George, a Rescue Dog: Day One
When people see my dogs, they often tell me how cute, sweet, and playful they are. They are cute and sweet now, but when I got them, they weren’t so cute and not quite so sweet or playful either. Dogs are what we make of them. So I wanted to share what I think will be a pretty significant transformation and share how we get from a dog in terrible condition that no one wants, to a cute, sweet pup.
This is all about George. George was released by his owners to the Baytown Animal Shelter. If you’re not familiar with this shelter, it’s been in the news quite a bit recently for its inhumane treatment of animals. But that didn’t seem to bother George’s owners. George is a bit older, deaf, and blind and apparently they decided that it was time to dump him.
I saw a post of George on Facebook. Lou Sisk, a rescuer in Baytown, posted George’s picture. Holly Dool reposted it. I contacted Holly this morning and offered to get George to the vet and to foster him for a week or two if Holly could find a long-term solution.
Holly connected with the Blind Dog Rescue Alliance, and they agreed to take George if I could foster him for a week. Yes!!
Another rescuer volunteered to physically pull George from shelter hell, and to meet me with him. Tonight, we met around 7:30 p.m., transferred George to my car, and I brought him home about an hour ago.
I was told that George is around 10 years old. I’m not so sure of that, but I am guessing from the look of him that he has tape worms, kennel cough, and fleas. His hair is horribly matted, particularly around his rear end. He’s probably been sitting in his own feces and urine for a long time because he smells incredibly awful.
But this is just the beginning. Let’s see what we can do with little George in a week. He’s going to be a different dog, I promise you that. Stay tuned.