Handsome’s Story

handsome One day in mid-January, I was out running with my two labs. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this particular day, or this particular run, until I ran into a group of boys and a dog. At first, I was too far away to see any details, and I wanted to keep it that way – since my dogs are not always the most approachable when it comes to meeting new dogs. I probably would have continued my normal day, had I not heard one of the boys call out to another boy who had just pulled up and ask him if he had any food in the car for the dog. Then I looked closer. And even from afar, I could tell the dog was way too thin. I yelled out to the boys that I would be back with food after my run.

I came back a few minutes later with a bowl full of food and lots of treats. But when I saw him, I could have cried right then. Not only, was this dog even more emancipated than I first realized, but he had a very large, deep wound on his rear end. And what’s worse – I could see the pit bull breed in him. Now, even though I have two large dogs, and I grew up with large dogs, I’m a little timid around strange large dogs. As I sat the bowl of food down, I quickly realized that was a mistake; he was eating way to fast and was going to make himself sick. I got brave. And before I could even think about what I was doing, I reached down and took the bowl of food away from a starving pit bull. And his only reaction was to look at me, wag his tail, and use his eyes to beg for me to give it back to him. I did – in handfuls at a time this time.

Luckily, for this dog, the local animal shelters were closed due to the holiday (the boys that were with him when I first saw him, had already called). I tried to call the humane society, but received the same message. I called my vet – to see if they would board him for the night, until I could call the humane society the next day. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take him because of the risk to other dogs in the kennel (since he may not have been vaccinated). Finally, as a last resort, I called my mom to see if he could stay in her backyard for a night. She said yes, but before taking the dog over there, I called my vet one more time, to have his wound checked out. At the vet, he weighed 40lbs. He received antibiotics and a less than optimistic outlook. Basically, I was told that any shelter would put him down immediately, if not based on the fact that he had pitbull in him, then the combo of being a pitbull in his condition would be certain immediate death. I cried right then and there for a dog I had known less than an hour.

The next day, I begin the search for a rescue. To my disappointment – it wasn’t as easy as just calling the humane society – they couldn’t take him. In my ignorance, I didn’t even realize that they turned dogs down. The vet had told me about some rescue networks nearby – again, as emails went out to hundreds of people, I was rejected again and again. I began to really worry about what I was going to do with this poor dog.

To make matters worse, the dog learned how to escape my parents backyard. Now, Pit Bulls are banned where both my parents and I live, so if he escaped and was caught, the would not fair well in the wrong hands.f I spent 5 days driving over to my parents every morning and every evening to feed and care for this dog – a task far more exhausting than I could have imagined. I became more and more stressed as his prospects became more and more bleak.

Luckily, a girl nearby had emailed me about the dog. She offered to take him on herself – as an absolute last resort. The next day, I emailed her with the devastating news. As I arrived at my parents house the next morning, I was so devastated to find that the dog was no where to be found. He had escaped – presumably for good this time.

As I arrived at work, I emailed my new friend to give her the bad news. To my surprise and joy – she demanded to know where my parents lived and promptly went to look for this poor animal. Even more to my dismay – SHE FOUND HIM!

Handsome, as she calls him, has been in her care since. He has gained 23 lbs and his wound is now the size of a dime. However, that’s not where his story ends. He still needs a permanent home. He still has to spend the majority of his time in a kennel as his new caretaker has a husband and other dogs as well. My husband and I have been helping fund his kennel stays – in hopes that there is someday a happy ending for this handsome dog.