Dog Dumped, Devastated and Rescued

It was a quiet Sunday night on Brainard Ave in Middletown when a woman heard a car pulled up outside. Doors opened and shut and a minute later the car started up again. Curious, she went to the front door and watched as the car’s tail lights faded into the night. There, in the middle of the road, stood a very confused dog. He had just been dumped, probably by the only family he had ever known.

Worried the dog would get hit by a car, the woman went to get the dog out of the road. He had no collar or anything to identify him. He kept looking in the direction the car went as if waiting for them to return. Not know what else to do, this woman called a friend who is a volunteer for Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue. Without question, Deneen, the volunteer, made a call for rescue back up and jumped in her car.

Deneen met Kevin and Kelly, two other Castle of Dreams volunteers at the woman’s house and there they found a beautiful, pure bred Shepherd. Confused and pacing, wondering what happened to his home or why he was pushed out in the middle of the road, the dog was still very friendly and greeted the rescue team with a wagging tail.

These Castle of Dreams volunteers reached out to another volunteer to see if there was an available foster home who could take in this abandoned pup.  Emails started flying and, working together, the Castle of Dreams family opened their doors and the dog, now called Zeus, was secured in a foster home that night. Pam, the Castle of Dreams intake coordinator, took Zeus in and made sure he was fed and safe. Monday another foster, Theresa and her family, agreed to take him until a good forever home could be found.

The night didn’t end there. Once Zeus was safe, the Castle of Dreams team scoured the lost dog ads and began posting and sharing Zeus’ story online. They hoped for any information on who dumped this beautiful animal on a dark and lonely street, leaving this him to fend for himself just as the weather is turning colder.

Although a bit underweight, Zeus appears to be a very healthy, male shepherd and will go up for adoption as soon as he’s been properly vetted and neutered. Whoever dumped this dog was sentencing him to an uncertain life of starvation, illness, living in a cage in a lonely shelter or worse. Their decision could have been a death sentence for Zeus. This dog was lucky that someone reached out to Castle of Dreams and that the volunteers, Deneen, Kelly, Kevin and Pam, mobilized so quickly.

It was the actions of a few caring people that saved this dog. Some did more than others but it was when everyone did something that it all worked out. The neighbor who took the first step to make sure Zeus didn’t get hit by a car, the volunteers who left their homes at a moment’s notice to rush to the rescue, and the fosters who opened their homes to a dog abandoned on a busy street all came together to save a life. I applaud their actions and hope there are more people like them in the world. You don’t have to do it all, just do something.

If you’d like to donate for Zeus’s care, vetting, or neutering you can find the Castle of Dreams here: www.castle-of-dreams.com. Castle of Dreams always needs new volunteers. If you'd like to get involved check out the website for more information.