Her situation has been hard for an animal rescue person to watch. For almost two years, the little sheltie has been abandoned by her owner at a house they no longer lived in. It's a felony in NC to steal a dog, as it should be; but I have never been more tempted to break the law. Several of us neighbors have been feeding her in her lonely prison. It ripped my heart out on a daily basis. The owner came just enough to keep animal control from taking the dog, maybe once a week. Meanwhile, the real job of seeing to the dog was left to neighbors. The picture of the food bucket on a rope says it all about how much she cared for the dog. Even though there's a gate into her pen to the right, she chose to lower her food from the porch above. That is, when she came by at all. The more neighbors took on the care of the dog, the less she came. It was me who bleached the algae and black mold from her water bucket and made sure she had fresh water. Another neighbor had carried over pine needles to cover the never cleaned feces from her pen. That same neighbor bought her a dog house. Until then, she had no shelter except for a scrappy tree and unkempt vine overgrowth.
I don't know how she survived the winter in the elements. If I'd known she was there during single digit temps, I'd have already broken that dog-napping law. I found out about her just a few months ago.
It has rained here for days. Today when I went up to see about her, she was lying in several inches of mud. She never raised her head even though I was only a couple feet from her pen to take her picture. I thought she was near death. I decided today was the day I did more for her than feed her, pet and talk to her a little, and leave her. I could only hope my actions didn't land me in jail. I put that filthy matted dog in my van and took her to the vet. (Did I mention that I'm laid off from my job and have seven dogs of my own?) Nonetheless...
The good news, she wasn't dying yet...just exceptionally hard of hearing. This dog is sweet and very old. The vet estimated 10 or 12 years. The bad news: She's heartworm positive and needs treatment or she will die a horrific death. I paid for her bill today, but heartworm treatment is beyond my means at the present time. Animal control can't ignore her now. I put her back in her hell hole long enough for them to come confiscate her.
Her story isn't over yet, I'll have to save her from a gas chamber next, but I'm hoping to get Sheltie rescue involved. Please pray for this sweet little sheltie who I hope will know what love is before she dies. She has suffered long enough.
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