Dixie: 00:00:02

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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Joining us today is Ashley Gardenier,

an animal rescuer and dog trainer.

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Welcome, Ashley.

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Thank you for coming on the show.

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Ashley: You're welcome.

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Dixie: I'm excited to talk about

your dog training and also your

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animal rescue, Southern Paws Inc.

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Ashley: Yeah.

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I'm super stoked.

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, It's really great to be here.

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. Where do you wanna start?

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Dixie: I wanna get into how dog

training can help to keep dogs in homes,

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but before we get into that, I would

like to know a little bit more about you.

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If you could tell me a little bit about

your background, how you came to start

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Southern Paws Inc, and also Oh, okay.

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How you got involved in dog training.

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Ashley: Okay.

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So, let's see.

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I am almost 40 and . I started Southern

Paws, we're about to hit 11 years.

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I have been in animal rescue

now going on 13 years.

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And honestly it started I had gotten into

volunteering with a wildlife organization

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and they had these connections to

an organization in Louisiana called

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the Humane Society of Louisiana.

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And since Katrina, and they had

been trying to help them get lower

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preventatives, like lower cost

preventatives and helping them pay for

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heart worm treatments and stuff like this.

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And , the Humane Society had actually.

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Come through and had nominated

us for thank yous pretty much

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like , an achievement award, right?

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And a thank you.

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They were honoring us at this gala and

I think I was like 25, 26 at the time.

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And the owner of the organization

was like, do you wanna go

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to New Orleans for a week?

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And I was like yes I do.

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25, 26 me was like yes.

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Put me in the car, let's go.

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And that was how I got my first glimpse

of dog rescue and things like, that

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was my first transport I ever did.

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And when I was down there I really

got to see like firsthand what people

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were experiencing in rescue in the

South and just how different it was.

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Like, it was just a big culture shock.

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So.

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After that I came home and I

just couldn't sleep at night.

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I was having a really hard time and I just

really felt like I needed to do something.

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And at the time they were

really struggling with dogs that

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needed heart worm treatments.

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And I connected back with my mentor.

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She actually has since passed away.

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Her name is Johnna.

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And I said to her like, Hey, I

have this idea, like what if we

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started this sponsorship program?

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And that's how the heartworm

sponsorship program was born.

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And we ended up treating like 80 dogs

in the course of three or four months.

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And then that kind of snowballed because

they had this hoarding case that they

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had worked and Johnna needed somebody

to come down and help with transport.

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And it was something I had always been

like, oh yeah, I'll help with that.

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That sounds cool.

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And I ended up going down and

did my first transport and

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then it just snowballed, right?

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Johnna was telling me a lot about just

how northern organizations at the time,

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and this is going back 12 years now.

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Were really taking advantage of the

southern organizations where they were

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getting all of these animals like fully

vetted and like ready to be adopted.

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The southern organizations that were

really in these like very rural like

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poverty stricken areas that didn't

have the type of money that we had

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up here were like putting everything

they had into these transports.

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They were able to run them like once

or twice a year, and they'd come up,

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they'd give them these jobs, and then

the rescues up here would turn around and

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adopt 'em out for three, $400 a piece.

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And I said they were trying to get

like this transport program up and

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running, and I said, all right, well

what if we adopted a couple of dogs

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off the truck to pay for the trip?

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Could then, could you like do more?

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And they were like, yeah.

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So that's how it got started.

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And after I would say like a year and a

half, I really was just like, I had no

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time and I was running out of money and I

was like I really gotta do something here.

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So I went to them and I said, listen,

hey, like I either have to start taking a

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paycheck or I have to get like a real job.

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And they said, okay, well

what about, a commission?

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And I was like, okay, fine.

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And I got my first paycheck

and I deposited in the bank

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and opened up Southern Paws.

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And now our organization, it's

a very small organization,

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but it has this massive reach.

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We have all kinds of different programs.

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One of our main focuses is

helping to support our sister

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organizations that we work with.

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We do still work with

Humane Side of Louisiana.

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One of the board members there has also

started Mississippi Animal Project, which

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has been our primary rescue for years.

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But we've worked with other

rescues in Mississippi, Louisiana.

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We've started spay and neuter

programs that give back to

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the community down there.

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We started disaster relief through

the: 2016

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Livingston and our partners down

there in assisting them, that's how

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our disaster relief program was born.

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And, it just snowballed.

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We have our facility up

here, which is not a shelter.

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We're a rescue based organization.

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But we have our facility

specifically for transport holds.

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So when dogs come up, they

stay with us for 24, 48 hours.

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I make sure they've made

it through transport.

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Okay.

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They get groomed, they get medicated.

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They get looked at by vet techs

and staff members and making sure

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that they came through everything.

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Okay.

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If anybody needs to go to the vet,

they go to the vet, we do quite a

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bit of pre-adoption, which means

they're preselected before they even

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come to the state of New Jersey.

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And then we also have now transitioned

with the animal welfare crisis.

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We've really started to transition into

more foster based stuff and working like

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I would say the big theme for the last

two years has just been like adaptability.

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And that's where.

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The Northern Spay and

neuter program was born.

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We have Spay it Forward and then

we also have the training center

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now that we opened in September.

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I figured that after all of this

time working with dogs, I mean

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I've seen all of the things, right?

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I have two trained therapy dogs that

I went through training with myself.

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I've worked with pretty much every

behavioral case in the rescue.

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I have a great support system when

it comes to a training network

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of people that I really trust and

whose opinions I valued so highly.

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And I had just seen like a lot of things.

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And I had worked in

through disaster relief.

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I had also worked in different

shelters, I've also worked in the field

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and had to work with dogs that were

terrified, in dangerous situations.

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And I just figured Hey, I

have this whole situation.

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We had always said we wanted to have

a training center, I just felt that

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training was just so important about

keeping dogs in their homes and when

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I didn't expect the upstairs of my

building to become available so quickly.

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So like the timeline was very fast.

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I was like, oh, well, yeah,

I guess we're gonna do this.

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And luckily during COVID I had this kind

of dream that I wanted to branch out and

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do more and like eventually have some

sort of eventually have some sort of like

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a property where I could do training and

we could have training and we could have

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rescue and we could have adoptions and we

could have boarding, and all these things.

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So during COVID we call it the

puppy boom, everybody was adopting.

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I was smart enough to at least

put money away for that purpose.

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And when the time presented

itself, I was like it's too good

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of an opportunity to pass up.

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Let's do it.

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I'll get my training certification so

that I can at least say, I finally have

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a piece of paper that says I can do what

I've been doing for the last, 12 years.

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But now I have a piece of paper that says

so, and it was really cool 'cause it gave

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me the opportunity to really understand

the like the evolution of dog training

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as well as a lot of the principals, but

you don't necessarily know the principals

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or like how they come about and like the

psychology of dogs and that kind of thing.

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So I know it sounds long, but it's

actually like a quick snapshot.

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It's just we do so much that, even

when you had reached out to me,

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you were like, well what do you do?

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And I was like, well, we do

a little bit of everything.

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Anytime we see a need, we try

to fill it and go from there.

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Dixie: That is a lot, but it gives us

a lot to talk about, so that's good.

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One thing that I wanna talk about, 'cause

I hear about it, but I'm from the south.

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I've been in animal rescue here forever.

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What we have going on here is a normal

thing for me because this is the

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only place that I have ever lived.

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I am used to multiple kitten seasons.

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Like I understand that.

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Oh yeah.

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We have nonstop kitten seasons here and

other areas are fortunate enough not

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to, but explain what you mean by the

culture shock in animal rescue here.

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Ashley: Well, so Dixie,

where are you guys?

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Dixie: I'm in Louisiana, in New Orleans.

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Ashley: Okay.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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And Oh, okay,

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Ashley: okay.

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Yeah,

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Dixie: yeah.

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I'm familiar with Humane Society

of Louisiana, so, I know, you

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know a lot of people there.

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Ashley: We still work with them and we

still do a lot of work with Livingston.

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Dog people of Livingston Parish

Lanelle, who runs the fix.

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The big clinics there.

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I don't know if you know

about that in Livingston.

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Dixie: No, I did not.

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Ashley: Anyway, yeah, this is

like totally off topic, but yes.

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I love Louisiana.

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I feel like there's a part of me

that just is always home there.

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I don't know if you've ever felt that,

like when you go outta state and you

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have that one state, you just fall in

love so much with, and you always feel

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like a part of you is always out there.

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That's my Louisiana, new

Orleans is my favorite city

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but yeah, and I will say we're

seeing a little bit more of it now

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because of the animal welfare crisis

that's been going on in the us.

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But when I first started, first of all,

we don't have dogs that are outside.

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Like we, nobody has outside

dogs in Northern New Jersey,

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New York, like tri-state area.

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They don't like, if people's dogs are

outside, they get the police called.

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Animal control gets called.

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It's just not a thing.

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We do have cats that like, I

know like my neighbor's got a

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cat that's an indoor outdoor cat.

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And we do have feral cats.

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We do have issues in this area

specifically with like cats in general.

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Like we do have a pretty

solid kitten season.

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There's actually a rescue I

work with that's 20 minutes

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from me 'cause we don't do cats.

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And they've really done an amazing job

focusing on spay and neuter and they're

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finally starting to see some results,

but they've been doing it for 10 years.

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It's crazy but everybody

here is a house pet.

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That's the first thing.

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We also all have fenced in yards,

or we keep our dogs on leashes.

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Nobody's animals really run wild.

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And again, if you see a loose

dog, like you call like the police

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department or animal control, and

you're like, Hey, there's a dog,

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and I think that to me was huge.

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I remember driving around down

the road the first time I was in

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either Louisiana or Mississippi.

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And I was with Johnna my mentor and

I'm driving their brand new transport

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van, and I'm giggling because it

was just such a funny experience.

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But I'm driving and there's a dog that

goes darting into the middle of the

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highway and I immediately slammed on

the brakes, pull over, and she looks

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at me and she's what are you doing?

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I was like, I gotta go get that dog.

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There's a loose dog in Jersey,

like we see a loose dog.

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I got a leash in the car.

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We got treats.

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Like the whole neighborhood

is trying to get it.

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Like we have dog trappers specifically

up here to find people's loose dogs.

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And I just remember her looking at me

and be like, you can't go take that dog.

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And I was like, what do you mean?

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She was like that's somebody's dog.

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I was like, that's not somebody's dog.

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It's running in the middle of the highway.

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I almost just ran it over and she's

like, Ashley, you can't go take that dog.

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So, that was really big.

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I remember going to the the property the

first time and there were like 80 dogs

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on the property that all had heartworm.

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And this was like the first time I had

ever even heard of heartworm, aside

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from the fact that oh, hey, we give our

dog a pill once a month to prevent it.

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But I don't think any anybody,

90% of us up here, really have,

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unless you're in rescue and you're

familiar with it because of rescue.

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The average person has

no idea what that is.

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So it was also my first time with that.

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And I remember looking at one

of the members of the team and

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being like, well, what's the deal?

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And she was like, oh.

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She's you see that row of dogs back there?

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Yeah, they all have heartworm.

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And I was like, okay.

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What does that mean?

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And they were like, well,

we gotta get 'em treated.

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And I was like, well, what happens

if you don't get 'em treated?

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And she's oh, they die.

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And I was like, I'm sorry, what?

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No.

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She was like, yeah.

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She was like, we're gonna treat them,

but we have to get the money to do it.

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At this point, we're just trying

to keep 'em comfortable until we

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can get enough money to treat them.

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And I was just like, I just remember

like my mouth being on the floor and just

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being like, that doesn't happen here.

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That would never happen here.

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Like never, there's just never a

world that we would live in the

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Northeast where like the population

wouldn't rally of humans wouldn't,

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rally together and help these dogs.

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It was just baffling to me.

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So those are the things, that we see,

under that I saw that, understanding the

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overpopulation problem, I was somebody who

was always like, not really understanding

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of the shelter system, right?

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I remember saying to Johnna well,

why can't the shelter just take them?

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And her trying to explain to me, open

intake shelters and how they have a

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commitment to the public that they have

to take things in, and how that ultimately

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leads to the overpopulation issue,

which leads to the high euthanization

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rates, which again, up here, our

euthanization rates are not anywhere

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near what they are down by you guys.

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So, yeah, so I guess that's, those

are some of the things that, we, I

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really saw firsthand on that first

experience that made me be like, somebody

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needs to do something about this.

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And then I was like, oh,

I guess I miss somebody.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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It is crazy how it is here

because, I will say too the way

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people look at spay neuter here.

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It isn't like an educational thing.

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It isn't an economical thing.

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I know plenty professionals that don't

believe in spay neuter or just don't even

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know about spay neuter, which to me it's

absurd because, every animal that we've

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had has always been spayed or neutered.

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But here, I don't know what it is,

there's plenty of people that can

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afford to get it done that don't get

it done, and there's plenty intelligent

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people that still don't get it done.

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So I don't really understand, how

you can even reach people more here

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to get 'em on board with doing it.

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Ashley: So our biggest issue here is

definitely the financial portion of it.

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Like I'm about to blow

your mind right now.

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An average spay and neuter in where,

in Bergen County, New Jersey is going

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to run you anywhere from 800 to $2,300.

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Dixie: Wow.

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Ashley: Yeah.

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So we run a low cost spay and neuter

program and our low cost, which

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really is not really that low cost.

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It's way better than that.

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But our low cost program runs

you 250-450 I think it is.

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So.

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And that's considered low cost here.

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So that's one of those needs in our

community that we've been trying

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to really give, like break into

and try and provide a solution for.

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And it started actually

in Louisiana during COVID.

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I was really just feeling frustrated that

the population numbers were, everybody's

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getting adopted, we were moving everybody

out, but the numbers weren't dropping.

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And I said, we have these finances

rolling in from adoption fees and like

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donors, we had big donors back then that,

we weren't in the same like financial

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crisis that we're in now, but we had

a lot, we had a lot more money then.

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And I said, it would be really cool if

we could develop a program to give back.

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To the communities that we've

been working with, for so long.

311

: 00:15:57

And Mississippi Animal

Project had a voucher program.

312

: 00:16:01

Humane Society, Louisiana had a

small voucher program and it was

313

: 00:16:05

actually another rescue in Louisiana.

314

: 00:16:07

Walking in the Sun, Mindy

Defender, I think is her last name.

315

: 00:16:12

She actually, and I were talking one

night just girl chat, like gossiping

316

: 00:16:17

and like whatever, and complaining

about, being an animal rescue.

317

: 00:16:21

And she had said something about this

one neighborhood and I said to her,

318

: 00:16:26

I'll tell you what, if , you can get

some people to donate spay neuter to

319

: 00:16:31

that area up to 10, I will match them.

320

: 00:16:35

She was like, really?

321

: 00:16:37

And I was like, yeah.

322

: 00:16:38

And we started this really

cool, spay neuter task force.

323

: 00:16:41

There ended up being like 13 different

organizations that all jumped on the

324

: 00:16:45

bandwagon in the middle of COVID.

325

: 00:16:48

And we did t-shirt fundraisers, we did all

this stuff and we ended up spay neutering,

326

: 00:16:52

like 60 animals just through, they

would find people that would match them.

327

: 00:16:57

We would find people that would match us.

328

: 00:16:59

Like we ended up all doing, 60 animals.

329

: 00:17:02

We had, Tito's got

involved, vodka for dog.

330

: 00:17:05

People love them.

331

: 00:17:06

They donated money to the task

force, like we were able to do,

332

: 00:17:10

I think it was like 60 dogs.

333

: 00:17:12

I think we did when all was said

and done, which I guess doesn't

334

: 00:17:15

seem like a lot, but really it was.

335

: 00:17:16

If you look at the numbers of the

procreation numbers, but up here we

336

: 00:17:21

don't really, everybody up here wants

to spay and neuter their animals.

337

: 00:17:25

It's very bizarre here.

338

: 00:17:28

If we get an app and there's an animal

in the home that's not spayed and neuter,

339

: 00:17:31

we're like, okay, is it a medical issue?

340

: 00:17:34

There are areas, there are pockets

of areas in and around where

341

: 00:17:40

we are, where it's less common.

342

: 00:17:42

And those areas are definitely areas where

the socioeconomical they're poorer areas.

343

: 00:17:50

I'm trying to say this a different way to

make it sound nicer, but that's the truth.

344

: 00:17:53

It's the

345

: 00:17:54

poorer areas up here that

we do see more of it.

346

: 00:17:58

Another program we have

is we do shelter revamps.

347

: 00:18:01

I'm a hazmat technician.

348

: 00:18:03

So I'll go in and from a disease

control standpoint, go in and try to

349

: 00:18:07

get a shelter that's super sick, try

to implement protocols and deep clean

350

: 00:18:11

and show everybody the appropriate

ways to clean and what to do.

351

: 00:18:14

And we actually had a shelter right

by us and they hired me for three

352

: 00:18:20

months to do a contract there.

353

: 00:18:21

And there is one area and like

they're still struggling with it.

354

: 00:18:26

Every single thing that comes outta

that area in New York, it's right

355

: 00:18:29

over the border into New York.

356

: 00:18:30

Everything that comes outta that

area is not spayed or neutered.

357

: 00:18:34

There's another area that's

about a half hour from us.

358

: 00:18:37

Anything that comes outta that

area is not spay and neutered.

359

: 00:18:39

And there are definitely areas

that are like less wealthy.

360

: 00:18:43

I don't know if that has anything to

do with it, but I do think that it's

361

: 00:18:48

more common in the poorer communities.

362

: 00:18:51

And I do think there

needs to be more outreach.

363

: 00:18:53

I think there needs to be more education.

364

: 00:18:55

I think that there needs to be more spay

and neuter, and I think that there are

365

: 00:18:59

people in these areas that would want

to do it, but at the end of the day,

366

: 00:19:03

they can either feed their children

or get their dog spay and neutered.

367

: 00:19:05

What would you choose?

368

: 00:19:06

Dixie: I don't see that here because , the

parish that I'm in, we have very low

369

: 00:19:11

cost, like spay neuter or cats options.

370

: 00:19:14

Ashley: Yeah.

371

: 00:19:14

Dixie: We have free spay neuter for

feral cats, and there's specific

372

: 00:19:19

breeds of dogs that are very low cost.

373

: 00:19:22

And then there's other low

cost programs for dogs.

374

: 00:19:25

Some of the low cost ones, I'm

gonna say are probably like $60.

375

: 00:19:28

I do cat rescue, so I could

be a little bit off on that.

376

: 00:19:30

But the crazy thing, like specifically

too with the cats is we have it

377

: 00:19:35

in this parish where it is free.

378

: 00:19:37

If you have a feral cat

in the trap, it is free.

379

: 00:19:40

And we still struggle here with

trying to get people to get them in

380

: 00:19:45

to go get 'em spayed and neutered.

381

: 00:19:47

Ashley: I'm so jealous.

382

: 00:19:48

Dixie: Yeah, so jealous.

383

: 00:19:49

It's crazy.

384

: 00:19:49

So, like I said here, it's not quite

what I would say, an economical thing

385

: 00:19:55

because I know people that can well afford

to just go to a regular vet and get it

386

: 00:19:59

done and they just won't go get it done.

387

: 00:20:02

And then like I said, with the

free programs, it's still hard

388

: 00:20:06

to get people to go get it done.

389

: 00:20:09

Ashley: That's wild.

390

: 00:20:10

Yeah, that's wild.

391

: 00:20:11

We don't have that up here

and I think that's different.

392

: 00:20:13

That's a big difference

between north and south.

393

: 00:20:16

But I also think that's a lot of why

the population up here is so much

394

: 00:20:21

less than the population down south.

395

: 00:20:23

Like our overpopulation is still

probably only a quarter of what yours is.

396

: 00:20:29

We're seeing a lot more now because we

had so many animals come up during COVID

397

: 00:20:35

that like a lot, I would say nine out 10

dogs that are ending up in the shelters

398

: 00:20:40

right now up here are from the South.

399

: 00:20:42

I do have some issues with these

organizations that have no fallback plan

400

: 00:20:46

that are located out of state and they

come up and they do these like adoptions

401

: 00:20:50

with random people in the northern states

and then they like leave and go home.

402

: 00:20:55

And if it doesn't work out, the

dog has nowhere to go because

403

: 00:20:58

there's no like northern partner.

404

: 00:21:01

So that's something that

I don't really love.

405

: 00:21:03

We see a lot of that up here.

406

: 00:21:05

We also are seeing a lot of, like the

puppy mills that are now bringing vehicles

407

: 00:21:09

full of puppies that are sick and broken

and, just these poor puppies and dogs

408

: 00:21:16

and they're just passing them out up here

like they're selling them for $1,800.

409

: 00:21:20

You go to a gas station and

you collect all of these dogs,

410

: 00:21:24

and they're not real rescues.

411

: 00:21:26

They're dogs.

412

: 00:21:27

That definitely came from

really bad breeding situations.

413

: 00:21:30

Backyard breeders puppy

mills, you name it.

414

: 00:21:33

And animal control is trying to cut down

on them, but they're not located here.

415

: 00:21:38

So it's like, how do you cut down

on that when they're not here?

416

: 00:21:42

They drop the dogs and

then they like leave.

417

: 00:21:45

Dixie: Right.

418

: 00:21:46

Ashley: So that's another thing

that we're now seeing that's

419

: 00:21:48

becoming a big overpopulation

causing our area to overpopulate.

420

: 00:21:52

We're not seeing the overpopulation,

I don't think for necessarily the

421

: 00:21:56

same reasons so much as you guys

are like, yeah, we still have

422

: 00:22:00

the I don't want, we have the BS

surrenders and the this and the that.

423

: 00:22:04

Like we still have a lot of that.

424

: 00:22:06

But I would say our overpopulation is now

becoming more of a problem here because

425

: 00:22:12

of dogs coming outta the south now.

426

: 00:22:14

I don't think that we shouldn't

help dogs from the south.

427

: 00:22:17

I think that we should just

be responsible about it.

428

: 00:22:20

I still get a lot of my dogs from the

south and I love helping, being able

429

: 00:22:24

to help out wherever we can, whenever

we can for whatever we need to.

430

: 00:22:28

But that's something else that like,

I would say is a big difference.

431

: 00:22:32

Our overpopulation rates and

our euthanasia rates here.

432

: 00:22:36

Are very low compared to the south.

433

: 00:22:39

And that's what one of the big

things that I constantly tell people.

434

: 00:22:42

'cause everybody's well, why

don't you help dogs here?

435

: 00:22:45

And I'm like, I do help dogs here.

436

: 00:22:47

But when our euthanasia rates start

to match the ones in Louisiana, Texas

437

: 00:22:53

Oklahoma, Mississippi, when Kentucky,

West Virginia, when we start to reach

438

: 00:22:59

those levels, then you can talk to

me about not pulling outta the south.

439

: 00:23:03

But we haven't reached that.

440

: 00:23:04

We are very lucky and I really

think that spay and neuter and

441

: 00:23:06

neuter has a big impact on that.

442

: 00:23:09

Dixie: Yeah.

443

: 00:23:10

You're fortunate that that many people

are pro spay neuter where you are.

444

: 00:23:14

With all these dogs coming in, like

you said, from these backyard breeders

445

: 00:23:19

and puppy mills, and as well as these

transports coming up from the south,

446

: 00:23:24

does that affect your adoptions?

447

: 00:23:29

Ashley: Yes and no.

448

: 00:23:30

So when I say this, these

are not responsible rescuers

449

: 00:23:34

that I'm talking about.

450

: 00:23:35

Like I know a lot of responsible

rescuers who do transports

451

: 00:23:38

up north like every week.

452

: 00:23:40

I've been doing this for a long time.

453

: 00:23:41

That's been like our main

source of getting dogs.

454

: 00:23:44

So I wanna be very clear that

I'm not talking about responsible

455

: 00:23:46

rescuers who are doing transport

to the Northeast with receiving

456

: 00:23:49

partners and, that kind of thing.

457

: 00:23:52

I think that there is definitely a need

for puppies that we don't typically have

458

: 00:23:57

a lot of puppies here that are available.

459

: 00:24:00

I hate to say this 'cause it makes it

sound like it's a t-shirt store, but

460

: 00:24:03

it is a business at the end of the day

when it comes to the nonprofit and the

461

: 00:24:06

rescue, there is a supply and demand.

462

: 00:24:09

And my thought process is, if.

463

: 00:24:13

We don't have a lot of puppies

and we need puppies and you guys

464

: 00:24:16

need to move puppies, that works.

465

: 00:24:19

Little fru dogs do a lot better here.

466

: 00:24:22

Like they go faster.

467

: 00:24:23

So yes.

468

: 00:24:24

If there's not a lot of them locally,

then yeah, I think that getting them

469

: 00:24:27

from the south is definitely beneficial.

470

: 00:24:31

The problem I have is with

organizations that are brokers

471

: 00:24:34

ultimately that are posing as rescues.

472

: 00:24:37

Some of them didn't

even get their 5 0 1 C3.

473

: 00:24:40

But there's a couple of them that,

like we know of that animal control has

474

: 00:24:42

been trying desperately to cut down.

475

: 00:24:45

And they go and they either breed 'em

in the backyard, they know backyard

476

: 00:24:49

breeders that they're getting them from,

they're going to puppy mill auctions.

477

: 00:24:54

That's a big one.

478

: 00:24:55

And they're ultimately brokers,

like they're puppy store brokers.

479

: 00:24:58

That's what they are.

480

: 00:24:59

And then they pose as rescues

and they bring 'em up, here.

481

: 00:25:03

Then, so in that regard, yes, because

if I can go as, as a adopter, right?

482

: 00:25:10

And I can go pay $1,500 and

somebody is telling me this dog

483

: 00:25:16

is quote unquote rescued, why?

484

: 00:25:19

And I can get a pure

breed, multi poo from them.

485

: 00:25:23

Why am I gonna come to Southern Paws

and get like a little hound, pity puppy,

486

: 00:25:29

Dixie: right?

487

: 00:25:29

Ashley: So that's where we see the issue.

488

: 00:25:32

The other issue is when these dogs get

up here, whether they're from rescues,

489

: 00:25:37

they're either from rescues who don't

necessarily have a fallback plan for

490

: 00:25:42

them up here, we will see a lot of

organizations from the south come up.

491

: 00:25:47

There's not like a receiving rescue.

492

: 00:25:49

And that's what I mean by responsible.

493

: 00:25:51

Like they're just doing random

adoptions and they don't have a rescue

494

: 00:25:55

that they're partnering with, so

that if that adoption doesn't work

495

: 00:25:57

out, the dog has somewhere to go.

496

: 00:26:00

So is that influencing us here?

497

: 00:26:02

Yeah, it definitely is because

now that dog doesn't work

498

: 00:26:05

out, the rescue is in Texas.

499

: 00:26:09

There's no way to get

the dog back to Texas.

500

: 00:26:11

So now the dog ends up in a shelter here

and takes away our space that we have for

501

: 00:26:17

our local animals that need a place to go.

502

: 00:26:22

Dixie: How are surrenders since you

did bring that subject up on people

503

: 00:26:26

that might adopt a dog from these people

that are just randomly driving it up and

504

: 00:26:29

decide they don't want the dog anymore.

505

: 00:26:32

How are your adoption returns in general?

506

: 00:26:35

Because I knew here it seems

to be, at a high right now.

507

: 00:26:39

Ashley: Knock on wood, my return

rate is still less than like 3%.

508

: 00:26:44

But I am also a psychopath

when it comes to my adopters.

509

: 00:26:48

Like I am very picky to the point

where the, probably the biggest

510

: 00:26:54

complaint is that I scare everybody.

511

: 00:26:57

And at the end of the day, if

they're still interested in the

512

: 00:26:58

dog, then maybe they can have it.

513

: 00:27:01

I am a jerk like that

and I pride myself on it.

514

: 00:27:03

Like I am a very real person.

515

: 00:27:05

I tell everybody all the time, I'm

like, you are really nice and my job is

516

: 00:27:10

to find a good, perfect match for you.

517

: 00:27:12

But at the end of the day, my

responsibility my priority is not you.

518

: 00:27:16

My priority is this dog.

519

: 00:27:17

So it's really nice that you've

had a hundred dogs and you've never

520

: 00:27:20

had to do training, and all of them

have been circus pets and they're

521

: 00:27:23

fantastic and blah, blah blah.

522

: 00:27:25

But I have a really specific criteria for

the things that you're gonna need to do

523

: 00:27:29

with any of my dogs for the first year.

524

: 00:27:31

And if you're not gonna do them,

i'm sure you're a great home, but

525

: 00:27:34

you can't have one of my dogs.

526

: 00:27:36

So my return rate is still less than 3%.

527

: 00:27:40

However, our foster program is like

overwhelmed, so overwhelmed from trying

528

: 00:27:47

to help out with local surrenders,

helping out our local shelters.

529

: 00:27:50

Last week I pulled two dogs from

our local Rockland shelter, one of

530

: 00:27:54

which is a diabetic like disaster.

531

: 00:27:57

He's the best and I love him.

532

: 00:27:58

His name is Remy, and he is completely

emaciated and was like a diabetic mess.

533

: 00:28:05

He finally made it through his

first night without wetting

534

: 00:28:07

his diaper, which was huge.

535

: 00:28:09

And he's finally stabilizing

on his insulin after a week.

536

: 00:28:13

Then I have two dogs right now

that I'm desperately trying

537

: 00:28:15

to pull out animal control.

538

: 00:28:17

I pulled one a couple weeks ago from them.

539

: 00:28:19

I tried to get my adult

dogs locally from them.

540

: 00:28:22

We are just so overwhelmed everywhere.

541

: 00:28:24

The other day, it was like before

one o'clock, I had six calls from

542

: 00:28:28

people trying to surrender dogs.

543

: 00:28:30

And they're not my dogs, so I can't say

the returns are bad in my organization.

544

: 00:28:35

But I can say that surrenders are so bad.

545

: 00:28:38

Like , today I got a call from

somebody in Pennsylvania, not

546

: 00:28:41

even locally in Pennsylvania.

547

: 00:28:43

He somehow heard about me from somebody

and heard about my organization,

548

: 00:28:47

and he has two deaf and blind white

boxers that he would like to rehome.

549

: 00:28:53

Dixie: Why?

550

: 00:28:54

Ashley: I didn't even call him back.

551

: 00:28:55

Every

552

: 00:28:56

day is like this.

553

: 00:28:57

I could read you, I have visual voicemail.

554

: 00:28:59

I could literally read you every

single one in my inbox for like

555

: 00:29:03

my voicemail inbox for the last

four days is just surrender

556

: 00:29:07

requests after surrender requests.

557

: 00:29:08

It's disgusting.

558

: 00:29:09

Yeah.

559

: 00:29:09

And it is the animal welfare crisis that

we are all in right now during COVID.

560

: 00:29:14

I have theories on this, like the animal

welfare crisis to me during COVID.

561

: 00:29:21

And I remember one night sitting here, it

was like midnight and I was on the phone,

562

: 00:29:24

like gossiping with Jess, my one partner.

563

: 00:29:27

And we said this was gonna happen.

564

: 00:29:29

She was like, this is coming.

565

: 00:29:30

And it's gonna be bad.

566

: 00:29:32

And to be honest, that's why I stockpiled

money because I knew that this was

567

: 00:29:37

gonna come and I'm so grateful that I

did because we wouldn't have survived

568

: 00:29:41

this last two years without the

money that we put away during COVID.

569

: 00:29:44

We had the puppy boom during COVID, and

during the puppy boom, everybody's big

570

: 00:29:48

concern was like, what's gonna happen

when everybody goes back to work?

571

: 00:29:51

That's, at least in my area,

like that was a big thing.

572

: 00:29:54

Everybody's getting these dogs and what's

gonna happen when they go back to work?

573

: 00:29:58

90% of these returns are not, at least

the ones that like, or I shouldn't

574

: 00:30:02

say returns, I should say surrenders.

575

: 00:30:04

Everybody that's calling me wanting

to return surrender their dog.

576

: 00:30:08

It's not because of their work

schedule, surprisingly enough.

577

: 00:30:11

Like it's because they're

behaviorally awful.

578

: 00:30:18

Because, they're

ultimately COVID children.

579

: 00:30:20

Okay.

580

: 00:30:21

They were never properly worked with,

they were never properly socialized.

581

: 00:30:24

And now , they have aggression issues,

they have they have anxiety disorders.

582

: 00:30:29

You name it, they've got it and

that's why they wanna return the dog.

583

: 00:30:32

We are seeing a lot of people that

can't afford to keep their dogs.

584

: 00:30:36

Our economy right now is trash.

585

: 00:30:38

People are having to downsize.

586

: 00:30:39

They're having to move.

587

: 00:30:40

When you move the place you're moving to.

588

: 00:30:42

Personally I'm currently looking

for rentals right now for myself.

589

: 00:30:46

I have three dogs where and I've been

looking now for three months now.

590

: 00:30:49

Luckily, I'm okay where I am.

591

: 00:30:51

Like I could stay here forever

if I wanted to, but at the end of

592

: 00:30:55

the day, I can't find a rental.

593

: 00:30:58

So I'm like, okay, so now what do you do?

594

: 00:31:00

Now you're losing your home,

so what are you gonna do?

595

: 00:31:03

Or you really have no money, you

can barely afford to feed your kids.

596

: 00:31:08

How are you gonna feed your dog?

597

: 00:31:09

So we're dealing with that.

598

: 00:31:11

That's a big portion of the rescue crisis.

599

: 00:31:13

Yes.

600

: 00:31:14

Do we have the people that are

like, oh, I just feel like I

601

: 00:31:16

don't have enough time for my dog.

602

: 00:31:17

Yeah, we do.

603

: 00:31:19

I feel like they're few and far

between than the other ones.

604

: 00:31:22

The other thing that's contributing

is during COVID, everybody

605

: 00:31:25

that wanted a dog got one.

606

: 00:31:26

So our adoption pool right now is

so small because everybody got one.

607

: 00:31:33

So these are either the kids that

are now coming up that were, in high

608

: 00:31:37

school during COVID that are like

early twenties, that kind of thing.

609

: 00:31:41

They're now looking to adopt.

610

: 00:31:43

So we have that population.

611

: 00:31:44

We also have the people that

want a second dog, right?

612

: 00:31:47

Like most of my adopters are actually

returning adopters for their second pup.

613

: 00:31:53

So that's another element.

614

: 00:31:55

And this is probably not

something I should say to the

615

: 00:31:57

public, but I'm gonna say it.

616

: 00:32:00

We live in a generation where

nobody is accountable for anything.

617

: 00:32:04

Everything is everybody else's

problem and people are lazy.

618

: 00:32:08

Nobody wants to put the

time, the effort, the money.

619

: 00:32:12

Or anything when they can dump

the dog off somewhere else.

620

: 00:32:16

And that's the culture we live in.

621

: 00:32:18

I say all the time, the only way

we're getting out of this animal

622

: 00:32:21

welfare crisis, like everybody's got

a band together, now the population

623

: 00:32:26

has to start helping themselves.

624

: 00:32:27

And that's actually where

the training center was born.

625

: 00:32:30

'cause I was like, all right, we gotta

start doing something to help the people

626

: 00:32:33

that are actually willing to put the

time and the energy into doing it.

627

: 00:32:36

So that's what led into training.

628

: 00:32:38

And everybody that calls me

and all of these calls, I say

629

: 00:32:41

to them like, can you foster?

630

: 00:32:42

Everybody wants me to help.

631

: 00:32:43

Can you help this dog?

632

: 00:32:44

Can you help this dog?

633

: 00:32:45

Can you help this dog?

634

: 00:32:46

But nobody wants to foster the dog.

635

: 00:32:48

Nobody wants to help us pay for the dog.

636

: 00:32:50

Nobody wants to buy food for the dog.

637

: 00:32:52

Where are we supposed to put them?

638

: 00:32:55

Dixie: We see that here too.

639

: 00:32:56

I know from my personal experience

we have a lot of the people here that

640

: 00:33:00

are, oh, I don't have time anymore.

641

: 00:33:03

For a dog it's a little bit

different than it is for a cat.

642

: 00:33:06

A cat is absolutely fine

if you go to work all day.

643

: 00:33:10

In fact, your cat probably is get

out the house and leave me alone.

644

: 00:33:13

I just like to tolerate you when you come

home 'cause that's just how cats are.

645

: 00:33:17

But here it's like a lot of people are

like, well, I just don't have time.

646

: 00:33:21

So they're reaching out to rescues

and what aggravates me about it is

647

: 00:33:26

a lot of these people don't realize

what a rescue is actually for.

648

: 00:33:30

A rescue is not for you getting

out of your responsibility.

649

: 00:33:33

A rescue is there for the dire situations.

650

: 00:33:37

And those things that

just come up unexpectedly.

651

: 00:33:40

Like something like a

hospitalization, a death in the

652

: 00:33:43

family or something like that.

653

: 00:33:45

But it's not for people.

654

: 00:33:46

That are just like, I wanna

just get rid of my dog or my cat

655

: 00:33:49

today 'cause I don't have time.

656

: 00:33:52

Ashley: Yeah.

657

: 00:33:52

Yeah.

658

: 00:33:53

And we see that.

659

: 00:33:54

And in that moment, have you seen that

meme that's like circling, that says

660

: 00:33:58

something about your dog would much

rather lay on their couch all day in

661

: 00:34:01

the air conditioning like, than be,

in a shelter or something like that.

662

: 00:34:06

Have you seen that meme?

663

: 00:34:08

That's how I feel about that.

664

: 00:34:09

And I say that to people and I, everybody

that calls me that I do talk to that

665

: 00:34:13

doesn't like just get our voicemail.

666

: 00:34:14

'cause at this point I've stopped

calling them back because I don't

667

: 00:34:17

have the mental capacity to be

polite anymore to sometimes.

668

: 00:34:21

So if I do happen to answer and they do

say it, I explain it to them and I say,

669

: 00:34:25

Hey, listen, you are trying to rehome

your animal in the absolute worst time.

670

: 00:34:32

Let me tell you about the

animal welfare crisis.

671

: 00:34:35

And I educate them and I'm like,

honestly, the best thing you can do for

672

: 00:34:38

this dog right now is go find a trainer.

673

: 00:34:41

Train your dog.

674

: 00:34:43

Okay, get a dog walker.

675

: 00:34:45

Go to doggy daycare.

676

: 00:34:47

Or, I hate to say it, but sitting

at home in the air conditioning is

677

: 00:34:51

a lot better than being in a shelter

and then being euthanized for space.

678

: 00:34:57

Dixie: We've reached all the time that

we have for today's episode, so we're

679

: 00:35:00

gonna cut the conversation short,

but I will be back next week with the

680

: 00:35:05

conclusion of the conversation that I

had with Ashley and we're gonna get in

681

: 00:35:09

more into talking about the dog training.

682

: 00:35:11

So I hope you can join us next

week . If you are enjoying our show,

683

: 00:35:16

please consider leaving us a donation.

684

: 00:35:18

A hundred percent goes to our animals.

685

: 00:35:24

Paws in

686

: 00:35:29

the night Claws in the

fight Whiskers twitch and

687

: 00:35:40

tails

688

: 00:35:43

take flight

689

: 00:35:44

They’re calling in Stories to spin

From the wild to the heart within

690

: 00:35:51

Broken wings and hopeful springs

We’re the voices for these things

691

: 00:35:57

animal posse hear the call.

692

: 00:36:02

We stand together.

693

: 00:36:05

Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

got it all Animal posse Saving

694

: 00:36:19

them

695

: 00:36:25

all

696

: 00:36:26

The vet’s got tips The rescuer’s

grit The foster homes where love

697

: 00:36:32

won’t quit From a pup in the rain to

a bird in pain , Every soul’s worth

698

: 00:36:47

the

699

: 00:36:49

strain

700

: 00:36:51

Animal posse

701

: 00:36:59

Hear the call

702

: 00:37:06

We stand together Big

703

: 00:37:12

and small Rescue tales We’ve got

it all Animal posse Saving them all

704

: 00:37:21

Every caller tells a tale, every

howl a whispered wail, we rise up.

705

: 00:37:27

We never

706

: 00:37:32

fail.

707

: 00:37:35

This

708

: 00:37:38

is

709

: 00:37:40

the

710

: 00:37:46

bond

711

: 00:37:51

The holy grail

712

: 00:37:53

Animal posse Hear the call We stand

together Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

713

: 00:38:08

got it all Animal posse Saving them all

714

: 00:38:17

Every caller tells a tale Every howl

a whispered wail We rise up We never

715

: 00:38:25

fail This is the bond The holy grail.

716

: 00:38:29

Song by Suno.ai