Jesus
(hispanic
pronunciation - like Hey-Zeus) has been fending for himself
since at least Sept. 2004. Back then he was seen wandering around loose
by some folks near their home. They were Dane lovers so they tried to
get him to come to them but he was just too scared. Then he
disappeared.
Around Easter they found him one day on their back porch, too weak to
run away. Too weak in fact to even stand. He had collapsed on the
porch. Somehow he had remembered those nice people who tried to help
him months before and made his way to their porch to collapse. They
took him in, got him to the vet, and started feeding
him. Then they went looking on the internet for help. And that's where
we came in. Jesus is facing a prolonged and costly recovery period and
we all felt his best chance was with a rescue, so we agreed to take him
in.
Update 4/12/05 -
I woke up to find an email and a voice mail from the people who had him
saying he died around 10:30 last night. Please take a moment to say a
short prayer for this poor boy. He wanted to live, but his body was
just
too ravaged by all it had been through, and it betrayed his will. Rest
in peace little Jesus, and know there were lots of people pulling for
you and lots of love going your
way. Que
duermos con los angelitos, Jesus.
Those of us who work in rescue see emaciated, sick dogs on a
regular basis. We see dogs who have been beaten, starved, shot, and
burned. But sometimes we come across a dog in such horrific shape that
even we are shocked. Jesus is one of those dogs. We know nothing about
him or how he came to be stray or be in such terrible condition. We do
know that to recover he was going to need vet care and food, lots and
lots of top quality food. And that is something we see in rescue every
day, though seldom in such an extreme example. We are a relatively
small rescue yet our food bill is over $1000 a month.
If Jesus' story has moved you, please take a moment to make a
difference. Donate a bag of food to your local Dane rescue in Jesus'
name. If you do not know how to contact your local Dane rescue, email me with what city and state you live in, and I will send you the contact info for the Dane rescue(s) in your area.
And if you have the time, volunteer with your local Dane rescue.
They are always overworked and can always use an extra hand.
Just tell them Hey-Zeus sent you.
There is a hole in my heart today.
I just had to add another dog to our memorial page.
I have never met this dog, but I knew him.
I did not even know he existed a few days ago, but I know him now.
He was just a "stray," not one of "my" dogs,
but when I first saw his photos, I cried uncontrollably.
And over the last few days,
I have been working like crazy to help him.
I opened my rescue to him.
I talked a foster home into agreeing to help him.
I talked to a friend,
someone who had been through saving a dog this sick.
I talked with other people in rescue.
I worked with another friend in rescue,
the person who first told me about him
I talked to drivers, and volunteers,
about helping us get this boy up here.
We all pulled together.
We all pulled to save him.
We had everything lined up, as of last night.
We knew he was very sick.
That he might not make it.
That it would cost thousands of dollars to even try.
But we were all ready and willing.
We had it all set up.
I awoke this morning with a real sense of what we had accomplished.
With a sense of what we could accomplish.
With a sense that this boy had a future,
for the first time in a long while.
I awoke ready for battle.
I awoke to find an email.
An email saying he had died last night.
There is a hole in my heart today.
A pain I can not make go away.
He was just a stray.
But I looked into those eyes,
and I knew him.
Now I will miss him. Forever.
Goodbye Jesus. Rest well.
