Dawn Update 4: Neighborhood Drama

Neighborhood drama thwarted our efforts to catch Dawn this week. When we first met Dawn, a feral, two-year-old, fifty-pound mutt, she had been residing behind Bernice’s house on Smith Street. Bernice was the woman fishing on the Springfield Greenway that had first approached me about the feral dog and her newborn litter of pups living in a bramble patch in her backyard.

Unfortunately, over the last several weeks, Dawn has been spending less and less time around Bernice’s house, slowly moving down Smith Street. Right now, she mostly stays at Martha’s house, another run-down clapboard rental house in the ghetto.

Three months ago, I’d met Martha a few times when we were hanging out on Bernice’s porch – while we tried to sedate and catch Dawn. Martha is a nosey, stubborn, aging woman that hoards a whole trove of old wives’ tales that she pulls out and proclaims, like she’s Moses reading the commandments.

During the first week we met the Magic 8, Martha had advised Bernice to kick ICHBA off her property and sell the Magic 8 for $50.00 a piece. She also told Bernice that if we took the M8 before they were six weeks, then they would die and Dawn would disappear.

Needless to say, last week, when we tried to hatch a plan to catch Dawn, Martha made it very clear that we were not allowed in her yard. And Bernice deflected, letting Martha have the final say.

This is a HUGE defeat for ICHBA, but more importantly for Dawn. Donna, ICHBA’s head honcho, called Bernice and explained that we had rescued and re-homed the pups on the condition that we could catch Dawn and have her spayed.

Hopefully, Bernice will be able to talk some sense into Martha, the neighborhood bully, but I doubt it.

There is nothing more frustrating than when human drama a.k.a. bullshit gets in the way of helping animals. I’ll keep you updated.