Subject:  Emergent placement |
Author:
Janine Catalano
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Date Posted: 18:21:33 12/29/04 Wed
I emergently need to place a stray ABPT. The dog walked into my garage on the evening of Sunday December 26, 2004. I turned my back to gather up my recycling to be placed at the curb. When I turned around, there was a brindled ABPT inches from me. I did not know that he was a “pit bull”.
The dog, a male, was obviously lost and hungry. He responded to my greeting with a tail wag. I fed him a can of a/d prescription diet that I have for an ill cat. He devoured it in two bites.
A neighbor who keeps hunting dogs loaned me a choke chain, leash, and kennel and advised me to take him to the Houston SPCA on Monday. The dog slept soundly in the kennel in my garage. When I walked him early the next morning, I found that he was leash trained.
When I returned from work on Monday, ready to take the dog to the SPCA, another neighbor saw him and identified him as a pit bull. This neighbor also asked me to delay his trip to the SPCA since, with his landlord’s approval, he wanted to adopt the dog. Unfortunately his landlord would not allow the dog.
By this time we both had learned what a sweet dog he is. He doesn’t jump, bark, or lick, and he is crate trained and housebroken. With my neighbor’s help, I have cared from the dog. My neighbor is keeping the dog in his home at night and allowing the dog to share his bed. He can only keep the dog until Friday December 31, 2004.
I have called a number of people advertising lost pit bulls and followed up on leads from local vet clinics, but have been unable to find his home. The dog’s emaciation strongly suggests that he has been without a home for a long time.
Because of this dog’s sweet personality and even sweeter face, I located two potential homes for him.
I felt that I needed to have the dog’s basic health checked and get a rabies shot before I could give him to a family. On the check-up, the dog tested positive for heartworms. Now neither family is willing to take him.
I cannot foster the dog nor can I keep him for more than one week. I have 4 indoor cats and no back yard. To complicate matters, my 15 year old Balinese cat is in the end stages of mammary adenocarcinoma. I cannot allow this dog inside my home.
Please allow me to place this dog emergently. I am willing to sponsor his care for one year and contribute an additional $100.00 to help defray the cost of his heartworm treatment. Please continue reading about the physical condition of this loving dog that wandered into my life and urgently needs your help.
We have been calling the dog Tigger, or Tig, because he is brindled and striped like a Bengal tiger. He is grey around the muzzle. He has an incredibly calm personality. He allows a neighborhood Lab puppy to jump and nip at him while he stands still. He rides in the backseat of my car without a problem. In Petsmart a young chocolate Lab jumped up and barked at him. Tigger was frightened. With other dogs, he has happily sniffed and allowed himself to be sniffed. He quickly withdraws when another dog barks.
Tigger’s composure was tested while on a visit to my office located in a hospital. While we were there, a fire broke out in a patient care area. The hospital was evacuated. My car was blocked in by fire trucks. Tigger stood outside of the hospital with me for over two hours watching hoses unrolled, firefighters in bunker gear work and general chaos, including rain showers. Throughout this time, Tigger greeted everyone who came near us and accepted many ear scratches and head pats. He did bark once when a large firefighter in bunker gear talked to him.
Physically, he is fair condition for a stray dog. He is heartworm positive, but the vet said that she cannot hear and abnormal heart sounds. The vet feels that he is quite strong and will do well with heartworm treatment but must wait about two weeks while he gains weight.
Tigger’s teeth are rather worn. He is at least 6 years old. He has some hair loss on his neck in the area a collar rubs. He has what the vet called ‘benign growths’ on two of his nipples (M3 and M4) as well as ‘kennel callous’. He weighs 48 pounds. He is not neutered. He received a rabies shot today.
All of Tigger’s vet records are available for your review. I will be happy to fax a copy.
Please contact me as soon as possible about Tigger’s admission so that I may plan to bring him out.
Thank you.
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