Hard to place dog's rescue stories | lovingtouch

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In Loving Memory of Faith

We received a call from the city shelter asking for help with an emaciated puppy that had recently been rescued. The puppy had been trapped in a sewer in East New York. We were this puppy's last hope. How could we say no to this sweet little girl? Faith was 8-month-old, although she looked more like 3 or 4 months. She weighed only 14 pounds when she was found and she was just skin and bones. Doreen and Zulma picked Faith up on a Sunday, took her home and gave her a warm bath, then bundled her up in a big cozy blanket. She felt like a million dollars!

We (Doreen and Paul) fostered Faith in our home, gave her TLC and nutrition needed to get her ready for adoption. Once she put on weight and was healthy enough to be spayed, we started to take her to adoption events and did all we could to introduce her to prospective adopters. Faith was nervous, she hid behind us and clung to us when meeting new people that showed interest in her. Because Faith got along so well with our pets and was so nervous with new people, we decided to make her part of the family - until we noticed that once she reached maturity she started to get a bit aggressive toward our pets. Even Mickey, her best friend. We knew this could not work and had to make a very hard decision. We could not put our other pets in danger so it was clear that Faith could no longer live with us. She continues to receive love and care upstate at Silver Streak Kennels.

In Loving Memory of Smokey

Smokey has been with us since the start of Loving Touch. When a Loving Touch volunteer found out that Smokey had an abusive owner she looked into the situation to see how we could help. She found out from neighbors that Smokey's owner kept him outdoors chained to a fence, he was alone most of the day without much food or water. Neighbors would sneak food to him. When feeding time came Smokey became very excited and out of control so his owner would hit him on the head with a shovel to discipline him. As a result, Smokey became 'food aggressive". Neighbors continued to help him when the owner was not around. One day, they were told that the owner was moving. Our volunteer offered to take Smokey and the owner agreed. Smokey enjoyed being part of our group, he even liked living at the boarding facility and looked forward to long walks in the park on the weekends with our volunteer dog walkers. We had Smokey in boarding for quite some time. He was a fun dog, playful and affectionate but his "food aggression" prevented him from getting adopted. Smokey is now enjoying life on the farm upstate at Silver Streak Kennels.

In Loving Memory of Mia (a.k.a. Tiffany)

We received a call from a Queens resident saying that their neighbor was keeping a young pit bull in a cage in their yard and they were sure that the plan was to make her a fighting dog.

They asked if we would take her into our group if they could get the owner to give the dog up. We said, "yes!". Mia was a very sweet and loveable dog, she did fine in boarding and really enjoyed the time she spent with the volunteers. She did fine with the other dogs until she got a bit older and then she began to show some aggression toward them. Mia was adopted by a very nice man who lived in Brooklyn. He lived alone and wanted a companion. Mia made his life complete and they bonded very quickly. It was a very good adoption for us. We received a call one day from Mia's owner, who told us that he was terminally ill and could no longer keep his best friend. He was heartbroken and in tears when he told us the sad news. We promised to take Mia back and try to find her a new home. Unfortunately, we could not due to Mia's aggression but she is living a comfortable life at Silver Streak Kennels.

In Loving Memory of AK

AK was abandoned at a boarding facility by his owners. This sweet dog had a family and lots of kids to play with. We were told by the staff at the boarding facility that his mom loved him and did what she could to keep him safe from her husband, who was abusive toward him. AK loved woman, kids and men he knew but was very unpredictable when meeting new men. He was great with us and our volunteers and really enjoyed attending events with us but we always had to be careful of his surroundings

We then received a call from someone that new AK, he was a distant neighbor and had heard that AK was up for adoption. He loved AK and wanted to give him a home. AK was with him for a short time and never showed aggression toward him or his kids but they had a bad experience with an elderly neighbor. So before you knew it, AK was back with us. He is now enjoying life on the farm upstate at Silver Streak Kennels.

In Loving Memory of Sasha

We received a frantic call from a Loving Touch member on a Sunday afternoon. She had just witnessed what she thought was a dog being abandoned in front of the Flushing apartment building where she resided. An elderly man had asked the doorman if he would watch his dog while he went to the grocery store down the block. The man didn't return until hours later just after we received the call for help. Knowing that the dog was not abandoned, we gave our number to the man, in case he needed help with his dog. Shortly after we received a call, the man had confessed that the rescued dog he had in his care was from the city shelter. He couldn't afford to keep the dog but he didn't want to see any harm come to her and didn't want her to go back to the shelter. He was in tears and didn't know who to turn to for help. He decided to give the dog to us, only if we promised to keep her with us and not return her to the shelter where she might be put to sleep. We agreed and were on our way to pick up Sasha. She was a beaten up dog, she had burn marks all over her body and looked like she could use some loving care and a few good meals. She won our hearts immediately.

Sasha went into boarding and we began to search for a home. We met a family that wanted to adopt a rescued dog as a companion to their dog. They had heard about Sasha and she seemed to be just what they were looking for. We set up a meeting so the dogs could meet to see if they got along. Everything went well so we set a date for Sasha to be delivered to their home.

Sasha was okay the first few days. But as she got more comfortable in her new home, she started to pick on the family dog. Her personality started to change and she began to become a bit aggressive toward the family members. The family was upset. They loved Sasha and really wanted to do whatever it took to make her love them back. We knew that Sasha would be a difficult dog to place and it would end up costing us hundreds of dollars to board her. We decided to put the money into a dog trainer instead but it seemed that Sasha's problems were too serious to take a chance with. We all agreed that giving Sasha up was the safest way to go for everyone.

Sasha was returned to us and once again we saw a side to her that concerned us. She was picked up and taken upstate to the farm where we felt would be the best place for her to unwind.

Sasha is still upstate, she is doing very well and gets along with everyone she meets. She has her freedom and comes and goes as she pleases. As you can see, she is a beautiful dog and seems to be enjoying her new "leash on life".

In Loving Memory of Goldie

Goldie was rescued from Animal Care and Control. When we first heard about Goldie, we were a little reluctant to take her because we couldn't afford to board another dog and we knew she was coming to us with "issues". Yet once we heard her sad story, we knew we couldn't turn our back on this precious creature.

Goldie lived with another dog in a yard. Their owner did not provide shelter and only fed them sporadically. This was considered an abuse case. After the dogs were taken in by the city shelter (AC&C) and able to leave the shelter Goldie was delivered to Zulma's grooming shop called "Happy Paws" that was located in Deer Park, Long Island. When she stepped out of the van, we knew we had made the right decision to help her. Goldie was sweet but she had the saddest look in her eyes - as if she had lost her best friend. Little did she know that she was about to make many new ones, sleep on a comfortable blanket and get fed as much and as often as she wanted.

It took Goldie some time to warm up to people, she didn't have a mean bone in her body but fear seemed to have taken over and made it difficult for her to come out of her shell. Little by little, she made her way out to greet people and got friendly with some of our other rescued animals. She was an all around great dog - good with both cats, dogs and even great with kids! We had high hopes for Goldie, we couldn't wait to get her into a nice home. We started to take her to adoption events where she really did well. She enjoyed the car rides and really loved sitting on laps. We were really starting to see her come alive.

Not long after Zulma made the hard decision to close down her shop. We didn't realize how much this change was going to affect Goldie. As the weeks went by and the staff began to pack up the shop, poor Goldie reverted back to a nervous dog. She lost all the confidence she had gained. She hid in the corner of the grooming room, she had to be coaxed out and just wasn't the same.

When the shop closed Goldie went to live with Zulma and her family. Even though she was familiar with her home, she just could not accept living there. When she was indoors she wanted to get out and when she was outdoors she would try to climb and break through windows to get back inside. She was just a nervous wreck and getting worse as the days went by. Every sound would frighten her, the motion of a broom would upset her so much that she would fall to the ground and urinate. This was no life for Goldie. We didn't know what to do so we decided to try her out upstate where she would not feel confined and have lots of room to roam.

We all felt sad seeing her go because we feared we may never see her again and she would most likely never get the home she deserved.

Goldie has been upstate for several years now, she is getting older but we are happy to report that she feels comfortable and confident in her surroundings.

We always hoped that we could bring her back to New York and find her the perfect home. We still have hopes for Goldie but for now, she is being cared for while living her life out with other animals.

In Loving Memory of Valentino

Valentino was one of our very first rescues. He was found by a Good Samaritan senior citizen who saw him shivering under a dumpster in College Point. It was a very bitter cold night in mid-February. He was very scary looking due to his huge head and clipped ears yet very pathetic because of his skinny body. He was the sweetest and most appreciative dog. We named in Valentino. Although he was malnourished and may have been used as a bait dog, he was never food aggressive and loved everyone except for CATS!. Valentino had a faint bark, almost like something was blocking his passageway. After a vet check we found out that he had an infection throughout his body and a very narrow trachea but was healthy otherwise. He just needed a little TLC to get him back to looking like a healthy dog. Valentino was with us for a long time. He was boarded in a large kennel in Whitestone and he really loved living there. He loved all the workers and really looked forward to spending time with the volunteers who took him for long walks in the park. Poor Valentino was overlooked due to his appearance and many homes were turned down due to his cat aggression. We had some inquires and even tried him out in a home but it wasn't a good match and he was returned the following day. We took Valentino to many adoption events but he never found his "furever" home.

Although Valentino was highly adoptable we couldn't afford the boarding and hated thinking of him living in a kennel. We thought it was best to send him to live with the other dogs in the upstate facility. We knew he would enjoy the outdoors.

Little did we know that this dog's life was about to change, for the better! Not too long after Valentino was sent upstate, a Loving Touch member, who remembered always seeing him on his walks to the park, noticed him in our newsletter. When she read about him being sent upstate she was heartbroken. She had always wanted to adopt him but knew that one of her two dogs would not accept him. As it turned out that particular dog passed away and her other senior dog was lonely. We prayed that the two dogs would hit it off and Valentino would have a happy ending.

He was delivered to us a few days later. Boy was he mellow, happy and relaxed. He sure was enjoying country living. After a bath and grooming by Zulma (at her previously owned Grooming Shop - Happy Paws that was located in Deer Park, Long Island) we took him over to meet his new family. Valentino and their senior pit bull hit it off immediately. Everyone fell in love with him which made us very happy. Valentino was adopted on the spot!

A few years later the family moved upstate and sent us some new pictures and updates on Valentino. He was really enjoying his new life and his new family. He loved his new brother, they did everything together from eating and sleeping to taking rides in the pick up truck with their dad.

As the years went by he did develop some medical problems and we were eventually told that he passed away. We found out that in his senior years, Valentino lived with a deaf CAT!

In Loving Memory of Lydia

Lydia was an adult dog (6-years-old) when we took her into rescue. She had been picked up by animal control and was at the shelter for a while. We wanted to help find her a new home and rescued her just before she was in danger of being euthanized. There was a family interested in adopting her but they decided to adopt a younger dog. Lydia was good with other dogs and okay with most people. We soon found out that she was a "fear biter" and had to be supervised when we were out in public. On the other hand, Lydia had a very sweet side to her if she was comfortable in her surroundings. After several months of boarding we decided that it was best for her to go to a nice boarding facility we knew of in PA that was owned by a couple we knew personally. They would even help try to find her a home. The boarding was getting expensive and it was difficult to find Lydia a home. Finally, we found someone that was very interested in giving a dog like Lydia a second chance. She was a single woman with an adult daughter. We thought it could work out so we sent for Lydia.

The meeting went well, her new home was only blocks away from us and her new mom was very happy to meet her. She understood all about Lydia's fobias and how to approach her. Things were going well and several weeks had passed without any problems. Lydia was soon adopted! HOORAY! A few days later we received a call that Lydia had bitten the daughter. From what we were told it seemed that Lydia was taken off guard and bit out of fear. We removed her from the home immediately and put her back in boarding. We decided the best place for Lydia was upstate with the other hard to place dogs.

Paul and Zulma delivered Lydia and took the opportunity to visit with our other dogs. Lydia did well, she got along with everyone and never gave her caretaker a problem. She lived her life out on the farm. Lydia passed away a few years later, she had a medical condition we were not aware of.

In Loving Memory of Justice

Justice was rescued by a Loving Touch member. Justice was a fighting dog in his younger days He could not be put with other dogs without a fight breaking out. His rescuer worked with him and provided him with a safe home for many years until he had personal problems of his own that forced him to move away and give Justice up. He turned to us for help. At the request of his owner we had Justice sent upstate where he could live out the rest of his life in peace in a county setting. Justice did very well and even mingled with other dogs as he got older. We thought he might do well in a home setting in his senior years but we never found someone willing to adopt him. Several years later we received the news that Justice had passed away.

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