Darkly Dreaming Dexter
So...we accidentally got a dog. It's a weird story. Last night, Jonny and Miles found him out behind our house and he was hurt, so they brought him inside. It was after humane society intake hours, so we decided to keep him overnight and take him in the next day. He's a black lab-looking puppy with some white on him. He's got an injured front left leg and he's malnourished. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them off my camera.
Anyway, so today, we took him to the humane society and the people there told us to take him to the animal control building located behind the facility. The "building" was actually a trailer and a tarp. Inside the trailer, there were crates with dogs stacked one on top of the other. At first, we just left and decided to explore other options. We weren't about to leave the puppy in a place like that. So, we came home and started calling private organizations and veterinarians in the area. We had no luck...the vets didn't take strays and the private places were already overfilled. Finally, we had to take him back to the humane society. We brought him into the intake area and the man there told us that if we left the puppy there, he would sit in pain for about 5 days before they put him down. Definitely not an option.
We left again, puppy still in tow. We found a veterinarian who would at least examine him for free so we could decide what to do. At the same time, I called my stepmother, who told me to call a veterinarian in Richmond Hill (a town about 40 minutes away) who used to take care of our old dog, Chessie, they lived here. I called the vet (Dr. Kyle), and he seemed like he would help us get the dog healthy for free. Finally a positive development. We took the puppy to the vet who would examine him for free, where we discovered his leg was fractured and had been for about two weeks. We also found out the puppy is about 3 months old and is actually fairly healthy except for being skinny, probably having worms (common even in healthy puppies), and the fracture. We got him some pain meds from the vet and some food and toys from the grocery store. Tomorrow, we take him to Dr. Kyle (hopefully for some free vaccines and such).
Our final decision has been to keep the dog until winter quarter, at which point he'll likely go back to Jamie's house in Minnesota to live with her family. Obviously, he needed a name, so we named him Dexter.
Anyway, so today, we took him to the humane society and the people there told us to take him to the animal control building located behind the facility. The "building" was actually a trailer and a tarp. Inside the trailer, there were crates with dogs stacked one on top of the other. At first, we just left and decided to explore other options. We weren't about to leave the puppy in a place like that. So, we came home and started calling private organizations and veterinarians in the area. We had no luck...the vets didn't take strays and the private places were already overfilled. Finally, we had to take him back to the humane society. We brought him into the intake area and the man there told us that if we left the puppy there, he would sit in pain for about 5 days before they put him down. Definitely not an option.
We left again, puppy still in tow. We found a veterinarian who would at least examine him for free so we could decide what to do. At the same time, I called my stepmother, who told me to call a veterinarian in Richmond Hill (a town about 40 minutes away) who used to take care of our old dog, Chessie, they lived here. I called the vet (Dr. Kyle), and he seemed like he would help us get the dog healthy for free. Finally a positive development. We took the puppy to the vet who would examine him for free, where we discovered his leg was fractured and had been for about two weeks. We also found out the puppy is about 3 months old and is actually fairly healthy except for being skinny, probably having worms (common even in healthy puppies), and the fracture. We got him some pain meds from the vet and some food and toys from the grocery store. Tomorrow, we take him to Dr. Kyle (hopefully for some free vaccines and such).
Our final decision has been to keep the dog until winter quarter, at which point he'll likely go back to Jamie's house in Minnesota to live with her family. Obviously, he needed a name, so we named him Dexter.