Hard-luck dogs deserve lots of love and care
Difficult to find homes for old and ill canines
Of all the homeless, desperate dogs in animal shelters or with animal rescue groups, the hardest to find homes for are the three-legged, elderly, sickly and just plain ugly. That’s where the Underdog Club comes in. The Westmount-based non-profit group is a self-described dog-marketing agency promoting the hardest-luck cases with some 10 Montreal-area pet shelters and dog rescue groups. Even in the kindness of adoption there is discrimination, notes Underdog director Kristin McNeill.
“Even if a dog doesn’t have long to live or isn’t attractive the way the cute puppies or breeds are that most people go for, we think that dog deserves a chance,” she says.
The group’s website (underdogclub.com) explains it to humans more bluntly: “Look, we’re all going to be old one day, some of you may be ugly and we’ve all been unpopular at one time or another, but that doesn’t make us any less worthy of love.”
Through the Underdog website and in columns in the weekly Westmount Independent newspaper, where McNeill is the editor, the neediest dogs get an image boost. The Underdog Club has helped to place six dogs in 10 months, McNeill says.
The dogs she promotes are in good shelters or foster homes, but they still run a high risk of being euthanized if they are too sick or, ultimately, if no one wants them.
Remi is a 2-year-old male Lab and beagle mix whose paw pads were raw and toenails were worn down to the nubs or had fallen off when he was found wandering near the train tracks in St-Henri. He even chewed one of his front feet down to the muscle. He’s with a foster family now, in bandages and waiting for adoption. Underdog says Remi’s hardships haven’t dampened his littlest hobo spirit.
“While Remi is a little nervous outside of the house and tends to bark at anything from others dogs to leaves fluttering by, up close he is a friendly, happy boy who gets along well with everyone,” the website says.
“He loves to romp around with his foster mates and cuddle up with his foster mum.”
But why would anyone, given the range of dogs needing homes, choose one that might come with steep vet bills, undesirable psychological traits or unsolicited stares?
The answer lies in how grateful the dog will be if you adopt it, says Sophie Fournier, who runs a dog rescue group (sophiesdogadoption.com) that has about 35 dogs available for adoption right now. Some have come from a puppy mill where they were barely socialized and have health problems as a result.
“The best dogs often come from the toughest backgrounds,” Fournier says. “They are so eager to please. It’s like they know they are getting a second chance.”
Fournier said she admires people who will adopt an elderly dog. “They are really there for the dog and don’t want it to be alone when it dies,” she said.
Gerdy, who runs another rescue group (gerdysrescue.org) and who preferred not to give her last name, said one recent rescue was Tuscon, a one-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever and chow mix found chained in a backyard in Sherbrooke. The owners admitted he had been tied there most of his life. He has an ulcerated eye, an old unhealed fracture in his leg and inverted eyelashes, which mean his eyes are nearly shut, Gerdy said. With some surgery he will be OK. Despite it all, Gerdy notes that Tuscon is very nice and affectionate. The neighbour who called Gerdy and convinced the dog’s owner to give it up is “one of our Earth angels,” Gerdy says. “She wants to stop the pain.”
Such people are the silver linings in the sad dog rescue stories, Fournier says. And they give dog rescuers some hope for humanity. Fournier says: “The more I rescue dogs the more I hate humans.”
For McNeill, who kept Toby, her 5-year-old hyperactive, pit-bull mix (an unpopular breed in many people’s books) because it was so apparent he needed help, the urge to really save a pooch is a good one to have, and is part of giving back.
“Often these dogs have behaviour issues due to how they were treated,” McNeill says. “If human beings created a monster, it’s really wrong to have that dog put down.”