An anonymous announcement in the New York PETS section of CraigsList shared a tale of redemption about an abused dog that was found in 2011 and has been recovering and thriving since being adopted through a rescue group. (We have messaged the author to ask their name but have not heard back yet.)
Three years ago on Feb 9th, you were evicted from apartment 13B at 20 Catherine Street and your old red pit bull was seized by animal control and taken to the kill shelter. She was really skinny and had bad skin infections, and had been bred A LOT. She’d even had a Caesarian, judging by the scar. They said at the kill shelter she was 12 years old. She also had a lopsided face and it looked like there were a few cigarette burns on her head/ears.
I figure you were having a pretty bad time of it, since you were being evicted. I hope things have gotten better for you in the intervening years. Although it’s unlikely you’ll ever see this note, I just wanted you to know that I have your dog and she is doing great.
She gained weight and recovered from her skin issues. Her coat shines now and you can’t see the little round cigarette burn marks any more. We spayed her (her hormones were really out of whack from all the litters she had). She has been wonderful with my young daughter, and our other two dogs. And it turns out she loves to swim! She loves fetch too. If she really was 12 back in 2011, that would make her 15 now but I doubt that as she still will go on long hikes with me, and swim and retrieve balls from the bay until she can barely stand… even though, yes, her face is turning white. She is truly an ambassador for her breed, even people who don’t like pits will stop and pat her as she happily wags her tail. She loves to sleep in sunbeams, and is so happy to go on walks or swims she just wags her tail with every step.
She is sleeping next to me as I type this, grunting with joy. In fact, she sleeps on my bed every night. Your dog is an awesome dog. We love her so much. The past three years we’ve had with her have brought us (and her) so much happiness.
If you do see this, we’d love to know how old she is, and what your name for her was. Also please say a prayer for her, as soon she is going to have mammary surgery to remove some small lumps… unfortunately not spaying a dog and breeding her a lot means she is very likely to get mammary cancer, and Cathy has it. Luckily my vet caught it early, so I am hoping Cathy can spend many more happy years with us. She really is the best dog.
P.S. you can’t have her back.
Alex, who wrote the Craigslist post, wishes everyone would adopt an older animal, telling the Good News Network, “There are so many older pets looking for kind adopters. People can drive to their nearest open access animal shelter and there wil be a Cathy waiting for them, who is just as awesome as my Cathy: mellow, already obedience trained, housetrained, gentle, friendly.”
“Cat lovers can find Cathys too,” they added. “So many nice cats 8-12 years old looking for homes, often because their person had to go into assisted living.”
(SEE the original post and more photos at CraigsList)