We could not believe someone just threw Huey away! But the folks who run the dump say it is all too common.
We had the mini-van, opened it to toss the bags in the dumpster. Laura doing the main bunch, and I went into the back hatch to make sure nothing was back there.
As soon as Laura tossed the last bag from the middle of the van, out he came from beneath the dumpster. Laura and I thought briefly he was one of the dump's black cats, they have several. Nope. He came out, wagged and hopped into the van, all together like "where-have-you-BEEN?"
Poor thing had had nothing but bologna for days and was so foul... You can imagine. So, I went around and got him, he was wagging up a storm and totally friendly. At first we both thought he belonged to someone in the dump office.
Nope. As soon as the lady who works there saw him with us she came over. No, he'd been dumped days ago, they'd been feeding him. (It was Saturday, they close Sundays.)
If he was still there MONDAY they were going to take him to Animal Control. Sigh, three days already and they were LEAVING HIM for Sunday? NOT HAPPENING.
By then I'm sitting in the van with his royal foulness held in a tight hug. He wasn't staying there! Ugh. Laura briefly entertained the idea that we'd take him to a shelter. We don't normally bring home small dogs for fear they'll be prey instead of play.
She got in, looked at my expression and sighed. She knows that expression all too well. I told her I'd get him into a rescue somewhere but he was NOT going to a shelter until I'd given it a real try. We agreed, we'd find him a rescue placement. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday morning I sent out photos and emails to the groups we work with locally, ones that traditionally handle small house dogs... But by Sunday evening, Huey had played with the pack like he'd been born here, and cuddled his way onto our laps far too often. Laura finally emitted the fateful words, I'd really hoped to hear. "Well, he doesn't eat much."
Huey was staying.
Of course along with the bath he'd needed, he was heartworm positive and needed neutering and umbilical hernia repair. For a free dog he was vastly expensive but that's often true.
He's a joy and worth every bit of the almost 800 he ended up costing us.
