Socks, A Survivor

To Whom It May Concern,

I have lived in Sharpsburg my entire life, all 34 years and I have always felt safe.  A year ago when all six of our goats were killed one evening that feeling of safety disappeared.  We never went outside after dark unless we had flashlights and at least a ball bat.  If my husband was home he wouldn’t allow me to go outside without him.  After six months or so we started to feel safe again and then on December 23rd 2010, all of that changed. 

Before the attack Socks loved to lay outside and sun himself, he didn’t wander from the property, and he never bothered anyone.  He liked to watch the horses across the road and hunt for mice in our field.  He never went outside until I would leave to go to work at 7am.  He’d walk me the 100' to the basement where our office is and then he’d go and lay down in the flower beds or the yard.  Before dark we’d make sure that he was inside for the night.

On December 23rd 2010, Socks was sleeping on the back walk, up against the house, in the flower bed when he was attacked and wounded.  In the struggle the solar light broke off at the ground.  The dogs had to have come around the front of the house or around the pool in order to even reach the back walk.  This was not an attack that occurred in the yard or out in a field, it was on a walk along the back of the house.  These dogs had to have been looking for an animal to torture.  The day that it happened several of our employees were in the one building with the door open and they never saw the dogs.  They only knew of the attack when they heard Christine screaming.

For a cat that was used to his freedom, his entire world was destroyed.  He would spend the next two months going back and forth to the vet, being forced to take multiple medications, suffering the indignity of having to be cleaned when he peed himself, and not being able to do any of the things that he used to.  

Socks suffered the majority of his wounds to his right hind leg.  His injuries will affect him for the rest of his life.  He has trouble walking and always walks with a limp.  The cat that used to climb trees now has problems jumping on to the couch and requires steps to get in the window, on the couch, and on the bed.  He has trouble balancing on uneven surfaces and cannot lift his leg very far off the ground.  Whether or not he’ll recover any further is not known, but he has the best of care.  

Several visits to the veterinarian hospital were even free of charge because they felt so bad for Socks.  I’ve spent approximately $ 950.00 between the emergency animal hospital and our regular veterinarian.  It has  cost another $ 250.00 for items needed to care for Socks.  Some of the wounds that Socks has suffered are psychological.  If he hears a dog bark he becomes terrified.  If he hears any loud noises he becomes stressed.  He now spends the majority of his day in the bedroom away from everyone and everything.  When he isn’t in the bedroom he sits by the front door with his nose pressed to the door jamb crying to go outside.   

I have been asked many times what I would like to see happen and I’ve given it a lot of thought.  I’ve been asked about suing the dog owner’s for the vet bills, but to me the money is not important, I would pay anything to have Socks alive and well.  What I want to see happen is that the dogs need to be euthanized, they are a danger to all of our pets, our children, and adults.  I want to see the owner’s held responsible for allowing their dogs to run free when they should be confined to kennels or inside of the house.  I want the Humane Society to be held accountable for doing nothing to protect our pets and to be punished for not only failing to provide us with answers and assistance, but for failing their own mission.  I want my nieces to be able to walk outside without being afraid of the dogs and to be able to play on their swing set without adults standing guard.  Until these dogs are removed from this neighborhood, none of us are safe and an attack on a child or adult is imminent.  

Socks may not have been killed, he was very lucky, but every day is a constant reminder of what happened to him and the reason that it happened is because of irresponsible dog owners.

Thank You.

PS.  Socks would like to be able to go outside without having to wear a harness and leash or be locked in a welded steel kennel.  Socks would prefer not to have to fear that the dogs will return and kill him.