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Cody: A story of Abuse and Neglect
The story of how I met Cody starts with a wonderful woman named Marcie Bonard, a volunteer with Animal League of Gastonia. Marcie sends out weekly emails with the dogs scheduled to die that week at Gaston County Animal Control and does everything she can to place them with rescues.
This week, as I looked through the sad tales and pictures, I decided to shift some animals and pull three dogs. I didn't have room for more then three... I really didnt have room for three dogs when for the last 4 years our rescue has been primarily exotic animals.. but I had to help. I moved some animals
in foster care, begged and pleaded with overworked and fabulous foster moms, and emailed Marcie and told her I would pull the two dobermans and the siberian husky. Neither I or Marcie had met these dogs, but having been previously owned by both dobermans and Siberians, I was drawn to those three, needed to get
them out. I arranged to go on Thursday to temp test all three, and pull the two dobies.
On thursday, Feb 7th, I entered Gaston County Animal Control and asked to see the male doberman. All I knew about him was his tag number, and a few comments from a kennel worker, who said he was pretty thin. That certainly didn't prepare me for what came stumbling out of the kennel towards me.
Lurching like a horrible
living skeleton, this bag of bones with his head hanging below his knees stumbled towards me. I couldn't believe he was alive. I could see from a distance, every bone in his body. The animal control officer holding his leash jokingly said "We call him Slim." Other kennel workers gathered around and said kind things
to him and said what a pity it was that he was in such horrible shape, and what a nice dog he was I was thanked for taking him. I hadn't even laid my hands on him yet and I knew he was walking out with me. I tried to get the pitiful dog's attention several times, but he couldnt look up at me. When I touched him, he jumped slightly and lost his
balance. When I set my hand on his back, he slowly sank to the ground as though it weighed a ton.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly felt every bone in his body, all prominent, forced against his skin. He was so dehydrated his skin rolled off him and stood up in little hills. Open wounds oozed on his legs.
Scars showed on his head from recent fights, desperate for food from the other dogs. At first, I thought he was deaf. He could not seem to find me. Then I realized that he just didnt have the strength to move his head. I offered him a cookie and he gently took it from me with the tips of his teeth. His eyes were sunk far
back in his head, but they shone with gratitude.
I signed the papers to take him away from the gas chamber and took him and the female doberman, and an extra dog, a little siberian husky corgi mix. The siberian/corgi went to a wonderful foster home (Where he quickly won them over) and the dobies came with me. The female, Maddie, was in perfect shape compared to poor Cody.
When we tried to load Cody into the truck, he suddenly tried to jump into the back, a small burst of energy from a bundle of bones almost lifeless.... a hint of a life past where maybe he loved to go on car rides... or maybe just a desperate attempt to get away from the shelter, and into a real home. He could not have made the jump and he stummbled, and was caught
by myself and the volunteer who had come with me. We carefully loaded him in and laid him on a blanket.
On the way home, I thought of the red doberman I had grown up with when I was a child. Cody, a beautiful, huge, thick doberman who was so brave, and gentle, and had an amazing spirit. He watched over everyone around him. I knew instantly what to name this poor starved wreck. Cody- and maybe some of cody's strength would come through him.
We had a long road ahead of us... but with help, I knew Cody would make it.
To learn more about Cody's story please visit his Blog . You can also contact Shawn .
A side note:
Cody's pictures are heartbreaking, and it is easy to feel rage and want to bring Cody's abuser to justice.
We who loves dogs and have happy, healthy, loving companions at home, find it hard to believe that this
is a common occurance, and that Cody suffered at the hands of his owner. Unforunatly, that's exactly what
happened. Dogs like Cody show up every day, across the nation, in animal controls, private rescues, and humane societies.
We all want to find someone to blame for Cody, but there is no one to find. The important thing to remember,
is NOT to point our fingers at Animal Control. While there are definitely things that need to be improved
and changed at Gaston Animal Control (Namely, a vet on staff, and the removal of the gas chamber, and more kennels)
Gaston AC is NOT responsible for Cody's condition. In fact, if it weren't for some of the volunteers there who share
a love of animals and desperatly want to help them get in a better place, Cody would not be alive today.
He would have been gassed 72 hours after intake instead of held for 5 days until someone could come and get him. Yes, in
an ideal situation Cody would have been given vet care as soon as he came in, and put on IV fluids and kept away from the
general population. Unfortunatly, the sad but true fact of this world is that animal controls are understaffed, overpopulated,
and underfunded. Small runs are crowded with several dogs, dogs are fed trough style for lack of enough space, time and bowls to
seperate the dogs, and 600+ dogs are gassed every month. But animal control is not where this problem starts. The problem starts
with our society, and the notion of "throw away" pets, the lack of education of animal welfare, and the desperate need for better
affordable vet care and spay neuter clinics. Cody was probably a yard dog, a status symbol, or maybe even a forgotten christmas present.
Most likely he was tied up or chained in a backyard and left to rot, and managed to escape. We will probably never know who abused,
neglected, and ultimatly abandoned Cody, but we are going to try to find out. Hopefully with the spread of Cody's story, someone, somewhere
will recognize Cody and know who abused him so hideously. I hope we can all remember to keep focused on Cody and the attempt to find his
true abusers, and not the search for a scapegoat.
all art and images copywrite 2007
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On thursday, Feb 7th, I entered Gaston County Animal Control and asked to see the male doberman. All I knew about him was his tag number, and a few comments from a kennel worker, who said he was pretty thin. That certainly didn't prepare me for what came stumbling out of the kennel towards me. Lurching like a horrible living skeleton, this bag of bones with his head hanging below his knees stumbled towards me. I couldn't believe he was alive. I could see from a distance, every bone in his body. The animal control officer holding his leash jokingly said "We call him Slim." Other kennel workers gathered around and said kind things to him and said what a pity it was that he was in such horrible shape, and what a nice dog he was I was thanked for taking him. I hadn't even laid my hands on him yet and I knew he was walking out with me. I tried to get the pitiful dog's attention several times, but he couldnt look up at me. When I touched him, he jumped slightly and lost his balance. When I set my hand on his back, he slowly sank to the ground as though it weighed a ton. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly felt every bone in his body, all prominent, forced against his skin. He was so dehydrated his skin rolled off him and stood up in little hills. Open wounds oozed on his legs. Scars showed on his head from recent fights, desperate for food from the other dogs. At first, I thought he was deaf. He could not seem to find me. Then I realized that he just didnt have the strength to move his head. I offered him a cookie and he gently took it from me with the tips of his teeth. His eyes were sunk far back in his head, but they shone with gratitude. I signed the papers to take him away from the gas chamber and took him and the female doberman, and an extra dog, a little siberian husky corgi mix. The siberian/corgi went to a wonderful foster home (Where he quickly won them over) and the dobies came with me. The female, Maddie, was in perfect shape compared to poor Cody. When we tried to load Cody into the truck, he suddenly tried to jump into the back, a small burst of energy from a bundle of bones almost lifeless.... a hint of a life past where maybe he loved to go on car rides... or maybe just a desperate attempt to get away from the shelter, and into a real home. He could not have made the jump and he stummbled, and was caught by myself and the volunteer who had come with me. We carefully loaded him in and laid him on a blanket. On the way home, I thought of the red doberman I had grown up with when I was a child. Cody, a beautiful, huge, thick doberman who was so brave, and gentle, and had an amazing spirit. He watched over everyone around him. I knew instantly what to name this poor starved wreck. Cody- and maybe some of cody's strength would come through him. We had a long road ahead of us... but with help, I knew Cody would make it. To learn more about Cody's story please visit his Blog . You can also contact Shawn . A side note: Cody's pictures are heartbreaking, and it is easy to feel rage and want to bring Cody's abuser to justice. We who loves dogs and have happy, healthy, loving companions at home, find it hard to believe that this is a common occurance, and that Cody suffered at the hands of his owner. Unforunatly, that's exactly what happened. Dogs like Cody show up every day, across the nation, in animal controls, private rescues, and humane societies. We all want to find someone to blame for Cody, but there is no one to find. The important thing to remember, is NOT to point our fingers at Animal Control. While there are definitely things that need to be improved and changed at Gaston Animal Control (Namely, a vet on staff, and the removal of the gas chamber, and more kennels) Gaston AC is NOT responsible for Cody's condition. In fact, if it weren't for some of the volunteers there who share a love of animals and desperatly want to help them get in a better place, Cody would not be alive today. He would have been gassed 72 hours after intake instead of held for 5 days until someone could come and get him. Yes, in an ideal situation Cody would have been given vet care as soon as he came in, and put on IV fluids and kept away from the general population. Unfortunatly, the sad but true fact of this world is that animal controls are understaffed, overpopulated, and underfunded. Small runs are crowded with several dogs, dogs are fed trough style for lack of enough space, time and bowls to seperate the dogs, and 600+ dogs are gassed every month. But animal control is not where this problem starts. The problem starts with our society, and the notion of "throw away" pets, the lack of education of animal welfare, and the desperate need for better affordable vet care and spay neuter clinics. Cody was probably a yard dog, a status symbol, or maybe even a forgotten christmas present. Most likely he was tied up or chained in a backyard and left to rot, and managed to escape. We will probably never know who abused, neglected, and ultimatly abandoned Cody, but we are going to try to find out. Hopefully with the spread of Cody's story, someone, somewhere will recognize Cody and know who abused him so hideously. I hope we can all remember to keep focused on Cody and the attempt to find his true abusers, and not the search for a scapegoat. |