Pet Abuse - Molly's Story
First of all, I'd like to give you all a tip. If you are ever on a train journey that lasts 4.5 hours and you think to yourself - "What book shall I take with me to pass the time?" - The answer is NOT 'The Darwin Awards' - unless you enjoy looking like a fool or a loon.
Anyway, back to the purpose of my post.
A few years ago, I met a small mongrel dog (with strong Jack Russell characteristics) through
a friend. I'm going to call her Molly here. I was warned that she was a very nervous dog and could become aggressive if anyone gave her a reason to feel threatened. She was nervous, but probably due to my rather un-intimidating nature, she was fine around me as long as she had me in her sights all the time.
Since then, I occasionally see her and she has become much more relaxed around me and allows me to pet her. I have just spent a weekend with my friend and of course Molly. It's been a while since I last saw her, but I was amazed by the change. She was not wary of me at all.
However, appearances can be deceiving. I had the opportunity to walk Molly and my friend told me about things to look out for. It was then I was told the story of Molly's past. I had already known that she was a dog that had suffered some kind of abuse with her previous owner(s), but I didn't know the details.
Molly was found tied to the back of my friend's car and thankfully that day, my friend had things to put into her boot (trunk of car) when she spotted Molly. Both she and I dread to think what would have happened if she had just got into her car and drove off that day.
Molly had been repeatedly kicked / beaten so that her ribs have been seriously damaged at one point. To this day, you can still see how one side of her body is more compressed in than the other. At the beginning, she would barely allow anyone to touch her, especially her lower back & tail. Even when she started to feel safe to let my friend pet her, she would start to growl if a hand moved too close towards the back. Now, she's ok with that as long as she knows & trusts you.
At the beginning, she didn't understand laughter. She was very nervous and even scared when she heard people laughing. I guess that when she was being abused, those monsters laughed at her.
Today, she is still nervous around children and she becomes very defensive when she passes people with hats on. Especially if it's a man. I can only deduce that she once belonged to a horrible family where a man in a cap beat her terribly whilst laughing children taunted her.
Luckily, Molly was tied to the back of a car that belonged to someone who loves animals and had training with animal care. Luckily my friend went to put something in the trunk of her car. Luckily, my friend had lots of patience else Molly would have ended up in the pound.
I hope that the love that Molly has now is enough to offset the remaining fears she still has and I am very proud of both my friend and Molly for overcoming so many hardships.
I didn't want to post a real picture of 'Molly' so here is a picture of a similar dog.
Now that I'm back home, I have the urge to re-read a NCIS fic, Rescue Pup by azure-chaos.
Summary ...The story of an abused human-pup finding a new home and family and the long difficult road to regaining his trust in humanity, developing relationships along the way that he never thought he'd find. - Read it, it's wonderfully written.
Anyway, back to the purpose of my post.
A few years ago, I met a small mongrel dog (with strong Jack Russell characteristics) through
a friend. I'm going to call her Molly here. I was warned that she was a very nervous dog and could become aggressive if anyone gave her a reason to feel threatened. She was nervous, but probably due to my rather un-intimidating nature, she was fine around me as long as she had me in her sights all the time.
Since then, I occasionally see her and she has become much more relaxed around me and allows me to pet her. I have just spent a weekend with my friend and of course Molly. It's been a while since I last saw her, but I was amazed by the change. She was not wary of me at all.
However, appearances can be deceiving. I had the opportunity to walk Molly and my friend told me about things to look out for. It was then I was told the story of Molly's past. I had already known that she was a dog that had suffered some kind of abuse with her previous owner(s), but I didn't know the details.
Molly was found tied to the back of my friend's car and thankfully that day, my friend had things to put into her boot (trunk of car) when she spotted Molly. Both she and I dread to think what would have happened if she had just got into her car and drove off that day.
Molly had been repeatedly kicked / beaten so that her ribs have been seriously damaged at one point. To this day, you can still see how one side of her body is more compressed in than the other. At the beginning, she would barely allow anyone to touch her, especially her lower back & tail. Even when she started to feel safe to let my friend pet her, she would start to growl if a hand moved too close towards the back. Now, she's ok with that as long as she knows & trusts you.
At the beginning, she didn't understand laughter. She was very nervous and even scared when she heard people laughing. I guess that when she was being abused, those monsters laughed at her.
Today, she is still nervous around children and she becomes very defensive when she passes people with hats on. Especially if it's a man. I can only deduce that she once belonged to a horrible family where a man in a cap beat her terribly whilst laughing children taunted her.
Luckily, Molly was tied to the back of a car that belonged to someone who loves animals and had training with animal care. Luckily my friend went to put something in the trunk of her car. Luckily, my friend had lots of patience else Molly would have ended up in the pound.
I hope that the love that Molly has now is enough to offset the remaining fears she still has and I am very proud of both my friend and Molly for overcoming so many hardships.
I didn't want to post a real picture of 'Molly' so here is a picture of a similar dog.
Now that I'm back home, I have the urge to re-read a NCIS fic, Rescue Pup by azure-chaos.
Summary ...The story of an abused human-pup finding a new home and family and the long difficult road to regaining his trust in humanity, developing relationships along the way that he never thought he'd find. - Read it, it's wonderfully written.