Not all man-dog stories are about love, loyalty and friendship. And sadly, in most cases, it's the humans who lets the dog down. Dogs abandoned in shelters or streets, left to fend for themselves is a situation most of us are aware of, but in the city of Dallas, Texas, things are slightly more unnerving.
Located on a busy road off of Interstate 20 is a mass grave for dogs. While some are dead when they are dumped in the woods off the busy road, others are left there by their owners to starve to death, still others, (the most unfortunate ones) are wrapped in plastic bags and thrown into the woods to die a painful suffocating death, reports barkpost.com.
While animal lovers cringe at the thought, and Dallas citizens try to ignore the problem, there is one lady who refuses to accept the situation: 28-year-old Ukranian Marina Tarashevska.
Early every morning, Tarashevska drives to Teagarden Road in southeast Dallas. Parking her car, she heads to the overgrown drainage ditch off Dowdy Ferry Road to rummage among the piles of dog carcasses. She is desperate to find a tag or a microchip that can help the police bring perpetrators to justice and file an animal cruelty case against the dog's former owner.
"I know just because I'm out here doesn't mean it's going to stop. But once you know this exists, you have a responsibility to do something about it," said Tarashevska, according to Dallas News.
"The laws need to be enforced to where people can't just get an animal and then throw it away. They shouldn't be able to get away with that without getting into any trouble." said Tarashevska, according to Dallas News.
And sometimes if she is lucky Tarashevska finds a still living dog to rescue.
Here is a YouTube video of one such day when Tarashevska finds an emaciated rottweiler. Badly infected with mange, the female dog's eyes and nose are oozing. "This is the most unimaginable cruelty. And it doesn't have to happen," said Tarashevska.
Driven by a desire to create a change, Tarashevska has recently started the Dallas Dogrrr-Rescue Rehab Reform website. Tarashevska's Facebook page for the Dallas Dogrrr-Rescue Rehab Reform is a window into the kind of work she is doing to help man's best friend.
"I guess they're right, I am crazy. But if people know dogs are starving out in those woods, I think it's crazy I'm the only person out there," says the gutsy woman.
We salute you, Marina Tarashevska.
