Hi guys
Haven't been around in a while, have been incredibly busy, but I thought I would drop by and cross post this... this is my foster dog Cody. I pulled him from deathrow this week from a very disgusting high kill animal control shelter near my house.
The story of how I met Cody starts with a wonderful woman named Marcie Bonard, a volunteer with Animal League of Gastonia. Marcie sends out weekly emails with the dogs scheduled to die that week at Gaston County Animal Control and does everything she can to place them with rescues. This week, as I looked through the sad tales and pictures, I decided to shift some animals and pull three dogs. I didn't have room for more then three... I really didnt have room for three dogs when for the last 4 years our rescue has been primarily exotic animals.. but I had to help. I moved some animals in foster care, begged and pleaded with overworked and fabulous foster moms, and emailed Marcie and told her I would pull the two dobermans and the siberian husky. Neither I or Marcie had met these dogs, but having been previously owned by both dobermans and Siberians, I was drawn to those three, needed to get them out. I arranged to go on Thursday to temp test all three, and pull the two dobies.
On thursday, Feb 7th, I entered Gaston County Animal Control and asked to see the male doberman. All I knew about him was his tag number, and an offhand comment from a kennel worker "He's thin." That certainly didn't prepare me for what came stumbling out of the kennel towards me.
Lurching like a horrible living skeleton, this bag of bones with his head hanging below his knees stumbled towards me. I couldn't believe he was alive. I could see from a distance, every bone in his body. The animal control officer holding his leash jokingly said "We call him Slim." Other kennel workers gathered around and said kind things to him and said what a pity it was that he was in such horrible shape. I was thanked for taking him. I hadn't even laid my hands on him yet and I knew he was walking out with me. I tried to get the pitiful dog's attention several times, but he couldnt look up at me. When I touched him, he jumped slightly and lost his balance. When I set my hand on his back, he slowly sank to the ground as though it weighed a ton.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly felt every bone in his body, all prominent, forced against his skin. He was so dehydrated his skin rolled off him and stood up in little hills. Open wounds (later discovered that some were infested with maggots) oozed on his legs. Scars showed on his head from recent fights, desperate for food from the other dogs. At first, I thought he was deaf. He could not seem to find me. Then I realized that he just didnt have the strength to move his head. I offered him a cookie and he gently took it from me with the tips of his teeth. His eyes were sunk far back in his head, but they shone with gratitude.
I signed the papers to take him away from the gas chamber and took him and the female doberman, and an extra dog, a little siberian husky corgi mix. The siberian/corgi went to a wonderful foster home (Where he quickly won them over) and the dobies came with me. The female siberian husky had to wait until the next day for her to be released. The female dobie, Maddie, was in perfect shape compared to poor Cody. When we tried to load Cody into the truck, he suddenly tried to jump into the back, a small burst of energy from a bundle of bones almost lifeless.... a hint of a life past where maybe he loved to go on car rides... or maybe just a desperate attempt to get away from the shelter. He could not have made the jump and he stummbled, and was caught by myself and the volunteer who had come with me. We carefully loaded him in and laid him on a blanket.
On the way home, I thought of the red doberman I had grown up with when I was a child. Cody, a beautiful, huge, thick doberman who was so brave, and gentle, and had an amazing spirit. He watched over everyone around him. I knew instantly what to name this poor starved wreck. Cody- and maybe some of cody's strength would come through him. We had a long road ahead of us... but with help, I knew Cody would make it.
Cody needs help- his estimated time of recovery is 6 months, not including heartworm treatment. Carolina Animal Rescue Experts is taking donations towards Cody's medical costs. You can learn more about Cody at
www.helpsaveco dy.comand
www.petfinder. com/shelters/NC25.html Thank you all for reading, give your healthy happy big guys a loving kiss.
