“May All That Have Life,
Be Delivered From Suffering.”
Buddha
When my phone rings these sad days, it often means that another abandoned or abused canine has been spotted somewhere. This time it was an emaciated Staffordshire Terrier living in the brush behind an old factory. Several people had seen him here, but he would rush off in terror whenever anyone tried to approach him.
“We’re probably going to have to trap him since he’s extremely skittish, and a huge storm is on the way. We’d really like to help this poor guy before it hits.”
And once again I was off and on my way with the largest dog trap that I have. It very sadly gets a lot of use these days.
When I arrived at the factory, two of my fellow pet rescuers were already there, as was the building’s manager. “This poor guy definitely needs some help. Every night for about a week now our surveillance camera has picked him up crawling in and out of our loading dock dumpster, desperately searching for scraps of food. Some of the guys have now been putting out some food and water for him, but no one can get within 30 feet of him – he seems to be afraid of everyone.”
And when I eventually spotted him hiding in the nearby brush, my heart broke. He was bone thin; all of his ribs were protruding; his face was bruised; and he immediately rushed away when I tried to approach him.
We soon set up my dog trap as close to his bedding area in the brush as we possibly could; baited it with all sorts of enticing food; and quickly backed away. Within minutes, his head peeked out of his hiding place, and he was cautiously inching his way toward our offered meal.
And very thankfully, within a half hour he had been trapped and was now safely inside my truck. We could tell that he was already grateful for the immediate relief from the wind and the cold, but he was also extremely wary of us. Whenever I would lift my hand towards him, he would immediately tremble, shake, and cower away from it.
This poor guy had been abused by someone, or he had been out on his own for a very long time. He was woefully bone thin and severely dehydrated and malnourished. We knew that we had to get him some medical attention.
It took at least an hour in the back of my truck, and several offerings of food and dog treats, before he decided that we were not going to harm him. But once he made that decision, he quickly became a different dog.
And before very long at all, we were now happily leading him all about on a leash at the animal hospital. And now, he was very eagerly greeting everyone there as well, with a smile on his weary battered face and a joyous wag on his thin little tail.
We decided to name him ‘Hank,’ and we were all now extremely grateful that this starving, abandoned and abused orphan of the storm had now decided to give humanity one more chance to get it right. And hopefully very soon, after some much needed care at the animal hospital and then a stay at a foster home, Hank will finally get the loving forever home that he truly deserves.
©March 2012, Mr. Ed
A Few More Photos of Hank
And His Submitted Rescue Story
Can Be Found At The Link Below:
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