Followup: Wandering dog rescued – but in danger again

Eight days ago, there was a frantic effort by many people over many hours to rescue a dog that was wandering in and out of traffic by Lincoln Park, around Fauntleroy and Rose. Animal-control officers and police reportedly even tried to capture it, but couldn’t. Gretchen e-mailed us the next day:

Any updates on the pit bull on Fauntleroy? I was out there for hours last night trying to catch him. So sad. But so many people stopped to help. I am sure everyone would like to know the status of the dog. It seemed as if someone had dumped him there and left, as he kept coming back to the same spot looking for something. Heart-breaking.

Now we know what happened to the dog – that’s her in the top photo, provided by Animal Aid and Rescue Foundation (AARF). Heather from AARF writes that a friend found the dog in the park a week ago, but the dog is in danger again because her “72-hour stray hold” at a shelter is expiring and she is “not considered adoptable … because she doesn’t like other dogs. … Unless we pull her, she will be euthanized.” And AARF can’t do that without finding a foster home. “The foster home would need to be a home without other animals. After she calms down from the stress of a week in the kennel, we can bring a trainer out to reassess her to judge how well she’ll do then.” Of course, Heather says they would also love to find the dog’s real owner, if somehow they are out there looking for her. If you can offer a foster home – or if you are/know the owner – e-mail info@myaarf.org.

AM February 23, 2012 (8:16 pm)

This is really sad. I had a Boston Terrier who HATED other dogs, because my grandfather didn’t socialize him.
When my gf passed away, I took the dog in. He was the SWEETEST thing, and I knew NEVER to let him off leash, unless in my fenced backyard or house.

It’s not the dog’s fault. If I could, I would…but I already have a dog. :(

KD February 23, 2012 (8:25 pm)

Real owner must not be a “real” owner. If they were not looking for her or notified Seattle Animal Control then she should NOT be returned. Do not attempt to re-unite with “owner”. They would’ve already claimed her in the last 3 days if they cared. What? Just recycle her to more abuse? Please, someone step up to foster her!

Jwws February 23, 2012 (8:34 pm)

Too sad. Hope she is given a second chance, such a beautiful girl and most likely in this situation because of uncaring humans.

Jenny Silverton February 23, 2012 (8:52 pm)

I’m a follower of Cesar Milan’s blog. He has had many posts regarding people getting over their fear of PitBulls. As this dog has issues, aren’t there PB specific shelters with a no kill policy?
I applaude all that tried to help this dog. As I have a large dog and am in an apartment I cannot be a foster mom.
Thank you for what you do. Please save this baby.

itsme February 23, 2012 (9:08 pm)

Oh, pls. keep posting this so a home can be found for her! We already have pets, so we are out, but don’t let this dog be put down! We adopted from a 24-hour kill shelter..such a tight timeframe — hopefully someone will be able to take her.

Lisa Y. February 23, 2012 (9:17 pm)

Hammerhead can you help?

Lynm February 23, 2012 (9:21 pm)

Good lord. There is a huge community of pit rescue here in seattle!

Josie J February 24, 2012 (6:05 am)

I was charged by a PitBull that was irresponsibly let off it’s leash by its owner. two days later in a different park, I had another PitBull come after me. I will NEVER trust that breed again. And why why why are ther so many people who let their doge off leash at Lincoln Park. Has it been made an off leash park.

Jonnygoska February 24, 2012 (9:04 am)

Wish I could take in another dog, pit bulls can be such wonderful dogs if they have good owners. Just like every other dog.

a February 24, 2012 (9:44 am)

I was trying to catch her the other night I’m glad she is ok! I hope she can get adopted, she seemed like a very sweet baby just very skittish like she had possibly been abused

NotMe February 24, 2012 (10:16 am)

Hey KD… you don’t know the story, so try not to be judgemental yet. The owners may have left this dog with an ignorant friend while they went out of town to care for a sick/dying parent. You just don’t know. Still, it’s horrible that the dog was brought to a kill shelter, but there is a reason these shelters exist. As a parent of 5 dogs and a cat, we can’t have one that doesn’t get along with other dogs. I hope this story has a happy ending today. Any chance we get an update on what happens to her?

Delridge Resident February 24, 2012 (10:47 am)

@ Jenny – unfortunately there are a large number of pitbulls looking for new homes and most of those breed specific rescues fill up fast. Which is another reason why shelters that must euthanize exist.
I hope AARF is able to find a good foster home for her.

CJ February 24, 2012 (12:27 pm)

I would take her in an instant if I could. I have spread the word. Please don’t buy the hype that kill shelters must exist. Several communities have already proven otherwise. Education of shelters and the public are the hurdles but it is doable. If you are interested in learning more, Nathan Winograd has a couple of good books to get you started.

ohthehorror February 24, 2012 (1:11 pm)

Unfortunately, most people who are willing to foster or adopt dogs with special behavioral or physical needs already have a house full of other pets. Pits and pit mixes are especially hard to place due to the hysteria around them. There are some pit rescues in the area but there is a HUGE number of these dogs that need rescuing and they are overwhelmed. Many shelters will not even attempt to place them, so they are simply euthanized. Breed specific legislation (BSL) is gaining a footing in Seattle and will result in the abandonment and death of many more animals. A sad situation all around. I hope this dog finds a home and is given a chance to have a happy life.

Ripper February 24, 2012 (2:06 pm)

Please help this beautiful dog!!

Gretchen Bell February 24, 2012 (5:44 pm)

Thanks for the update, but I am devastated to see this sweet girl get euthanized. She was so sweet and just terrified. It was heartbreaking. I am doing everything I can to find her a foster home right now. Please send this to everyone you know!

GenHillOne February 24, 2012 (7:50 pm)

Regardless of the breed, aggression toward other animals is a huge hurdle (it is NOT unique to pitties). As others have suggested, many knowledgeable fosters already have animals at home that they cannot put at risk. And it is quite possible that this dog will not be able to be taken anyplace public because of potential dangerous interactions or should not be left alone in a yard where she might escape and find conflict. Is someone able to put multiple hours a day into rehabbing her and give her constant attention?

It is terribly sad that humans have let her down, but IMHO, keeping her safely locked up is not a life. So…this may not be a popular statement, but maybe it needs to be considered that not every dog can be made into a sweet family pet and those in rescue may need to acknowledge this to be most effective. Sometimes the heart needs to be led with the head. Again, just my humble opinion, but humans can really suck :(

Gretchen Bell February 24, 2012 (8:47 pm)

I spent several hours outside trying to rescue this dog and at no time did it show any form of aggressive behavior. They don’t want it in a home with other animals, not because she is dangerous, but because she is under stress. You should not assume this dog is aggressive because I can assure that she is not. Please do not make assumptions when you have not had contact with this animal.

GenHillOne February 24, 2012 (9:21 pm)

No, I have not met her, but I trust the assessments of SAS and AARF. This (http://westseattle.komonews.com/news/pets/722594-dog-abandoned-lincoln-park-be-euthanized-without-foster-home) and other reports say that “Because Callie reacted to other dogs during her temperament test at the shelter, the shelter cannot adopt her out themselves.” This story itself says she is “not considered adoptable … because she doesn’t like other dogs.” If either SAS or AARF wants to come forward here and say otherwise, my opinion stands. It still stinks, and I hope a qualified person is truly out there to help her get over the injustice put upon her, but I believe in quality of life. And I DEFINITELY believe pits get a bad rap, just saying.

Terrance McClaren February 24, 2012 (9:54 pm)

Pit bulls have been bred by people to be good at attacking people and other dogs. It is shameful that no one is willing to invite this dog into their home.

GenHillOne February 24, 2012 (10:09 pm)

Out of curiosity, Gretchen, after several hours of trying to rescue “him,” what close contact did you have with her to make you believe she was so sweet. Though she may have a sweet soul (most do, yeah?), she may have had life experiences that are tough to tackle. Are you willing to foster her and take responsibility for her – and others’ – health and well-being? As I said, unpopular…not easy…often unfair.

Heather February 25, 2012 (8:35 am)

I haven’t had a chance to respond until now, but I did want to clear some things up.

When she was picked up by my friend, he called me to ask for advice. I told him to bring her to our vet (West Seattle Animal Hospital) to be scanned for a microchip and also because they work with Seattle Animal Shelter. I knew that she had to be put in the shelter for her 72 hour stray hold, or we needed to find a foster for 30-days while we did everything possible to find her owner before putting her up for adoption. We didn’t have a foster for her, so I asked for her to be brought to the shelter and got her ID# so I could track her.

When she was brought to the vet, she was near a Daushchund (Weiner Dog) and had no reaction. After 5 days in the shelter, she was temperament tested and did not do well with another dog. We strongly believe that the kennel is a highly stressful environment and that temperament tests can give false results. We’ve rescued many dogs from shelters, who after a period of decompression, had completely different results than their original assessment.

We believe that Callie deserves that chance.

Callie also passed the rest of her temperament test. The officer at Seattle Animal Shelter didn’t think she was a bad dog, just that they had a bunch of Pit Bulls who were perfect in every way that they couldn’t find homes for, so they knew she wouldn’t be adoptable through them. If they felt she was a danger, they wouldn’t let a rescue group pull her either.

We do have a couple of people willing to be back-up fosters, but in those cases, there are other animals and it would be a “crate and rotate” situation until we can find another situation. We are still searching for a home where Callie can feel safe and then we can send a trainer in to do another assessment.

Thank you,
Heather/AARF

Gretchen Bell February 25, 2012 (9:34 am)

Thank you Heather and all the other wonderful people who are trying to help save her!!

CJ February 25, 2012 (1:20 pm)

Thank you Heather for the update. I couldn’t agree with you more about stressful situations causing false assessments. While I am unable to foster, I can help out in other ways from walking to donating. Keep us posted and let us know how we can help.

Heather February 25, 2012 (4:10 pm)

Thank you all for your support! We will most likely be putting her in the temporary foster home tomorrow. It’s only for a month (because the foster Mom is leaving town), but that should be enough time for her to calm down and for us to get a trainer over to reassess her.

If anyone wants to donate to her medical care and/or training, please go to our website at http://www.myaarf.org or our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/animalaidandrescuefoundation and we have our PayPal link listed there. Also, we’ll be having a couple of “March Madness” fundraisers at Beveridge Place Pub and will be selling hot dogs to raise money for our vet debt.

Thank you all so much! Your concern and networking is appreciated and touching.

Gretchen Bell February 25, 2012 (4:30 pm)

Thanks for all your hard work and for everyone’s dedication to this dog. I will definitely be making a donation and coming to your fundraiser!

Lydia February 25, 2012 (6:50 pm)

HOORAY!!! I am happy to say that tomorrow this beautiful dog will be coming to live with me until we can find her a permanent loving home. This is the first time I’ve ever fostered a dog and I can’t wait to meet her! I can’t believe someone hasn’t come forward and claimed her. Gretchen, an avid animal lover, who was mentioned in the story above is a friend of mine and has done extensive leg work in helping to find her a foster home. I will leave updates as things progress. Unfortunately I won’t be able to keep her forever as I’m moving out of the country next year, so please keep this pooch in mind if you or someone you know can give her a loving home and happy life :)

miws February 25, 2012 (7:28 pm)

Lydia, good on you for fostering this girl!

I don’t know if you are familiar with the WSB Forums, but that would be a good place to create a thread to post updates.

If you were to continue posting updates in this comment thread, not only will this story disappear to the second page in another day or so, (then on to page 3, page 4….) and not be bumped up, even with new comments, but comments are automatically closed after about three weeks. The Forum thread, on the other hand, will stay on the first page of the related Forum, as long as there is regular posting activity on the thread, and will be bumped up to the top of the page after each new posting.

Mike

CrashRabbit February 26, 2012 (4:22 pm)

I have started a forum called Fauntleroy Pitbull, so everyone can stay updated on our sweet girl!! Thanks to those of you who didn’t give up on her! She is finally getting her second chance!

miws February 26, 2012 (5:09 pm)

Here’s a link to the Forum thread:

https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/fauntleroy-pitbull

Mike

Lydia February 26, 2012 (6:07 pm)

Thank you MIke! I will set that up so those that want to follow this story can. She was suppose to be coming today but the shelter is fixing her tomorrow AND covering the cost for this! Awesome on their part. Hoping to post pics and more info later this week.
Stay tuned!
Lydia

Deb A March 9, 2012 (11:19 am)

So glad that a foster home was found. When are ACOs and other going to figure out that a dog doesn’t have to like other dogs to be a good dog?

Bully breeds almost always are dog selective if not just dog aggressive. Just as I expect a border collie to want to herd, I expect a bulldog to want to fight at some point.

Thank you for taking this sweet girl in and working to find her a home with a responsible person!

Sorry, comment time is over.