Missouri Couple Offer Sanctuary to Neighbors’ Forgotten Dog

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/missouri-couple-open-their-hearts-to-neighbors-forgotten-dog.html

by Laura Simpson
March 29, 2012
11:20 pm




Written by Nancy Hatcher of Missouri

My husband and I were married about 15 years before we were blessed with a dog companion. Our neighbors had a beautiful black shepherd and malamute mix that was raised as an indoor pet until they had a baby. Fearing Princess would harm their new baby, they put her on a heavy metal chain outside on a concrete pad with a rickety and leaky doghouse that was too small for her. Their only contact with her was to drop a bowl of food and tell her to shut up. We watched a very social and beautiful dog descend farther and farther into depression. We would try to pet her but every time we approached, she would start to shake and pee on herself. Thunderstorms would terrify her, especially with no place to be protected from the rain.

Princess was in good physical condition but emotionally devastated.

She Ran To Us for Help

One weekend they left town and Princess broke loose and came directly to our house. We had a fenced-in backyard where she would be safe and kept her for the three days they were gone. We never saw anyone come to feed, water or simply check on her for the entire three days.



FULL story at link.

[madokie]

1. Abusers really piss me off

whether it be man or beast, matters not. I could choke the couple who would do this to an inch of their sorry ass lives if I could get my hands on them.

[hobbit709]

2. Fitting punishment would be to do the same to them.

See how they like being chained outside with a too small leaky doghouse and no social interaction.

[leveymg]

3. Families come in all sizes, shapes, colors and species.

That's a happy one. Glad they all found each other.

[spinbaby]

4. Have baby, abandon pet

Seems to be a common problem--people treat pets as throwaways. My son just adopted a lovely pair of black cats that had been adopted as kittens and then returned to shelter when their family had a baby. The poor things are still traumatized by their shelter experience.

[davsand]

7. I worried about it when out daughter was born.

I had a rescue kitty that was, quite possibly, one of the most vile tempered cats I've ever known. She'd been terribly abused as a kitten and never did fully recover emotionally which left her one of the most aggressive cats I have ever lived with. Literally, I knew that to surrender that cat to a shelter was to sign her death warrant. She was one of the strangest cats I've ever seen, in that, one minute she'd be fine--a loving mellow cat--and the next it was like somebody flipped a switch and she'd literally come across the room and attack. She lived with me and I just accepted who and what she was. I'd use band-aids and antibiotic ointment for myself when needed, and I'd warn visitors about her. Mostly everything was fine as long as visitors ignored her. She became affectionately known as TillieYouBitch the cat from hell.

Tillie absolutely HATED men, and that was an issue sometimes when I was single and dating. Oddly enough, the first time my husband set foot in my house, that cat loved him. I'd warned him (as usual) to just ignore the cat because she had "behavioral issues" and had gone to the kitchen. When I walked back into the living room TillieYouBitch was in his lap, laying on her back, getting a tummy rub! PURRING!!!! It was kinda like being on the bomb squad with her--you just never knew for sure when she was gonna go off--and I remember very calmly warning him again that the cat was not known for her good temperament and that he might want to gently and slowly get his hand away from her. He kept on rubbing and she kept on purring. I married him, and he and I and the cat all began an absolutely stunning relationship.

Anyhow, when she was about twelve, we decided to have a family. I was more than concerned about what introducing a child was gonna be like with Tillie, but we figured that worst case we'd keep the child and the cat in different ends of the house. As it turned out, the cat would sit and watch the baby sleep, and whenever the baby would start to cry the cat would come and get us if we were in a different room. They both would sit in my lap together, and everybody was happy. That cat never once hurt our daughter beyond slapping her hand with a paw. The cat, on occasion, would still attack adults without provocation, but she gave no cause for concern when it came to a child.

We lost Tillie to renal failure when she was 17. We still miss her.

I fully get that sometimes people worry about the combination of pets and kids. I've been there. You want to protect your child from harm. What I do NOT get, however, is the attitude that the pets are somehow disposable once the kids come along. We knew full well that it might be an issue, and we'd made the decision in advance that the cat and the child were both staying in the household--no matter what it took to make it work.



Laura

[hlthe2b]

11. Yes... I had a very close friend/colleague who seemed to love her aging dachshund--until the baby

The last year of that dog's life were ones of near abandonment. Yes, they still fed the dog and gave it a place to shelter, but they withdrew almost all attention.
I have little doubt that his rapid downhill course leading to death was influenced by this situation. To think that animals who have been part of your life--a key part of your life for more than a decade would not feel something when that love and attention is withdrawn/diverted is inexplicable to me. These aren't single cell organisms. They are intelligent creatures that have been shown capable of expressing emotional attachments to other animals and to humans.

I know my friend feels guilt on some level and certainly being distracted with a new baby is hardly unexpected. I just wish she had thought to reach out to those friends offering help with the baby--to likewise offer some help with this poor, now ignored dog and have spared him a sad, early demise.

[magical thyme]

5. bless the couple that gave Princess the home she deserved

"Princess lived a very long life and finally passed at the age of 20. She is missed terribly."


She lived a long, happy life with her good people. Blessings on them for saving her. Many, many blessings.

[xchrom]

6. my god -- that wonderful dog lived to be 20 years old.

those are some wonderful people.

[SamG]

8. We need to see some more stories like this at

DU.

It can get depressing reading the news. So some heart warming good news is always welcome.

[snappyturtle]

10. +1 Yes, stories like this one restores my faith in

human beings.

[maddiemom]

9. Doghouses

If a dog is kept in an outdoor dog house during cold weather, the house should be just large enough for the dog to curl up snugly, with some protective material over the doorway opening that he can push through.

[BB_Troll]

12. Reminds me of the times that I've visited the local shelter

Well done by this couple. Hope this compassion spreads.

[catbyte]

13. Fifteen years ago we had shitty neighbors

who refused to spay & neuter their cats. We even offered to pay for it, but they blew us off. We began catnapping their cats one by one and secretly neutering them. The females were more difficult--they had to have their bellies shaved, so we were more hesitant to nab them. They unofficially adopted my husband and me, and they spent most of their time hanging out on our very large porch and they commandeered our rather large porch swing. Of course we fed them every day. We needn't have worried because soon after we started this covert kitty population control mission, the bank foreclosed on their house. They moved out overnight and abandoned all their cats. They took their dog but left the cats. Most were outside, but 3 were locked inside the house with no food or water. We almost called Animal Control, but I was worried they would be euthanized, so we jimmied the back door open--with no damage to the door (credit cards really DO work!)--and rescued the cats. They were living in utter filth--it was stunning. Those people must not have taken out the trash for months--I'm not exaggerating. Despite all that, the cats were stunningly beautiful. The matriarch, who we named China (as in China White--I know, I know), was a solid white Maine Coon with vivid blue eyes. Her son, Vinnie, was also pure white with green eyes, and her daughters, Little Momma & Kramer were also pure white. Kramer had one vivid blue eye and one vivid green eye. The others were a gray classic tabby, tuxedo, and holstein mix, 7 in all. We ended up adopting all of them into our family of 4 felines and 2 humans, which was quite an adjustment, but we just couldn't abandon them. We had a 2000 square foot, 2 story, 3-bedroom, 85 year-old home at the time, so there was plenty of room. We lost the last of the family, Junior, an awesome Tuxedo, last New Year's Day at age 24.

I wish we hadn't spayed everyone because that magnificent bloodline should have continued. Oh well, there are many other awesome animals out there just waiting for a forever home.

Man, those were special, special animals.

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Leo, Sophie, Taz & Nigel, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"We ride inside--HISS!”

[Arugula Latte]

15. Thank you for helping all those wonderful kitties.

People who abandon pets in their houses and leave them to starve or die of thirst ... I can't say what I'd like to do to them.

And your kitty lived to be 24! That's amazing. One of mine is 19 so that gives me hope we might have her for a few more years.

[Omaha Steve]

14. ALL three of our family members were rescued

And they show us love for it every moment of the day.

OS