Dogs

Extraordinary Americans Vladimir Morozov

Alexander Genis: And now - the new issue of the heading “Extraordinary Americans Vladimir Morozov”

His interlocutor today is Katya Clotter, director of the Society for Combating the Cruel attitude to animals.

Vladimir Morozov: Recently, 56-year-old farmer Dwayne Carpenter from the neighboring village of Greenfield in the north of New York appeared before the court of Saratog-Springs. Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (the Society for Combating the Cruel attitude to animals), whose director Katya Katya Katya Katya Katya today, is my interlocutor. Katya, what happened there and how did you find out about this business?

Katya Clotter: One of the farmer's neighbors called us. He gave an announcement about the sale of animals and at our request to see what condition they were in, the veterinarian went. He saw that the horses are hungry, skinny, they could count the ribs. The meadow in front of the stable is littered with rolons of barbed wire, cable skeins, logs and boards from which nails stick out. One horse then broke the leg, inflammation began and the animal had to be strewn. Another horse had a neglected wound, the third had a sore eye and so on. The farmer claimed that he was trying to treat them, but he had no evidence of such treatment.

Vladimir Morozov: The police issued a warrant for an official inspection of the stable. This time, police officers, animal defenders and a veterinarian went there. Drawn up an act on the condition of each horse, and the case was referred to the court, which took the animals from the farmer and sentenced him to a monetary fine. Is the size of the fine large? And to whom should he be paid?

Katya Clother: To us. A little more than three thousand dollars. Yes, the money is small. But this is not a fine, but the compensation of the funds that our organization spent during the investigation and the trial. Usually we get nothing at all. Horses were handed over to a special farm for abandoned animals. This is in the Katskilsky mountains. They have a big grazing there. And in our shelter there is little space, we hold only dogs and cats, for them there is a platform so that they can run in the air. Who pays now for the maintenance of horses? The farm itself, where they now live. Who contains the farm? They, like us, exist for private donations. The trial was widely covered by all local newspapers. And now people who love horses are sending money to buy hay and other feed. And what is stuck - the least such people were in the district of Saratog. Although Saratoga is known throughout the country with his races. In August, the best horses and Zhokeev are brought here from all over the country. The Saratoga is full of rich people. There are summer houses of the inhabitants of New York and Boston. And among these damn thicknesses there was only one person who bought feed for horses.

Vladimir Morozov: Maybe one of the listeners saw the American Favorite film? Toby Magweir, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper play there. This is about ZHOKEY, coaches and rope horses. So, part of the tape was shot precisely at the hippodrome in the city of Saratoga-Springs. At one time, the film was nominated for an Oscar.

Katya, well, if horses are not kept in your shelter, can I take a dog from you? And why it costs $ 400. Why is it so expensive?

Katya Cloter: Many say so - oh, how expensive! But for the buyer this is a profitable price. Where does it come from? Typically, new dog owners do not want their pets to have offspring - these are additional worries. Therefore, the veterinarian is casting male and sterilization of bitches. It costs from 200 to 300 dollars. Then four vaccinations from various diseases. Then the tests of feces and urine. You have to pay for all this. Even a simple procedure - delivering dogs and cats from fleas costs 18 dollars. You will pay from a thousand to two and a half thousand dollars for an animal in a special dog nursery, and we have only 400. Yes, you can pay them with a credit card and then pay $ 30 a month.

Vladimir Morozov: Once in my youth I had a dog-chau breed dog. And now, if I get ready to have a dog, what do you advise me? I love large dogs, 40 kilograms.

Katya Clotter: you need to take a small dog. Do not forget that we do not become younger. Imagine you took a dog weighing, as you say, 40 kilograms. And it so happened that she fell ill or broke her leg. How you will take her to the veterinarian, you can’t raise her in the car, and you can’t bring it to the car. Your strength is not the same that was before. And what will you do!

Vladimir Morozov: I like a labrador or a golden retriever. Beautiful, friendly dogs. I'll take the puppy ...

Katya Clother: Yes, these are great breeds. But choose not a puppy, but a dog 4-5 years old. Why is this age? Because you forgot how much work is worth raising a puppy. He will start with the fact that he will break all your slippers, gnaws boots and legs of furniture. This is one disorder! It's nice to play with a puppy. But, here, you turned away and he does what he wants.

Vladimir Morozov: I remembered how my friend immediately after the divorce, so as not to sit alone, started a puppy of the beagle breed and two kittens. The puppy loved to chase one of the kittens, and if he caught it, he flueped like a rag toy. But when trying to get closer to the second kitten, Bigl received a clawed paw in the face a couple of times. All this was funny to observe, and the animals helped a friend survive depression. But then the puppy began not only to bite the shoes, he ripped off the linoleum in the kitchen. An orange hunting hat made of leatherette fell from the hanger, and Bigl managed to break half of the hat. Once I went to a friend and he met me from the threshold with the words: now I’ll drink coffee, then I’ll take this parasite into the forest and shoot. The “parasite” himself with a guilty look sat nearby, pressing his ears, and listening to the owner. It turned out that Bigl was addicted to sleep on the bed with the owner and this morning a man woke up in a puddle of puppy urine. You don’t really be afraid, I said the puppy, your owner is kind and will not kill you. Yes, and Bigl reproached the bed for the first time, I convinced the owner. I had to speak alternately with a person and a dog. In short, I acted as a family psychologist who mirms spouses. After half an hour of such a conversation, the owner chopped down and stopped threatening that the puppy would shoot, and the latter moved away from fright and relaxed. The world in the house was restored. And I began to think about the career of a psychologist, an intermediary between a dog and a person. Then it turned out that I was not the first.

Katya Clother: Sometimes just his heart breaks! We come to a house and do not know what to do. We try to talk with people as softer as possible. Yes, you are a kind woman, yes, you wanted to arrange a normal life for your pets. Yes, you have a generous heart, you contain 75 cats. But you live alone, and one person, unfortunately, is beyond the power of maintaining such a herd. There is not enough strength to feed them, remove them after them. We need to do something, find the owners for some cats, transfer part to the shelter. Sorry, but your neighbors complain to us, they say that such an unpleasant smell is coming from your home.

Vladimir Morozov: For this mistress of cats, psychologists have a special term - Hoarding Disorder, which could be translated as a “reserve disorder”. Or even better, Plyushkin Syndrome, although he collected inanimate objects that are not asking. Such buffoons with a diagnosis of Hoarder exist in America.

Katya Clotter: I worked in the city of Albani as a manager in a large private company, and paid me a lot of money. But she always loved animals. So, out of my 66 years - 18 I am sitting in this place. First, on a voluntary basis, she worked at the dog breeder club. And somehow I proposed to create a shelter in order to maintain homeless cats and dogs there, and to sell them to those who wish for a symbolic price. How about salaries? I spat on this business, not a man alive with bread. I decided to do what I want.

Vladimir Morozov: Yes, they pay much less here. So less that Katya Clotter flatly refused to name the amount.

But you, like every person, need money. Do you have dependents in your family?

Katya Clother: Dogs ... how much? Seven pieces. And two cats. That's all my dependents. Say that I am also Hoarder. No, Hoarder is a person who does not care about his animals. And you look at my dogs. They look better than me. There is no time to go to the doctor, and I will always reduce my pets to the veterinarian. Was I married? I do not really like to remember this. Yes, many years ago was married. We never got children. And now it’s good that my husband is not with me. Because what husband will withstand such a dog life. After all, I spend 80 hours a week or more in a shelter. And I study with animals at home. They are not locked up with me. Behind the house is a big lawn, where my animals can run and frolic. They have everything they need.

Vladimir Morozov: Why is your shelter called “No Kill”? Does this mean you do not euthanize dogs, do not kill them? And other shelters?

Katya Clotter: We take as many animals as we can serve and feed. Now we have 62 dogs in the shelter, it will no longer fit. Sometimes people call and ask to take their dog. We often respond with a refusal - we have no place. Other shelters take animals without restriction. And when their room is crowded, they are forced to euthanize animals. And our shelter holds the animal, even if it has grown. We have a dog with a liver disease, the other with a based disease. There is a blind dog. But until their death, they will live with us and we will take care of them.

Vladimir Morozov: Dead dogs are cremated here. And the boxes with ash are stored. How do we store it? - Cati asks and takes out a small bag from colored waxed paper from the shelf, in which gifts are usually put in stores. True, there are no color tapes on the bag.

Katya Cloter: So what is here? Here is the name of the dog, her name was down. What breed? Cur. Here are our signatures under a farewell prayer. We have 12 people in the staff of the shelter, including those who work incomplete working day. Plus volunteers. Here everyone subscribed, see the text - "Poiner will forever remain in our hearts." Here is a box with dust. Tombstone in honor of the dog. Here is a colored postcard, and on it something like a dog paradise. According to the plan, a dog or cat our favorite comes here after death. There are green meadows where our pet can play with his friends. There is plenty of food and drink and bright sun. All those animals that were old or sick here again become young and healthy. Those that were crippled are restored by their lost limbs. Remember your late pets more often, they miss you!

Vladimir Morozov: And then I suddenly notice that two tears are slowly rolling down my interlocutor's cheeks. She takes her breath and explains.

Katya Clotter: I have just lost one of the dogs. Not here in the shelter, but from my own. She died of old age, her heart just stopped. She was 15 years old. Here, look, I have her photo in my cell phone. Yes, it looks more like a kitten, a tiny creature.

Vladimir Morozov: Katya, but it seemed to me that I was a real dogman. But where am I to you! I am leading to the forest of neighboring dogs. And I constantly speak with them. It seems to me that they already understand Russian well. At least the obscene words that I pronounce in great love. I treat these beasts as young children. You know, at the age when children can already walk, but they have not yet learned to speak ...

Katya Clotter: (laughter) This is a great way to explain the behavior of animals. And I'm sure that dogs understand this attitude. And they love you. You will never wait for such love from people.

Vladimir Morozov: It is much more difficult to wait for a decision to sell you a dog. First you need to fill out a detailed questionnaire - 6 pages. I remember that I was hired - and then the total page 4 had to be filled out. And the dog questionnaire is in more detail. Your age, marital status, earnings. Do you have children, and if you have, then how much and what age? Do you have a spacious house and yard in front of him? Is there Luzhaika near the house. Have you had to keep a dog before. What was her name? What happened to her? Did the veterinarian examine your pet? How many times? Did you pay him from your own pocket or insured in advance the health of the dog? What was she sick, how was she treated?

This 6-page agreement is similar to a marriage agreement or the oath of the newlyweds: “I swear to love you in grief and in joy, and wealth and poverty, in illness and in health, until death is separated by us.” There is a word Commitment in this marriage agreement - devotion, loyalty, fidelity. Applying a paw to the document from the dog is not required. Probably because no one doubts her love. But a person, the being is much more frivolous, and he is obliged to sign a contract.

But back to Dwin Carpenter, who is found guilty of cruelty to horses, for which he was fined and his animals were taken away. And that's not all. The farmer received 6 months of prison. At the same time, the judge did not deprive the nurse’s family and decided that Dwayne Carpenter would be able to work for 5 days a week, as usual, and live at home, but would spend Saturday and Sunday in prison. It is believed that the verdict is relatively soft. Recently, 24-year-old John Scott Falbo was punished in Vellington, Florida, on a similar charges. In front of the indignant witnesses, he moved 9 wild ducklings on his garden tractor. Scott was given a year of prison.

And how long would the judge Turgenevsky Gerasim, who, as you remember, drowned the unfortunate Mumu? The term, most likely, would be conditional, because Gerasim is a man, he needs to work every day. But the lady who pushed Gerasima for such villainy, she could have a conditional time and not get rid of ...