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Back in 1992, I was called by a northern New Jersey inner city pound for help with a young female, whose name is now Dolly. When I arrived, a small red and white pup was taken off the animal control truck and shown to me. She was very sweet, but visibly distressed. She had been confiscated along with several scarred males from some local youth who were being charged with dogfighting. She was in heat, obviously her first at seven months, and many fresh scratch marks on her flanks and belly indicated that she had been most likely mounted more than once. |
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Still, she was lucky. Julio, the Animal Control Officer (ACO), for some reason, has decided to take her home the night the dogs were confiscated, keeping her in a crate on his truck. That night, the pound was broken into, and the confiscated males all stolen. Every day, local kids came and checked the small pound, but they never found Dolly …. because every day was spent on Julio’s truck, and she went home with him at night. I evaluated her temperament, and made a commitment to pick her up in a couple days. I named her Juliette, in honor of her savior. I brought her to my vet for all routine work and to be spayed. Happily, I was in the process of screening a family where the husband had owned a pit bull terrier that lived `til 18 years old. The family met Juliette and fell in love. The mother was home during the day with her two young children under 3, and there was a lovely teenage daughter. They renamed her Lady so all the kids could pronounce her name. |
Dolly at seven months when I first met her, sweet, but distressed and needy. |