It was a cool March afternoon the day I first met Hector at our neighborhood dog park. He accompanied three familiar faces, Pepsi, Brit and Vespa, all former rescues on a daily outing with their guardian Sallyann Jennings.

Sallyann is the founder of Recycled Love, a 501c3. An organization, in its original efforts, that fostered and found forever homes for adult and special needs dogs. Presently Ms. Jennings continues her efforts to adopt out the seemingly unadoptable dogs through an alliance with the Stop Killing Dogs Rescue in Baltimore, MD. Jennings shares, “Senior, injured animals are my main interest. These little critters are frequently overlooked and need extra attention to help them recover. Rescues struggle to pay for the added expense but it’s what keeps me going.”

Additionally, Sallyann is a fellow volunteer fundraiser for the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) “Franky Fund” – earmarked for shelter animals requiring immediate or specialized medical attention.

Hector was a humble little shadow compared to the slew of dogs bumbling about us. He was there to meet his short-term foster human, Tobey McGuiness.

Tobey and her yellow lab Lucas are our neighbors. We often pass them in the park late afternoons as we walk our dog. Lucas, an enthusiastic greeter, encourages a good ‘sniff about’ with our dog and is always eager to relieve us of any treats taking up space in our pockets. Beyond these exchanges, we knew very little about Tobey or Lucas.

Before the passing of Hector’s leash from Sallyann to Tobey, I had the opportunity to learn a bit of Hector’s sad, and suspected cruel, story. It inspired me like it had Sallyann, and Tobey, and it would continue to inspire more individuals thereafter.

Hector’s story, as we know it, began on February 21, 2009 when he was picked up by the Baltimore City Animal Control in a nearby park. He was found alone, undernourished, un-neutered, no tags, toothless and his coat patchy, discolored, matted or missing. He was delivered to BARCS. There he received vaccinations, a flea bath, and a free meal. He was assessed, and determined to be an 8-year-old American Eskimo dog, weighing a meager 22.6 pounds. Three weeks later, unfortunately, Hector, with no outwardly remarkable qualities, was deemed unadoptable.

Shortly after meeting Hector, I scooped him up in my arms – it was like holding a whisper. Bones and matted fur were all I could feel. After several minutes of holding him and hearing Sallyann recount what she knew of Hector’s story, I gently set him back on all fours…and that’s when it happened. He lifted his front paws and looked up at me as if to say, “I looked better at one time, I was happy too.”

I didn’t sleep well that night, but I did have an idea, Project Pet – Rehabilitating Hector. The following day, after pitching the idea of to Sallyann and receiving ‘thumbs up’, I contacted Tobey to confirm her comfort with feeding raw in addition to us monitoring his progress while in her care.

There are a lot of venues available to learn the features, advantages and handling of raw diet dog foods, namely, www.k-9kraving.com. The benefits of raw feeding are echoed again and again from articles to books to websites. But where in this sea of information is there visually documented proof? Granted, Hector is a slam dunk. Any food that doesn’t require teeth will increase his chances to some degree. We want to give Hector more than that. We want to reestablish his dignity through optimally nurturing him internally. We want to give him a strong body, a shiny, healthy coat. Hector deserves all this and more. We have six weeks to deliver the proof on our end. And in the process, make new friends.

Tobey has been a champion communicator. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail on Day 2:

Thursday, March 12 12:29PM
I just wanted to touch base with you again regarding el Hector!

On Monday, March 16th, Hector met his long-term foster care givers, Dave and Debbie Adams.

Dave Adams, owner of FlexPrint Graphics is one of our print vendors for K-9 Kraving and has supported fundraising efforts with us in the recent past for the Franky Fund.

We took a chance in sharing Hector’s story with Dave. After sharing Hector’s plight with Debbie, it was a done deal. Their only concern was their terrier mix Jack. As it turns out, he and Hector are getting along great.

Apparently Hector felt at home straight away. On Monday evening, his first night with Dave and Debbie, Hector found his own way to the bedroom and took a much needed late day nap.

We look forward to sharing with you, again, next Wednesday for more Project Pet – Rehabilitating Hector, Week 2.

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