LOESS HILLS PITS
These
dogs are a very unfortunate story. One of the animal control officers
from the Loess Hills Humane Society found 27 pit bulls chained to
car axles buried in the ground, and to each other, in an old field. The
conditions were horrible and many of the dogs had their legs broken and
teeth removed for breeding purposes, which is why they were chained
together. All of them were sick with intestinal parasites, along with
many other conditions. Two of them were so sick with pnuemonia that
they had to be euthanized right away because of their suffering.
Personally, when I went to see them for the first time it was the worst
thing I have had to witness in my time with rescue. Amazingly, the
remaining dogs have all come around nicely. Many of them LOVE the
company of other dogs, and despite what they have been through, want to
be around people. We have worked very hard to keep these dogs alive and
fought very hard to give them a chance to experience a life full of
love and security.....a life where they can be a dog. Below
is a link to a video we put together when we were trying to get them
their chance and keep them from being euthanized. It has pictures of the condition they were found and is
truly a testament to the resilency of dogs as a whole when you compare and look at
them now. The man who did this to them has been charged
with 3 counts of torture and 24 counts of animal cruelty and the case is still pending. If you watch
the video, you will quickly realize that it was no where near enough. Out
of the original 27 dogs that were brought in, only 10 made it out of
the shelter. Two of them had to be euthanized when they were brought in
because they had severe cases of pnuemonia. So that makes 15 dogs that
were put to sleep with no explanation given, when there were rescues
lined up to take them. Unfortunately, when the dogs were finally released to us, many of the rescues abandoned
their commitments to take these dogs since their ordeal was no longer a high
publicity story. Thankfully, there were a few groups that stepped up and
showed that they cared more about the dogs than publicity and self
gratification and that they truly know what rescue is about. No
Pets Left Behind would like to thank the following groups and people
for taking the poor guys into their homes and their hearts: At Risk
Animal Rescue and Rehab, Second Chance Animal Rescue
Center, Judy's Pet Rescue, Terry Leary, and Marriha Jensen. We
cannot thank you guys enough. Without you, we never could have done
this. The second video is of all the dogs who made it to new
places and their journey there and a tribute to the ones who were not
allowed a chance at a new, better life. This was one of the hardest
things we
at NPLB have ever been through, and although we wish would could have
saved them all, we are happy we could help them find new chances at a
life none of them have ever known. They deserve all the love and
happiness in the world and we thank everyone who helped us to make that
happen for them. Please allow time for the videos to load.
Loess Hills Pits video Loess Hills Pits Going Home video
Below are the before and after pictures of the
surviving dogs.
Wrinkles
Pit Bull mix - Wrinkles is one of the 27 pit bulls that were chained to car axles buried in the ground,
and other dogs, in the Loess Hills. When Wrinkles was found, she had
demedex
mange really bad (that is why her skin looks like it does),
intestinal parasites, and was severely malnourished. She is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating very healthy, and is undergoing
treatment for the demedex and doing quite well. Despite what she has
been through, she is the happiest and sweetest little girl ever. She
does well with children and she likes to play. She also loves attention
and really enjoys a scratch behind the ears from everyone around. She
is in a foster home that is doing great work and teacher her how to be a
well mannered youg lady working mostly on socializing her and potty-training. Her skin condition is also clearing up very
well. Below are some updated pictures.
12-18-10
- UPDATE: Wrinkles is finally potty-trained, her skin has cleared
up completely, and she is loving life in her foster home with 3 other
dogs and a large red parrot. She no longer has any issues with food or
toy guarding and she has really turned into one amazing little dog. New
pictures are soon to come.
Moo
Pit Bull mix - When
Moo was found, she had
intestinal parasites, and was severely malnourished, missing several
teeth, had all 4 legs broken, and had been branded with the number "5".
She is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating very healthy, and is loving getting to
amble out in the grass. Even though she had a horrible life before, she
is incredibly sweet, very well mannered, and
impossible not to love. She
does well with children and other dogs. Moo was the luckiest of them
all, she was adopted into a home right away with another special needs
pit bull.
Emily
Pit Bull mix - Emily is one of the youngest of the dogs found. When she was found, she had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, but she was one of
the healthier cases. She went to another rescue in Kansas and is found her fureve home in Pennsylvania.
Bam
Pit Bull - Bam
has seen a long road. When we first met him in the shelter, his kennel
floor was full of blood from his feet and they were very swollen and
cut. So much so, that the shelter called him "feet" and Cari was
calling him "Duckie".
He was also full of intestinal parasites and malnourished. He was
originally scheduled to be euthanized because they did not want to deal
with caring for the problems with his feet. After some begging and
pleading, he was allowed a chance to heal. When we finally picked him
up from Loess Hills, he was still extremely malnourished and almost
died the first night due to a serious infection that had not been
treated by the LH staff. It has been a long road, but Bam is back to
healthy and he has been adopted by.....well, me. He is still very shy,
but he is making progress each day. He loves the company of other dogs,
and doesn't mind being around people he is familiar with as long as
nothing "sudden" happens. We are making daily progress and he is now
house-trained, but I cannot imagine what was done to this poor dog
before they were all found by animal control in that field. It may be
better that I never find out. I will get a better picture up as soon as
I can because he has filled out into a truly gorgeous dog and his eyes
will absolutely melt your heart.
Nina
Pit Bull mix - When
Nina was found, she had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, but she was one of
the healthier cases.
She is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating very healthy. She was the guard dog
and has some trust and kennel issues, as well as dog aggressiveness.
She is at the Second Chance Animal Rescue Center
where she is being properly socialized and taught how to play nicely
with other puppies.
JoJo
Pit Bull mix - When found,
Jojo had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, but she was one of
the healthier cases.
She is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating very healthy, and loves to play. She
is at the Second Chance Animal Rescue Center where they are working to
keep her socialized and find her a forever home.
Farrah
Pit Bull mix - When Farrah was found, she had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, but she was one of
the healthier cases.
She is cured of
the intestinal parasites and eating very healthy. Unfortunatley, she does NOT like other dogs. She is currently at the Second Chance Animal Rescue Center where they are working with her on her dog aggressiveness.
Blake
Pit Bull mix - Blake is the youngest one found and he was only about 6 - 8 weeks old at the time. When he was found, he had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, but was one of
the healthier cases. He is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating very healthy. He went to another rescue and is doing well. Blake was not put with the other dogs at the shelter, so we have no before pictures of him.
Giggles
Pit Bull mix - Poor Giggles. He
had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished, has lost all of his
teeth whether from trying to chew through the chain or they were
removed, and hardly even looked like a dog. The poor guy didn't even
look like a dog. He is cured of all his ailments, eating very healthy,
and with another rescue.
Penny
Pit Bull mix - When she was found, she had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished.
She is cured of
the intestinal parasites, eating some, and loves to play with
kids and other dogs. She is currently with Jennifer Woods and the At Risk Animal Rescue and Rehab and doing very well.
Starz ~ R.I.P
Pit Bull mix - When
Starz was found, she had
intestinal parasites and was severely malnourished. We got her into
Second Chance in South Dakota where she was progressing very well.
Unfortunately, luck was not with Starz. When she was spayed by the vet
at Loess Hills, the surgery did not go correctly and her
original inside stitches ripped.
We took her to our vet who opened her back up and said she looked like
she was carved out like a pumpkin and there wasn't much to work with.
He is an amazing man and wonderful vet, so he did the best he could.
While at Second Chance, her stitches split again and her insides
literally fell out on the ground. After being rushed to their vet, he
recommended that the best thing for her was to be euthanized. This
little girl was so close to a life and to have it snuffed out when she was so close was an absolute heartbreak for us.
Rest in Peace
These poors dogs never made it out of the shelter, but we would still like to acknowledge them. We will not forget any of you.
