A Dog Named Taylor

On April 30, 2004, I was driving through rural Parker County in an area where many of the homes in are the $150,000 to $300 or even $400,000 range with nicely manicured lawns and new vehicles parked in the driveways. As luck would have it and as it usually happens, I looked up ahead to see a very skinny dog sitting in front of one of these homes next to the road. Of course, I stopped. It was a male Shar Pei but he was in terrible shape. He looked as if he could hardly see and upon closer examination, I realized he very likely was blind in one eye and had limited vision in the other. His skin was typical of a dog had not been cared for or fed properly. Now the Shar Pei is not a popular breed because they are very expensive and they can have a lot of skin and other health problems associated with the breed. He was, of course, not neutered but what else is new. Suffice it to say I gathered him up and put him in the front seat of the truck. I saw a couple of men standing in the drive next door so I stopped and ask if they knew where this guy lived since he had no collar or other means of identification. One fellow said he had seen him around the previous day and had no idea where he lived. The other fellow said as he was coming home the day before, he saw a car up ahead slow down then take off and speed away. When he got to the place where he saw it slow down, he saw this poor guy sitting in the bar ditch, looking bewildered. It was as I expected. His “loving family” had dumped him.

What about this dog? Well at first I thought he was an old man but upon closer examination, I was surprised to see that he was most likely only two or three years old. He was extremely malnourished and scarfed up the treats I offered him to get him to come to me. He had never seen a leash and fought it when I slipped it over his head. After he calmed down, stopped fighting and realized I was not going to harm him, he allowed me to pick him up and place him in the truck. His muzzle and head was as soft as suede and he warmed to my touch immediately. He was crawling with fleas but thankfully, I had a bottle of Adams flea spray so we were able to take care of them before we took off.

The problem of dumped or abandoned animals is nothing new. It’s done all the time and people who live in rural areas often find these poor animals on their doorstep. Some take them in others throw rocks at them and run them off. Although abandoning an animal is against the law, few, if any, are ever prosecuted or even reported for that matter. Why do they do this rather than take the animal to a pound or humane society? Most simply can’t be bothered, others don’t want to be responsible for having an animal euthanized which is what they are sure will happen if they take them to one of these places. What they don’t realize is that they may also very well find a GOOD home. These people don’t consider what fate awaits the animals they “take off”. In the case of Taylor (that’s his name now) with his limited eyesight, he would have most likely been hit and killed or maimed by a passing car or truck and left to suffer and die on the side of the road. That particular night of the day that I found him, there was a bad storm blowing in with rain, hail 80 MPH winds and temperatures in the low 50’s expected. Can you imagine the fear this poor baby must have felt? I am so thankful I found him when I did. Think of all the others that weren’t as lucky as Taylor because believe me, he wasn’t the only one abandoned. Somewhere last night, an animal was hit by a car and killed but before that happened, it was wet, cold, hungry, thirsty and scared. Hopefully, this precious animal didn’t know what hit it, died quickly and did not suffer.

Next, lets look at “why” Taylor and all the others ended up being “taken off” by their people. In this case I expect, since Taylor is a pure breed and a Shar Pei, they saw a chance to make a fast buck by asking a hefty stud fee. Obviously they are lazy and don’t want to work. They would rather sit on their lazy butt and allow animals to produce more un-wanted puppies than get an honest job. They probably bought him from another lazy idiot we call a “backyard breeder”, (This is what they were hoping to become) for a few hundred dollars. He was more than likely a puppy and I have to tell you, there’s nothing more precious than a Shar Pei puppy so the deal was made. What they didn’t know, although they thought it was a lot, is that the amount they paid is cheap for a Shar Pei. What they neglected to realize were the dogs you see in dog shows on Animal Planet cost thousands. While Taylor would have been a loving pet, he was not show quality and because of his eye problems, he should never have been allowed to breed. If they had been responsible and honorable people, they would have neutered him then had corrective eye surgery done so he could see then kept him as a pet. Anyhow, these idiots didn’t give a thought to this so they brought him home with visions of the big bucks they were going to make. As he grew up and when it became obvious he had problems and they weren’t going to find anyone, who would let him breed their bitch, they put him in the back yard and literally forgot him. He obviously wasn’t fed and we can be certain, he wasn’t given any love or attention. In this case, they actually did him a favor when they left him by the side of that country road but he was one of the lucky dogs. Most are not. Taylor will now get the help he needs and be placed in a loving home with people who will treasure him. I only hope there’s a special place in Hell for people like his former owners.

This is how our society treats animals. I fear there’s not much hope for us when there are people who do this to a helpless animal. They took this precious animal as far from home as they could so they wouldn’t be seen or recognized. They also wanted to make sure he couldn’t find his way back home. They slowed down and had someone shove him out without even stopping then the left in a hurry lest they be observed and caught committing this cowardly and cruel act.

As I said earlier, animal abandonment is against the law. If anyone is ever witness to this act, please, get involved. Note the time, get the license plate number, make and model of the vehicle and if possible, a description of the person or persons in the vehicle as well as where it took place. Do not attempt to catch them yourself. Your main focus now should be the animal. Hopefully, he/she will come to you. Take him/her home or to your vet or to a local animal control facility. The important thing is to get it to safety and out of harms way. Then call your local humane society or SPCA. You can even call us and we’ll call the proper authorities. You will remain anonymous. Don’t bother calling local law enforcement, at least in rural areas. Animals are of little or no matter to them so they won’t care nor will they do anything about it. We will.

I hope you wonderful people who hold animals in high regard will pass this along to your friends. Those of us who care for and about animals must get involved if we are to stop animal abuse and neglect. I would like to thank everyone who has ever stopped and picked up a stray or gone door to door trying to find his or her home. I’m happy to say that we are fortunate to know a lot of these folks. You are rare human beings and one of Gods chosen. One of ours too.

We’ll be keeping you updated about Taylor. Presently, he’s sleeping on a soft bed with a full belly but we’re careful not to let him overeat. He’s got a bowl of fresh cool water and every chance we get, we go sit by him and tell him how happy we are he’s here. He’s wagging his tail and probably for the first time in his life, he knows what it’s like to be loved. That’s the good news. The bad news is he’s heartworm positive. It will be several weeks before he can be given the heartworm treatment due to his debilitated state. He will also have to have surgery to correct his eye problem and be neutered but right now, he’s doing better than he ever has but not as good as he’s gonna do. If you would like to be the lucky person to give this precious animal a place in your heart and home, please call or email us.

Carole

Taylor has been ADOPTED !!!
Visit his Happy Tail page here