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| Kingston / Photo: Yvette Holzbach |
An urgent appeal spread quickly among animal rescuers
in Houston, Texas on Saturday.
“Got a call from a nurse that does home health and she has
seen this poor dog for a few weeks,” Kelle Mann Davis wrote on her Facebook
page under a photo of a grotesquely emaciated and skin-ravaged animal.
Davis, who runs Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward,
explained, “The story from residents at the apartment complex is that the dog was
left behind after a move. This dog needs help NOW. Can anyone please help him?
I will help how I can but no room here right now. PLEASE SHARE!!!!”
The animal rescue community often can mobilize with lightning
speed. In this case two groups, Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward and Corridor Rescue,Inc. quickly combined forces to take
action.
‘He just so
desperately wanted some love’
“We spent four or five hours looking for Kingston this morning,” reported Yvette
Holzbach in a Facebook post. A
photographer, Holzbach volunteers to document the work of Corridor Rescue in
the field. “As Kelle Mann Davis was
leaving the area, she saw him cross the street. She immediately tried to get
him off the road and he just collapsed. With help from Jamie Mitschke of Love Puppy Breath Rescue we headed off to the vet.”
“On the way there I rode in the back of the car with him,”
Holzbach continued. “All he wanted to do was eat. I was amazed at his strength.
He kept trying to sit up. I was trying to keep him calm. He eventually crawled
over to me and lay his head next to my chest and pushed up against me, almost
as if he just so desperately wanted some love. And that is how he stayed for
the 30-minute drive.”
Next Holzbach reported, “His [medical test] results came back a lot better
than expected so we are hopeful. It will be a miracle if he pulls through but I
have the feeling that he is a little fighter. A big thank-you to Corridor Rescue who are offering assistance. I will keep you all updated as we go along.
Hang in there sweet boy!”
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| Kingston / Photo: Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward |
“Kingston”
as the rescuers named him, was finally getting the care and love that perhaps
he had never had in his life.
Yet he was weak—horrifically starved and dangerously
dehydrated in the scorching Houston
summer. According to Mischke, the vet found that he suffered from heart worm, an
internal parasite, as well as sarcoptic mange, a painful condition caused by a skin parasite.
The cards stacked hard against the long-abandoned dog. He
would indeed need a miracle to survive.
Sadly, the next day Davis
had to deliver the news that it was too late even for miracles.
In an apartment
complex two city blocks long, no help from residents
“It is with a heavy heart that I write this,” Davis posted on her
Facebook page. “After surviving and suffering on the streets for many months, Kingston went over the Rainbow Bridge
early this morning. I know many have already learned of this but I had to write
a tribute of my own.
“At about midnight he crashed. He had been eating and
responding, but he became limp and unresponsive and his vital signs dropped.
“He had, I believe, what he was seeking—a safe place surrounded
by love and a blanket—where could give up the fight, and surrender to the
angels who had been waiting to take him to a place where there is no hunger, so
suffering, no neglect.
“We had so hoped for him to live and to discover what he
should have known all along, and never did.
“I don’t understand how this boy lived in an apartment
complex and no one saw him. No one saw his starved body or his ravaged skin. I
will never understand how people can be so unkind, so uncaring.
“Kingston
was in an apartment complex that was two city blocks big, with many residents
who saw him. When asked, they knew exactly which dog we were seeking. But not
one of them offered him a scrap or water or help for rescue.”
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| Kingston / Photo: Yvette Holzbach |
Strengthened resolve to fight for ‘the unseen, the forgotten’
“It has made my resolve more strong,” Mann continued in her
tribute to Kingston,
“to live and be aware, to help others to become aware, to do all I can to try
to change the plight of the unseen, the forgotten.
“Thank you Kingston,
for sharing just a moment of your journey. You brought us tears and we had
hope, but it wasn’t meant to be. Another mission of mercy, another rescue that
brings heartache and pain.
“But we were honored, dear Kingston, to be by your side, and proud to
have had the privilege of helping you with dignity and love. Thank you. You
didn’t die with the ants eating your body, in a ditch all alone, hurting and
scared, but am sure you waited for us to allow you but an ounce of comfort for
your trip across the Rainbow
Bridge.
“We love you boy. Run fast and run free. You are in our
hearts forever more.”
‘Shame on the people
who looked away’
DeAnna McGuire Clawson remarked on her Facebook page, “RIP Kingston. So sad his
little body gave out the day he finally had a human show him compassion. Shame
on the people who looked away in that apartment building and refused to give
this poor thing water or food.”
“At least,” she concluded, “he got one day of love.”
To help the many other dogs like Kingston in the Houston area, please consider donating to or volunteering for rescue groups such as:
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| RIP Kingston / Photo: Yvette Holzbach |
ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT BY KATERINA LORENZATOS MAKRIS unless otherwise noted
COPYRIGHT 2012
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