It was a hot and sunny Sunday on May 20th, 2018 and my husband and I were enjoying a leisurely walk at Mt. Hope Cemetery with our two dogs. We were walking up a big hill to get to the top of the cemetery when suddenly a large white dog appeared. At first, I was very nervous because I saw no human attached to him, and we have had a growing issue with loose or stray dogs in Penn Hills that are not always friendly. But then as I approached him, I noticed he seemed more curious than aggressive. I decided at this time to call the police to let them know such a large dog was on the loose as I had no safe space for him at home with my five furbabies. I would find out later that this ended up being a poor choice.
To be safe, I had my husband keep a safe distance back with our two dogs, and I took the leash from our smallest dog (as my husband could carry her home) and began a mission to see if I could get a leash on him.
After a short time, he came up to me and allowed me to clip the leash to his dirty blue collar. It seemed clear at this point that he was not aggressive, so my husband walked our dogs back to the house, and the plan was to come to get me in the truck after he got them home.
In the 30 or so minutes that I waited for the police to come, I walked the big pup over to a shady area on the hill where I could inspect him more. He had a collar but no tags, was muddy, and appeared to have an infection of some kind in both his eyes. His nose was also so dry, cracked and spikey that it looked like a painful porcupine. What I noticed most though was how gentle he was. He let me, a total stranger, walk him around (without pulling) and was sitting quietly with me in the shade. Right before the police showed up, he sat close to me and even did a little trust lean into me, and my heart melted. I thought surely his family must be looking for him and the police will take him to a shelter where they can help track them down.
When the cop arrived to take him, I explained everything, including what a sweet boy he was. The police simply stated that I should post on Facebook and NextDoor that he would be a Hoffman's Kennel where the owner could find him. Great, I thought.
After my husband picked me up and we got home, I started to post about the big boy to all the neighborhood social channels. Thinking everything was fine, I continued with my day. A few hours later I checked my posts to see if the owner or someone who might know them commented. Instead, what I found were dozens of people discussing how Hoffman's is a kill shelter that only gives animals 48 hrs to be claimed before they are killed or sent to another shelter... but mostly killed. I WAS HORRIFIED.
The stories just kept pouring in ... people wanting their loving pets back and finding out too late and having to pay to reclaim their body, people having their pets "held hostage" because Hoffman's was mad they called late looking for their loving pet, and countless stories of neglect like no food or water for days, overcrowding in kennels, the list went on and on.
I started to cry, WHAT DID I DO??? I unknowingly sent a sweet, innocent dog to what would likely be his death. I called Hoffman's immediately, thinking if I could go get him and take him to a humane shelter it would be ok... but no one answered the phone. Instead, I got a voicemail that stated you MUST leave a message and they will call you back. I thought to myself, what kind of place refuses to answer their phone when there is such a short window of time to rescue your animal? So I left a desperate message stating I wanted to adopt him and to please call me back.
That night I did not sleep, and I decided that I was going to save this dog somehow. So I took a personal day, and started calling around to see if I could get as many details about Hoffman's facility and any other contact information for them, shelters I could take him to, people who might be able to take him in, people who might know who his ower could be and on and on. I found out Hoffman’s Kennel opened at 10 am so I decided I was going to drive there if no one would answer the phone.
It was during my planning that my neighbor Liz stopped by, as she walks my dogs for me when I'm at work and I had forgotten to let her know I stayed home for the day. And I broke down again into tears as I told her the story. See, I only had one day to save this dog as I had an out-of-town work event that I had to go to on Tuesday and Wednesday, and his time was going to run out by Wednesday as the 48hr death clock started on Monday. Liz, determined to help, said she could go get him if they would not let me take him that day after driving there. We were not sure what exactly we were going to do with him once we got him, but we knew whatever we did it would be better than what he was up against now.
I drove to Hoffman's that day around 10 am and as I was about to pull in their driveway, I got a phone call, it was Hoffman's. They confirmed that they had the dog, but that I could not claim him as by law they have to give 48 hours for the rightful owner to claim him. I stated that I understood but made it very clear that if the owner did not come I wanted to make an appointment to adopt him and would pay whatever fee needed as I did not want the dog to be put down. They proceeded to tell me if I wanted to adopt him I would have to come to get him on Wednesday between the hours of 10 am - 2pm and I had to make an appointment. As I knew Liz would be able to get him, I confirmed that Liz would be coming to get him. I said to the women on the phone that I was actually in their parking lot and asked if I could come in to see him and was quickly told NO, not without an appointment. I thought to myself what the hell? I am sitting in your parking lot. But as I did not want to end up in a situation of making them mad and getting the dog "held hostage", I kept my mouth shut.
Once I got home and confirmed everything with Liz, we continued to work with the neighborhood to try to track down the dog's owner while packing my bags for the work trip. During this whole experience, I was posting to many different community lost and found groups as well. By Tuesday evening, the owner had been sighted and told about his dog's situation and was offered help to get his dog back. He just walked away, no interest in getting this sweet boy back. My heart broke again for this pup who was going through so much and this owner didn't even care. But I tried to remain positive knowing that at least tomorrow Liz would be rescuing him and he could start a new chapter of his life.
Because of the social media traffic his story was getting, a slew of people started to comment on where we should take him. I read each one hoping to find a no-kill shelter to have lined up, sadly the ones we could get a hold of said they had no room. Finally, I had one woman say she was planning to take him from Hoffman's anyways (which I thought was odd that Hoffman's didn't say anyone else was lined up to take him). But I thanked her anyway and said we would still be adopting him as planned but to message me and we would happily bring him to her. We heard nothing so Liz messaged her on Facebook to see if she could get a response. She did respond, but quickly said she had no room for him. Again, I was like what the hell?? I later found out via a private Facebook message from someone who knew this woman that her so called no-kill shelter had a contract with Hoffman's. And that when she has the dogs for too long and needs to make room she sends them back to Hoffman’s to have them killed, so SHE is not the one killing them... talk about being shady. What would have happened if we would have trusted her? As you can imagine by this point, we were getting pretty pi**ed and frustrated. Why did this have to be such a nightmare? But again, I said to myself to keep positive as tomorrow we would rescue this sweet boy.
Finally, tomorrow came, it was Wednesday at last, and Liz was going to get our boy. After talking to a neighbor who fosters for Humane Animal Rescue and Liz's great experience with them when she adopted her dog, we decided that's where we were going to take him. At 10 am I anxiously awaited her phone call to see how he was.
Then the call came, and in the first few words Liz said were "that place is a hellhole" and I could hear the disgust in her voice. She proceeded to tell me about what she experienced.
The smell of urine was so strong when she went into the lobby that it made her ill and the only thing in the lobby was a desk, chair and a sign that said no photography or videos. She was not allowed to go in the back, where she could hear there were many other animals. When they brought him out he still looked dirty and dehydrated. The women working the desk proceeded to tell her how "typically they just put down bully breeds because no shelter wants them, and they are not the bad guys." After getting him outside she noticed he smelled horrible, like urine and had sores on his legs, and his eyes and nose still looked awful. He was hungry and thirsty and very happy to be outside like he had not been out in days. All of this in just two and a half days at the kennel? It appeared like he had been just tossed in a cage on Sunday where he stayed, defecating on himself until Wednesday when he was released to Liz, likely receiving little food or water. It was evident he needed medical attention, so she took him immediately to Humane Animal Rescue, where they quickly took him in and started to give him the care he needed. He was so happy to be around people caring for him that he slobbered all over the place... giving him his name, Mr. Slobbers.
I was so angry. Why did this have to happen to this sweet dog? Why did I not know about this kennel? Why didn't the police officer tell me what would happen if he took the dog? How could a place that neglects animals like this be allowed to be in business and be our township animal control facility? I had so many questions.
Then I realized, I wasn't alone. How many other people didn't know that this was happening in Penn Hills and other communities? Mr. Slobbers was safe now, and would be ready for adoption soon, but how many other dogs and cats were not? How many other animals had terrible stories without a happy ending? During this whole epic saga of saving Mr. Slobbers, hundreds of people around and outside of Penn Hills started speaking up about how they also were angry that this was happing and wanted things to change.
Then we had the idea. To start a group for people who want to help spread awareness about not only Hoffman's Kennel but also to help raise awareness for animals in need. Whether that's going to council meetings to push for a change in our community, providing information on how people can help local shelters that are trying to find animals loving homes or helping animals get reunited with their families, we want to help be their voice for change.
Together, we can be the PAWSitive Voice for change.
UPDATE: After being ready for adoption for only 4 days, Mr. Slobbers was adopted by a loving family with childern. Happy endings are possible!!
