News
Update! Donations Help Ardmore Woman With 100 Abandoned Dogs
December 22, 2008, 6:25PM MT
By Marti Lombardi
Thanks to generous donations and help from a nearby animal sanctuary, 77-year-old Catherine Titus can better care for herself and her 100 abandoned dogs.
Thanks to generous donations and help from a nearby animal sanctuary, 77-year-old Catherine Titus can better care for herself and her 100 abandoned dogs.
By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9
ARDMORE, OK -- Thanks to generous donations and help from a nearby animal sanctuary, 77-year-old Catherine Titus can better care for herself and her 100 abandoned dogs.
One day, Catherine Titus was trying to figure out how she was going to feed her and the 100 dogs that were abandoned on her property with only a few hundred dollars. Now, she has more money than she knows what to do with.
Titus has received hundreds of letters with donations from across the country, and even some from Europe, totaling over $30,000.
People were stunned to hear Titus has been able to take care of the dogs while living in her van, with only a few hundred dollars from social security.
"There's lots of love, lots of prayers, lots of good people," said Karin Morrison with Compassion Seeds.
Morrison, who runs the animal sanctuary Compassion Seeds, which has taken most of the 100 dogs and spayed and neutered them so they could be adopted, couldn't believe the outpouring of support.
"Usually, you see all the bad people and bad stories, and that was the best Christmas story ever," Morrison said.
But despite all the money Titus has received for her and the dogs, she refuses to find herself a new home. She said she won't move until the last dog has been taken.
"All I want is for the dogs to be cared for and loved, and that is something they hadn't had until I got them," Titus said. "They deserve it just like any other of God's creatures."
In addition to the money, Morrison said one person from out of state is going to donate a mobile home to Catherine Titus.
The story on Tulsa's channel 6 news is located here.
Original Story: Oklahoma Woman Cares for 100 Abandoned Dogs
As reported by KWTV and linked on CNN today, woman gives up much to protect abandoned dogs.
By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9
Story link, slideshow, and video located here.
ARDMORE, Oklahoma -- Struggling to make it herself, an Oklahoma woman risks her life to take care of more than 100 abandoned dogs. Catherine Titus lives in a rural area outside of Ardmore with her dogs in only a van.
For the past five years, 71-year-old Titus has called rural Oklahoma home, living out of a van with her closest companions, all 100 of them. She does it because her four-legged friends mean everything to her.
She has also given up almost everything to continue to care for the animals.
Titus used to work for the Humane Society in Texas. She said she fell on hard times and eventually landed in Oklahoma.
Now, she survives on her $700 Social Security check, most of which goes to feeding the dogs. But Titus said her situation is nothing compared to what the abandoned dogs have gone through.
"I get them wandering in from the pasture, stranded and beaten," Titus said.
Most are dogs she never asked for, but she's adopted them anyway, and once the word got out, they kept coming.
"I pick them up out of trash bags. I picked them up out of cardboard boxes," Titus said. "They tie them to the fence. They tie them to the gate."
Karin Morrison runs Compassion Seeds , an animal sanctuary just a few miles from Titus' home. Once she got word of the situation, Morrison and her co-workers jumped into action.
"She did a wonderful job for what she had to deal with," Morrison said. "Is there any help for these dogs? You know, you never know if there is any hope or not. Maybe for some, but not for all."
They have taken more than 40 dogs from Titus and spayed and neutered them in hopes of giving them a second chance.
"They need to be adopted. I've done what I can for them, but they deserve a home. They deserve as much love as anything else does," Titus said.
How You Can Help:
Compassion Seeds is asking for help with the dogs through adoption. To learn about how you can adopt one of the dogs, visit Compassion Seeds Web site or call 580-229-0400.
If you'd like a make a donation to help Catherine Titus and her animals, you can make a check out to: Compassion Seeds, Inc, In Care of Catherine Titus. The checks can be mailed to Compassion Seeds, Inc. 13423 State Highway 76 Healdton, OK 73438. The staff at the non-profit animal sanctuary will ensure that every penny goes toward helping the dogs and Titus.
Posted by Marti Lombardi Best Friends network volunteer. Story reprinted with permission by News 9 KWTV. Photos from News 9 KWTV web site.