Heather Dawn O'Dell—Texas
Drove 16 Hours to Help Abused and Neglected Dog
It was the summer of 2009 when I read the story of Harry, a Mexican Hairless dog who had endured horrific abuse at the hands of his owner. The article described Harry and his two siblings being taken onto the streets of Mexico to be systematically killed. After Harry stood by and watched his as siblings were shot to death, he was secured to the ground and intentionally run over by a vehicle. Left for dead, by some miracle he survived. Harry was picked up off the street and taken to a nearby shelter. While there, his crushed leg was amputated.
Soon after reading Harry’s story, my husband, four kids, and I traveled a total of sixteen hours to adopt this special dog. At first, he seemed a little timid, which we blamed on his recent ordeal—but our veterinarian confirmed otherwise. Harry was suffering from Ehrlichia, a type of tick disease. In one sitting a dozen live ticks were removed from his ears. Furthermore, Harry’s sutures from his amputation had been left in too long at the overcrowded shelter—the skin had grown over them causing infection. It seemed as if this boy could not get a break.
From that day forward, Harry became known as Hardy. He had endured tremendous roadblocks, yet persevered—all while maintaining a very loving personality. We are not sure how old Hardy is; the shelter told us four, our Veterinarian thinks he is closer to seven. It is hard to determine an age since most of his teeth are missing, and he was malnourished most of his life. But things sure are different now! Hardy gets lots of food, love and attention. He just adores our children and playing with our other two dogs. I have shared Hardy’s special story with many people, encouraging them to adopt special needs and abused animals.