You probably remember the story of Goldie, but in case you don’t here’s a recap and an update.
We became aware of this dog in July of 2015. It was a male dog named Goldie. He lived on a chain in the back yard with a nasty wooden dog house. He was skinny and shy. The neighbor told me that the people didn’t come out there to the dog very often at all. It was a very shady corner of the yard, thank goodness, because it was hot. There was feces all over and lots of flies. Goldie’s ears were bleeding from the flies eating on them. I wasn’t very happy with this situation. The owner came out and was very defensive saying that he didn’t have any money, the dog was fine, blah, blah, blah.
After expressing my concern, the man sent his mentally challenged sister out there to give Goldie a bath with the hose. The neighbor told me that if anyone went out there, it was his sister because he made her go out and take care of the dog. Very sad situation all around.
We hung up a fly-catching bag and left the man fly gel to put on Goldie’s ears and some dog food and told him that we’d be checking back. We advised him to clean up the poop so the flies weren’t so bad, but he just mumbled something.
We continued to check back and Goldie was only slipping further through the cracks. We called this poor dog into animal control and they went out and left a door hanger on the owner’s door. This dog was in a terrible situation and they left a door hanger. Things continued to be bad, so we called them out again several days later. This time they met with the owner and said there were no violations! Really? I could see several violations, I don’t know why they couldn’t.
We continued to visit Goldie every day and watch him go down hill. Chain of Hope is persistent, though, and we called again. This time animal control went out on a Sat. and we thought had removed Goldie from the property. Oh no, my friends, they took Goldie into the city shelter, gave him his shots, some de-wormer, cleaned his ears and DELIVERED GOLDIE BACK HOME TO THE SAME MAN THAT HAD NEGLECTED AND ABUSED HIM! Yes, they really did.
I called the news and there was a public outrage. Many thanks to all of you that made the phone calls to city hall when this all happened. Animal control came out with a statement that they were going to be checking up on Goldie and making sure everything was okay. Yeah, right.
Animal control proceeded to visit Goldie a couple of times a week or so for a few weeks. They had advised the man to keep Goldie in the house. I knew, though, that this would all die down and sooner or later, Goldie would be back out on that chain in the far corner of the back yard. We monitored the situation, along with the help of a concerned neighbor.
By November, Goldie was out on the chain all the time-24/7-just like I knew he would be. He looked terrible. He was filthy dirty, skinny, sad and lonely. His tail was always tucked. What a sad, sad life. He was failed by the owner and then he was failed by the very department that is supposed to protect him from such neglect. Instead, they bent over backwards for a negligent pet owner. Poor Goldie. Every time we sneaked up there to feed him and give him treats, he had the same look on his face-get me out of here please! After finding Goldie in bad shape just 4 months after they delivered him to the loser owner, we called animal control yet again!
This time they impounded Goldie. It was about freakin’ time! Why does it take so many calls and complaints in Kansas City to get an animal the help that it needs? Goldie went to the city shelter and when he became available, Chain of Hope pulled him out of there. He was in sad shape. We welcomed him to Chain of Hope and his new life finally!
Here he is thanking God for Chain of Hope!
Erica got him cleaned up. He had nasty, sticky black stuff on him and it took multiple baths and brushings to get it out.
We always change their names when they come into our program. They leave their old name behind along with their old, horrible lives. Goldie’s new name was Preston. He settled into Chain of Hope. He was pretty nervous at first, but we helped him adjust.
Once he felt comfortable, Preston was very puppy-like. He was put on a chain at such a young age that he never truly had the chance to be a puppy. It was all he could do to survive. Well, let me tell you-Preston was having his puppy hood now! He is a happy boy! It’s truly hard to get a good picture of him because he’s always moving!
When we first rescued Preston, he was far from ready for adoption. He peed and/or pooped in his crate every night for a long time. He was destructive, as puppies can be. He had no manners, but he was having a blast! Preston makes friends with every dog. He and Marco, a pit bull that we have, play all the time!
We have worked very hard with Preston and we feel that he is now ready to be adopted! He does have a lot of energy and would benefit from having another dog to play with. He’s a lab mix, neutered, vaccinated and crate-trained. When we pulled him out of the shelter, he weighed 44 lbs. Today, Preston weighs 73 lbs.! He is a big boy and he is extremely affectionate! He’s good with everyone-people and animals. I know he tugged at many of your heart strings last summer and fall. If you’re interested in fostering or adopting Preston, please go to our adoptable pets page to find both the foster app and the adoption app.
Chain of Hope never forgets! It took 4 months, but we finally got Preston out of his hell hole. We didn’t forget about him and we didn’t forget about the many others we have fought so hard for. Preston is glad that we are so tenacious! We are glad that you keep sending us out there to keep fighting the good fight. Thank you.