I KNOW... IT'S ABOUT TIME I WRITE SOMETHING

I know it's been a very long time since I've posted. On top of being sick for a few days with a miserable cold... we've been dealing with some major trauma regarding Scrappy. Rather than rewriting everything here... I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to copy and paste e-mails that I sent to a friend from church who has a huge mailing list (probably around 300 people).... thank God for her ministry... I know it saved Scrappy's life.... this is going to be very long between the two e-mails, so sit back, grab a cup of coffee.

First E-Mail

URGENT - SCRAPPY NEEDS HELP

Sue,

Please help me help Scrappy. This is a desperate plea for a very special person to help save this precious boy.

About two months ago, you sent out a request to help my daughter find a new home for their terrier mix, Scrappy. A lot of people responded, and Michelle found someone who seemed to be perfect in all aspects. However, apparently this person did not want to take the time or effort to deal with Scrappy's confusion about moving to a new home, and he developed a separation anxiety issue.

This person punished him for barking with a shock collar, and when he was put in a cage (which he had never been in) and was left home alone, he panicked and barked right through the shock and would mess in his cage. When my daughter had him, he also had a collar on him, however, the batteries were very weak, and Scrappy knew just how loud he could bark without getting shocked. Now... he was getting the full force of electricity on his sweet little neck. He was punished severely for barking. Also, when my daughter had him, he was never in a cage. When she went out, she either left him lose or tied him up with a lead long enough so he could move around some, and he would sleep until she got home. He had never been confined to a cage.

Now, the worst possible scenario has happened. I work for the veterinarian that takes care of Scrappy, and she is horrified at what is going on as well as I am. Last week, the vet got a call from the person who had Scrappy. She was going to take him to the APL. The vet begged her not to and asked her to please wait until we could find a place for him to go. She has a friend who works at Berea Animal Shelter who was out of town, but she was hoping this person could find a foster home for him so he would not have to be left at a kennel or put in a cage again. She gave this person medication to help calm Scrappy down over the weekend. Well... apparently this person did not follow through on what she said she would do... she said she would keep him until Monday. I got a call Sunday saying she had dumped poor Scrappy at the Brooklyn Animal Shelter. This after at least two people explained to her what she "could have" done to help Scrappy acclimate to his new surroundings.

Now this poor guy is in total hell... he's scared, confused, and missing his family more than ever. He really needs to get out of there... yesterday! He needs to get out of that place NOW!!!

This time, though, it's going to take someone who will totally commit to him. Someone who is not afraid of a little hard work to work with him. Someone who will show him all the love and understanding and compassion that he needs. Scrappy needs someone who won't give up on him and throw him away again. He needs a FOREVER home so he is not bounced around to another place or (God forbid) another shelter. He needs someone who is willing to work with the vet since she is more than willing to work with them.... she loves Scrappy too. She was going to take Scrappy herself, however she already has four dogs and five cats and isn't home at all during the day. I wanted to take him so badly, but I rent, and my landlord won't let me have another dog.

The vet has been in contact with Brooklyn Shelter. They say Scrappy is not doing good at all there. Since he's been there, he's gotten snippy when someone goes to his cage, however when they say "do you want to go for a walk" he gets all happy again. Scrappy has NEVER been aggressive, and I'm sure (and so is the vet) that this behavior is because he is so afraid.

The vet said Scrappy's issues can be solved, but it's going to take work and patience, and she is more than willing to work with the new owners.

I put off telling my daughter about all of this until yesterday. She is totally heartbroken as we are. The ONLY reason she gave Scrappy up is because she bought a condo, and the association does not allow dogs. This is just so hard. He's a wonderful dog, great with kids, a real love who loves to lay on your lap and be petted while you watch tv. HE DOESN'T DESERVE THE TREATMENT HE HAS GOTTEN since he left his home. Now he's in a cage with no love, no one to talk to him, no one to take him for walks, no one to remind him that God loves him.... he just has a cold cage... like a prisoner... and he doesn't understand why this is happening to him (and neither do we).

PLEASE... If there is anyone out there who can dedicate themselves to this precious pup and help him feel safe and secure again... please contact me at 440-427-8713 or Dr. Blaha at 440-427-0346, or contact the Brooklyn Animal Shelter (but let one of us know if you plan on going to save him).

I CAN'T STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS LITTLE GUY IS TO US!!! WE NEED TO SAVE HIM!!!

Thank you everyone for reading this. Even if you can't help Scrappy... PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM... HE IS SO FRIGHTENED and he is being damaged psychologically even more every day that he has to stay in that kennel. He can, with love, return to the confident, happy, secure dog that he was before he went to live with this other person. He just needs the right person to rescue him and show him he is loved again.

Hope and Blessings,
Joanna

SECOND E-MAIL... SENT TODAY

SCRAPPY IS FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Oh Sue...

SCRAPPY IS FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
And thank everyone who said even one prayer for Scrappy. Yesterday was a day of total Divine Intervention.
This will most likely be a long e-mail, because there is so much to say, so please be patient with me.

I woke up yesterday morning at 7:00 with a horrible dream about Scrappy. I couldn't get it out of my mind, and I believe God gave me that dream to push me to write to you about Scrappy. Within 20 minutes after you forwarded my request, I got a phone call from a wonderful woman who had just read about Scrappy's predicament. Vicky Fortney called about Scrappy. She was in tears about his situation. I could tell her love for him before she even told me why she was calling. She offered to save Scrappy... to rescue him from his prison. With all the issues I listed and all of his problems, she was still open and willing to take the time to love him and be patient with him and try to get him back to the loving, sweet, gently dog that he is.

My letter was very detailed, and I know that most people would never think to take on a "problem" dog like I had described, so I really wasn't too sure about finding anyone who wanted to take on that responsibility. But Vicky is ready, willing and able. She lives in Seville... in the country and has two other dogs that Scrappy will have as brothers (or maybe sisters.. I don't think I asked). The story doesn't end here though. A lot has happened since my e-mail to you.

Just before Vicky called, JoAnne (my boss, the vet) called me and said, "We have to get him out of there." We were planning that I would go get him and bring him home until she got home and then take him there. She is also a behavior specialist and knows what she's doing in training. She said that even with her four dogs... "what's one more"... of course I knew it would be hard on her, but feasible. So I called the woman from the shelter and left a message for her to call me to let her know our plan.

A few minutes after I spoke with JoAnne, Vicky called. God knew exactly what to do and when to do it. Vicky then called JoAnne and got all the information about Scrappy and what to expect and everything she should know from JoAnne, but it didn't scare her away (a TRUE Good Samaritan)... thank God. Then JoAnne called Jennifer from the shelter. When she called me back, she said, "This just might work". I was ecstatic.

Well... as the day progressed, we both were both excited to get Scrappy out of there, but still concerned that something might happen to him before he was released. Our concerns "could" have been a reality since when Jennifer called me back, she told me that Scrappy was to be euthanized yesterday afternoon (even though this is a "non-kill" shelter). She said he was trying to bite everyone who went near the cage, and they were considering him to be unadoptable. My heart stopped, and I told her to PLEASE make sure everyone there knows... DO NOT TOUCH THIS DOG... one way or another we will get him out of there by tomorrow. Vicky had already made an appointment to pick him up after work today, but I just wanted to make sure they knew it. (The fear of an early euthanasia came from an experience JoAnne had one time... she was going to rescue a dog at another shelter, and one hour before she went to get him... they euthanized him... knowing she was on her way... we were so afraid this would happen to our boy too).

So now it seemed like God truly saved Scrappy just in the nick of time.

Well... last night, I got a call from Sue Spiewacki. She is the head of Health and Welfare for Brooklyn Animal Shelter. Thank God she called. When I first heard her name and the fact that she was from the shelter, my heart froze. I thought something had happened to our boy. BUT... instead, she gave me the best news I could ever have imagined. She said... "I don't know who has been talking to you, but Scrappy is fine. He's scared and confused, but he's fine. He was playing with some kids this afternoon, and I just got back from a walk with him." Oh my God... I was so relieved.

It seems the woman JoAnne had been talking to had mistakenly given us some wrong information. As far as biting anyone, Sue said if he had bitten anyone, she would know it, and as far as she knew, he hadn't bitten anyone. Although (she didn't say this but it's possible since he was so scared) he may have snapped to protect his space in the cage since he was so frightened.

She also said she didn't believe that he needs medication. She said he's a sweet dog (which I already knew) and he just needs love and understanding and a bit of training.

Sue... I was soooooooooooo relieved to have heard from her. And the even more miraculous part of all this is that I never had contacted this woman. I asked her how she got my phone number, and she said someone had forwarded the e-mail I sent you to her. THANK YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE FOR SENDING IT TO HER. You have no idea what her call meant to me, Dr. Blaha, Vicky and (of course) my Daughter.

JoAnne had me call Vicky last night and let her know that if for any reason it doesn't work out with Scrappy, that she should call her, and she will bring him to her house and keep him... but from the way things look now, I believe that Scrappy will have a wonderful forever home with Vicky and her other dogs and living in the country. I think that will be the best thing that could ever happen to him short of being able to go back to my daughter and grandson.

I just got off of the phone with Sue from the shelter. She said Vicky picked Scrappy up about an hour ago, and he took to them right away. He was VERY happy to have someone truly pay attention to him and love on him. She said they spent some time getting burrs out of him, because he had gone for a walk out back and managed to get into a burr bush. LOL Yep... back to normal... I just can't tell you how excited we all are that he is out of there and safe and (I'm very sure) happy now. I can't wait to hear from Vicky after she gets settled with him. I'm praying he gets along with her other dogs and doesn't give her a hard time. But at least I know that whatever happens, Vicky is going to do her best to make this baby feel loved.

I will forever be grateful to Vicky for stepping out and calling when she did and for being the beautiful, loving person that God created her to be. And... I will forever be grateful to you and your ministry and all the wonderful people who cared enough to e-mail and say a prayer for him.... and also to Kathy who was kind enough to go visit him yesterday. GOD BLESS YOU... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU. And, of course, I will ALWAYS be grateful to our God... Who, even though it is in HIS time, is always right on time.

So much love and so many blessings to you all,
Joanna


Sooooo that's what's been going on around here. We all have been so stressed over all of this, but thank God it's over. Now I'm just praying that Scrappy behaves himself and doesn't give Vicky too hard of a time. I know she will be patient with him. And... like I said... if for any reason this doesn't work out, JoAnne refuses to let him go anyplace else and will take him to her home. The only reason she didn't take him in the first place was because her sister (who she lives with) was giving her a very hard time... but, ironically, as time went on, Sandra would ask, "are you going to get him?". JoAnne said, "no because if I do, I'll hear about it for the next 30 years." ... well.. yesterday, just before all this happened, Sandra made it known that she would (happily?) accept Scrappy. She knew the situation he was in, and since she has met him and fell in love with him, she couldn't hold back any longer. I think she just wanted to give JoAnne a hard time (hmmmmmmm... I always wanted a sister, but she's made me realize it's not always a good thing LOL).

Anyway... that's the saga for the day. I'll write more when I know more of how Scrappy is getting along at Vicky's.

Thank all of you who have continued to check on us, even though I haven't posted much, you still come to see us. I promise, I'll try to do better in blogging.

God Bless You All