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I received some news this week that is the kind of news that every foster parent dreads. It was about my favorite black dog, Charlie Machete, being discovered at an animal shelter in Omaha just months after being adopted by a (seemingly awesome) guy – and just one failed temperament test away from being euthanized.
Photo courtesy of Wayward Dogs
Charlie was fostered independently by my good friend and co-founder of the KC Pittie Pack, Crystal, who writes the Wayward Dogs blog. After eight months of fostering, Charlie was finally adopted in March by a guy in Iowa who seemed completely legitimate. His dog had recently died and was the spitting image of Charlie, so it seemed as though they were a match made in doggy heaven. Crystal seemed a bit uneasy with the fact that this guy was slow to respond to “check-in” emails she sent in the weeks and months after the adoption was finalized, but she trusted that his silence was due to being busy or not computer savvy or something. The few updates she did get were positive so she believed that Charlie was safe and loved.
Photo courtesy of Wayward Dogs
Until this weekend when Crystal received a phone call from the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha alerting her that Charlie had been left at the shelter by “an unknown party” – but definitely not the guy who adopted him four months ago. Crystal was still listed as the contact person on Charlie’s microchip, and she offered to break him out of the slammer right away. The only problem was that Charlie was behaving in a less-than-stellar manner in the shelter (who could blame him?) and he was put on the euthanasia list. A few quick calls to Crystal’s rescue contacts in Nebraska and Charlie was pulled from the euthanasia list and picked up by Crystal’s boyfriend Zach on Monday. He’s safe now at home with Crystal & Zach, but his story could have ended very differently.
Photo courtesy of Wayward Dogs
The adoption agreement that this man signed clearly stated that if for any reason he could not keep Charlie, he was to make arrangements to return Charlie to Crystal. For whatever reason this guy decided to re-home Charlie on his own. Luckily he never got around to updating Charlie’s microchip, enabling Crystal to learn of his predicament. Crystal is obviously frustrated and upset that Charlie has been put through this, but she is trying to look on the positive side and see it for the valuable lessons she’s learned:
1. When you adopt out your foster dog, let the adopters know that you will be contacting them periodically to check up on the dog. This way, they are aware that you are not just going to forget about the dog as soon as it leaves your care. If they don’t respond to repeated attempts to contact them, there might be a problem. I get periodic updates on each of my foster dogs and their new families let me know when they are dealing with issues and try to help them in any way I can. Sometimes even this is not enough (as Crystal experienced) but it definitely helps.
2. Trust your gut. Crystal told me several times that she wasn’t 100% sold on this guy but was hoping for the best. We have intuition for a reason – trust it! If you aren’t totally confident it is the right home – take a pass. The right one will come along eventually.
3. Microchip your fosters (if your rescue group doesn’t do it – do it yourself)! If the new adopters are too lazy to change it (like the man who adopted Charlie), you might luck out if they try to leave the dog at a shelter. If Crystal hadn’t microchipped Charlie, she would have never known what happened to him.
I am not sure what else Crystal could have done to avoid what happened. To any fosters reading this – what do you do to ensure your foster dogs don’t end up back at the shelter?
KC Pittie Pack was featured in local rag The Pitch.
We were featured in the “calendar” section regarding this weekend’s walk at Penn Valley Park…pretty exciting, huh?
For more information on joining our pack walks, please check out our meetup page!
This weekend’s walk took us to Penn Valley Park for a trek around the beautiful grounds, with views of the Kansas City skyline and the always beautiful Union Station and Liberty Memorial. We were excited to see some new faces this time around, including sweet Ruby…
Ruby
The perpetually happy Yoshi made a repeat appearance, and brought his friend, a sweet little rescue dog whose name escaped me as I was writing this.
Yoshi & his mom, Megan.
Yoshi's girlfriend.
We encountered our first ever loose dog on the walk – a large Doberman who was playing fetch in the large grassy area in front of the Liberty Memorial with her owner. The owner didn’t appear to have a leash or great control over her dog, so we altered our course and headed away from them, down the winding stairs and onto the sidewalk (and street when we hit construction) along Main Street. It was a little annoying, but luckily our group is pretty laid back, so even though we had to literally take to the streets to get around the distraction in our path, we were no worse for wear.
Zach & Crystal with their foster dog Minnie and forever dog, Lucas.
Obviously, the view from the street wasn’t the best, but the other parts of the walk made up for the unforseen detour…
Zach, the only male member in attendance, took the lead position.
Beautiful Union Station
When it was all said and done, spending the afternoon walking at Penn Valley Park with the Pittie Pack was a great way to spend Earth Day…
For our second KC Pittie Pack and Friends walk, we headed back to the Overland Park Arboretum for a fun-filled walk in the woods. We were happy to have doubled our numbers from the last walk, with 15 dogs in attendance! Here are some of the dogs (and their humans) that attended:
Turkey brought his backpack for this walk and practiced walking nicely next to me instead of dragging me along.
Ernesto proved that 4 mile walks through the woods are not just for the big dogs – he held his own among all the pooches that towered over him!
Ginger Rogers graced us with her glorious presence and, along with Echo, held it down for the elderbelles!
Echo the Elderbelle led the pack for the whole walk in her pretty pink jacket…
Julie showed off her beautiful handmade blanket and made some of the other dogs jealous!
Zeroh worked to overcome his fear of bridges…
Even though it was chilly, we had a wonderful time wandering in the wilderness, encountering deer and surveying the beautiful surroundings.
Thank you to all who attended this week’s walk – next week’s walk will be on Sunday and we are heading back to an urban setting, so keep an eye out for the event email! If you haven’t already, like KC Pittie Pack and Friends on Facebook for more updates on future walks!
* A big THANK YOU to Amy from Fido Fetch Photography for joining our walk and taking these beautiful photos of our group! We would love for you to join our walks anytime! *
** All photos featured in this post courtesy of Amy and Fido Fetch Photography **
