Get Lucky
I did something impulsive on Wednesday. I rescued a dog from the pound, hoping to find it a home.
I did this even though my apartment is too small, filled with three other pets, AND I'm leaving for a 3-week Europe trip on Tuesday. (My soft heart definitely clouded my brain on this one.) So now even a temporary home -- even just someone to watch him for the three weeks I'm gone -- would be such a mitzvah.
Why did I rescue this dog? Well, it all started with Animal Cops.
Have you seen that show, on Animal Planet, where officers go out to stop animal cruelty, pick up animals and give them medical care and find them a good home? If so, you probably either a) can't stand watching animals suffer and avoid it like the plague, or b) eat it up and feel all righteous and empowered watching someone go out there and kick butt for pets' rights.
I fell into the second camp.
And for the last five months, I've had a view from my third floor apartment into my neighbor's backyard, where two incredibly sweet dogs were being completely ignored in a yard full of garbage. There was a big brown one and a medium-sized black one. The occupants simply left them out there and half-heartedly fed them, never walked them, bathed them, or took them to the vet. If they had to go into the back yard - an occurrence about as frequent as Haley's Comet - they wouldn't let the dogs touch them, as though they were diseased or something. (Well, they were filthy, but it wasn't the dogs' fault.) But the dogs seemed happy enough, and I couldn't see any evidence of broken laws, so I just brought them treats from time to time and petted them over the chest-high fence, to very enthusiastic reaction.
Then a week ago I went to see the dogs and on the black one --who looked like a smallish, lean mix of Lab and Staffordshire -- I saw two large, swollen masses on his hindquarters, and the fur on his back half seemed to be falling away in patches. His ribs also seemed more visible than ever. I was horrified.
All right, that's it. Bring on the Animal Cops.
So I called Animal Control, and reported everything I knew. I was told an officer would visit them, and I could call back in a week for a report.
Okay, here's the big twist to this story. Animal Control? Are not the Animal Cops. The SPCA are. I didn't think the SPCA would have the power to arrest people or anything, but they do, because of some corporation law. Animal Control is just the dog catcher. If they get an animal, it just goes to the pound to be euthanized if it's not picked up. They don't even give it any medical care, at least not in L.A.. You got me? ANIMAL CONTROL ARE NOT THE ANIMAL COPS!
Animal Control went to the house, told the people they had to take their dog to the vet. The people said nah, just take him. Animal Control did. When I called a week later, he was in the North Central shelter and scheduled to be killed the next day. AAAAAAH! What had I done?? I wanted to better the dog's life, not END it!
My roommate was similarly horrified. Lots of calling around to various dog rescues produced no one who would go get him for us. So despite our small apartment and three current pets, I went and spent $56 to get him - we'd just find him a new home ourselves, somehow. Somewhat ironically, he had been named Lucky.
The roommate and I washed him and cleaned vast amounts of glop out of his ears - though he wasn't nuts about it, he sat patiently and let us, two virtual strangers, dig in his ears without a hint of aggression, nothing but patience. I took him to the vet the next day to check out the back end problems. The vet said it all seemed due to his previous owners' letting him be eaten alive by fleas: the masses were probably scar tissue built up from flea bites being rubbed against the hard ground to scratch them, and the hair loss was probably due to an acquired allergy to flea bites overall. He gave him an antihistamine shot so he could spend a few days leaving them alone (they already look better). And through it all (even the stool sample), Lucky wasn’t thrilled, but he was patient and never the least bit aggressive. The vet tech was immensely impressed.
Lucky, showing the hair he's lost on his back end due to scratching fleas and dry skin. It's already improving, though.
So now he's clean, flea-free, micro-chipped, up on his shots, and his back end's getting better. And now this is where you, as an L.A. area resident, - or anyone you know - come in. If you've got a space, please give Lucky a home, permanent or temporary. He is absolutely the greatest dog you could ever ask for. He's about two years old, neutered, agreeable, greets everyone with a happy dog smile and a wiggling behind. He has some of the look of a Staffordshire, but his disposition is all Lab. He's not dog-, people-, or child-aggressive. He's a little more interested in my cats than they would like, :) but not at all mean to them. Because he's lived outdoors all his life - our apartment is probably his first indoor experience, and you should *see* how much he likes soft places to sleep - some potty training is needed, but he's begun crate training and so far is learning everything incredibly fast (he learned "sit" in one day). He's so eager to please (and to catch up on his eating) that he's immensely trainable. And whoever is the Lucky Winner :) will be given the big, roomy dog crate he's using for training (a $100 value!) absolutely FREE!
You can see more pix of him at my LJ pictures page. Please check him out, comment if you've got an interest or else e me at annehedonia [at] comcast [dot] net. You can also forward this to anyone you think might have an interest.
[X-posted from here to Timbuktu]
I did this even though my apartment is too small, filled with three other pets, AND I'm leaving for a 3-week Europe trip on Tuesday. (My soft heart definitely clouded my brain on this one.) So now even a temporary home -- even just someone to watch him for the three weeks I'm gone -- would be such a mitzvah.
Why did I rescue this dog? Well, it all started with Animal Cops.
Have you seen that show, on Animal Planet, where officers go out to stop animal cruelty, pick up animals and give them medical care and find them a good home? If so, you probably either a) can't stand watching animals suffer and avoid it like the plague, or b) eat it up and feel all righteous and empowered watching someone go out there and kick butt for pets' rights.
I fell into the second camp.
And for the last five months, I've had a view from my third floor apartment into my neighbor's backyard, where two incredibly sweet dogs were being completely ignored in a yard full of garbage. There was a big brown one and a medium-sized black one. The occupants simply left them out there and half-heartedly fed them, never walked them, bathed them, or took them to the vet. If they had to go into the back yard - an occurrence about as frequent as Haley's Comet - they wouldn't let the dogs touch them, as though they were diseased or something. (Well, they were filthy, but it wasn't the dogs' fault.) But the dogs seemed happy enough, and I couldn't see any evidence of broken laws, so I just brought them treats from time to time and petted them over the chest-high fence, to very enthusiastic reaction.
Then a week ago I went to see the dogs and on the black one --who looked like a smallish, lean mix of Lab and Staffordshire -- I saw two large, swollen masses on his hindquarters, and the fur on his back half seemed to be falling away in patches. His ribs also seemed more visible than ever. I was horrified.
All right, that's it. Bring on the Animal Cops.
So I called Animal Control, and reported everything I knew. I was told an officer would visit them, and I could call back in a week for a report.
Okay, here's the big twist to this story. Animal Control? Are not the Animal Cops. The SPCA are. I didn't think the SPCA would have the power to arrest people or anything, but they do, because of some corporation law. Animal Control is just the dog catcher. If they get an animal, it just goes to the pound to be euthanized if it's not picked up. They don't even give it any medical care, at least not in L.A.. You got me? ANIMAL CONTROL ARE NOT THE ANIMAL COPS!
Animal Control went to the house, told the people they had to take their dog to the vet. The people said nah, just take him. Animal Control did. When I called a week later, he was in the North Central shelter and scheduled to be killed the next day. AAAAAAH! What had I done?? I wanted to better the dog's life, not END it!
My roommate was similarly horrified. Lots of calling around to various dog rescues produced no one who would go get him for us. So despite our small apartment and three current pets, I went and spent $56 to get him - we'd just find him a new home ourselves, somehow. Somewhat ironically, he had been named Lucky.
The roommate and I washed him and cleaned vast amounts of glop out of his ears - though he wasn't nuts about it, he sat patiently and let us, two virtual strangers, dig in his ears without a hint of aggression, nothing but patience. I took him to the vet the next day to check out the back end problems. The vet said it all seemed due to his previous owners' letting him be eaten alive by fleas: the masses were probably scar tissue built up from flea bites being rubbed against the hard ground to scratch them, and the hair loss was probably due to an acquired allergy to flea bites overall. He gave him an antihistamine shot so he could spend a few days leaving them alone (they already look better). And through it all (even the stool sample), Lucky wasn’t thrilled, but he was patient and never the least bit aggressive. The vet tech was immensely impressed.
Lucky, showing the hair he's lost on his back end due to scratching fleas and dry skin. It's already improving, though.
So now he's clean, flea-free, micro-chipped, up on his shots, and his back end's getting better. And now this is where you, as an L.A. area resident, - or anyone you know - come in. If you've got a space, please give Lucky a home, permanent or temporary. He is absolutely the greatest dog you could ever ask for. He's about two years old, neutered, agreeable, greets everyone with a happy dog smile and a wiggling behind. He has some of the look of a Staffordshire, but his disposition is all Lab. He's not dog-, people-, or child-aggressive. He's a little more interested in my cats than they would like, :) but not at all mean to them. Because he's lived outdoors all his life - our apartment is probably his first indoor experience, and you should *see* how much he likes soft places to sleep - some potty training is needed, but he's begun crate training and so far is learning everything incredibly fast (he learned "sit" in one day). He's so eager to please (and to catch up on his eating) that he's immensely trainable. And whoever is the Lucky Winner :) will be given the big, roomy dog crate he's using for training (a $100 value!) absolutely FREE!
You can see more pix of him at my LJ pictures page. Please check him out, comment if you've got an interest or else e me at annehedonia [at] comcast [dot] net. You can also forward this to anyone you think might have an interest.
[X-posted from here to Timbuktu]