Molly

In the world of animal rescue, all stories don't have happy endings. Unfortunately, this is one of them. This is the story of Molly, a beautiful soul with a full life ahead of her, until she was failed by those she depended on the most.

Molly was a stray who came into rescue by way of a shelter retrieval. While looking over recent intakes the rescue decided Molly had a great chance at living a long and happy life, with a little help to get started. So the rescue took responsibility for Molly and began their journey of making Molly whole again.

The rescue found a loving foster family for Molly. She was brought up to date on her shots and she was spayed. A few minor medical issues were addressed and conquered. The foster family lovingly trained Molly in basic commands like 'sit' and 'come'. They taught her how to sleep quietly in a crate. They took her out to meet other people. And all that time Molly was leaving the stray life behind and learning how to be a dog again. Even better, she was learning how to be part of a family again.

When the rescue knew that Molly was ready she was featured heavily on social media posts. She was taken to foster events so the world could view her wonderfulness. And during this time her foster family continued to embrace her as one of their own. It wasn't long before Molly found her furever family at an event. They fell in love with Molly, agreeing to love and care for her forever, and continue with the path of good health the rescue had started Molly on.

Unfortunately, life doesn't come with guarantees, and there isn't always a silver lining.

Many months later the rescue got a call that Molly was on her way to the local animal shelter via the animal control truck. It seemed Molly had developed the habit of randomly biting people; not playful nips, but full on, feel my teeth biting. She had even bitten the animal control employee that came to pick her up. She looked sick. She acted sick, and angry. Molly had moments where she was very angry at everyone. All these things added up to a possible rabies diagnosis, and then her new family admitted they had not continued with her shots, and she was not up to date on her rabies vaccine.

A dog that bites must stay in quarantine for ten days, and during that time Molly's condition and behavior gradually worsened There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Molly had rabies. For a dog with rabies there is only one outcome, and it's a sentence of death, because there is no cure. Molly paid the ultimate price for her owner's neglect. She paid with her life.

No matter what the law currently says, a dog is not property and should not be treated as such. We don't ignore the needs of the dog because we are too busy, or tired, or distracted. Our animals need physical and mental care just like we do. Don't fail your baby by refusing to take care of it! Keep Molly in your mind. Molly, the girl that had everything to live for, until life failed her.

Until next time.....