A Sad Story With A Happy Ending

I belong to a wonderful greyhound rescue organization calle SEGA.  We normally rescue greyhounds that are being retired from racetracks.  Sometimes we have a different kind of resue. Unfortunately (fortunately for the dog) we had a different kind of rescue this week. Here's the story:

 (All names have been removed to protect the innocent)

We got a call on the Greypet line week before last saying that the owner was moving and could not take Keystone Peabody nka Sophia and he wanted to return her to us. He could only keep her another week and half. Penny spoke to him and then passed his information on to me. For those who do not know our process, I get in touch with anyone who is bouncing a dog, send them a report card to complete and request pictures, and also ask if the dog is current on vetting and dental. We request that they bring them current if they are able to. If this is a hardship then we take the dog as is and take care of it. We also suggest a donation to SEGA - again not required but we ask. When I spoke to the owner he said he would bring her current on her vetting and get back to me and also complete the report card so we would have baseline information on her. When he did not email the form back to me I started leaving him messages on his cell phone every day or so.


However beginning last Thurs or Friday, I left messages daily with increasing urgency. The one I left yesterday emphasized that we wanted to help and get her back and if the cost of vetting was a problem, we were still willing to take her. I reminded him of his adoption contract saying that I was sure he would not give her away or take her to the pound and we wanted to get her back. I was going to give him until AM before calling out a posse to help as I did not have a good feeling about Sophia and was going to get more aggressive about getting her. I put out a call to people living in or near Acworth this morning requesting that someone go to the home. Our foster coordinator got in touch with his folks too. And by 10:00, rescuer #1 and resucer #2 had gone to the house and Rescuer #3 was going this afternoon. What was reported to us was heartbreaking. It appeared that Sophia had been abandoned in the house without utilities. Grass was knee high and there was little if any furniture in the house and it had a lockbox on the door. Since his home was around the corner from LCAH, I called them to see if they were clients of theirs. They last brought Sophia in sometime in 2005 and their contact information matched what we had on file. A dead-end. Rescuer #2 reported that the basement window was broken. Rescuer #1 has seen the dog in the house. Next plan was to see if anyone could go to the kennel and look in her folder to see if we had another contact information or references listed that I could contact. In the meantime, Rescuer #2 and her son arrived on the scene. She was able to speak with neighbors and found out that they had moved three months ago, the house is in foreclosure, and the owner comes by once a month and throws food out in the house. She spoke to the neighbor and the wife of the homeowners association president. She called the police and they would not help. Per Helper #1 suggestion, I called our in house vet to see if he knew someone on the police force or someone at Animal Control that could help us get the dog. Our in house vet immediately got on the phone with someone he knows at animal control and we sort of had a three way conversation -actually our in house vet had me in one ear and animal control in the other. The process with animal control is that they will go the home reported and place a 24 hour notice. If no response, they go back the next day and post another notice. If they can see the animal and it appears to be in distress, they can break in at that time, but otherwise they have to wait another 24 hours before going back and at that time, they can break in if no response from the owner. He told our in house vet they would send someone out now. Resuer #2 has now left to go to the kennel to see if there is any contact information in the dog's folder that we have not tried. None was found, so she and her son drove back to the house. What great timing, as they were coming down the street, a car pulled into the driveway and someone was getting out. It was the owner who was hot under the collar because his "nosy neighbors had called animal control." She told him that she was from SEGA and had come to take Sophia. Animal control drove up then and, God bless Rescuer #2, she played good cop/bad cop and acted like animal control was the bad guy so he had no problem signing her back over to SEGA. Very happy ending for Sophia. However, there is a cat and a tiny kitten left in the house. Animal control has been informed and will be going back to help out the cats.

A big thank you to our adoption coodinator for rallying his troops; to Rescuer #3 for going by to check out the house; to Rescuer #1 for doing that as well and following up with some additional information; to Rescuer #4 and Recuer #6  who were willing to break her out of that house and risk the Big House for their efforts; and to Recuer #2 and her son for going over there twice, going to the kennel to look in her file, and for getting the owner to surrender Sophia to us. ( I promise you, one way or the other, she was not spending an other night in that house!!) She and her son took her to the kennel, Capstarred her (she was covered in fleas), and gave her some loving care. Our in house vet went downstairs to look at her and took her upstairs to evaluate her and vet her today. They brought down food for her. Her badly needed dental is Monday. Our foster coordinator is going to find a foster home for her to go to after her dental. I have some potential adopters coming to the kennel on Sat and MAYBE one of them
will fall in love with her. In spite of her miserable past three months, Sophia is affectionate and loving and apparently none the worse for her ordeal.

To see all the greyhounds we have available for adoption and to see more about what we do you can go to:

http://www.greyhoundadoption.org/