Saving Jake

Jake is a dog. He's a black lab something or other that lived on a chain in a yard in Wyoming. Jake had no shelter, little food or water, and no attention. His owners didn't love him. They didn't want him. But they kept him anyway and fed him when they felt like it.

April is a friend and coworker of mine and her parents live down the road from Jake. On Christmas Eve, April drove over to inquire about the dog. Did they want him? Could she have him? His owners were too lazy to try to find a home for him on their own, or even take him to the pound. But when opportunity knocked and they were able to get rid of their "problem" without having to put forth any effort of their own, they jumped at the chance. April drove back to her parent's place with a very happy and mud caked Jake in the back seat.

Jake, after some grooming to remove all the dried mud. Note the distended belly, atrophied muscles, and visible back and hip bones.

April has been feeding Jake tiny amounts of food and water every couple of hours. The first time he ate he turned around and threw it back up. The poor guy just wasn't used to getting food. He had to go out half a dozen times during the first night because his intestines and bladder were still unused to having anything to process.

Yesterday, April let him off the leash to see what he'd do. Jake ran. And ran. And then ran some more. Imagine being free to run for the first time in years! But the best part... the absolute best thing ever, was that he came back to April. Isn't it amazing, that only after 12 hours he already knew where his new home was? He didn't go back to the chain and yard that he'd known for years, he went back to April. The human that had shown compassion, love, and more importantly, fed him.

After only a day and a half he's turned into a ravenous and energetic dog, happy to be alive and loved for the first time in years. And he'd really really really like to play with Ralphie the cat, but Ralphie has other ideas. Like hiding. For the rest of his nine lives.

Jake goes to the vet today to get checked out and wormed. Once he's healthy again April will be looking for a new home for him. As much as April would love to keep him, she lives in a townhouse and Jake deserves the room to run. And run. And then run some more.