We saved a pooch today, and I feel good
This beautiful, sweet pooch came crawling/whimpering to our house yesterday. The temperature that night had been in the teens! We fed her, let her wander around the house a bit, then put her in Henry’s pen to get her away from his play-with-me antics, and left for 15 minutes. When we came back, she was gone—we figured she jumped the fence. We put out more food in case she returned, but she didn’t...…until this morning, at almost the exact same time! This time, we brought her inside and she ate a HUGE bowl of Henry’s food, then went right into Henry’s crate. She curled up on his bed and acted like she was there to stay. She stayed in the crate for most of the time we had her, even though we didn’t force her to. She wasn’t comfortable going into the “real” house (the living room), and stopped short of the carpet every time she wandered around.
She’d had puppies recently, so I was worried about calling Animal Control because I didn’t want her pups to be alone. I took her out on a really long leash to see if she would lead me to any pups, but she was really unhappy leaving the house, and once we got outside, she just sniffed and drank out of the stream, then just wanted to head back inside. The animal control officer told us that she had weaned her pups so that made me feel better about the possibility of infant pups starving somewhere.
Henry missed his "friend" the minute she left even though she never gave him the time of day. He crawled in the crate with her, tried every gymnastic feat he knows to get her to play with him, and tried to sniff every last inch of her. Her tail wagged a bit here and there (when Henry approached, I mean—she wagged her tail a lot when we were around), but most of the time she wanted to get away from Henry & his enthusiasm. The crate worked out well—she felt safe in there. But then Henry tried to get in with her (he’s so persistent, it’s hysterical), and she finally growled at him. He deserved it, so it didn’t upset us. Unfortunately, Henry is just clueless about dog body language, so he didn’t stay away for long. She let him stick his head in the dish while she ate, she let him go into the crate a few times (until she’d just had enough). She was very patient with him considering how upsetting being in a new place was to her.
Anyway—the pooch went to the Charlottesville SPCA this morning. I called at noon and verified that she was there, and they told me she was sleeping. I’m going to call the shelter again tomorrow because I know someone who works at the front desk. I want to see if they’ll let us name her. My friend suggested Cricket, which I think is such a great name for her. I hope they’ll let me give it to her.
She’s very sweet, so I hope someone will adopt her. We feel good that she’s in out of the cold—she was shivering so much the first time we saw her, it was enough to break your heart!
We live in hunting country, with a lot of red-necks, too, so I truly believe that someone used her for her puppies, then let her go. I've heard too many horror stories about hunting dogs being neglected once they're proven "bad" at their "jobs" to believe that this animal just got out by accident. She didn't have a collar on, either, and hunters usually keep really good track of the dogs who are good hunters. People can be so cruel.
So that’s our story. Know anyone who wants a sweetie-pie hound? She’s right here in Charlottesville, waiting for someone right now...(Well, she's not in the system yet, but she'll be there soon...there's probably a delay of a few days while they test her temperament, have her checked over by a vet, and all of that.)
posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 7:57 PM
5 Comments:
What a heart breaking story. I hate it when people treat animals as thn=ings. They are alive and deserve comfort and care.
You know that looks just like the dog that was wandering around a store near our house. I've come across a lot of unwanted hunting dogs too.
I know, Krista--hunting season ends and the "flops" get discarded like trash. The SPCA actually has a season when it highlights hounds for adoption because they have so many. It's awful to think about, but I feel good that we helped one of them.
The SPCA has about 5 or 6 hounds right now, and it's not even their heavy Hound Season, I don't think. So sad.
If I had a million dollars, I'd adopt all of them! I can hear Henry rooting for me to win the lottery already. Boy, would he love a ton of playmates. :-)
Hey, Nerdy Knitter,
Good job with the stray and cute Henry and nephew photos, but.....
so-o-o-o-o - do tell about your new ipod!!!! Maybe inquiring minds want to know.
Knittin' Sal
My heart goes out to little Cricket. I feel the same exact way about the baby rabbits that are discarded when they hit puberty. :( Wish I could help them all!!
=:8
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