By Sarah Williams
One of the hardest things to accept is the chaining of dogs outside for restraint. Dogs are social beings who thrive on interaction with people and animals. A chained dog can suffer psychological damage. A continuously chained dog usually becomes anxious and aggressive. Their necks can become infected from too-tight collars. Chains get tangled, strangling the dogs. They can’t escape storms or attacking animals. Ask any vet or animal care worker whether a stray dog or chained dog living outside around the clock has a better chance at survival, and the stray dog wins.
On December 15th, CBHR received a request from someone to re-home 3 bassets as the owner was very ill and needed to go to another state immediately for medical care. When our volunteer arrived at the home to pick up 1 young male and 2 female bassets, the situation quickly eroded. Our volunteer was told the male was staying but three girls would need to go. One of the girls was being kept outside surrounded by barbed wire, while the other two were chained to trees with padlocks. As all three girls were emaciated, the collars were easy to remove from two. The chain was broken on the third and the volunteer took off with all three to head to a partner vet in Durham, NC.
Despite the intensity of this cruelty, the girls showed nothing but love and gratitude while the veterinary team worked on them. They were given names to reflect the spirit of the season: Faith, Hope and Grace. Each was severely emaciated and suffered from intestinal worms and skin issues, but surprisingly all were heart worm negative. And Hope appeared to be pregnant. An x-ray confirmed she was very pregnant, just a couple weeks from delivering at least 4 pups. This was obviously a high risk pregnancy, especially for the pups who had experienced the worst of prenatal care.
On January 9th, Hope delivered 7 beautiful, healthy puppies. No complications. What an amazingly wonderful way to start our rescue year.
CBHR Foster care stepped in with long term fosters for Faith, Grace and Hope, dedicated to refeeding and rehabilitating them. Faith moved to Charleston, and her foster mama knew from the moment she picked her up this girl was never leaving her side again. Faith is now Vivien Leigh and calls Charleston her home. Grace spent two months with a loving foster mama and foster siblings, and was adopted by a family just ready to move on after losing their beloved basset, Talullah. She is still “Grace” as it suits her. Hope has a family waiting for her, and they have decided to call her Talullah; Grace’s family said that is a sign to them that Grace was meant to be a part of their family.
All of the puppies have homes anxiously awaiting for them to be available at the beginning of April once they’ve been spayed and neutered.
This is the best of rescue; we went to save three lives and ended up saving ten. Thank you, as always, for your support.
