So rewind back to the Saturday when I broke up a dog fight between Justice and Bella and had gotten my hand bitten. I called my hubby crying, devastated, and sad about the outcome of poor Justice. I was weighing so many things in my mind. Well hubby was dealing with a situation as well.
That night, hubby was leaving work when all of a sudden something darted out in front of his car. He got out to find that it was a dog. He called to it and it came straight to him. He, fearing that it would get hit, put it in the car and brought it home. (He is such an animal advocate now!)
Around Midnight, I get a call from Ryan, "Bring a harness and a leash." Yep, I knew what that meant. Another dog had found its way to our home. So I go outside to find a medium sized pit bull with spots of all kinds and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. She was scared, but her tail was wagging. She looked well taken care of and was clearly an owned dog. We settled her in for the night and made a plan to find her her home the next day.
The next day, I decided that Facebook was the place to start. I put a post with her picture and where we found her. I used Facebook advertising to send this ad to everyone in Fairburn, GA. The hope was that the owner would see the post and we could take her home (because everyone and their mama is on FB, right?)
We gave our Facebook search a few days. Over that time, over 10,000 people saw my post, over 80 people shared, and dozens of people wrote me with clues about the dog and where her possible home was. (Thank you to all of the people who helped.) Alas, after that time, we were no closer to finding her owners than when Ryan picked her up.
After that, we knew what we had to do...take her to the shelter. Because she was found in Fulton County, we took her to the shelter there.
Let me give a sidenote here: The Fulton and Dekalb County shelters are run by Lifeline Animal Project. On July 1, Lifeline started a No-Kill initiative in these counties where they are aiming to take these counties to 90% no-kill. This means that 90% of the dogs who end up at the shelter will not be euthanized because of lack of space. This is an increase from 50% when Lifeline took over. That is amazing! Because of this new initiative, I felt better taking this dog to the shelter, versus a few months earlier with Justice.
When we got to the shelter, I talked to the front desk staff about how we found her, how we looked for her home, and what the process would be with us leaving her there. They let me know that they would do an owner hold for three days. This would make her non-adoptable in case her owners came for her. He assured me that after that three days, she would not be euthanized, but that she would be listed as for adoption and stay at the shelter.
While I felt relieved that she would not be euthanized, I felt bad about leaving her at the shelter. For those of you who don't know, a shelter is not a happy place for a dog. They are taken from a quiet loving home into a loud facility with strangers poking them, placed in a cold crate, with dogs constantly barking and no sense of where they are. It is traumatizing for dogs. So as we sat there waiting for our turn to do intake, hubby and I decided that we would offer to foster her if her owners did not come forward. We filled out the application then gave her up to the shelter staff. Walking away was the hardest thing.
We went home that day with a heavy heart, but knowing that we did the right thing in giving the owners a chance to find her. With it being the 4th of July holiday weekend, we knew that we would not hear about her until at least Tuesday. We said a prayer for her.
As you have probably guessed, no one went to pick up the dog, who we had affectionately named Maybelline (because she looks like she is wearing mascara and eyeliner around her eyes.) On Tuesday night, I received an email from the foster coordinator at Fulton County Animal Shelter telling us that we had been approved to foster Maybelline. We were happy, then I kept reading. Maybelline had heartworms.
Having just received this same news about Justice, I was not as shocked, but still equally as sad. I knew what Maybelline would be enduring over the next 2-3 months. The injections and the mandatory crate rest. I felt sorry for this poor baby, but I knew immediately why she had found us. She came to us because we could help her through this hard treatment with love and patience. We would not give up on her.
We went back on Wednesday to pick her up. She had just gone through spay surgery, so while we waited on the staff to bring her to us, they filled us in on her status. In addition to the heartworms, she may have developed kennel cough and they were suspicious that she might have demodex, a skin condition similar to mange. (We always get the dogs with the triple threats, right?) We were being sent home with antibiotics, demodex meds, an antibiotic shampoo, and her month dosage of heartworm pills. In August, she will receive her first injections for heartworms.
We were also given orientation as official fosters about taking care of her, when to bring her in for treatments, the schedule for adoption events, and who to contact in case of emergencies. They said that she could be taken to events as soon as we felt she was ready in hopes that she would get adopted. All of her medical care will be taken care of by the shelter, but we will take care of her food and other care.
Maybelline has now been in our home a full day. She is being crated away from our other dogs and being segregated while she decompresses from the shelter. She truthfully seems traumatized and still skittish. We are not pushing her. She can take all of the time that she needs. I plan on taking her to at least one adoption event before the end of the month before we start the heartworm treatments. I want her to find a great home with people who can love her and treat her well.
In the meantime, we have two heartworm positive dogs in our house who have a long journey to healing. How am I going to do it? I have no idea. But I do know that these dogs came into my life for a reason. In Part 3, I will try to tell you why I think these two special dogs entered my home and my heart.
For now, here is a picture of Maybelline that I took when we first got her. Isn't she a cutie? Also, if you or someone you know is looking to adopt, check her out on the Fulton County adoption page. (They call her Malinda, but it is our Maybelline.)
Talk later!
Crystal
Around Midnight, I get a call from Ryan, "Bring a harness and a leash." Yep, I knew what that meant. Another dog had found its way to our home. So I go outside to find a medium sized pit bull with spots of all kinds and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. She was scared, but her tail was wagging. She looked well taken care of and was clearly an owned dog. We settled her in for the night and made a plan to find her her home the next day.
The next day, I decided that Facebook was the place to start. I put a post with her picture and where we found her. I used Facebook advertising to send this ad to everyone in Fairburn, GA. The hope was that the owner would see the post and we could take her home (because everyone and their mama is on FB, right?)
We gave our Facebook search a few days. Over that time, over 10,000 people saw my post, over 80 people shared, and dozens of people wrote me with clues about the dog and where her possible home was. (Thank you to all of the people who helped.) Alas, after that time, we were no closer to finding her owners than when Ryan picked her up.
After that, we knew what we had to do...take her to the shelter. Because she was found in Fulton County, we took her to the shelter there.
Let me give a sidenote here: The Fulton and Dekalb County shelters are run by Lifeline Animal Project. On July 1, Lifeline started a No-Kill initiative in these counties where they are aiming to take these counties to 90% no-kill. This means that 90% of the dogs who end up at the shelter will not be euthanized because of lack of space. This is an increase from 50% when Lifeline took over. That is amazing! Because of this new initiative, I felt better taking this dog to the shelter, versus a few months earlier with Justice.
When we got to the shelter, I talked to the front desk staff about how we found her, how we looked for her home, and what the process would be with us leaving her there. They let me know that they would do an owner hold for three days. This would make her non-adoptable in case her owners came for her. He assured me that after that three days, she would not be euthanized, but that she would be listed as for adoption and stay at the shelter.
While I felt relieved that she would not be euthanized, I felt bad about leaving her at the shelter. For those of you who don't know, a shelter is not a happy place for a dog. They are taken from a quiet loving home into a loud facility with strangers poking them, placed in a cold crate, with dogs constantly barking and no sense of where they are. It is traumatizing for dogs. So as we sat there waiting for our turn to do intake, hubby and I decided that we would offer to foster her if her owners did not come forward. We filled out the application then gave her up to the shelter staff. Walking away was the hardest thing.
We went home that day with a heavy heart, but knowing that we did the right thing in giving the owners a chance to find her. With it being the 4th of July holiday weekend, we knew that we would not hear about her until at least Tuesday. We said a prayer for her.
As you have probably guessed, no one went to pick up the dog, who we had affectionately named Maybelline (because she looks like she is wearing mascara and eyeliner around her eyes.) On Tuesday night, I received an email from the foster coordinator at Fulton County Animal Shelter telling us that we had been approved to foster Maybelline. We were happy, then I kept reading. Maybelline had heartworms.
Having just received this same news about Justice, I was not as shocked, but still equally as sad. I knew what Maybelline would be enduring over the next 2-3 months. The injections and the mandatory crate rest. I felt sorry for this poor baby, but I knew immediately why she had found us. She came to us because we could help her through this hard treatment with love and patience. We would not give up on her.
We went back on Wednesday to pick her up. She had just gone through spay surgery, so while we waited on the staff to bring her to us, they filled us in on her status. In addition to the heartworms, she may have developed kennel cough and they were suspicious that she might have demodex, a skin condition similar to mange. (We always get the dogs with the triple threats, right?) We were being sent home with antibiotics, demodex meds, an antibiotic shampoo, and her month dosage of heartworm pills. In August, she will receive her first injections for heartworms.
We were also given orientation as official fosters about taking care of her, when to bring her in for treatments, the schedule for adoption events, and who to contact in case of emergencies. They said that she could be taken to events as soon as we felt she was ready in hopes that she would get adopted. All of her medical care will be taken care of by the shelter, but we will take care of her food and other care.
Maybelline has now been in our home a full day. She is being crated away from our other dogs and being segregated while she decompresses from the shelter. She truthfully seems traumatized and still skittish. We are not pushing her. She can take all of the time that she needs. I plan on taking her to at least one adoption event before the end of the month before we start the heartworm treatments. I want her to find a great home with people who can love her and treat her well.
In the meantime, we have two heartworm positive dogs in our house who have a long journey to healing. How am I going to do it? I have no idea. But I do know that these dogs came into my life for a reason. In Part 3, I will try to tell you why I think these two special dogs entered my home and my heart.
For now, here is a picture of Maybelline that I took when we first got her. Isn't she a cutie? Also, if you or someone you know is looking to adopt, check her out on the Fulton County adoption page. (They call her Malinda, but it is our Maybelline.)
Talk later!
Crystal
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