Moving can be exciting! New places to see, new neighbors to meet, and of course new dog friends to get to know! As a dog lover it can be easy to forget that not every dog is as lucky as my dogs are…to be part of the family.
As we started to settle into our new neighborhood, right away my husband and I noticed the handsome pit bull type dog just two doors down. He would greet us (barking) each time we went out into the backyard. I immediately wanted to know more about him and wondered if he’d come to be a friend to my dogs. I got excited just thinking about play dates! He and my dogs began to have interesting conversations through the fence. He only barked at us for the first couple days, after that he stopped. What I didn’t know is that he stopped because he going downhill fast…
Right away I started redirecting our walks to the trail behind the house so we could pass by and say hi… taking treats and sneaking in sniffs through the fence. Spike sometimes decided to come to the fence to say hi, slowly standing up and limping over to us. But other times, he didn’t seem to want to be bothered. It quickly became obvious that Spike was an “outside” dog. I could see flies covering an open wound on his ear, and as he wobbled over to the fence he had a belly that looked like that of a malnourished child. I knew something wasn’t right.
I wanted to introduce myself to Spike’s owners, maybe I could find out more about the situation. But I couldn’t ever catch anyone home, often times the house and backyard would be vacant in the daytime and dark the entire night without anyone ever returning home. As I started asking around, it was clear and I wasn’t the only one who knew about Spike, he had lived in that backyard for over 8 years. I learned from a neighbor that they often times had to give him water in the summer because his owners weren’t giving it to him. Why hadn’t anyone helped him?
Spike's Home for Eight Years
After meeting and talking with Spike’s owners, I was able to convince them that he needed to get medical care and Love-A-Bull could be of assistance. Greeting them with a smile and a nonjudgmental attitude, we talked about many things. After canceling our initial appointment due to not receiving a call from his owner and leaving multiple notes on their doorstep, I received a phone call from the owner saying he needed to get into a vet because he had stopped eating completely. We made the appointment for the next morning; he was going to be picked up at 6:45am!
That evening my husband and I went over to give Spike some can food, a pain pill and visit with him. He couldn’t even stand up that evening. I whispered to him, “hold on buddy we’re going to get you some help in the morning.” I hardly slept at all that night, anxious to get Spike into the clinic. I just new that his life would change for the better! I woke up at 4 am that morning hearing the thunderstorms with an empty, cold feeling… 6:45 am couldn’t come soon enough.
Unfortunately, just as help was going to arrive, Spike couldn’t hold on any longer. Spike passed away overnight during the tumultuous rain. He had been holding on for over 8 years and just couldn’t keep up his fight. As we went over to pick him up that morning, his owner hadn’t even realized he had passed away until we walked in the backyard together that morning. He just couldn’t hold on anymore.
His cause of death was determined to be from complications due to heartworms, all things that could have been prevented if he had been properly cared for. He was a victim of neglect, as so many animals are in our community.
Spike was brought into a lifetime of loneliness as a puppy and lived his days out alone in a backyard. Although many think society has progressed forward and now like to refer to pet ownership as guardianship… it isn’t safe to say all of society has joined in with this change. It is easy to forget those dogs we often don’t see out on walk, barking through a picture window, or at your local park. That’s because many dogs, much like Spike, spend their lifetime locked away in a backyard. Too often those dogs are pit bull type dogs.
R.I.P. Spike, 2.24.2012
I had a really hard time moving past blaming myself for allowing this to happen; in fact I was a wreck for the days that followed his death. I kept asking myself why this happened, why he couldn’t hold on for just a few more hours? It is just recently that I came to realize through talking with a fellow Love-A-Bull team member that I could make sure positive things come from this event. Everything happens for a reason, and Spike coming into my life had a purpose. The fact is, he may have suffered through years of loneliness and neglect, but he was able to live out the last few days of his life with lots of good salmon, can food, treats, and pain medication. I’ve made sure that his owners won’t do this to another living soul. And on top of that, I hope that this blog gives people the courage to do what is right when they see neglect or abuse in their neighborhood
As citizens and dogs lovers alike, we have a moral obligation to not only care for our own animals, but also to not turn a blind eye to an innocent animal that is being abused or neglected. As a great man once said, “Never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our souls when we look the other way.” Martin Luther King Jr.
If you suspect abuse or neglect, do not turn a blind eye, do the right thing. Ask questions. Call the APD Animal Cruelty Unit 512-978-0523 or Animal Control in your community. Or, even open a dialogue with your neighbor. You will be surprised what one person can do to make a difference.
Megan R.
Tagged: neglect, pit bull, rescueFiled under: Rescue
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