Dog Rescued From Fighting Becomes Therapy Dog
Missouri District Courts have ordered that permanent custody of most of the dogs rescued in July’s multi-state dog fighting raids be transferred to the Humane Society of Missouri, who will determine suitable placements for each individual dog. In what was the largest dog fighting raid to date, more than 500 fighting dogs were rescued across 8 states, with 26 arrests being made on the scene. Nearly all of the dogs were purebred or mixed American Pit Bull Terriers, and since the raid, the rescued dogs have given birth to approximately 100 further puppies.
Broken Hearts, Mended Souls Rescue of Missouri is receiving 3 of the dogs, including Junior, Kali and Carlos who range in age from 5-months to 11-years old. Broken Hearts, Mended Souls places dogs with foster families who teach the dogs what it means to be a loved family member, with the aim of finding a suitable permanent home.
Mutts-n-Stuff, a St. Louis-based bully breed rescue group is receiving Fay, Eli and Jakob, who are 5 years, 7 months and 1 years old respectively. Eli will be relocated to New Hope Pit Bull Rescue of Goose Creek, South Carolina, and Jakob will be sent to Our Pack Inc. Pit Bull Rescue based in San Francisco, California. Jakob will now be trained as a therapy dog. Our Pack Inc. will train Jakob in basic manners before he will be employed to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes and schools.
"As soon as we saw pictures of Jakob, we knew he was special. Although Jakob comes from an abuse case, we’ve seen time and again these dogs are cut out for therapy work and we think he is a great candidate for this kind of work. The most important characteristic of a therapy dog is temperament, and as we know, Pit Bulls have loving, affectionate natures that often make them perfect for this kind of job," said Marthina McClay, President/Founder of Our Pack Inc.
