A Rasta Rescue
A few years back, mumsie's handbag got pinched right in front of our house. After the police report etc were made, I took a walk around the neighbourhood, looking into drains and around bushes hoping to find what the thief, who'd only be interested in cash and things easily converted into cash, would have discarded. I didn't find any of mumsie's stuff. Instead, I saw something astonishing in the backyard of a house two rows away from ours.
What at first appeared to be a very dirty mop barked at me. On closer inspection, the dirty mop turned out to be a filthy bedraggled little dog. Its home, the back yard, was small and exposed to the elements, and the only shelter little dog had was an old folding table that had been folded up. Near it was plastic takeaway container with watery mush in it which must have been little dog's food.
I made my way home quickly, and brought mumsie and my camera to the scene. Both of us clucked in sympathy and wondered what we should do. A neighbour came out and told us that the little dog had been in that state for some time. We walked home with heavy hearts. At home, we pondered further on what we should do. Report the matter to the SPCA? Dad thought that we shouldn't mind other people's business. Mumsie couldn't sleep that night for thinking about the little fella. I decided to ask the owner for the dog.
We began staking out the house. We walked past it several times each evening waiting for the owner's car to be in. Finally it was, and we walked up, leash in hand and asked the man of the house for the dog. He wanted to ask his wife about it first and his wife, who was standing behind the door, seemed glad to be rid of the creature. So we went round to the back where man-of-the-house unlocked the gate for us. I looped the leash around the little fella and off he went with us without a backward look. I asked man-of-the-house for little dog's name and after a short hesitation, he said, "Puppy." What kind of name is that? But "Puppy" didn't respond to his name at all
In front of our house, we paused before getting into my car. (We'd earlier made an appointment with the vet.) "Puppy" squatted the way dogs do when they poo and after a moment, he straightened but there was nothing on the floor. As I looked on in amazement and horror, he shook (like a wet dog would) and the poop fell out.. Gross.
When we got to the vet's, he remarked, "what is that?!" We told him the story of the Rasta Rescue and he got to work trimming the matted fur, wearing a plastic apron. The vet admitted later he couldn't tell which end was which at first and took over an hour to remove the disgusting, malodourous felt-pelt. Puppy's ears and tail were immobilised due to the excessive matting. The felt-pelt had miraculously kept him free of ticks and fleas (the vet figured that nothing aerobic could survive under it) although he had a fungal infection and had lost a few teeth.
The sequence of pictures below, is "Puppy" before, during and after being attended to by the vet.
Mumsie later found out that the previous owner got tired of paying for grooming sessions and when Ziggy got rather too messy, he was banished to the backyard. Apparently, the lady-of-the-house didn't like dogs but surprise, surprise! They have since acquired two new dogs! One is a shih tzu acquired at some expense and kept indoors, and the other is a spitz-like white dog which is often caged or chained up in the front porch. I wonder if that constitutes neglect but make no mistake, I shall be watching that house like a hawk for any signs of obviouse neglect and abuse. But honestly, some people should receive lifetime bans on pet ownership.
What at first appeared to be a very dirty mop barked at me. On closer inspection, the dirty mop turned out to be a filthy bedraggled little dog. Its home, the back yard, was small and exposed to the elements, and the only shelter little dog had was an old folding table that had been folded up. Near it was plastic takeaway container with watery mush in it which must have been little dog's food.
I made my way home quickly, and brought mumsie and my camera to the scene. Both of us clucked in sympathy and wondered what we should do. A neighbour came out and told us that the little dog had been in that state for some time. We walked home with heavy hearts. At home, we pondered further on what we should do. Report the matter to the SPCA? Dad thought that we shouldn't mind other people's business. Mumsie couldn't sleep that night for thinking about the little fella. I decided to ask the owner for the dog.
We began staking out the house. We walked past it several times each evening waiting for the owner's car to be in. Finally it was, and we walked up, leash in hand and asked the man of the house for the dog. He wanted to ask his wife about it first and his wife, who was standing behind the door, seemed glad to be rid of the creature. So we went round to the back where man-of-the-house unlocked the gate for us. I looped the leash around the little fella and off he went with us without a backward look. I asked man-of-the-house for little dog's name and after a short hesitation, he said, "Puppy." What kind of name is that? But "Puppy" didn't respond to his name at all
In front of our house, we paused before getting into my car. (We'd earlier made an appointment with the vet.) "Puppy" squatted the way dogs do when they poo and after a moment, he straightened but there was nothing on the floor. As I looked on in amazement and horror, he shook (like a wet dog would) and the poop fell out.. Gross.
When we got to the vet's, he remarked, "what is that?!" We told him the story of the Rasta Rescue and he got to work trimming the matted fur, wearing a plastic apron. The vet admitted later he couldn't tell which end was which at first and took over an hour to remove the disgusting, malodourous felt-pelt. Puppy's ears and tail were immobilised due to the excessive matting. The felt-pelt had miraculously kept him free of ticks and fleas (the vet figured that nothing aerobic could survive under it) although he had a fungal infection and had lost a few teeth.
The sequence of pictures below, is "Puppy" before, during and after being attended to by the vet.
We renamed the little dog 'Ziggy' for his rasta previous life and this is him after-after:
Mumsie later found out that the previous owner got tired of paying for grooming sessions and when Ziggy got rather too messy, he was banished to the backyard. Apparently, the lady-of-the-house didn't like dogs but surprise, surprise! They have since acquired two new dogs! One is a shih tzu acquired at some expense and kept indoors, and the other is a spitz-like white dog which is often caged or chained up in the front porch. I wonder if that constitutes neglect but make no mistake, I shall be watching that house like a hawk for any signs of obviouse neglect and abuse. But honestly, some people should receive lifetime bans on pet ownership.
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