A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[chrisnpat]

Wow Super Richard, glad to hear you have all 75 bricks. Also the letter, fantastic, I sure hope it makes a difference. Bless you.

[Dixie_Flyer]

SGTJOE wrote:
How did we do on the 13??

We had five donations for the thirteen. So what I did was put thirteen stars on the first line and always remembered on the next two.

Tonight I am nursing an injured squirrel that Suzie caught in the back yard. I don't think it is going to make it till morning, but I am trying. He has taken some water from an eye dropper and some Rescue Remedy. He has moved around some in the box I put him in with some towels to keep him warm. I know he is just a squirrel, but I can't stand to see anything suffer.

[SGTJOE]

How did we do on the 13??

[Dixie_Flyer]

The bricks are finished and we have 48 bricks with Boral Brick Company giving the remainder to make it 75 for the walkway. Thank you everyone for helping build the Old Fella Memorial Walkway.

[Gentle_Spirit]

Reading the letter about dog fighting was horrifying. Children mauled, family pets "sacraficed", dogs chained up in the woods....horrifying. I hope I don't have nightmares about what is done to the family pets.

I recently read that Michael Vick has gotten reinstated into the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles on a 1 year contract for $1.6 mil, then for 2010, $5 mil.

Personally I think he should have been permanently ousted. But, maybe I need to learn forgiveness....

[Missy120]

Well said. Haven't been on the boards in a few weeks.

I have been voting every day for Old Fella though!

[SGTJOE]

Well said Richard.

[Poodle_Power]

Excellent letter Richard. We need many more people like you to help protect animals that can't help themselves.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Letter to the Editor in today's Ture Citizen News Paper



Editorial October 14, 2009 Search Archives:

DAs need to get tough on dog fighting


Editor:

The newspaper's front page last week was a wakeup call for the citizens of Burke County. Dog fighting has been going on in our county for a long time with silence being the culprit of not being able to apprehend those who participate in this blood sport.

People think by keeping quiet about such evil it won't affect them, but they are wrong. It enters our homes through our children who hear of these things at schools and other social gatherings.

It creates an environment of amoral people who learn to have a total disregard for life.

Lately I have become aware of a new tactic: dogfighters hide their fighting dog by taking it to a wooded area and chaining it to a tree without shelter, then they return later to pick it up for a dog fight.

Just recently a child happened to stumble across such a dog and was mauled viciously. Walking the streets of Waynesboro, we see these status symbols of control over a powerful animal by kids and adults walking pit bulldogs on a leash made of a heavy logging chain.

This is to show what a big person they are. I pity these people who have to show off in such a manner by demeaning an otherwise peaceful animal to the state of having to fight for its life and be treated like a piece of trash with no real value to the family to which it has to trust for its care.

The really sad truth about all of this is the people who need to read this will never do so because they don't care to keep up with the news and what is happening in our community.

They are only concerned with themselves. I hope there will come a day when our county will become a model for all other counties across these United States as to the care and welfare of how it compassionately treats its companion animals.

There is a large black mark that has stained our community; it will be a reminder of the heartless people that have brought this ugly, distasteful event to the forefront of our news.

People looking to make their homes here will be wondering how safe their family will be and even their pets.

Many family pets have fallen victim to the dog fighting ring. They are kidnapped and then placed into a ring with a pit bull to become a blood sacrifice as the pit tears into the flesh of the helpless dog until it is killed or either the people take the pet and hang it from a tree to allow the other Pits Bulls in training to tear at it legs as it hangs there struggling for its life.

I have no pity for these people who have so disgraced our community, and I hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I want to thank the Burke County Sheriff's Office for their work in breaking up this dog fighting ring, and I hope they will continue to put the pressure on those who are in involved in such activities until they no longer exist in Burke County.

Our elected District Attorney Ashley Wright needs to treat these offenders as felons and seek to send them to jail for a very long time.

Without a strong position from the DA's office the work of the Sheriff's Office will be for nothing and will soon discourage them from trying to arrest and prosecute the people who participate in dog fighting. We the people need to let our voices be heard in the courts, newspapers and on election day until we have cleaned up our county and made it a safe place for all of God's creation to live.

Richard C. Daniels

Waynesboro

[Dixie_Flyer]

Hoops wrote:
Very good news, now they will know they will be punished if found guilty in your county. 1 small step forward. What happened to the two dogs the officer found? Did they ever get their rides? Wish we could have helped. What about Hobo's stools, have they improved?

Have a great day, and you need the rain to prevent drought and so flowers and grass will grow. However the gray skies sure do not help my mood when I have tons to do.

God Bless

Sallie is to be flown out to Oregon very soon.

[Hoops]

Very good news, now they will know they will be punished if found guilty in your county. 1 small step forward. What happened to the two dogs the officer found? Did they ever get their rides? Wish we could have helped. What about Hobo's stools, have they improved?

Have a great day, and you need the rain to prevent drought and so flowers and grass will grow. However the gray skies sure do not help my mood when I have tons to do.

God Bless

[Dixie_Flyer]

Good morning everyone. Its raining here in the 'Boro and the weatherman says it will do so all day. The fur babies are doing well and have settled down for the morning. Here is a copy from the Waynesboro True Citizen News Paper from last week's court.

For The Record October 14, 2009

Man sent to jail in animal cruelty case
By Anne Marie Kyzer annemariek@thetruecitizen.com


A former Alexander resident was sent to jail for abandoning two pit bulls that were chained to a tree.

Darrell Lamark Kentle pleaded guilty last week to one misde- meanor count of cruelty to animals. He was charged after neighbors found the two dogs had been left on the property with no food or water since he moved from the area more than a week before. The teeth of one of the dogs had been filed down to the gum line. An animal rescue volunteer speculated the animal could have been used as a "bait dog" for fighting.

State Court Judge Jerry Daniel sentenced Kentle to 12 months in jail and ordered him to pay $4,718 in restitution for the cost of medical care and boarding for the two dogs. The dogs were not returned to him.

Animal cruelty wasn't Kentle's only brush with the law this term. He was also sentenced to three years probation on another state court case for three counts of deposit account fraud.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Tomorrow I start with the bricks for the walkway. Hopefully we can have it finished by month's end. Things are quiet on the home front riht now. Lately I have been feeling like I have a lot on my plate so this trip to Virginia and then to Cherokee, NC is looking real good.

I'm going to bed now so I'll say good night and have a blessed evening.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Boy, it sure has been very quiet over here in this corner. Things have setteled down here in the "Boro, at least for a while anyway. The fur gang continues to do well and ready to go to Virginia with us. Yesterday I slipped out of the house to the camper to take a nap, I do this often when things get hurried around the house. Anyway, after a while Mama couldn't find me so she went to Sue and started barking. She went to the windows and looked out into the yard and then cma back to Sue. It was then she figured out what Mama was looking for. Sue opened the back door and escorted Mama out to the camper where she immediately came running to the bedroom and pounced onto the bed with me. She was so happy she just licked my hands and face as if I had been gone for a long time.

It's nice to know you are loved that much! She is such a sweetheart.

[Hoops]

Joe, that cat is for real. It was on Animal Planet last year.