14/07/2024
These pictures might not seem overly special to many of you but to us who know Rokko’s (previously spelled Roko) story, they mean everything. This is Rokko leaving the shelter yesterday after months of decline and isolation as he sat like a prisoner waiting for his former owner’s court cases to go through the system. During that time, he lived in a a kennel with limited human interaction and had an outside area that was about 3’ x 6’ to go potty. Once the litigation ended, the owner’s rights were terminated and the shelter was able to finally try to do something to help him but were unsure what his outcome would be because of the degree of his deterioration. When we read the initial email from Kathleen, the shelter rescue coordinator, our hearts broke. We realized his demeanor sounded similar to another bully named Finnegan who we had worked on several months prior. Finnegan has since been adopted and is living a wonderful life. We desperately wanted this boy to have that same chance so we had our friend Dave, dad to Tater Tot - Adopted, go down to the sheller to meet Rokko and we had the staff video tape his interactions. We then had another friend and trusted trainer who has helped us with some other difficult cases, Laurie, watch the videos to tell us her opinion. The overall assessment, based on what she saw, was that this poor boy had been in solitary confinement for months, barely even seeing the sunshine or feeling the fresh air on his face and that he was a true example of what can happen to a dog who comes into a shelter as a happy, loving boy and ends up completely shutting down after being in such a harshly different environment. At the same time we were working on him, a former adopter of ours, Lynda, who had lost her BR alumnus, If You Ripley Knew Me - Adopted , a few months prior, had been in touch about getting another bully. We did have another bully that we were working on to get to her but the foster’s decided to adopt that sweet girl and everything was seeming to line up suggesting Lynda was the perfect person for Rokko to go to. We spent some time figuring out logistical issues and yesterday, it finally happened, Rokko got to start his life over again, the next chapter, the day he left the shelter. We have every hope in the world that Rokko will shine once he realizes he is in a home again and loved and we are certain Lynda is the person to help him get there. Halfway on the ride to his new home, it seems Rokko may have come to that realization as he did a mini hucklebutt in his crate.
Special thanks to Kathleen Meyer Frett, the volunteer rescue coordinator for Friends of Northern Ocean County Animal Facility, and all the staff there for advocating for Rokko, Dave, for taking the time to meet Rokko and do everything he could to help, and Laurie for donating her time and expertise again to help another bull terrier in need.
You can like and follow Rokko’s journey on his page, We Will Rokko.
