The Dilemma

When we go to East St. Louis, just about everyday, there seems like there is a dog in need of being rescued. Just two days ago, Lucky looked like he had a broken leg. We were going to put a plea out to pull him, but it seems to be miraculously healed now. And then, yesterday, Hank had a terrible puncture wound on his neck.

The dilemma comes from a few angles. First, we have to ask ourselves, do we have the money? Usually the answer is no. Next we have to find out if we can get someone to foster, which is no small task, especially for adult dogs who have lived on the streets all of their lives. I have said before that there are times where I take pictures of a dog that I really want to pull, come home, post pictures, write up a story and never find him again. That is heartbreaking. Which leads us to today's dilemma.

If you watch the video below, you will see one of the strangest things I have seen so far in East St. Louis. These two dogs were linked together with a short leash. What?! How long had they been like that? They were both very underweight, so I would imagine that it had been a while. Two dogs cannot hunt if they are tied together. As we pulled closer, PJ exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! it's Bruno!" She then went on to explain that Bruno was someone's puppy about four years ago who she vaccinated and had neutered for him. She also gave Bruno his monthly heartguard. PJ was smitten with Bruno. One day, about three years ago, Bruno disappeared. He was gone for quite a few weeks when PJ found him and brought him back home. About two weeks later, Bruno disappeared for good. Or so she thought.

This was two and a half years ago! PJ could not believe her eyes. Would she ever see Bruno again if she did not take him now? What if whoever tied him to this other dog came along and did it again? PJ and I know that per the rules of our rescue, we are not supposed to pull unless we have all of our ducks in a row. That is unless it is an emergency. Was this an emergency? And then, there is the question, how can we just take one? It is heart wrenching to have to leave any dog on the streets, much less to choose between two that have been tied together for who knows how long. But, alas, we had to make a decision. And quite honestly, we had to do it fast, because who really knows who might be watching and what kind of trouble we will run into if someone caught us removing the leash from these dogs, much less taking one home with us. My heart broke as we pulled away, leaving the other dog alone without his buddy. I would love to rescue him too if we ever see him again (and have the money and a foster).

All of that being said, we are in a little bit of trouble for pulling Bruno. And when I say trouble, I just mean that I feel really bad because we are trying so hard to get this rescue to the point where we can buy a shelter so that we don't have these dilemmas anymore. When we pull dogs that were not planned for, our shelter plan is set back that much further. Please help us sponsor Bruno so that we can stay on track for our shelter fund. Please help us so that we can save as many dogs like Bruno and his buddy as possible. We need about $200 for Bruno's fund. In order to pull Bruno's buddy, we would need about $300 more. Whatever you can donate is so useful, whether it is $5, $10 or $100. We can't tell you how much every dollar counts for a rescue like ours. Thank you for your support and thanks for listening to my long winded dilemma.