Tuesday, March 2, 2010:  7:00PM

It was a typical Tuesday night for A.A.R.F.  Delivering dogs to their new families, and meet ups with volunteers in the Wal Mart Parking lot, as well as doing some shopping with their families.  A lot of commotion arises from one area of the parking lot, where it appeared that a young couple was trying to get something to come out from underneath a vehicle.  A.A.R.F. volunteer Jennifer goes to investigate, only to find a frightened and starved puppy coming out from under the vehicle to get the french fries that this young couple is trying to lure him out with.  The pup is frightened of Jennifer, but is focused on her stepson who now has possession of the McDonald’s french fries.  With the help of A LOT of kind hearted citizens who want to see this dog get to safety, Jennifer’s stepson and his special gift with animals, and Jennifer’s husband, whose philosophy with frightened dogs has all to do with bologna and NOTHING else (thank goodness the deli was right there!!!!), we trapped this pup in a carrier and brought him into foster care.

Jennifer says “He is focused solely on my husband, now…which convinces me that he is right about the bologna.  I have seen him work two cases of feril dogs, now, and within 24 hours and 1/2 pound of bologna, the dog is our new best friend!  I hope that this is the same for this new little guy”.

This male pup was spotted in the wal mart parking lot around 5PM this evening and people had been apparently trying to capture him since that time.  Jennifer says “when a dog is frightened, or has had to fend for itself for its entire life, it trusts no one and will snap, bite, lunge and run away out of fear.  The best thing to do in a situation like this is to stay calm and lure it to safety, such as into a crate or kennel (which most A.A.R.F. volunteers keep with them at all times).  Fear issues can be resolved at a later time…the idea is safety first, and to avoid being bit since no one knows the history of this animal.  Chasing, sudden movements, loud noises…this will only make the animal more anxious to get away”.  When asked her thoughts on how the animal arrived in the parking lot, Jennifer said that it was too soon to tell, but her initial thought was that this was a wild pup who made its way away from it’s mom and was just looking for someting to eat.  She does not believe that this is a dump case.  “If I visit with him in the morning, and he wags and licks and jumps in my lap – then absolutely!  this pup belonged to someone.  But I honestly suspect, just by the reaction that I received from him upon arriving at the scene, that this animal is feril by all means”.  At one point during the rescue, the pup lunged and attempted to bite Jennifer’s leg.

It took Jennifer and her husband about 5 minutes upon arriving home to get this little guy out of his crate and into his new, temporary foster kennel…and yes, bologna was involved!  Once confined, he stood at the door of his kennel and watched Jennifer’s husband for about an hour – wagging his tail- his eyes following him everywhere he went.  Within an hour’s time, they could put their fingers inside of his kennel and he sniffed them and looked into their eyes. Jennifer expects the rehabilitation to take some time, but expects that he will be a great candidate for adoption once he is ready.

The moral to this and every story is that spay and neuter is the answer.  If you are allowing your dogs and cats to reproduce, you are only contributing to the ever-growing problem of animal overpopulation.  For more information on how you can be part of the solution, please call (931) 372-2728 or your local veterinarian to make an appointment to get your animals fixed today.  Financial Assistance may be available.