By Laura simpson for care2
“She’s been there for quite awhile now, sleeping on its front porch, and she refuses to leave,” I was told. ”Her family abandoned her there to fend for herself, yet she’s still diligently guarding their home. I know she thinks they’ll be coming back, but they won’t and now she’s starving. She also won’t let anyone come near her or this old house. Do you think you might want to trap her?”
How could I refuse? How could I not attempt to help an extremely faithful, left-behind canine like this one? How could mankind be so damned cruel to man’s best friend, even in this abysmal economy?
As I Shined My Flashlight Toward the Front Porch…
When I arrived at the address given to me it was already dark, and at first, I didn’t see her there. But as I shined my flashlight toward the front porch, I spotted a matted hunk of dirty tan and black fur and she quickly raised her head toward the light. I could now tell that she was a small Shepherd mix.
As I approached the house, she stood bolt upright and she immediately began growling at me. She was weak from hunger but this extremely loyal left-behind canine was still willing to defend her long gone family’s home with her last breath.
This wasn’t going to be easy, I sadly thought to myself as I pulled my trusty old dog trap from my truck. As I set it up on the grass in front of the house, this extremely diligent Defender never took her eyes off me and I could still hear her warning growls.
After my trap was baited with food and water, I tossed a chunk of meat onto the house’s front steps. Defender immediately sniffed the air and she soon began salivating. It was sadly evident that she hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time.
As she eyed the prize on the steps, I now dropped several pieces of meat near the dog trap, and I then quickly retreated into my truck. She very warily watched me sitting in it for awhile, but her great hunger eventually trumped her great distrust, and she soon gobbled down the piece of meat on the steps.
The Plan Was Working…For a While
Before very long, she followed the heavenly trail of food morsels to the trap’s entrance, ravenously gobbling them up as she came forward. But at the very entrance to the trap, she abruptly stopped dead in her track and she very warily stared up at me sitting motionless in my truck.
We were caught in a time warp that seemed to last forever. I prayed that she would enter the trap; she very cautiously stood there staring up at me, not moving a muscle, attempting to decide.
After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly walked into the trap and its door snapped shut behind her. I thanked God that she had decided to let me help her.
She Began to Whine As We Left Her Home
I now loaded this extremely loyal, starving guard dog in the trap into the back of my old truck and she very sadly looked me in the eyes, already wondering if she had made the right choice and probably wondering what would become of her now. She also soon began whining as we pulled away from her old home. I think her guilt at leaving her self-assigned guard duty post must have been enormous.
Thankfully, she warmed up to my spouse rather quickly when we arrived back at my home and she spent the rest of the night in a cozy warm bed my wife had prepared for her in our garage.
By the next morning, she had decided that I was also worthy of her trust, and as my wife drove us to our veterinarian’s office, she happily sprawled across my lap in the back seat during the entire trip, showering me with numerous kisses of gratitude.
That’s when I discovered how awful she smelled; she really needed a hot cleansing bath and I laughed and named her Stinky. My spouse, however, would not hear of it and she soon began calling her Carrie. This extremely loyal canine then spent several days at the animal hospital, being treated for parasites and being pampered, bathed and fed.
My wife and I are now extremely determined to find this extremely loyal, lovable and much happier canine the loving new home that she truly deserves.
But Wait …. Here’s Your Chance to Do Something Heroic Too!
Ed Kostro’s rescue of Carrie is actually more a beginning than an end. Today we’re honoring his work by kicking off an exponentially larger rescue effort in honor of all the everyday heroes who rescue.
Though he refuses to take donations to assist in his extraordinary volunteer work, Ed is strongly in favor of getting financial aid to the bare bones rescue groups who are fighting for desperate dogs day in and day out. Together we’ve narrowed in on a short list of organizations that need help and today we’re asking you to take a closer look at one of those exceptional groups.
In the city of Houston, Texas, there’s a major problem of abandonment and neglect that regularly tests the skill and the fortitude of the volunteer rescuers who are desperately trying to save as many as they can. Veteran rescuer Kelle Mann Davis has begun a vigorous campaign for The Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward. On Thanksgiving Day, when many of us were enjoying time with family, Kelle drove around for several hours feeding the dogs. (seen here)
“One small 20 pound boy, about 10 months old was laying in a parking lot all day,” Kelle explains. ”He was beside the body of a small chihuahua that had been shot in the neck and had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Elsewhere a full-blooded Rottweiler who was very mangy and skinny ate and ate and gave me a little wag of her stubbie tail. I saw lots of moms and moms-to-be. All the dogs are hungry and just trying to survive.”
Kelle and a small posse of other volunteers are digging deep into their own pockets to pay for the gas money, the dog food, the traps and the veterinary care for these lost dogs who measure in the hundreds. These women are truly legendary by any standards and this week the Harmony Fund is throwing its full support behind their rescue efforts.
One hundred percent of the donations that come through in the next 48 hours will go directly toward care for the dogs here in the 5th Ward. No overhead. No salaries. Absolutely nothing stands between you and the dogs who need your help. If you’d like to seize this opportunity to contribute to this grass roots rescue programs, you may make an online donation here today.
Written by Ed Kostro of Illinois
I had received yet another sad telephone call concerning an extremely loyal dog that had been very cruelly abandoned and left behind at a boarded-up foreclosed house.“She’s been there for quite awhile now, sleeping on its front porch, and she refuses to leave,” I was told. ”Her family abandoned her there to fend for herself, yet she’s still diligently guarding their home. I know she thinks they’ll be coming back, but they won’t and now she’s starving. She also won’t let anyone come near her or this old house. Do you think you might want to trap her?”
How could I refuse? How could I not attempt to help an extremely faithful, left-behind canine like this one? How could mankind be so damned cruel to man’s best friend, even in this abysmal economy?
As I Shined My Flashlight Toward the Front Porch…
When I arrived at the address given to me it was already dark, and at first, I didn’t see her there. But as I shined my flashlight toward the front porch, I spotted a matted hunk of dirty tan and black fur and she quickly raised her head toward the light. I could now tell that she was a small Shepherd mix.
As I approached the house, she stood bolt upright and she immediately began growling at me. She was weak from hunger but this extremely loyal left-behind canine was still willing to defend her long gone family’s home with her last breath.
This wasn’t going to be easy, I sadly thought to myself as I pulled my trusty old dog trap from my truck. As I set it up on the grass in front of the house, this extremely diligent Defender never took her eyes off me and I could still hear her warning growls.
After my trap was baited with food and water, I tossed a chunk of meat onto the house’s front steps. Defender immediately sniffed the air and she soon began salivating. It was sadly evident that she hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time.
As she eyed the prize on the steps, I now dropped several pieces of meat near the dog trap, and I then quickly retreated into my truck. She very warily watched me sitting in it for awhile, but her great hunger eventually trumped her great distrust, and she soon gobbled down the piece of meat on the steps.
The Plan Was Working…For a While
Before very long, she followed the heavenly trail of food morsels to the trap’s entrance, ravenously gobbling them up as she came forward. But at the very entrance to the trap, she abruptly stopped dead in her track and she very warily stared up at me sitting motionless in my truck.
We were caught in a time warp that seemed to last forever. I prayed that she would enter the trap; she very cautiously stood there staring up at me, not moving a muscle, attempting to decide.
After what seemed like an eternity, she slowly walked into the trap and its door snapped shut behind her. I thanked God that she had decided to let me help her.
She Began to Whine As We Left Her Home
I now loaded this extremely loyal, starving guard dog in the trap into the back of my old truck and she very sadly looked me in the eyes, already wondering if she had made the right choice and probably wondering what would become of her now. She also soon began whining as we pulled away from her old home. I think her guilt at leaving her self-assigned guard duty post must have been enormous.
Thankfully, she warmed up to my spouse rather quickly when we arrived back at my home and she spent the rest of the night in a cozy warm bed my wife had prepared for her in our garage.
By the next morning, she had decided that I was also worthy of her trust, and as my wife drove us to our veterinarian’s office, she happily sprawled across my lap in the back seat during the entire trip, showering me with numerous kisses of gratitude.
That’s when I discovered how awful she smelled; she really needed a hot cleansing bath and I laughed and named her Stinky. My spouse, however, would not hear of it and she soon began calling her Carrie. This extremely loyal canine then spent several days at the animal hospital, being treated for parasites and being pampered, bathed and fed.
My wife and I are now extremely determined to find this extremely loyal, lovable and much happier canine the loving new home that she truly deserves.
But Wait …. Here’s Your Chance to Do Something Heroic Too!
Ed Kostro’s rescue of Carrie is actually more a beginning than an end. Today we’re honoring his work by kicking off an exponentially larger rescue effort in honor of all the everyday heroes who rescue.
Though he refuses to take donations to assist in his extraordinary volunteer work, Ed is strongly in favor of getting financial aid to the bare bones rescue groups who are fighting for desperate dogs day in and day out. Together we’ve narrowed in on a short list of organizations that need help and today we’re asking you to take a closer look at one of those exceptional groups.
In the city of Houston, Texas, there’s a major problem of abandonment and neglect that regularly tests the skill and the fortitude of the volunteer rescuers who are desperately trying to save as many as they can. Veteran rescuer Kelle Mann Davis has begun a vigorous campaign for The Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward. On Thanksgiving Day, when many of us were enjoying time with family, Kelle drove around for several hours feeding the dogs. (seen here)
Kelle and a small posse of other volunteers are digging deep into their own pockets to pay for the gas money, the dog food, the traps and the veterinary care for these lost dogs who measure in the hundreds. These women are truly legendary by any standards and this week the Harmony Fund is throwing its full support behind their rescue efforts.
One hundred percent of the donations that come through in the next 48 hours will go directly toward care for the dogs here in the 5th Ward. No overhead. No salaries. Absolutely nothing stands between you and the dogs who need your help. If you’d like to seize this opportunity to contribute to this grass roots rescue programs, you may make an online donation here today.
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