Today, I went over to Orlando Animal Control (OAC) at the request of our Rottweiler Rescue Organization to evaluate a Rottie girl that is getting close to being put down. Several people have met this girl and have had glowing reports about her but our Board Of Directors wanted me to evaluate her and to help determine her age. The sad truth is that older dogs simply don't get adopted and the objective of every Rescue Organization is not simply to save the lives of dogs but to place them in loving homes.

When I got to OAC, I met with one of the placement people behind the main desk and got her full background report: Precious was listed on the adoption form as 1 year old. It didn't take long to determine that was nonsense since the girl's records go back to 2006 when she was first picked up and was spayed by OAC. This time, she was found in an abandoned warehouse. She is heartworm positive and has thus far not found an adopting family.

I went back to her cage and she greeted me as if she knew I was a "Rottie guy". I gave her a few Milk Bones and she was mine . One of the volunteers put her on a leash and we took her outside. She ran around the yard like a puppy and came to me when I sat down, placed her head in my lap and looked up at me as if to say "OK, let's go home." I melted. I also did a complete physical exam and based on body and teeth, I'm estimating her to be at least 6 years old. BTW, she let me examine her mouth and go over every inch of her without a hint of complaint. When it was time to bring her back in, she resisted the noose/leash so I gently placed my hand on the scruff of her neck and she let the volunteer place the slip collar on. She never showed any aggression or resistance to my touch. She was wonderful.

Attached is a quick and dirty picture of Precious. I hope it is only one of many more to come.



As I said in my Report to the Board, if my home circumstances were different, I'd have taken this girl home with me. She's a 6-year-old puppy with some white hairs around her muzzle. She would fill a household with love for many years to come. The Board Of Directors is reviewing my recommendation now. I'll understand either way the Board decides but today underscored the difficulty in being involved -- emotionally and intellectually -- in Rescue. Let's all hope that Precious gets a chance to live out her life in a home with lots of love.

Jim

I hope everything works out Jim. It would be such a shame to PTS such a beautiful girl. She has very kind eyes, I can see why you had a hard time walking away. I'm praying that a loving family adopts her.

Penny

Penny,
while I would like a loving, good family to adopt her I think the best chance of that is if we -- the Gulfstream Guardian Angels Rottweiler Rescue organization -- takes her out, treats her for her heartworm and then finds the best possible home for her. Animal Services will adopt to anyone who fits their rather benign criteria. We will only place dogs in homes that pass a rigorous approval process -- a process that would guarantee that what has happened with Precious would be far less likely to occur.

But first, we have to feel we can adopt her out. And that's the rub. Members of the Board who have met certain dogs -- they way I have with Precious -- will champion that dog into our organization. But they don't know Precious. They have to take my word for how good a dog she is and, more importantly, how adoptable. And they either will agree with me or not based on my credibility. Isn't it sad that a dog's life depends on the credibility of the person who is championing him/her? Such is Rescue. I can only hope that my opinion has weight. And that, ultimately, is the frustration.

Jim

That pretty much sums up the reasons that I can't get any deeper into rescue than doing portraits for adoption sites and some fund-raising. I'm just not made in such a way to handle that sort of thing all the time.

Here's hoping for a happy ending.

Jim,
unfortunately, somebody has to get more involved although I agree with you that it's difficult when you need to work the organizational issues through along with the emotional ones. As of last night's Board meeting, they've agreed to take this girl out of Animal Control and put her into a foster situation for the quarantine period of 2 weeks and then she goes down to Miami for heartworm treatment and, ultimately, adoption.

I've been involved in Rescue work for over 40 years and it never gets easier. Just walking through Animal Control is difficult for me. And you realize that for every one you save, 10 others will be put down. But we keep doing it for those "ones" we do save. Every time I look at Marion Louise, I realize she could very easily have been in the same situation as Precious if we hadn't decided to "foster" her right off of the street. And so, when I'm asked, I go and evaluate hoping that the Rottie is young, healthy and sweet and knowing if it was all of those things, it probably wouldn't be in Animal Control. Sigh. At least Precious will have a chance.

Jim

That is a pretty puppy. I don't see how AC could think she's one year with a muzzle like that. Probably just an eager worker wanting to make her seem more adoptable. JimG, your story tugs at the heart and I commend you for the work you do. No, you may not have helped the ten others that may be put down but if you help this girl then one by one you change lives.

Nice new web site by the way.

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No, you may not have helped the ten others that may be put down but if you help this girl then one by one you change lives.

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Preston,
thanks. That's why we do it.

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Nice new web site by the way.

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Glad you like it. I keep revising it and would like to tighten it up a bit but at least the bones are there.

Jim

Glad to hear this one has a happy ending! FWIW, I'd love to take her too, but our zoning limits us to five

Our zoning limits us to 2 but I've had as many as 7 dogs living here full-time and several others coming in and out for weeks at a time. And the President of the Homeowners Association lives next door . We can't take in all the Rescues or we'd be like the people with 100 cats living in squalor. We do what we can and hopefully that will result in good dogs finding good homes. Believe me, bringing her home with me did creep into my consciousness for a nano-second or two .

Jim

I am glad that she got out of AC. I foster American Eskimos through a rescue group out of Boston. I wish we could save them all also. I have 5 dogs already, so I can only foster 1 dog at a time.

Penny