Left As Good As Dead

Do we look familiar?

We're the litter of pups that were dumped off on a country road in Red Boiling Springs.

One of us was run over and killed, but me and two of my brothers survived, barely. A nice couple found us wandering alone on this dirt road.

My brothers were in bad shape. They were starved to the point where only fur, spine, and hips were visible.

Ticks were so thick on my brothers, you couldn't see inside their ears; and the fleas were in the hundreds. Scabs covered their bodies from cuts and scrapes.

We were so hot, hungry, and thirsty, I don't think we could have hung on for more than a day or two more.

On July 14, a man and a woman took us into their home; and the first thing that happened was we each got a bowl of food and water.

We all swallowed the food whole in less than a minute. Then it was bath time.

It took three and a half hours for the three of us; and it was painful getting ticks and fleas and filth off and cleaned.

When we were strong enough (in a week) these people took us to see Dr. Evetts.

He looked us over and said we were approximately seven weeks old. Dr. Evetts checked us for worms, which we were loaded with, and he started our series of canine shots.

Dr. Evetts checked our bumps and scrapes, and he X-rayed my leg. He wrapped up my leg real good and gave us his seal of approval. The doctor told the people he thought we would grow up into healthy adults.

This letter is not to make you feel guilty, but to let you know I would rather have been dropped off at the pound (if there were one here).

There are a lot of dogs out there, just like me, young and old, that are abandoned, dumped, abused, starved, and over bred.

The dumper's attitude is, “somebody will pick them up”, or “they'll find a nice farm”.

Well, I am living proof that we can't fend for ourselves. We were as good as dead.

There are programs for low income families to neuter and spay their pets.

Most counties have a dog pound, humane society, or veterinarians that can help you with information.

There are shelters and foster families for abandoned pets and wild life. Please make some calls and do some research for our sakes.

If you can't afford dog food, a trip to the vet, once a year, shelter, water, and a little bit of attention and companionship, don't take me home!

If you find you can't keep us, then take us to the dog pound. The pound is not a rosy looking future for us, but it would be more humane than the future we were looking at four weeks ago.

Signed, Puppy

If you are interesed in adopting one of these little guys, please call 699-3775. They are Retriever mix and there are two males and one female.