Two Wellesley dogs among the many in need of rescue

My work in animal rescue has its rewards, there is no question about it.  When people say to me how wonderful it is that I open my home to foster care for cats and dogs who would otherwise be euthanized or left lonely and frightened in a shelter, I always say sincerely that I am the one who gets the great return on my emotional investment.

Finding a loving home for an animal who through no fault of his or her own, ends up as a stray or is owner-surrendered to a shelter is extremely gratifying.  All Dog Rescue, (http://www.alldogrescue.org/) the organization I helped found four years ago is a reflection of the consensus of a small group of people from all over the Boston area who concluded after years of volunteering with other organizations that a critical need in canine rescue is under served.  The need is that of the older, less adoptable dogs facing euthansia or lingering in no-kill shelters in Massachusetts.  Many rescue groups are focused on importing dogs from the south east parts of the U.S. where recognition of the importance of neutering and spaying pets is less significant.   Puerto Rico where stray dogs are referred to as Satos, is another source for younger dogs and puppies.  Both of these resources satisfy our local and regional demand for the adoption of puppies and young dogs and more adoptions mean more funding for the organizations involved.

Certainly, the majority of the dogs who have been a part of our program have come from towns a lot less affluent than Wellesley, Massachusetts but that is not the case of Jasper and Darby.

Early this summer, a beautiful Cocker Spaniel was reported wandering loose in Wellesley.  He had no tags, no collar, but appeared well-fed and recently groomed.  Sue Webb, Wellesley, MA’s intrepid Animal Control Officer (phone: 781 235 8460), responded to the alert and took the vagrant dog into custody.  What that means in the town of Wellesley and in Weston, MA is the dog is taken to Natick Animal Clinic on Route 135 in Natick.  After 10 days, if unclaimed the decision must be made as to whether the dog will live or die.  A dog like the Cocker is an unlikely candidate for the one-way trip to the steel table.   He is a pure bred, younger dog and showed little sign of major behavior issues.  The speculation as to how he ended up wandering on Wellesley Avenue, included his being dumped by an owner who could no longer care for him and who may have thought his chances of being taken in by someone in Wellesley were better than somewhere else.

All Dog Rescue got the call from the Natick Anmal Clinic Shelter Manager, asking if we had any available foster homes and as it happened mine was available.  Once I met him, I decided he should be named Jasper.  It seemed to suit his demeanor well enough and no one at the shelter or at ADR disagreed.  I doubted Jasper would be a long-term foster, so the following day when a call came in from the North Shore Animal Hopsital that they were holding a Pit mix, who although sweet and friendly, was going a little kennel crazy, I volunteered to help. The kennel crazy syndrome is not uncommon and is more prevelant among high-energy, people-focused dogs.  It is lonely, scary, and boring for a dog to be subjected to a shelter environment for a long period of time and this poor girl had been there for two months.  Thus, Jasper the relatively low energy, highly adoptable foster, was sent to a volunteer who lives in a city condo, while I trudged up to Lynn, MA to check out the new dog in need.  I brought my dog Molly who I adopted 4 years ago.  Whatever her gene pool (Dingo being the most evident) she has ably assisted in determining what dogs go home with me to begin the healing from whatever trauma they suffered.  So, Angie, (the moniker Angelina Jolie suited her thin frame, long legs and snout, but is much too ponderous), accompanied me home and was adopted within a month.

It turns out, the town of Wellesley would soon offer up another sad animal story.  This time two dogs were abandoned by their owners and again, Sue Webb responded.  The circumstances were different than with Jasper.  Sue knew who the owners were and was able to trace the dogs’ history.   Knowing they were both older dogs, Sue told the Shelter Manager at Natick Animal Clinic, if the owner did not claim them after 10 days, the humane thing to do would be to euthanize them.  The Chow mix was not only older, but had health issues that would require expensive care, so when the inevitable happened and the 10 days were up, so was his time at the shelter.  That left the younger, smaller dog. Darby is 7.  He was adopted from Buddy Dog as a puppy having been described as a Lab mix.  As an adult dog he appears to be more small Pit Bull Terrier than Lab, and guess what…Buddy Dog refused to take him back.  There is no expiration date on dogs, but times have changed, and Pits and Pit mixes are getting bad press proving that Mark Twain was wrong when he said,”it doesn’t matter what they say about you, as long as they talk about you”.  It may have been Groucho Marx that said that, or Harry Truman.  One of them is usually credited with just about every wise proverb that wasn’t uttered by Confucious.  Thus Darby is my current foster dog.  If he is 7, I need to find out his secret to such a youthful exhuberance and demeanor.  He runs and plays with Molly and any other dog that is game for a vigorous game of chase and wrestle.  He eats like a teenage boy: alot and fast. He curls up in an impossibly small ball or stretches out on a fluffy dog bed looking extremely relaxed, but the smallest movement from me and he is at the ready, in case I had something in mind other than nap time.  Like every other dog I have fostered, Darby has no idea he isn’t settled in his new forever home.  Fortunately, dogs seem to live in the moment and despite the disappointments and losses he has suffered, he bears no grudge against humans and is affectionate and is open to bestowing his trust on anyone who has the good sense to value it.  Experience tells me, there is someone out there who needs Darby as much as he needs him, or her, or the whole fam damily, but I do not have rose-colored glasses on when I look at him.  I see a little guy who looks very much like the demonized Pit Bull Terrier which he is, at least in part.  I know he is older than he appears or acts.  What I hope to do is help him settle into being the absolute best canine companion he is capable of being, offering him security and love while he is in my care and promote him as extensively and effectively as possible.  Darby is on the ADR website noted above.  He is also posted on Petfinder: http://www.petfinder.org/.  He can be found by searching for Stow, MA, then All Dog Rescue.  He will be making a guest appearance at Pet Rock Sunday, September 9 from noon until about 4 PM.

All Dog Rescue (ADR) a non-profit rescue group based in eastern Massachusetts is dedicated to the rescue of regional dogs in need, and to matching them with appropriate and responsible owners.  Dogs are accepted into the ADR program if determined to be adoptable after a temperment evaluation by experienced volunteers.  Once in the care of ADR, dogs are assigned to qualified and supportive foster homes.  The organization does not have a shleter facility.   

Ann Burford, ABR, Pinnacle Realtor

Cell: 781.910.1419

Office: 781.237.5000

aburford@PinnacleHouses.com

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