An Amazing Story of Survival and Perserverance
Trooper
In Pit Bull rescue we face the ugliest of the human nature and the absolute best. Trooper's story embodies both of these qualities. As a six week old baby, Trooper was found by a Pierce County Animal Control officer by the side of the road. That is a scenario that is not uncommon in their line of work, but the details that surrounded this little puppy were not common.
Trooper was found covered in dried tar-obviously he had encountered hot tar and it dried on his little baby body. Though we have no idea how he became covered in that tar, we can only imagine how painful it was to his tender baby skin. It was soon discovered that he also had a condition called Carpal Flexor Deformity, also known as knuckling over, a deformity that caused him to stand on his wrists instead of his paws.
BullsEye Dog Rescue learned of the puppy on a day that Gretchen and Lorrie were at the Humane Society for Tacoma/Pierce County working on the Adopt-A-Bull Program. Trooper was in a medical kennel where he was being held, as his breed and medical condition would not allow him to be put up for adoption. His only hope for survival was rescue.
The moment Lorrie stepped into this little puppy's kennel, despite the pain and suffering he was in from a tar covered body and having to walk on his wrists, he walked right up to her barking and wagging his tail. Showing the true Pit Bull spirit, Trooper grabbed her pant leg and started to tug and growl. How could BullsEye not take him into their rescue program??
Lorrie had every intention of taking the little man home but Jen took one look at Trooper and Gretchen knew there was no stopping him becoming their new foster dog. Many hours of tar removal and numerous visits to Des Moines Veterinary Hospital followed, where Dr. Conger cast and re-cast his little legs. Trooper's care has drained our meager finances, but he was worth every penny.
Completely recovered, he has now gone onto his new life with Mandy and Mike, where his loving care continues. Please take a moment to view this amazing video that they have shared with us about his life in the following link called TROOPERS TRIBUTE
Trooper's new mommy, Mandy has also shared a blog about her decision to adopt a pit bull.
Why a Pitbull?
It starts when I was little. I've always been a dog lover. Through my childhood we always had a dog but I wanted one for my very own. I remember clipping newspaper adds and leaving them around the house. Sometimes it worked and I got to have my own dog but it usually ended up on a sad note. Runaway, cancer, moving into apartments and only allowed one dog. So I decided I wouldn't get anymore dogs until I became an adult and owned my own home. Home ownership is a wonderful thing for many reasons, it's the American Dream. For me though that dream included giving a dog a home. Mike felt the same.. Many years later when the dream got closer I started researching the kinds of dogs that are the hardest to get adopted. Thats the kind of dog I wanted. The kind that sits in shelters and rarely gets that second chance. During my research I found that Pit Bulls were at the top of that list.
I must shamefully admit though, at the time I did not think a Pitbull was a good dog to have. As a child a dog that LOOKED like a Pitbull (and who was cruelly chained under a house) break free, jump a fence and chase me down the street. I was 7yrs old at the time so it frightened me and influenced me. The real shameful part is I also allowed the idiotic media, rumors and lies to influence me too. I allowed myself to become ignorant. Something I will never forgive myself for.
So here I sit ready to adopt and the words Pitbull are blaring back at me. I decided then to put my feelings (stupid fears) aside and do my own research into them. Thats when I learned that nearly everything I had been told or thought was untrue. And how victimized they really are. I dove into their history from the 1800s to today and became sick. I watched videos of the abuse, the fighting and the many of Pitbulls with their happy families being wonderful pets just like any other dog.
That was it, I had made my decision. Our new family member would be a Pitbull. Mike just wanted a dog, any dog. So off we went to the Humane Society to look for that future family member. We found many Pitbulls with fast wiggling butts and eyes eager to please. And when we found one we wanted (I wanted them all but Mike said we didn't have room in the car) we snagged his ticket off of his cage and found an attendant. Thats when we were shocked to learn that NONE of the Pitbulls were available for adoption. It crushed us. How could this be? Why would so many sweet animals that we could give a loving home to be destroyed?
It was a truth that left us angry and heart broken. However a good thing did happen that day. We walked away knowing about Bullseye Dog Rescue. A hard working group who saves "bully" breeds. You see we were at the Tacoma Humane Society and we learned that a few of the dogs do indeed have a chance and thats through Bullseye. We were sad to leave that place knowing there were dogs who instead of coming home with us, would be put on a table and forced to leave this world. But we took the hope that someday there would be a Pitbull we could bring home and love and we contacted Bullseye immediately..
We were contacted back by a wonderful woman... Lorrie. She told us to put in a application and then she phoned us. I can easily describe this woman as pure sweetness and all business. She cared so much for the dogs but also for us and our want to have one. We viewed the list of dogs they had available on line and Lorrie took the time to discuss each one with us. It became clear which one would be the best fit. The next step was to meet him. And thats when we were introduced to Gretchen & Jen, Bullseye members and Trooper's foster mommies. They are honestly two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Through my contact with Gretchen she went out of her way to do whatever worked best for us no matter how long it took.
Then the day came that the Bullseye team arrived at our house (who now included a super sweet girl named Juli). They had loaded up and made the long drive out to our house on a Saturday.
And after some coaxing.. out of the car came our sleepy sweetheart.. Trooper. Again I must admit it was a very strange feeling for me. For most of my life I felt a little fear when I saw a Pitbull and never thought of actually having one in my home. And here was Trooper, the minute I saw his fat head I knew wanted to smooch him for life and instead of feeling like I needed to protect myself I wanted to protect him and love him!
Even though it had been a long day for Bullseye they took hours with us. Making sure Trooper, our home and Mike and I would make a good fit. When they left I couldn't wait for our 24 hour period (mandatory decision time) to be over to let them know we would be honored to give him our home. We were quit nervous as we didn't know whether we would be approved as Trooper did have a medical condition and Bullseye only wants the best home for him. Then the e-mail came that we were indeed approved and Trooper would be coming home to us for good. We were going to be Pitbull Parents!
The day we adopted him was so great. We met with his foster mommies and other members of Bullseye team and signed the paperwork. They all gathered around with support and kindness while saying goodbye to their baby. I can only imagine what an incredibly hard thing that must have been for them to do. They put so much into bringing this dog to life and giving him a chance then letting him go. We drove home with Trooper's head on my lap snoring away.
We pulled up to our home all excited. We couldn't wait to show him the pile of goodies we had been collecting for his home coming. We felt bad taking him from such wonderful people and just wanted to make him happy. Each day that went by it was hard to imagine NOT having Trooper in our lives.
The biggest and most important thing I can say out of all of this is that every good thing said about Pitbulls Trooper has proven them right. And every bad generalization said about Pitbulls Trooper has proven them WRONG. He is a true Pitbull Ambassador and I am proud to be his mommy.
When I look at him I promise myself that I will never again allow the media or rumors to influence me. Then I kiss his head and tell him that for the rest of his life I will make up for my shameful mistake. He gives me a kiss and a snuggle of his own. Forgiveness? Maybe.
It breaks my heart that there are so many beautiful souls like Trooper sitting in shelters right now waiting to be laid on a table and taken away for good but I thank God that Bullseye swooped in from the Heavens, rescued Trooper from that table and placed him in our arms to become a forever member of our family. Whatever our future brings Trooper will be right there with us. Probably on his back snoring away but no matter, he will be there with us. He is our baby now and forever.
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