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The story of Bandit is both sad and happy at the same time. For the first 3 years of his life, Bandit lived on a chain that was too short for him to get into his dog house and out of the elements. He was discovered by the concerned people in his neighborhood during our first December snow storm. He was not getting fed by his current owner because him along with 3 other dogs were left at the home while the owner resided at another location. In an effort to ensure the dogs were taken care of two neighbors began feeding all the dogs. From what we were told, Bandit seemed vicious and scary on the chain but who blames him, he was stuck out in the worst of weather for 3 years. I am sure he was trying to get someone's attention. Outraged at how the animals were living the neighbors contacted Animal Control and the dogs were removed from the property and brought here to the humane society.

When I first saw Bandit he was scared to death, cowering close to the ground unable to walk on a leash from fear. We put him in a quiet place for a few nights to see if he would come out of his shut down place. Unfortunately he cowered in the corner of the room and did not move. We had to carry him everywhere. Finally a wonderful volunteer agreed to take him over a weekend to see what she could do. It was amazing to us when he arrived back a completely different dog.

Wagging his tail up on all fours, licking faces, it was a complete turn around. We finally saw a happy friendly dog. We soon discovered that he had a weird medical condition, where his gums had grown up over his back teeth so we sent him off to the vet. Dr. Mulligan at Peaks View Animal Hospital upon examining him for his gum issues, found that Bandit had a problem with his heart. After a heart scan he discovered that Bandit had cardiomyopathy, where the right side of his heart was very enlarged and his best guess was he only had weeks maybe months to live. Our hearts sank because we felt so bad for how this dog had lived and to think that he would never have a normal life in a loving home environment, just made it all worse.

Thankfully one of the neighbors, who was feeding Bandit, had kept in contact and was asking for updates on his condition. When I told her about Dr. Mulligan's findings, she offered to take Bandit on as her own pet for the time he had left. So as sad as it is that this dog is sick and is not going to live long, we are so happy that someone like this exists and is willing to give this wonderful dog a chance at a happy life in a home filled with love.

Bandit left today to his new home, wagging his tail, licking my hand as he left the building.

Comments

  1. Sandy BoydstonMarch 8, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    Our volunteers are such incredible people. Thanks to all of you!!!

    ReplyDelete

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