A story of true love for your dog. This is the story of Cindy.
About 2 weeks ago, Chain of Hope received a call from a young man that said that he could not keep his 2 dogs anymore and needed help placing them. I called him back and he told me that he was moving with his mom and he could not take his dogs. He had had Cindy, a yellow lab mix, for about 7 yrs. and he also had a little Yorkiepoo. It appeared that this young man lived with his mother and she had rented a new place and didn’t tell him until it was almost time to move that they could only have 2 dogs at the new place. His mom had two dogs and she was taking hers, but Cindy and the little one couldn’t come. Dennis was devastated!
He could not afford to live on his own at this time so he was at a loss. He lived on the Kansas side so I referred him to the groups over there. I told him if he got really stuck to call back, but to try those places first. In the meantime, this young man was driving back over to the house that they had moved out of every single night and staying with his dogs in their old place. There was no electricity or water on anymore. They had no air conditioning and these were hot days and nights. He actually had been doing that for a good two weeks before someone told him about Chain of Hope.
This guy called back about a week after I had talked to him and he said that he could not find anyone to take his dogs, so he had put them on Craig’s List. Oh no! I understand, though, because no one would help him and he was desperate. He told me that he found a good home for his Yorkiepoo with an older couple. He felt like she would be in good hands. But no one wanted his lab mix. I felt so sorry for this kid, but we were full and also receive many requests every single day about us taking someone’s dog or cat. It’s overwhelming.
Dennis was continuing to go over to the house and stay with Cindy every night. He told me that often he and Cindy would just go out walking at 2:00 in the morning. He loved Cindy and he did not know what to do.
One morning late last week Dennis called and told me that the sheriff had come that morning and kicked Cindy and him out of the house! He now had absolutely no where to go. He felt so helpless. He told me that he literally put Cindy in his car and actually drove to several of the rescue places on the Kansas side and not one of them would help him and his poor dog. He told me that he was even told by one of the groups that he should take her to KCK animal control and the group would process her through there. He took Cindy over to the shelter as a last resort and the shelter would not take her. Dennis said that they told him that she was not healthy enough to come into their facility. He contacted the rescue group to tell them that the shelter refused Cindy, but he never received a response back.
Dennis was beside himself. He was stuck, but he was not leaving his dog. I asked him where he and Cindy were now and he told me that they were literally sitting on the sidewalk in front of the house that they had gotten kicked out of and they had no where to go. I asked him if he still had transportation and he said yes. I told him to bring Cindy to us at Chain of Hope. I could hear the huge exhale in his voice, which was quivering as he thanked me over and over. We are as full as every place, but we would figure something out. This poor guy and Cindy desperately needed help.
Dennis arrived at Chain of Hope about 7:00 that night with Cindy. She was in rough shape. She was very skinny and she had lots of sores on her and some missing hair from a flea problem. Poor, poor thing. She was about 7 yrs. old and was losing her best friend. It was all very sad. This young man loved this dog. Despite the shape she was in, he had loved her and tried harder than anyone to find a good place for Cindy. They both had been through hell for the last month or more. Can you imagine the worry and stress? We assured him that she was definitely in a great place and she would be fine. He cried as he loved on her and told her good-bye.
We got Cindy settled in for the night. She was a sweetheart, but so nervous of course. The next day, we showed her the play yard. She was just scratching constantly, poor thing. We had given her a Capstar, which kills fleas in about an hour, but she had a secondary skin infection from the fleas and her skin was scabby, itchy and nasty.
We gave her a medicated bath. She’s had funner times, but she handled it!
We introduced Cindy to Mulligan and Bianca and they all got along great. They are all in a play group together. Cindy is having a lot of separation anxiety right now. She wants to be with a person every minute. I’m sure this is attributed to her long, lonely days left in the house until Dennis could get there at night. We are helping her adjust.
Cindy is a little older and she will be spayed next week. No-this 7 yr. old dog had never been spayed. She also has a cyst or tumor near her mammary gland, so that will be dealt with at the time of spay as well. We would love to find Cindy a foster home. She’s a little overwhelmed at Chain of Hope and a quieter environment would be good for her. Someone who is home a lot would be ideal. Let us know if you can offer a foster home for Cindy. She is so deserving.
In the meantime, Cindy is hanging out with Mulligan and Bianca. She enjoys time in the yard, but usually wants to get back in to her people-which is us!
Cindy is receiving a lot of love, attention and medical care at Chain of Hope. Her skin is looking better already! Thanks for enabling us to save her. Please share her story and let’s find this girl a home!
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