish to

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bring about some animal ordinances.

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We have no animal ordinances

in Washington Parish.

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And basically when I go and meet with

the the council members during their

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meetings, they have on a Monday evening,

6 30, once a month, they have an open

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council meeting for the public, which I.

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Attended and unfortunately all they

will tell me basically is, well,

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we're going to give that some thought.

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Well, they've been giving that a thought

now for, oh, four or five years, they've

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still been giving it some thought.

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And and really I asked for a lot and

I drew up along with someone else, we

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drew up this, some animal ordinances.

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I'm sorry about that.

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That's all right.

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Animal ordinances for the parish.

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Excuse me, just a minute.

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Okay.

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Hey, Dixie?

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Yes?

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Dixie, just, can you kind of just

for a minute give me five minutes?

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I'm sorry.

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Yeah, no problem.

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Okay, I'll be right back with you.

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Okay.

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Somebody drove up in my driveway

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I'll tell you what that was.

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I'm sorry for the break.

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The little chihuahua I was talking about.

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That was the owner.

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Oh, wonderful.

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So, what happened with this dog, if you

can tell our audience, cause I know we

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know about it, but our audience doesn't.

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So if you can give us a brief

synopsis on what just happened,

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cause I think that's kind of cool.

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We just had a reunion on a podcast.

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Well, this morning a neighbor of

mine, Bill came by here because

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he wanted, he wasn't able to see.

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The dog had been microchipped,

because he microchipped to see

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if the dog had one, and he did.

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But Bill was not able to read the number.

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So anyway he brought the little dog

over, and I looked at the number,

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and I was able to read it, even

though I'm old, I got great eyes now.

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I was able to read it, but we were

not able to find that the microchip.

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At least on the search that I

did, was not able to find it.

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The name of the owner.

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So, I think, and this is, I think this,

because this builds out here, this is

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the lady who picked the dog up, that

they went to one of the shelters, and

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a local shelter had shipped that dog,

and so they had a record of that dog.

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And so Bill was able to find the

owner, and he just called me and

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said the owner would pick the dog up,

because I offered to foster the dog

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until we found a place for the dog.

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Well, anyway the lady here just

picked up the dog, so the dog is,

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fortunately went back to the owner.

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Oh, that's wonderful.

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Great job.

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Great job.

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Pretty simple.

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I didn't do a whole lot.

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I just offered to foster the

dog, which I don't mind doing.

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I don't take in animals for myself,

but, you know, and a little dog

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like that, you know, I'm not

gonna, I'm not gonna turn him down.

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So, anyway that's what happened.

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But the little dog was able

to get back with his owner.

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What happened was, though, the

owner, I just talked to the owner,

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is that the fireworks actually

was what scared that dog off.

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And and that happens a lot every year.

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I find that dogs that I found

dogs every year I'd come across

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a stray dog and find the owner.

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It was a fireworks that

the dog just ran off.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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That does happen a lot.

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I know it's 4th of July and, New

Year's that's the top two,

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holidays when you have lost pets.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So anyway, but fortunately, you know,

and the one thing I do, and I have

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to say this, my own horn gets sick,

but in my time here in Mount Hermon,

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Louisiana, where my rescue is that

we have saved over 2, 000 dogs here.

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We've rescued 2, 000 dogs and we have

found homes for over 2, 000 dogs.

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That's amazing.

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I'm very proud of the record

that we have established here.

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And the only, again, the only reason

I don't do it anymore is because I got

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to the point where at 78, even though

I still feel good, I just never know.

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So I don't take on any more.

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New dogs, and and I work on trying

to get the ones I have adopted.

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Okay.

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And just to back up for a second,

really quick to let the listeners know.

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So that dog was just now, reunited

with its owners because of a

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microchip that was in the animal.

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That's exactly right..

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Fortunately for that

dog, he had a microchip.

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Yes.

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Yes, and a lot of animals

are not microchipped.

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But just give us a quick

idea on how microchips work.

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Yeah.

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You take the little

dog, or your dog, I see.

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And to

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your vet.

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They will and it's actually a little

bitty chip that they put under the

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skin and there's information on

that chip and it goes to a registry.

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So anytime and the, there's a, there's

an apparatus that one can use if a

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dog is lost or something like that.

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'cause usually chips are pace

placed over the neck area.

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So there's a little apparatus

that you can pass over that area,

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we'll pick up, if that dog has

a chip, we'll pick up a number.

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On that dog.

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And then once you do that, then you

can go to a national registry and

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search that number and and if that

person registered that dog, because it

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doesn't do any good to put a microchip

in if you don't register the microchip.

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So it's very important if people know

that once you put a microchip in,

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the microchips not gonna do anything

unless you actually register that dog.

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Under that microchip.

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So I want that, I want

people to understand that.

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'cause I have picked up a lot of animals

that I ran a check on and actually they

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were microchipped but unfortunately

people don't don't register the microchip.

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So there's no way of

knowing who the owner is.

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And just so everybody knows, the

microchip is not a GPS tracking device,

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so you cannot track your animal.

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That is microchipped That is correct.

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That is correct.

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It is not a tracking device.

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People are under that assumption,

Philip, that it is a tracking

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device, and it is not.

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It's only good if people put it in, they

register it, and then if the dog gets

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lost, then any shelter that may come in

contact with that dog or a rescuer, they

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should have something that will detect

whether or not that dog has a microchip

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and hopefully that dog's been registered.

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But like you said again, I'll

repeat, it's not a, it's not a GPS.

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It's not going to track your dog down.

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Okay, now something else that I would

like to add to that, because a lot of

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people don't know this, when they do find

an animal and they get what's called a

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dead end microchip, where, you know, it's

a microchip, the dog was microchipped,

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but the microchip was not registered.

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So one thing that if you come across a

chip like that, one thing that you can do

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is you can call up that microchip company

and say, hey, who did you sell this chip

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to or who was this chip implanted by?

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And then a lot of times you

can go backwards from there

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and find the owner as well.

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And you were absolutely correct.

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I'm sorry I forgot to say that,

but you were absolutely correct,

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so I'm glad you brought that up.

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Mark: Okay, now before we had reunion,

you were talking about animal advocacy.

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Did you say you, have a

doctorate in animal advocacy?

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I'd like to know a little

bit more about that.

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Like where did you study to get that?

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Well, what it is it's a program

that I had taken plus it's one

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of those it's one of those life.

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:

Experiences Doctorate where you get

a honorary doctorate and I received

378

:

the honorary doctorate from the L.

379

:

A.

380

:

Institute and that was from my

work in five years as a animal

381

:

rescuer and animal advocate

without any designation whatsoever.

382

:

My, my rescue, my, my Forrester

based animal rescue in Florida which

383

:

I reached out to a lot of people.

384

:

I also had a animal

channel that I work with.

385

:

It was an animal news

channel, and that's how the L.

386

:

A.

387

:

Institute recognized me as working

as an animal advocate, because it was

388

:

called Mark's Animal News Network,

which I had done for several years,

389

:

along with my animal rescue, along

with my fight with government.

390

:

and law enforcement to try

to get them to do their job.

391

:

So what happened is as a consequence

of my studies and my life experiences,

392

:

I was awarded a honorary doctorate

from the LA Institute in Los Angeles.

393

:

And that's how that all came about.

394

:

Okay, that's wonderful.

395

:

That's great.

396

:

It just goes to show, it just, you

know, my, my passion is animals.

397

:

That's, that people ask me

about that all the time.

398

:

But that's what I do.

399

:

That's what I everything that I do today

it's all toward animals, helping animals.

400

:

Okay, so now you do also have a YouTube

channel called Pawsitive Personals.

401

:

So can you tell us a little bit

about that and what can people

402

:

find on that YouTube channel?

403

:

Oh, Pawsitive Personals, and

that's let me spell that, make

404

:

sure, it's P A W S I T I V E, and

then personals, P E R S O N A L S.

405

:

And sometimes people ask me,

why did you name a channel that?

406

:

Because plosive, of course, is the paws,

it recognizes animals with that, or paws

407

:

are four legged animals for the most part.

408

:

And then personals is, animal

rescue is a personal thing with me.

409

:

It's a passion, it's a personal thing

with me, so that's why I called my channel

410

:

Positive Personals because everything

I do is a personal thing for animals.

411

:

Now, I have roughly I think the last

count Don't quote me on this, but my

412

:

last count is about 160 videos that

I have done on this YouTube channel.

413

:

My last count is I have about

9, 000 subscribers right now.

414

:

I have over 62, 000 views

for my my YouTube channel.

415

:

I've been in existence for four

months doing this particular channel.

416

:

I have And I have about 160 videos

that cover everything from animal care,

417

:

animal tips animal advocacy animal

training, a lot about advocacy, because

418

:

I I focus on working Trying and trying

to get our local government and law

419

:

enforcement to start doing their job.

420

:

And I'm sorry to say in my opinion

that local governments and law

421

:

enforcement have left animals behind.

422

:

It's almost like they're invisible.

423

:

And I just don't do well with that.

424

:

And as a prior law enforcement

officer, I've seen that firsthand.

425

:

Where.

426

:

We might take care of a

problem that's in the home.

427

:

Family squabble, what have you, and

somebody might go to jail, two people,

428

:

and what happens to the animals?

429

:

Nothing.

430

:

We don't do anything.

431

:

They're left abandoned.

432

:

I mean, it's just unbelievable.

433

:

Dogs that are kicked out.

434

:

And particularly Louisiana, I'll speak

about Louisiana since I live here.

435

:

But the people who dump animals,

well, you know, something

436

:

really happens to that animal.

437

:

That animal dies for whatever reason.

438

:

When they were dumped.

439

:

Well, that's actually a felony.

440

:

In Louisiana.

441

:

I mean, you can go to

the statues of Louisiana.

442

:

That's a felony to dump animals.

443

:

And I, and again, in my opinion, that

law enforcement does not take animal

444

:

abuse, animal neglect seriously.

445

:

You know, you can put it in

their face and it's like, they're

446

:

going to make up some excuse.

447

:

Well, we can't do this.

448

:

We can't do that.

449

:

We can't.

450

:

It's always, we can't do something.

451

:

Instead of being positive and wanting.

452

:

work to help animals, I

find that doesn't happen.

453

:

It's not a priority for them.

454

:

And they'll tell you that, well,

we don't have the resources.

455

:

It's not a priority.

456

:

Or they just don't care.

457

:

And that's exactly what I found.

458

:

They just don't care.

459

:

So, I work every day.

460

:

To push animal rights and animal welfare,

and I find that because of my age, I do

461

:

this through my YouTube channel, through

my website, to get people fired up

462

:

about doing something to help animals.

463

:

And so I feel that my videos may

teach people elsewhere that you

464

:

need to get involved with your

local government representative.

465

:

You need to start pushing them.

466

:

You need to start pushing law

enforcement to do their job.

467

:

Law enforcement's there to

protect people and animals.

468

:

That's what they're there

for, but they don't.

469

:

They're just animals, they're

just totally invisible.

470

:

And if we all should know this, no, I

say that, I take that back, the data

471

:

that I have read over many years strongly

suggests and that people who abuse

472

:

animals at some point is going to start

abusing people and I don't get That we're

473

:

law enforcement ignores animal abuse

because if they took care of that, they

474

:

take care of the animal, they're going

to make people realize, well, you know,

475

:

that they're serious about animal abuse.

476

:

And I better be and put these

people in jail or find them or do

477

:

something because at some point, these

people are going to act on humans.

478

:

And I can't get law enforcement or either.

479

:

They don't care again.

480

:

They don't care.

481

:

They don't want to do it

or it's not a priority.

482

:

What have you, but they need to understand

if they take care of the animal abuse,

483

:

that's going to be less human abuse.

484

:

That's going to happen because downright.

485

:

There's a lot of people who are

evil and there's a lot of people

486

:

I, you know, I cry at night.

487

:

Because of all the abuse that I've seen

the animals and it's been horrible.

488

:

And I still think about that in my mind.

489

:

It's like I went to war and I saw

all these, you know, soldiers, my

490

:

friends who died and what have you.

491

:

But, you know, for me, it's animals.

492

:

And when I go and see animals that's

been tortured and what have you,

493

:

it's hard for me to sleep sometimes.

494

:

And I've cried a lot of nights over this.

495

:

So I'm asking people on your podcast

and whoever's listening to this, I'm

496

:

asking you to please start working

with your local government to get your

497

:

representatives, if they haven't passed

animal ordinances, work to get that done.

498

:

And work with your sheriff's office

and your local city police officers,

499

:

because somebody, we've got to

push these people to do their job.

500

:

Because it seems like they're not.

501

:

If we don't put a little pressure

behind our law enforcement, local

502

:

government, nothing's going to happen.

503

:

And I chastise people, and I don't

mean to, but people who go on social

504

:

media and say, you know, this dog is

going to die if we don't rescue this

505

:

dog out of this shelter, they're going

to euthanize this dog, they're going

506

:

to do this, they're going to do that.

507

:

You know, I appreciate people

that do that, and they do help

508

:

some animals, but that's never,

ever going to solve the problem.

509

:

It's a continuous wheel that

just goes around and around.

510

:

And unless we get the root

cause of it, and that is, local

511

:

government needs to make the laws.

512

:

Law enforcement needs

to enforce those laws.

513

:

And until that's done this circle

of abuse and neglect is going to

514

:

continue and I would hope that people

who's listening to this podcast

515

:

understand that A lot of animals are

going to die because we don't really

516

:

take care of the root cause of this.

517

:

I'm sorry I'm talking too long about

that, but that's quite a passion for me.

518

:

No, that's totally okay.

519

:

I mean, I understand that.

520

:

Seeing all animal abuse and all the

stuff that you see on social media, all

521

:

the negative things, , it's overwhelming.

522

:

It really is.

523

:

Yeah, it is, and it's tough, you know,

and I, even though I don't rescue

524

:

anymore, I've seen so much, that even

sitting at my computer and gathering

525

:

information and what have you, it, it

saddens me that so many animals, Or

526

:

dying and tortured and neglected and

in local, our local government and law

527

:

enforcement just turn a blind eye to it.

528

:

That's just how I feel.

529

:

They turn a blind eye and until we

get those things changed, it's not

530

:

going, it's never going to change.

531

:

You know, and then going

back to local government, I

532

:

couldn't get Washington Parish.

533

:

To do a spay and neuter law,

where every person who owns an

534

:

animal here should be licensed.

535

:

Every animal that owns should be

not only licensed, but their animal

536

:

should be spayed or neutered.

537

:

And that's the only thing I was asking,

couple of, you don't have to take all of

538

:

the animal, let's just start with two.

539

:

Let's let people pay a small

license fee to have an animal.

540

:

And the second thing is they

must have that animal spayed

541

:

or neutered within a timeframe.

542

:

And that's all I was asking.

543

:

I was not even able to get that.

544

:

Does that tell you anything?

545

:

Now, let me ask you this, Mark.

546

:

Don't you have a book on Amazon that

talks about animal abuse and law

547

:

enforcement or investigating animal abuse?

548

:

I have I have written

14 books about animals.

549

:

And there, there's many of them that

cover a different training and again, pet

550

:

care, emergency care and what have you.

551

:

I have several books if people

are interested, I wish they

552

:

would go to Amazon under Dr.

553

:

Mark McMorris Jr.

554

:

And those books are, one is, there's

one is How to Become an Animal Advocate.

555

:

It takes you, it's a great guide.

556

:

It takes you from A to Z on how to

become an effective animal advocate and

557

:

what you need to do and how you need

to do it and who you need to talk to.

558

:

It's a great book.

559

:

And I put a lot of effort into that book.

560

:

The other book.

561

:

is for those who really want to

be more involved, not only as

562

:

an animal advocate, learn how to

be an animal abuse investigator.

563

:

That book takes you also from

A to Z and what to do in terms

564

:

of animal abuse and how to use.

565

:

To recognize animal abuse, after you do,

what you need to do as far as collecting

566

:

evidence and one big thing about

investigating animal abuse is nothing like

567

:

investigating a criminal act by humans.

568

:

It's just nothing because animals

themselves can't go to court and

569

:

be a witness against Another.

570

:

The bottom line is evidence collecting

for animal abuse is totally different

571

:

from collecting evidence in terms

of criminal offenses by people.

572

:

And this book covers that exclusively

dealing with animals and the collection

573

:

of evidence in order to, because it's very

difficult to go to court and get a guilty.

574

:

Sentence on our plea on that because

of the fact that there's really not

575

:

witnesses per se unless you have evidence.

576

:

In terms of photos and videos

and all the other things that

577

:

you might collect around there.

578

:

And there's a lot of things that you

don't think about that you need to collect

579

:

for your evidence in order to do this.

580

:

And I'll tell for people who are

not law enforcement officers but

581

:

for let's say volunteers, shelter

managers, shelter volunteers someone

582

:

who wants to learn how to do this.

583

:

It tells you how to.

584

:

Collect the evidence and how to

safely, and I mean safely, Give

585

:

evidence without putting yourself in

jeopardy because that's a big thing.

586

:

You cannot go on people's

property to get and take pictures

587

:

of animals or what have you.

588

:

There, there's a way to do this and

this book teaches you how to do that.

589

:

So anyway, I got carried away,

but there's two books that

590

:

people would be interested in.

591

:

I think that if you wanted to get

involved with this is how to be

592

:

an animal advocate and help you.

593

:

How to investigate animal abuse.

594

:

Lost my train of thought

there for a second.

595

:

Not one though.

596

:

It's something definitely good to

discuss because I wonder how many

597

:

animal abuse cases are dropped

in court due to lack of evidence.

598

:

So for someone to know what they need

to collect to try and get the best

599

:

case possible, it's great to know.

600

:

Oh, exactly.

601

:

And I will tell you that

it's a great percentage.

602

:

I can't tell you what that percentage

is, but a great percentage if

603

:

not, if that 99 percent these law

enforcement officers today, they

604

:

don't have any animal training.

605

:

They don't I'm sure chief of police and

sheriff departments, they don't train

606

:

their deputies on animal abuse training.

607

:

I will almost guarantee they don't.

608

:

So I've been trying to get my group

out to different departments to see if

609

:

they would be interested in in doing

this because it, it's a great guide

610

:

for people who actually want to learn

how to be an animal abuse investigator.

611

:

And again, I want to stress to

people, you don't have to be a law

612

:

enforcement officer to help animals.

613

:

I would at least know how to be a

good advocate, an animal advocate.

614

:

And then I would learn how to be

a good investigator because I can

615

:

help you if anybody's interested.

616

:

I can help you get registered

as a journalist, as an

617

:

investigative journalist.

618

:

So if anyone ever thought about doing

this, if they listen to your podcast,

619

:

that I, yeah, I have no problem with

me, with him calling me emailing me and

620

:

getting information because I can give

them more information about the books.

621

:

I can give them information

about how to become a journalist.

622

:

And the things that you need to do.

623

:

I can help those people do that.

624

:

If you're truly interested in being what

I call a really good advocate for animals.

625

:

Thank you, Mark.

626

:

What I'm going to do is I'm

going to put all your links

627

:

to in our podcast description.

628

:

So that people can go to your,

they can go to your website.

629

:

They can go to, , your YouTube channel

and get the information and I can also

630

:

include some contact information in

there for you too, for those that are

631

:

interested getting more involved in this.

632

:

And if there's people I mean my

phone number is okay too, but

633

:

I don't answer phone numbers.

634

:

I don't know, but if someone will

text me if they want to, I take texts.

635

:

I look at my text and my email address.

636

:

I do not answer phone numbers.

637

:

I don't know, be up front with you.

638

:

I don't but if someone wants to text

me or they email me, I'd be real happy

639

:

to give them the information that

they're seeking to do what I am doing.

640

:

And again, you don't have

to be a police officer.

641

:

If someone who really actively

wants to help animals, this

642

:

is a great way to do it.

643

:

And and you should try to take the

steps to do it the way I written in my

644

:

books because I don't want to see people

get in trouble trying to help animals.

645

:

And I see that all the time.

646

:

People.

647

:

Go into people, go on people's

property and try to help animals.

648

:

You don't understand that,

but you can't do that.

649

:

And you don't want to take the chance

of being arrested for trespassing.

650

:

You won't, don't want to be shot.

651

:

You gotta do this in a safe way.

652

:

And that's what my book's we'll tell you

how and what to do, and that's important,

653

:

you know, you just can't go out there

willy nilly and think that you're going

654

:

to help this animal because you might

be putting your own self in jeopardy.

655

:

All right, and before we, wrap up

this call too, I just wanted ask

656

:

you first, all dogs that you do

have, do you have those dogs listed

657

:

on Petfinder where people can see

them or get more information on them?

658

:

They're there.

659

:

Yes, they are on Pet Finder.

660

:

Yes, but I have not had a lot of success.

661

:

I think that you told me that you have.

662

:

I have not.

663

:

And I just recently went back

to Pet Finder and put several

664

:

dogs to see how They do.

665

:

One of them was my big

shepherd that I have.

666

:

He's a he's a German shepherd in all

the colors and he's about 120 pounds.

667

:

He's a big, he's a big guy and very gentle

but he doesn't, you know, people say,

668

:

well, he doesn't, he has the floppy ears.

669

:

So he has a little bit of hound

in him and I have not been able

670

:

to, Headfinder has not helped me.

671

:

Social media has not helped me.

672

:

This dog has been with me

at least six years now.

673

:

Beautiful dog.

674

:

And it just not as helped me.

675

:

You know, I don't know what to say.

676

:

And I've tried it with a couple of

dogs first, but I have not gotten any

677

:

response from that and it's kind of

disappointing, but it is what it is.

678

:

Right.

679

:

Well, hopefully we can get you

some more exposure for them.

680

:

Now, also too, for your rescue, what is

it that you could use for your rescue?

681

:

Could you use help?

682

:

Could you use donations?

683

:

What is it that you would need for

your rescue ? You know, I, I will.

684

:

You need, and I hate to say this, but

money is always a needed factor in rescues

685

:

because a lot of that money goes out the

door to the vet for vet care and feed.

686

:

So if you're going to do anything, if

money is the problem, then the next best

687

:

thing you can help a rescue with is food.

688

:

Food is always needed.

689

:

You know, people do bring blankets and

pillows and dog beds and stuff like that.

690

:

But I'll tell you, in my opinion,

it's either, you know, a donation

691

:

I say cash, but a money donation

or either the food itself.

692

:

Those are the two big things

that rescues need or shelters

693

:

shelters need is food or money.

694

:

And money is a priority because many

of these animals are, especially when

695

:

you rescue them, they all need to

go to the vet, they all need their

696

:

vaccinations they all need all the

care that one's afforded when you take

697

:

a rescue dog, so it's always a need.

698

:

That's my opinion.

699

:

And for the most part and working

with animal rescues and shelters.

700

:

In fact, I did one book.

701

:

My first book was on an

animal shelter in Miami.

702

:

And it was very disappointing to

me because people has this idea.

703

:

Oh I'm going to bring

my dog to the shelter.

704

:

I'm going to surrender

my dog to the shelter.

705

:

I can't take care of the dog anymore.

706

:

Well, they got this.

707

:

This notion that a shelter

is going to adopt that dog

708

:

out to a very lovely family.

709

:

That, in all probability,

that is not going to happen.

710

:

That dog is going to be euthanized.

711

:

And if the owner of that dog turns

that dog in and says, I don't want him,

712

:

that's the first dog to be euthanized.

713

:

Stray dogs, for the most part in most

areas of the country, there's a 72 hour

714

:

waiting period and some of them are,

some of them are three days, some of them

715

:

are 10 days in between, but those dogs

actually are not euthanized right away.

716

:

It is the owner's surrender that

dog is going to be euthanized

717

:

and that's so unfortunate.

718

:

And my book was about that.

719

:

And about how, you know, what

I saw in animals when they were

720

:

in those pens in the shelter.

721

:

And what happens to those

dogs and how they shut down.

722

:

It was a very sad book.

723

:

It was my first book that I wrote.

724

:

It was extremely sad because I was

actually trying to look through the eyes

725

:

of of the animal being in the shelter

and what I experienced and what I saw.

726

:

And And anyway, and the book,

in fact, is, it's on my website.

727

:

I mean, not my website,

but it's on Amazon as well.

728

:

And and it's called Read

This Book and Save an Animal.

729

:

That was my very first book that I did.

730

:

Again, Read This Book and Save an Animal.

731

:

If you're interested in seeing how

you think dogs will look at shelters

732

:

and how they react and what have

you, it's a great book to read.

733

:

It's great to that, you wrote something

that is out there for people so they

734

:

can get a better understanding too.

735

:

Now do you want to provide your, huh.

736

:

The bottom line is that you, I really do

want people who listen to your podcast.

737

:

Shelter is a misnomer.

738

:

These dogs for the most

part are euthanized.

739

:

Yeah, I'm being honest with you.

740

:

Now, there is a no kill movement, and it's

called, and Best Friends has started this,

741

:

if anybody's not familiar, Best Friends

is a huge organization, and they've

742

:

done so much for animals, I mean, a lot.

743

:

And anyway, if you get a chance to donate

to Best Friends, please do because they

744

:

work very hard in, in helping animals.

745

:

But I would say that, again, I don't want

people to be misled by the term shelter.

746

:

For the most part,

shelter is not a shelter.

747

:

It's a euthanizing center.

748

:

And they euthanize.

749

:

Every day, millions of animals

throughout this country.

750

:

And it's so horrible that and

that's why I attack law enforcement.

751

:

I attack local governments because, you

know, I feel that's on their hands their

752

:

watch, that they let these animals.

753

:

Healthy animals die in shelters

because they don't want to do anything.

754

:

They don't want to work and they

don't want to enforce the laws.

755

:

And every day my videos are actually based

a lot of this on, on, on law enforcement

756

:

and government not doing their job.

757

:

Well, Mark, before we wrap up, is

there any contact information you're

758

:

willing to give out as far as?

759

:

Email, phone number . How would

someone contact you for information?

760

:

You know, the best way to contact me

would be to use my my email address

761

:

that I use for my YouTube channel.

762

:

And that's positive personals at gmail.

763

:

com.

764

:

That's a P A W.

765

:

S I T I V E, Personals, P

E R S O N A L S, at gmail.

766

:

com.

767

:

That would be the best way to contact

me, because I answer, I always look at

768

:

my emails, I'm constantly on my emails,

so I will address any email that someone

769

:

sends me, if they want information,

they want to, look at getting a book.

770

:

They want to look at being a a registered

journalist to help them with their

771

:

process and give them a little bit

more leeway in, in helping animals.

772

:

I can help them with that.

773

:

So if they're truly interested

in doing that by all means, I

774

:

encourage you to get in touch with

me because everyone that I can help.

775

:

Do this become a better

person at helping animals.

776

:

I'm more than happy to do that.

777

:

This, again, this is my whole

life is helping animals.

778

:

And I say that, well, when I got left

of it, at 78 years old, when I got left

779

:

of it, people see my pictures sometimes

and they'll And he said, well, you

780

:

don't look that bad because I tell you,

I, the picture that is on my website

781

:

makes me look a lot better than what I

am because actually it's a likeness of

782

:

me through an avatar that I had done.

783

:

So it's not actually, it's not actually

me, but certainly makes me look good.

784

:

But I would be, I'd be happy to

help anyone who is wanting to do

785

:

something that's going to help animals.

786

:

That's who I am.

787

:

And thank you so much for taking

the time to speak with us today.

788

:

I really enjoyed our conversation.

789

:

Oh, well, thank y'all.

790

:

I appreciate what y'all do,

especially with helping cats.

791

:

I gotta say this last thing, though.

792

:

I am so happy that you saved cats

because I'm gonna tell you, I feel like,

793

:

kittens and cats, they get a raw deal.

794

:

That's the best way I can say

it because, you know, you hear

795

:

there's many people saving.

796

:

Dogs.

797

:

There's a lot of rescues

out there and it's all about

798

:

dogs and then there's horses.

799

:

But you know what?

800

:

Rarely do I find many people who are

rescuing cats and that's a shame.

801

:

And that's a, that's an utter

disgrace that we don't have

802

:

enough people doing that.

803

:

So, you know, I really appreciate and

thank you for being a cat rescuer.

804

:

Well, thank you.

805

:

I appreciate that.

806

:

Well, what else can I do for y'all today?

807

:

I love my little talk and I'm, if you

ever want me back please let me know.

808

:

I'll be glad to, yes, we'll

definitely have you back.

809

:

Thank you.

810

:

We appreciate you talking with us.

811

:

Okay.

812

:

You're welcome.

813

:

All right.

814

:

Okay.

815

:

Bye.

816

:

Dixie: And that's all the time

we have for today's episode.

817

:

If you are in animal rescue, or if

you know someone that has a story that

818

:

should be told, please contact us.

819

:

We would love to have

you or them on the show

820

:

.

Thanks for listening, and please join us next week as we continue to

821

:

explore the world of animal rescue.

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