West Virginia Rescue Trip

There is poverty everywhere you turn and the animals seem to be the ones that suffer most. This is an old mining town and while they are still mining, there is hardly a way to make a living with it. People here are very poor. The surroundings are surreal with beautiful rolling mountains and a diversity of flora that is hard to equal. The butterflies are happily flying around and are gigantic in size gorging themselves on a large variety of flowers that are abundant everywhere while the wild turkeys linger everywhere.

Just one of the millions of butterflies

While this beauty here is surreal, the suffering is very real. And it seems that the pets suffer the brunt of it. Where would they all be without Alexis. This strong and beautiful woman is hardly able to live with all the suffering she sees every day. There is just so much everywhere. We could send a truck down here once a week and fill it up with needy animals. They are left in tiny pens, tied up on chains to dog houses that are located in the hot sun or behind their trailer in wooded areas.

Two dogs who are living in a fenced in area with about 30 other dogs

Most people don't feed their dogs on a regular basis and the water bowl is knocked over as soon as they leave since the dog is trying so hard to get attention from its owner, but inevitably, they just walk away again.

This Husky's ears are eaten up by flies while he is trying so hard to get some attention. His siblings are tied not far from him in similar situations.

This home keeps getting dogs and lets them breed again and again. We have taken many litters from there and spayed quite a few females of theirs. It seems the more junk they have, the more pets they own.

This is her trailer with our van parked in front of it

Alexis is working continuously to try to improve her situation, but honestly, what she needs is an "extreme makeover". There is just so much work that needs to be done and of course, like everybody else, she has no money. She counts her money in bags of dog or cat food. If I spend $10 on this, that will mean one less bag of dog/cat food. Or, boy, that would buy 5 bags of dog food....

Dogs living in tiny pens at Alexis' place. If the weather it good, it's not that bad, but when it rains, it becomes a mud festival.

The animals are dumped at her doorsteps regularly. Calamities are abundant here and you see lots of burned down houses or homes wrecked by some other disaster. It seems like one in 20 homes is desolate and abandoned. But these are not the only ones seeking her help. Everybody she knows has a friend or family member that needs help. She has disconnected her phone, not turned on her answering machine and is not returning peoples' calls. This is so stressful, because either way it's killing her. If she helps people, she ends up keeping these animals in terrible conditions herself till they go to rescue since she just does not have the setup; and if she does not help them, it eats her up. I have rarely seen anyone that loves animals as much as she does and she is very outspoken about it, but due to her charming ways, people all love her and support her.

Alexis trying to take care of some bunnies while all the puppies are so happy to be with her

She had two horses dumped on her by a friend of hers. She is not equipped or in a financial position to take care of them. One had a foal within a few months and she was boarding them with friends. The horses were not fed properly and they kept losing weight, so she moved them. Again, she ran into the same situation. Then they decided it was great fun to breed her mare again. Now she has three horses she can't afford and again a pregnant mare. They are now living in her brother's backyard and she has to carry water from the creek and buy hay and feed for them since there is no grass for these animals to eat. Of course she can only afford the cheapest quality of feed and has no money for shoes for them. They are very skinny and she can't afford the vet care. If she sells them, she knows their fate. Horse rescues are few and far between and she has not been able to find anybody to help her.

Alexis trying so hard to maintain her horses

I am sitting here in my bed at 5:00 in the morning unable to sleep, even though I have not slept more than a couple of hours since we left 2 days ago. This is so sad and depressing. There just is no easy solution. I wished I could just give her the money and help her get out of that situation, but it's not that easy. Her need is so great and she is surrounded by it all. Her fridge is always empty and everything is falling apart in her home since the money all goes to the animals in her care. Yet, she says she feels like one of these abusers "since the animals in my care are not properly taken care of. I just don't have the facility or manpower." We brought her 800 lbs of donated dog food and we also went shopping and bought her cat food, rabbit food and bedding for them. This will hopefully last a little while. Alexis was in tears, she was so happy that she did not have to worry about where to get the food for the animals.

A pitbull Alexis rescued a few years ago isstill living on a chain since she has nowhere else for him to go.

I don't know the solution but knowing and loving this woman with this fantastic spirit makes it even harder. Today we will have to leave again to our comfortable life, knowing what we leave behind. Her parting words were: "Ruth, any animal you see spayed or neutered in Mingo County was done so by the sponsorship of Pet Rescue." I know that is an exaggeration, albeit only a slight one.

Saying goodbye to a dog she has taken care of for the last couple of months. He is off to a new beginning.

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DOGS ARRIVE IN NEW YORK SUNDAY MORNING

These sweet dogs are met by our wonderful group of volunteers who supply lots of bathing, medication, grooming and most importantly lots and lots of hugs and kisses. They are all safe and we are committed to finding them wonderful homes where they will no longer suffer and enjoy a life they truly deserve. We could not have done this without all your support!