[ EDIT ]
warning: very, very long post.
in short: the system is flawed and heartless. a potentially happy ending ended in nothing short of tragic. read on..
thursday, october 4thwe meet bruno on our front porch at the fily house, tagless, hungry, and oh so freakn sweet :) i had no idea he was a pit bull, otherwise i would've been more hesitant to take him in. but we did anyway, and made him a home in our dirt backyard. later that night we name him bruno. along with 5 other names that we cant decide on.friday, october 5thwe become more acquainted with bruno and learn a lot about him. for instance, he loves to play fetch with tennis balls, but then eventually rips them open. he gives really strong hugs to the point where they're kinda scary. he loves people and loves company and cries whenever we leave.
i make the mistake of telling my parents we're housing him. obviously they're pissed bc the only thing they know about pits is that they're vicious and will bite our face off. so on their demand we get rid of him. but instead we bring him to the bf's backyard where its more suitable for him anyway. there he upgrades from a tennis ball to a soccer ball (which we find out he likes to rip open also) and from the dirt ground to a couch, so its perfect.
sunday, october 7th
we make a vet visit to check his health and if he has a microp chip. he leaves with good health but no microship so our hopes of finding his owners are shot, but at that moment it was ok cus we were pretty set on taking him in. while waiting our turn me and the bf read a sign regarding strays being "humanely destroyed." afterwards we made the decision that turning him into the shelter was definitely not an option.
we bring back to adams backyard and say goodnight.
monday, october 8th
4pm - bruno's gone. after my class we drive to adams to play with our new pup, but he wasnt there. we're confused making calls to all his roommates asking endless questions. at this time im in a silent panic, sitting on the couch where bruno sleeps wondering where the fuck he is. we start thinking maybe the gardners stole him, or even the neighbors (cus we heard crying coming from their backyard). but of course they didnt. we drive for hours, talk to neighbors, and find out he's been seen in the early morning, around 10 or 11, walking around looking lost and confused.
6pm - we end up calling the riverside animale shelter. they tell us a report has been made from an apartment complex across the street where adams lives about a dog that sounds exactly like bruno. but we wont find out until tomorrow if it really is him. our hopes are high again and i can finally stop crying. but the wait kills us.
tuesday, october 9th
me n adam arrive at the animal shelter scared to shits that the report might not have been about bruno. we end up in a long hallway hearing the muffled sounds of dogs barking. people are walking in and out of doors calling for their pets, some crying, and we join them. the place is loaded with stray dogs, crying, scratching at their cages, staring at you pass them by. finally in the last room, in the very last cage, we find our bruno wide-eyed and shaking at the sound of the other dogs' yells. we try to take him home but we cant cus he was never ours to begin with. we cant even play with him. so we sign up to adopt him, and they tell us to come back in 5 days.
wednesday, october 10th and thursday, october 11th
inbetween classes, we visit bruno for an hour at a time. he has such a big personality. he holds our hands through a small gap in the bottom of the cage. we scratch him behind his ears and play hide-n-seek with him. its a heartbreaking sight--like seeing your kid in jail--but we're happy he's alive and safe. everytime we leave i cry, and he watches us walk away until he cant see us anymore. but still, we're excited to take him home and get him out of such a horrible place.
friday, october 12th
we arrive at the shelter ready to take bruno home only to find out he's ineligible for adoption bc he didnt pass his "safer test" (a set of tests to check his behavior and reactions in different situations). we're told he was aggressive and tried to bite, which confused us bc he's never showed signs of aggression or anger and has only been sweet and obedient to everyone he was around. we're told the next step is to wait until a Resuce will pick him up (a place where they train animals until they are fit to be adopted). we're also told they don't practice euthanasia, so we have nothing to worry about. we go home terribly sad and still unable to play, pet, or hug him.
saturday, october 13th
i attempt to get in contact with the supervisor of the Behavior staff at the shelter. i wanted to ask questions regarding Bruno about his safer test and why we think he reacted the way he did bc of his experience in the shelter--we think its because he was more than likely scared and threatened. i wanted them to do the test over. but no answer, no call back.
monday, october 15th
we find out that all dogs with a grade F on their safer test are put in the same room and is closed off to the public so now we cant ever see him. i start thinking about the last time we saw him and regret not staying any longer.
i receive a call back from christy, one of the staff members of Behavior. she tells me his aggression was towards dogs, not humans, which clarifies a lot for me. she tells me a rescue will more than likely not pick him up bc they are at full capacity for pit bulls. she tells me if a resuce doesnt pick him up, he will be euthanized. she tells me im not allowed to adopt him bc they cannot adopt out an animal that has an F on their safer test. i ask her endless questions and all she can tell me is no and/or sorry. i begin to look for rescues in the southern california area that will be interested in him. my efforts fail bc these rescues have to be approved with the rside shelter first. and i cant stop crying.
tuesday, october 16th
im on campus when i get a call back from christy saying no rescue will pick him up bc of his size and his aggression towards other animals. she gives me the confirmation that he's going to be euthanized.
directly after, she puts me on hold for a good 2 minutes. she comes back and says i can adopt him only on the condition that i will undoubtedly keep him and take care of him. i would also have to get my landlord to fax the rental agreement to the shelter and personally write on it that he is aware of the pitbull's agression. we hang up and i call my landlord while she confirms this agreement with her supervisor. my landlord, of course, says there is no way he can allow me to house a pitbull. they both express their deepest sorrows, which to me is a bunch of bullshit. and i cant stop crying.
wednesday, october 17th
adams roommate tells me he's in the process of becoming a dog trainer, and says he would take bruno in as one of his "clients." i call the animal shelter, go right past christy and ask to speak to her supervisor, where i am told that his work needs to be approved as a rescue, and he needs to be able to adopt him under the same conditions that had for me. his work isnt approved and he's not able to adopt him. so again, my hopes are shot. i fail. and im out of things i can do.
october 17th or 18th
bruno's "humanely destroyed"
r.i.p. baby bruno
[ EDIT ]
i should have called Caesar.
