Like a lot of kids, there was a time where I wanted a pet when I was growing up. Although I would later find out that this had my parents wondering how it would fit in our apartment, they didn’t say “no.”
Instead, they made it clear exactly how much responsibility goes into having a pet and that if I wasn’t prepared to give it the proper care it needs, I shouldn’t have one.
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Unfortunately, it seems that some folks either never got this talk or chose to ignore it. Otherwise, animals like one particular dog from California wouldn’t end up in such unfortunate situations.
We see it all over social media — videos of abandoned animals suffering due to human irresponsibility.
And while it pulls at our heart strings and probably causes us to shed a few tears, most of us won’t just go out and decide to save strays in their spare time.
But that’s what sets animal care providers apart from us regular joes.
And for the good people at Valley Animal Shelter, saving sweet souls is their daily grind.
Their philosophy is pretty inspiring. “We believe that animals, as living creatures, deserve to be protected, respected, and given every consideration morally and ethically. ”
One day, staff at the Valley Animal Shelter in Fresno, California were treated to a sad surprise.
They didn’t know how long it had been going on, but the incredibly matted fur on a five-year-old poodle named Jareth told them how badly he had been neglected.
The intense lack of grooming didn’t just make him your average shaggy dog. It made life a lot more difficult for him.
According to a post on the shelter’s Facebook page, the excess hair meant he could barely move and he couldn’t see out of either of his eyes.
Still, the team forged ahead and they ended up removing two pounds of fur from the dog.
Jareth was surrendered to the shelter, but their post said they never learned how anyone ever let him descend into such an extreme state.
Obviously, he needed a serious haircut, but that wouldn’t be as easy as it sounds.
Before they could even start clipping off the jungle of fur that Jareth had collected, they apparently needed to sedate him.
Although they told NBCi that Jareth was very weak when he came in, he was clearly also very anxious.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for dogs to develop anxiety disorders dururing prolonged periods of fear and/or separation.
For little Jareth here, the anxiety must have bloomed from a sad cocktail of the two.
The amount of hair they removed certainly looks impressive, but doing so also had an important impact on Jareth.
The poor poodle could now see out of both eyes and with all that extra weight off his body, he could start moving again.
But of course, that didn’t mean their work was done.
Restoring Jareth to a healthy state would take more than a haircut, and they also planned to get him neutered before he would be ready for somebody to adopt him.
But Valley Animal Shelter has some pretty good experience with these kinds of dogs, and they were willing to put in the work.
Once they got past the neutering, things seemed to really pick up for this previous owner of a two-pound fur coat.
Two weeks later, it seemed that Jareth was ready to find a forever home.
Although the Valley Animal Shelter staff weren’t sure if he had been potty trained, they also said that he was smart enough that getting the hang of it shouldn’t be too much trouble.
However, anybody who feels compelled to find out how to adopt Jareth doesn’t need to worry.
On October 11, the shelter staff reported that the dog had found a forever home. With any luck, it’ll be with somebody who’s a lot more responsible than his previous owner.
Isn’t it so nice to see a happy ending for this pup!?
h/t: Valley Animal Center
