SCOOTER

SCOOTER IS NOT AT THE HUMANE SOCIETY ANIMAL SHELTER. THIS IS A COURTESY POSTING FOR A FELLOW RESCUER. FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE CONTACT KIM PERRY AT (606) 638-0512. Around the first of August 2009, Scooter showed up in front of a southern Ohio veterinary clinic which is situated only one car length from a SUPER BUSY thoroughfare. In the midst of thunder and lightning and soaking downpour, Scooter was trying his best to mate with an unspayed brown dog. (Getting wet doesn't bother Scooter much...he gets as much water ON him as IN him when trying to drink water from a hose being used to fill water buckets.)

The brown female was wearing a collar with a rabies tag, but Scooter wasn't even wearing a collar. Vet clinic personnel left word on the cell phone of the owner of the brown female by tracing her rabies records at another clinic. The woman didn't return the calls for days and, then, didn't come pick up her dog for several more days. When she finally did pick up her dog, she said she thought Scooter belonged to one of her neighbors because she'd seen him up and down the road and that she'd try to find out. (Appalachian rednecks and dumb-kins who live elsewhere typically let their unaltered dogs run loose because they live in the "country." This is especially true for male dogs, whereas they usually tie out their unspayed female dogs so that every wandering unneutered male dog can stop by and "service" them. DUH ! )

The owner of the unspayed brown female dog never called the clinic back about Scooter. So, after another week elapsed with Scooter barking incessantly in a cage because he doesn't like being "jailed" and unsuccessful efforts by the clinic in finding a potential adopter for Scooter, the clinic asked their rescue volunteer client (whom they refer to as their economic stimulus because she has so many dogs and cats vetted with them) if she would take Scooter.

oth clinic personnel and the rescue volunteer knew that Scooter would probably end up euthanized in the county pound if the dog warden had to be called to pick up this stray boy. By law in that Appalachian area jurisdiction, a stray must be retained 5 days before euthanasia in order to provide the owner an opportunity to reclaim their dog. The routine WEEKLY MASS EUTHANASIA at this shelter (to make room for the inevitable influx before the next weekly kill day) is scheduled for Tuesdays to coincide with garbage pick up day. Very few dogs are actually adopted from this pound. A majority of the dogs who make it out of there alive are rescued from humane groups in distant localities.

Well, to cut to the chase, the rescue volunteer who frequents the vet clinic and has paid for "all the corner bricks in the building" agreed to take Scooter for fostering until she could find him a worthy home.

On 8/14/09 when Scooter (as clinic personnel had named him) was heartworm tested (negative thank goodness), neutered, and vaccinated, he weighed 18.4 lbs. at an estimated 2 years of age. This cute little boy is 13" tall (at the top of his shoulders) with a longer torso measuring 15" from the base of his neck to the base of his darling "cycle" tail. His foster mom didn't change his name because it seemed to fit him perfectly and because he had already accepted this name when she went to "interview" him for her rescue program.

Scooter likes to play with the other dogs in his foster home; HOWEVER, he gets on the nerves of a lot of the dogs because of his habit of barking at them when approaching to play and because of his tendency to growl when "visiting" the "community dog food bowls." Even though he usually is able to make a speedy retreat when threatened with bodily harm, his foster mom worries that he is going to get his BUTT whipped if he doesn't finally "get it" that this behavior is not acceptable to a lot of the bigger dogs in residence. And he is not going to "get it" because he is just manifesting typical terrier/Jack Russell Terrier behavior.

Scooter is VERY GOOD with dog-friendly cats. He stands perfectly still while they smell him, groom (lick) him, and otherwise check him out. One of the cats in his foster home (a tiny gray tabby named Jewel) likes to play "patty cake" with him through the bars of the baby gate which usually separates the cat room from the dog area. It is so funny to watch. Ironically, Jewel and another gray tabby feline friend of his named Mandy were rescued from the same veterinary clinic where Scooter was incarcerated for a couple of weeks. Because Ohio treats stray cats as "wildlife nuisances," the dog warden drops off cats at various vet clinics in the area to be euthanized .

Scooter would be a perfect companion for any gentle, elementary school aged human siblings in his adoptive family but he is too delicately boned to endure the ministrations of children under the age of five (below the judgemental age threshold).

Obedience training is always recommended for bonding and safety's sake for any new canine addition to a family. Scooter is very obedient about coming when called. His adoptive family needs to start this smart little boy in classes as soon as possible after adoption so that he can learn everything he needs to know to become a first-class citizen. Basic obedience training would be good for both Scooter and human siblings in his adoptive family.

As mentioned before, Scooter has been neutered, started on heartworm preventive, and vaccinated. All he needs now is adoption into a permanent home to share his life, love, and memories for many happy years to come.

SCOOTER IS READY TO SCOOT RIGHT INTO YOUR LIFE AND HEART !

For more info on Scooter, please contact Kim Perry at (606) 638-0512 or email [email protected].