The Long Way Home

It was a horrific sight.

Barely breathing and laying on the curb, his only movement a mere blink of his eyes. Discarded like a piece of trash and left by a dumpster, the dog who would come to be known as John, had been left for dead.

Rescued Lab/Pit mix, John, struggles to survive

Neglected, abused, and severely emaciated, John, an 18 month old Lab/Pit mix, weighed a distressing 18 lbs, far from the 60 pounds he should weigh. When he was rescued by New York's Sean Casey Animal Rescue, John was dangerously dehydrated and covered from head to toe in dried feces. His body temperature barely registered and a deep open gash split his neck. 

Unfortunately, John's story is only one of many similar tragedies.

There's Gucci, the chow-husky mix who was beaten, hanged from a tree, doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze when he was just 3 months old. This was the result of a vengeful, heinous act by a teenage boy who was rejected by the young girl who was Gucci's caregiver.

Or Hope, the Pug whose mouth had been forcefully shut with electrical tape. The tape wound so tightly around her snout that her tongue was left trapped between and helplessly hanging beyond her clenched teeth. Hope's tongue was severely injured by this act of cruelty. 

Then there's Patrick, tied inside a trash bag in a New York building's garbage chute, and Herbie, left on the tree lawn of an abandoned house emaciated, blind in one eye with a fractured skull, and Smokey, beaten with a baseball bat and run over, by a car driven by his owners. 

Tragic and unconscionable, these stories, and countless others, plague the internet. And with the power of social media, these animals and hundreds of thousands like them, are getting a second chance.

Social media is changing the face of communication and with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Petango, and PetFinder, more and more animals are being rescued, given proper medical attention and care, and eventually adopted into safe homes by loving families.

Pet shelters and animal rescue groups are catching on to social media and capitalizing on the 'Faberge shampoo' phenomenon of viral marketing. You know the one, "I told two friends... and they told two friends... and so on, and so on..." However, with social networking's exponential reach, today it's “I'll tweet thousands of followers...and they'll tweet thousands of followers...” and in less than 24 hours the story has circled the globe.

Stories of tragedy make great headlines and great ratings. Prior to the digital age, television and newspapers captured and shared with us only the information they chose to share.  During that period, the question of "What ever happened to...?" was rarely, if ever, answered. With social media, we have the power, resources and knowledge at our fingertips to get the entire story. We are able to remain connected to these animals, like John, and we can continue to follow their stories.

Hundreds of animal rescue groups have saved thousands of animals by simply sharing their stories, pictures and videos via social media. ASPCA vice president Steven Froehlich commented, "Recently one of our followers saw one of our longtime residents -- a dog named Spruce -- on our Facebook page, fell in love with him, and drove down from Maine to adopt him.” With social media's ability to reach a much wider audience the success rate of pet adoptions continues to climb. “They're no longer limited to local shelters.” 
 

Facebook post of missing dog, Pippa

Twittering tweets and status updates, of missing animals are constantly posted on social media sites with tremendously successful outcomes. Just before Christmas in Stow, MA, a curious two-year-old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen named Pippa, scrambled over her property fence to experience the world beyond, and went missing. The owner contacted Granite State Dog Recovery, an all-volunteer group working in partnership with shelters, rescue groups and animal control agencies, veterinarians and pet lovers to help reunite lost dogs with their owners throughout the Northeast US. They quickly created a flyer and posted it to their Facebook page.

And the sharing began.

Pippa was found five days later and returned home safely by someone who had seen the posting.

In addition to these tragic stories, there are numerous heartwarming storybook endings as well...even several of the awful, inhumane stories turn out to be, in the end, "happily ever afters."

For eight years, Audrey and Eldad Hagar of Los Angeles have been operating their dog rescue, Hope For Paws, from their apartment. Their goal is to educate people on the importance of companion animals in our society to stop the cycle of animal neglect and abuse. They created Hope for Paws to help animals in this country who suffer and die every year because of negligence and abuse.  They also created a huge network of rescuers from all over the world via their social media pages.

"Our fostered animals are a part of our family and are treated as such.  Too often, people undervalue their furry family members and abandon them in their backyards, on the streets or at the shelters.  These animals die from starvation, abuse, and euthanization because of the overcrowding at the shelters."

Because there are no sign up costs, the Hagar's are able to utilize many social media sites to their advantage. Hope for Paws is proud to boast about their 37,000 Facebook fans, 15,000 Twitter followers, and 43,000 YouTube subscribers with over 11 million video views! Through their reach, they have rescued and placed thousands of animals.

Recently rescued Fiona, a dirty and blind stray dog, was found in a South L.A. school yard lot. With the donations that poured in from many of the 1.6 million people who watched her rescue, Hope for Paws was able to give Fiona her sight back and provide her with a loving home.

Without social media, these stories would never have spread as far as they have. Thanks to the power of the internet, the caring followers, tweeters, and status updaters, these animals are finally finding their way home and for most of them it's been a long, long way.


(Original blog post 1)