Month: March 2024

We named him Freddy. We didn’t know his name. I opened my back door on the morning of the fifth of July about seven years ago and he was humped up on the porch, as close to the door as he could get. We’d never seen him before. We had no idea where he came from. My husband and I went outside to check him out. He just looked at us and when he discovered we were kind, he stayed as close to us as he could.

We did everything we were supposed to do. We called the local animal shelter and reported him. We put up signs around the neighborhood. We called neighbors. All this time, Freddy wouldn’t leave our property. He laid in the garage on an old rug and wagged his tail every time he saw one of us.

A few years later, we were standing in our garage and the door was open. We saw what resembled a furry bullet running as fast as she could down our long driveway toward our garage. She ran inside and hid in a corner. We had never seen her before. A beautiful German Shepherd dog. It was storming outside and we assumed she got frightened and ran away from home. She made up with us easily. Just like with Freddy, we did everything we knew to do to find her owners. No luck.

About three days later, in the case of both dogs, the owners found us. Instead of thanking us for caring for their dogs while they were lost, they were angry. Angry because we didn’t magically know where the dogs belonged.

In the case of Freddy, he was a neighbor’s dog from about a mile away. The neighbor took him home and he came back. He kept coming back repeatedly. Finally, his owners chained him to a dog house in the summer heat and he couldn’t come back again. Six years later, Freddy appeared in our driveway again. He was old now and he wasn’t well. Again, he was taken away to his home.

The German Shepherd is an interesting story. Finally, through social media, we found her owners. Her owner came after her and we thought something was strange from the first. He wouldn’t park in our driveway. We walked out to his truck. The dog didn’t follow us. He started accusing us of stealing his dog. He was abusive and was obviously capable of violence. He called for the dog and she wouldn’t come to him. He kept calling and that beautiful dog crawled a few inches at a time on her belly. She crawled around him, around his truck, under his truck, always keeping a distance from him. Finally, he caught her, picked her up by her back legs, and threw her through the open door of his pickup truck. She crashed inside to the floorboard. I don’t know what happened to her, but we’ve heard she is locked in a storage shed most of the time.

Dogs are and can be neglected and abused in a variety of ways for many reasons. Hunting dogs, for example, are often hunted until they drop and a terrible problem exists with regard to their treatment and care. In the U.S., as our politics of hatred have ramped up, so has violence and abuse. Haters take their rage out on their children and defenseless animals. I find the situation in the U.S. to be almost intolerable.

Maybe you’re asking yourself by now where the animal cruelty authorities were in the case of Freddy and the German Shepherd. In our state in the U.S., we have almost no effective laws to protect defenseless animals. The animal control officer said he would check on them. We even talked to the Sheriff in the case of the German Shepherd. We never heard anything back from either party.

According to a 2024 study conducted by Forbes Magazine, over six million dogs are surrendered to animal shelters each year. About two-thirds of that number are adopted. The rest are euthanized. How many dogs need to be rescued who reside in abusive or neglectful homes? No one knows.

The pandemic didn’t help. People were isolated and lonely. They thought the solution was to adopt a pet. Dogs, in the U.S. are more popular than cats. Unfortunately, many of the people who adopted dogs during the pandemic didn’t consider what their situation would be after the pandemic. Would their remote jobs become onsite jobs again? Would they even have jobs? No one knew, for sure, that the economy would take a downturn and inflation would soar. The cost of caring for a pet skyrocketed and so did the number of people who surrendered their dogs to an animal shelter or just left them to fend for themselves.

After the dog we had for many passed away in September, 2023, we decided to rescue a dog. We ended up rescuing two dogs, both from horrible situations. Meet Sophie. A purebred German Shepherd who was found by a rescue group in a wire crate and tied to a fence post outside a festival site in the hot sun.

Sophie is somewhere between two and three years old. We only know part of her story. She was purchased by a couple, as a puppy, who it seems loved her. They divorced and she was passed from person to person for almost two years. It could have been a nightmare, rescuing a German Shepherd dog, but Sophie has a wonderful temperament. She came to us obedience trained and guard trained. She’s the perfect dog.

In the past, we have had Pembroke Welsh Corgis and we heard of one that needed rescue. Enter Hazel. She is a female and is now about 20 months old. Hazel was really neglected and has major health issues, but we will love her and take care of her. So many rescue dogs do have health issues. They also have mental and emotional issues and Hazel is a poster dog for all of these concerns.

Rescue dogs come with baggage. Once they trust you, which can take some time, they are truly your best friends. Instead of buying expensive purebred dogs from breeders, consider rescuing a dog who will become your best friend. There is so much need for good homes and compassionate, loving dog owners. Rescuing a dog is very gratifying even though it may require a little more work than buying an eight-week old puppy for thousands of dollars.

You don’t have to go to just the local animal shelters. Call breeders of whatever breed you are interested in. You can find a list on the American Kennel Club website. You might be able to find a breeder ready to retire a show or breeding dog that would fit your needs perfectly. Some of the dogs who are retired are sent straight to rescue after being used for years for show or breeding. They need all of us.