The Rescue Failure

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Disco, A11398324.  In the beginning, that was all he was.  Disco, A11398324 was 1 of 34 dogs that came out on “the list”.   That list found me and countless others, tearing out our hair, calling in favors, pestering friends and family and spending hours at a time sobbing in despair.  Out of the 34 dogs, I was responsible for saving 3.  While it doesn’t seem like many, to me it was the world.  From that list, one of my best friends saved “Lu Lu” and my ex husband saved “Cabo”.  When the final hour of rescue remained, one dog was left standing and you guessed it, that dog was Disco, A11398324.  Disco was scheduled to be euthanized at 4:00 pm and as of 3:50, he was still sitting expectantly in his cage.  After all of the chaos of volunteers and people sharing their stories all over the US and even Disco’s own interview on local news, he still sat in his cage and waited for that perfect family that could change his life.

Minutes before Disco’s scheduled death, I stepped in and filled out the forms to save his life.  Out of 34 dogs, I wasn’t just going to sit idly by and let the last one die.  So, I lined up a foster home and thought that everything would change for this loving boy.  Often I find myself questioning this move and here’s why:

In the beginning, everything was great.  I picked Disco up and drove him to his foster home in Independence and I must say, it was the strangest transport ever.  Have you ever tried to drive down the highway with a large dog perched on your shoulder like a parrot?  I really pictured my life ending by a fiery car crash on the interstate while trying to save a dog.  When I got Disco to his new place, he immediately fit in with the family and their dogs and cats.  As the days passed, Disco started showing more and more signs of bad behavior and as the days passed into weeks and then months, Disco eventually had become a nuisance  dog and the family no longer could care for him.  Disco’s destruction had become horrendous and he was responsible for actually eating siding off of a house.  He couldn’t be contained, he would jump fences, chew off of tie-outs, break collars and dig holes to escape.  He would chase the cats if they ran and chase the horse.  It also wouldn’t be unusual to look up and see Disco standing in the middle of the kitchen table.

After many months of trying, health issues of the family forced them to make the decision to give Disco back to me.  Of course, I couldn’t bring him home so he found himself in boarding.  A few weeks later, Disco had another chance of finding a forever home.  Sadly, that one hasn’t worked out, either.  While some of Disco’s problems have been fixed, he seemed to find new one’s.  So yet again, Disco is finding himself homeless.  Even with the perfect family, he still struggles every day and has become too much of a problem.

I am constantly thinking of Disco and how badly I want his story to have a happy ending.  I think of how many people have touched his life and I wonder if there will ever be that one person who is “it”, who is his match.  I ask myself if saving him was only prolonging his pain because even after 1 1/2 years, he still has no family of his very own.  He still finds himself being “the foster dog”, the outsider looking in.

Surely, there is someone out there that has a heart that needs filled?  Surely, someone wants to have Disco fever?  Please, just tell me it’s true.

**This blog is dedicated to those 34 dogs and to those amazing and beautiful rescue workers and volunteers that saved them.**

Annie-Zest-Disco-Jitterbug-Cabo-Cole-Donatello-Montana-Bishop-Ivanhoe-Fuchsia-Bruno-Sweeny-Finnigan-Lu Lu-Peaches-Petunia-Bongo-Truffles-Felix-Norman-Mimosa-Linus-Casino-Ozzie-Jacob-Duchess-Spartacus-Duke-Tabitha-Sally-Stanley-Francois-Ebony