A Rescue Story:
"Bailey"
We
were alerted to Bailey's plight in February of 1997, when a caring woman named
Lorraine called us with a tip. She had seen a collie advertised for sale for
$50 in a local discount classifieds newspaper, and had called the posted
number. The woman with whom she spoke painted such a poor picture of the dog
for sale, telling Lorraine that the dog had mange, was 20 pounds underweight
and had not on heartworm preventative, that Lorraine became concerned for the
dog's welfare and called Collie Rescue.
BAILEY: “BEFORE”
BAILEY: “AFTER”
When
we contacted the seller, the seller told us the same story, adding that she
raised chows and miniature dachshunds, and could not afford to feed Bailey
properly. She was planning to show him and breed him, though (yes, in his
"before" picture state!). Then she told us that the dog actually
belonged to a friend of hers, and that she was keeping him because her friend's
chow bitch was in heat. Because the dog was outside our home county, we
contacted Animal Control in the seller's county, and they were familiar with
her. They went to check on Bailey, and suggested to the seller that she should
turn the dog over to us, since she did not have a health certificate as
required by Florida law for the sale of a dog, and since the dog was clearly
not in the best of circumstances. The seller agreed, and we planned to meet her
at a public location the next morning.
Unfortunately,
waiting overnight nearly cost us the chance to save Bailey. When we called the
next morning to confirm the meeting time, our seller was getting cold feet. It
seems that her friend (Bailey's previous caretaker) was on call-waiting telling
the seller not to give him to us. That woman claimed that she was not the
actual owner of Bailey, but had taken him from yet a third woman who had
extracted the promise of having him available for breeding in the future.
"He's a valuable dog, 'cause he could have white puppies, and white
collies are really valuable. She just couldn't find the AKC papers when she
gave him to me." The previous caretaker was adamant that she needed to
have the permission of that original owner before the dog could be turned over
to us, because we were planning to neuter Bailey as soon as possible. All these
protests, although she had previously requested that the seller advertise and
get rid of the dog!
Some
fast talking, complemented by a breakdown in civility between the seller and
the previous caretaker resulted in us getting immediate custody of Bailey. We
promised to get Bailey healthy, treat him for heartworms if necessary, and to
give the previous caretaker one month to contact the original owner before we
would neuter Bailey. This won over the seller, and she had a few choice words
with her friend, who became angry and said, "Just give them the dog,
then." Of course, we never heard from any of the parties involved; the
seller was happy to have Animal Control off of her back over a friend's dog,
and it turned out that the previous caretaker was rumored to have a record for
animal cruelty.
Anyway,
we rushed Bailey to the vet immediately, and he was diagnosed with hookworms, a
flea allergy (not mange!), and as being 15+ pounds underweight. Fortunately, he
was free of heartworms. We started Bailey on the road to recovery, and he has
since been fortunate enough to be adopted by a young lady and her family in a
nearby town. His young mistress paid off part of Bailey's vet bills by selling
boiled peanuts after school and on the weekends. We got to see Bailey next in
December 13, 1997, when he posed for the "after" picture, above.
Another
happy ending for a rescued collie, thanks to Lorraine, who will forever be
Bailey's "Fairy Dogmother" in all our hearts!