Help us keep our home & dogs with a septic install
Donation protected
UPDATE ON 1/22/2020: changed goal to $900. the aim of getting septic out here has failed and now i need to submit my dogs to the Humane Society.
https://hselpaso.org/our-services/surrender-a-pet
they require a $100 per dog fee, and since i have 9 dogs that is $900. i'm in the process now of gathering photos of each dog to attach to an application and will have it submitted by end of day Thursday (tomorrow), so all that remains is to find out how long i have to wait until they can take them and somehow get the money together. thank you to everyone who has contributed. i'll be homeless after this, but at least i'll get my dogs to safety. i really wanted to keep them, but so long as they're safe i'll just deal with it.
ORIG POST: Hi, I'm Sinead and I live out on a colonia with no access to city utilities other than electricity on the edges of El Paso County. Myself and my mother have lived out here since 2011 and are surviving by hauling water in five gallon jugs and utilizing a weekly-cleaned porta potty. I cannot work but also cannot qualify for disability so I exist as her unpaid caregiver while my mother nets $1,071 a month from retirement to cover the land payment, her insurance costs, etc. We're not exactly comfortable in this situation, but we exist okay and we get to have six acres with our nine dogs, so we've both felt the discomfort was worth it.
Sometime in late November someone decided to report us to the health inspector, and we received a notice in the mail stating that the porta potty was only viable as a temporary solution of 90 days, and that we need to have installed septic immediately. As I received the notice on the 31st of December, the health inspector was very kind and gave me until February 3rd to comply. On that day, if we need more time she will give me two weeks more if I call to ask for them. After that, we need to go in front of a judge with proof that we are fixing the issue to get more time to come into full compliance.
Given that my mother has excessive health issues and I myself am unable to work, there is no way for us to get the money needed for an install ourselves. No qualifying for loans. No recourse except to turn to crowdfunding, or to abandon the dogs to the Humane Society and ask APS to place us in a Section 8 apartment.
I'm mainly making this as a last ditch to try to keep my dogs. My mother desperately wants to stay out in the country where she's happy and can breath fresh air, but I very much want to be able to keep my dogs. They are all strays or spawn of pregnant strays-- I've raised them and loved them and am terrified of what will happen to them if dumped into an uncertain situation with the Humane Society, or if the HS is lacking in space, right into the pound proper.
The cost breakdown of what we need to keep our land and dogs:
6k to 7k for septic install. This covers the work paid to contractors to dig the hole, put the tank in, and hook it up to something via pipes.
3k or so for a used fifth wheel trailer with a working chemical toilet inside. That will enable us to use the septic system when installed and be in compliance to the health codes without having to find even more funding to build a structure and plumbing from scratch.
I don't anticipate more money being needed than that. Our electric is already in place and has been used for a few years now. We can continue to haul water for a while longer, that's not required for the compliance. Just a working waste system and something hooked to it for us to use as a bathroom.
We have until February 3rd to have enough funds to prove we can get the install started. If you have the ability to help us in this situation, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you can share it so it has a wider reach it would be very much appreciated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
https://hselpaso.org/our-services/surrender-a-pet
they require a $100 per dog fee, and since i have 9 dogs that is $900. i'm in the process now of gathering photos of each dog to attach to an application and will have it submitted by end of day Thursday (tomorrow), so all that remains is to find out how long i have to wait until they can take them and somehow get the money together. thank you to everyone who has contributed. i'll be homeless after this, but at least i'll get my dogs to safety. i really wanted to keep them, but so long as they're safe i'll just deal with it.
ORIG POST: Hi, I'm Sinead and I live out on a colonia with no access to city utilities other than electricity on the edges of El Paso County. Myself and my mother have lived out here since 2011 and are surviving by hauling water in five gallon jugs and utilizing a weekly-cleaned porta potty. I cannot work but also cannot qualify for disability so I exist as her unpaid caregiver while my mother nets $1,071 a month from retirement to cover the land payment, her insurance costs, etc. We're not exactly comfortable in this situation, but we exist okay and we get to have six acres with our nine dogs, so we've both felt the discomfort was worth it.
Sometime in late November someone decided to report us to the health inspector, and we received a notice in the mail stating that the porta potty was only viable as a temporary solution of 90 days, and that we need to have installed septic immediately. As I received the notice on the 31st of December, the health inspector was very kind and gave me until February 3rd to comply. On that day, if we need more time she will give me two weeks more if I call to ask for them. After that, we need to go in front of a judge with proof that we are fixing the issue to get more time to come into full compliance.
Given that my mother has excessive health issues and I myself am unable to work, there is no way for us to get the money needed for an install ourselves. No qualifying for loans. No recourse except to turn to crowdfunding, or to abandon the dogs to the Humane Society and ask APS to place us in a Section 8 apartment.
I'm mainly making this as a last ditch to try to keep my dogs. My mother desperately wants to stay out in the country where she's happy and can breath fresh air, but I very much want to be able to keep my dogs. They are all strays or spawn of pregnant strays-- I've raised them and loved them and am terrified of what will happen to them if dumped into an uncertain situation with the Humane Society, or if the HS is lacking in space, right into the pound proper.
The cost breakdown of what we need to keep our land and dogs:
6k to 7k for septic install. This covers the work paid to contractors to dig the hole, put the tank in, and hook it up to something via pipes.
3k or so for a used fifth wheel trailer with a working chemical toilet inside. That will enable us to use the septic system when installed and be in compliance to the health codes without having to find even more funding to build a structure and plumbing from scratch.
I don't anticipate more money being needed than that. Our electric is already in place and has been used for a few years now. We can continue to haul water for a while longer, that's not required for the compliance. Just a working waste system and something hooked to it for us to use as a bathroom.
We have until February 3rd to have enough funds to prove we can get the install started. If you have the ability to help us in this situation, thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you can share it so it has a wider reach it would be very much appreciated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Organizer
Sinéad Malloy
Organizer
El Paso, TX
