Our Special Carolina Dog, Rusty dog rescue by Elaine Bovender Wilmington, NC

[Omaha Steve]

http://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ars/story/our-special-carolina-dog-rusty039?





While my daughter was living in another state, she'd gone to visit her grandparents. They had gone out to breakfast and when they were leaving the restaurant, a poor, starved dog walked up to them. After they fed him a biscuit and gave him a pat on the head, he wandered back into the adjacent park. They watched him walk up to people asking for help and they just shooed him away, which broke my daughter's heart. She ended up catching him and taking him to a veterinarian to get him checked out, vaccinated and treated for all of the fleas and ticks that were living on him. He was starved and dehydrated, only weighing about 30 pounds.

She soon moved back into our house and we met sweet, painfully thin Rusty. We suspected that he'd been abused and abandoned because he would cower if a voice was raised or if a hand moved out too suddenly to pet him. He was absolutely terrified of getting into the car. When he was in the kitchen eating from his bowl, he would stop eating and run if we came into the room. Soon, he blossomed into a 55 pound, healthy dog, he began to relax and allow himself to trust and love us, especially my husband, soon winning his heart. He slept with my husband and during the daytime, he was never more than a few feet from him. He knew when it was time for him to come home from work and would pace from the window to the door, until his beloved "daddy" came in. He also quickly overcame his fear of the car and soon began happily going nearly everywhere we went. Those of you who are familiar with the Carolina dog breed, you know what wonderful dogs they really are. He was our baby for 15 years until he finally passed away in 2009, the veterinarian suspecting that he may have had bone cancer. Rusty was a wonderful, beautiful boy and we will always love him and miss him. RIP, dearest Rusty.

Elaine Bovender
Wilmington, NC


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