Subscribe
FacebookDiscarded.
EDIT: Click here for the latest on the dog, now named Amá, the Navajo word for mother. A HUGE HUGE thanks to SacPaws, For Paws Hospice, and Lisa Howard of the Sac Bee for helping make this happen!!
*******
On my way to work every morning, I take a sort of convoluted back way in order to avoid two horrible left turn signals. This involves me cutting through a parking lot and onto a little-used road that’s essentially an access road. Since it’s out of the way, people for some reason like to dump trash alongside the road. If this weren’t bad enough, people often dump trash RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the road, and I have to swerve to avoid couches and lumber and broken glass. SO irritating.
But this morning, a chilly, foggy, typical Sacramento-in-January morning, what I saw as I drove past the latest trash heap was enough to make me double back, and for the rest of the morning, feel guilty. In fact, there’s still a lingering feeling of guilt.
.
She was just sitting there very calmly, watching me intently, and shivering violently. I didn’t actually realize what I’d seen until I drove past her, and then I got to a wide spot in the road (visible in the background in the pic above) and turned around to get a better look.
She had the most piercing stare. Talk about heartbreaking.
.
.
.
If I’d had anything halfway good for lunch (as opposed to the baked yam I brought as an “I’m in a hurry so grab whatever’s in a container in the fridge” move) I would have given it to her. I wished so much I could have taken her home. But I knew I had an 11-hour day ahead of me, and what was I going to do, let her sit in the car the entire day? And plus, I know pit bulls can be nice dogs, but I have to admit that I’m leery of stray pitbulls when they’re by themselves (rather than with humans.) And I don’t need a dog anyway — I really really don’t.
So I kept trying to convince myself that maybe she was someone’s dog who got loose, or a stray just finding a comfortable place to hang out.
But she was shivering. And that stare…
I wonder where her puppies were.
I really, really hope someone didn’t dump her, leaving her with all of the other discarded things, the STUFF, on the side of a road. Because the thought that someone might have taken her puppies and cast her off with busted-up couches and old lawn furniture and other trash just makes me sick.
Sometimes I wonder how some people sleep at night.
.
EDIT: I DID call Animal Control. I didn’t call the first day because I was hoping she was just someone’s dog who got out, and I’d hate to see her end up in a shelter and euthanized. But she was there yesterday, so I called.
EDIT #2: She wasn’t there this morning (Friday Jan. 28th) but someone clearly saw her, since there was food left on the couch. Untouched. Here’s to hoping she went home or found a good home.
.
Kimberly
Oh, Kari. Those are amazing photos.
Jan 27, 2011 @ 7:44 am
mkm
did you call anyone? let anyone know so they could help her?
Jan 27, 2011 @ 4:21 pm
ver365
You should call a place -not animal control- that would take care of her until a family could be found. I'm sure there are Pitbull-friendly shelters in the area, places that are familiar with the breed and willing to take the time to find her a good place to live :)
Jan 27, 2011 @ 8:56 pm
Kari
She's been found and picked up! See my update at the top!! :-)
Jan 30, 2011 @ 3:29 pm
bunnyandbrown
Sac Animal Control holds animals for 72 hours (see their website), not 5 – 7 days. The odds of this girl making it out alive are very very slim.
Jan 30, 2011 @ 5:02 pm
Kari
I'm being optimistic here. My update above was copied and pasted from another blog, but I just looked, and their website said they hold animals for 72 hours before evaluating them and making them available for adoption. I'm holding out hope that enough people have seen her picture that someone will want to take her home.
Jan 30, 2011 @ 5:08 pm
alana
OK she has my heart now…I live in Springfield TN. I have more than enough land to take her..I have cats and no other animals. I do not work so she will get all the attention she needs and more. I know pits are given a bad name but she does not have a mean bone in her….Alana from TN.
Jan 30, 2011 @ 10:31 pm
Kari
I wish you could come here and get her. :-(
Jan 31, 2011 @ 6:48 am
k9diabetes
Please see the followup. She's going into rescue and eventually to adoption.
http://taxidogsblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/discarde…
Feb 01, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
Tiffany Oreglia
Where should we put the kennels for our dog rescue addition? She is sooo cute! I'm glad you could help her by sending someone out :)
Feb 03, 2011 @ 8:22 am
Mike
Just an FYI, most dogs love vegitables, she probably would have wolfed down your baked yam. (and it is good for her)
Great pictures, almost haunting the way she stares. I am glad she is going into foster.
Feb 05, 2011 @ 9:56 am
Cindy W
She is safe, she has been rescued from the shelter by a local facility where she can regain her health and become the great dog she has inside. She is very thin, but she has a warm bed and lots of love and great food now. Someday, in the future, she will have a brand new couch, in a real home.
Feb 06, 2011 @ 8:17 am
Cindy W
It is probably your photos and article that "made this happen" for this gal. Great Photos. Thanks for what you do, you made a difference. We can't save them all, but every one DOES count. Just ask her.
Feb 06, 2011 @ 8:22 am
I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart - How I See Life
[...] how life goes (whether it’s right or not.) But it’s things like this, as well as the huge outpouring of support for the stray dog I took the pictures of last month, that make me realize just how wonderful people can be, here in Sacramento and [...]
Mar 01, 2011 @ 6:32 am
Bestefar, aka It runs in the family - How I See Life
[...] a little charge out of the email notifications I get to approve new comments (well, except with this post, where I got a number of angry comments that I never let past the comment screening/approval [...]
Mar 17, 2011 @ 5:18 am