Cuddles
On 3/10/14 I got a call from a volunteer that there was an old chow at the pound that had been turned into the pound by Hawthorne Animal Clinic. The date the dog came into animal control was 3/7/14. She was worried about the dog and thought he was sick or just old so we flagged the dog. Nev went to see the dog and felt he was very old and sad. It is always sad to think an elderly dog will spend its' last days alone and afraid so many times we pull them to give them a good end to their life by finding the right home for them or hospice.
On 3/12/14 the stray hold was over and Nev picked the old dog up. She took the dog to Horseshoe for a check to make sure it was OK. Everything checked out OK. At that time we thought it was a boy dog and called it Edwin. Mind you this is a very furry dog. We all kept saying what a nice dog he was and in pretty good shape for as old as he appeared. We even talked about how there had to be someone looking for him and checked the lost dog sites with no results. We also talked about how the owner may have called animal control looking for him when he was at Hawthorne and missed finding him. Little did we know that is exactly what happened.
When the dog got to the shelter it was very depressed and wouldn't walk. All it wanted to do was hide its' head. On Thursday we gave it a bath and tried to cheer him up. On Friday he was still very depressed acting and couldn't stand very well. We were all really worried about him. Fearing this might be the end, I took him back to Horseshoe.
When we arrived at Horseshoe, he suddenly perked up and walked around wagging his tail. A few x-rays confirmed some arthritis in the back so we got some pain meds and back to the shelter. Instead of going back into the main shelter we fixed up a nice pallet in the front room so he could walk around and stretch. That seemed to really help his mood. We took him out for some walks to limber him up. Another volunteer came by and saw him and made a request for someone to foster him. That's when he went into foster with Jessica. Jessica said he was doing well and enjoyed being in a home.
Then a miracle!! Animal control called today to say someone had come in looking for the dog. Nev immediately called the man and it was his dog!! Under all that fur, Edwin was really Cuddles, a girl.
The man said they had a house fire and had to move into a hotel while the house was repaired. The family dogs were staying in the garage since the hotel did not allow dogs. The bigger dog had knocked down the door during the night when burglars stole a trailer in their driveway. The family had searched everywhere for Cuddles. He said she was 17 years old and they had her since she was a pup. Their daughter, who is now in college, was 4 when they got her and she was devastated.
We were told Cuddles had been found in a lake by the fire dept. and taken the dog to Hawthorne. The man said he had called the pound right away looking for her but they said she wasn't there. He said he didn't know to call Hawthorne. Luckily he decided to go to the pound and talk to the staff there today. They told him that a rescue group had taken a dog matching her description and they would call us. What a great phone call to get!! Nev immediately called the owner and it was a match. They were so excited! Jessica made arrangements to meet them and get Cuddles back to the family. She said Cuddles was so excited to see her family. Cuddles used up a few lives in the last few weeks. Whew!!
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