WINSTON HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY A WONDERFUL NEW FAMILY!
Hi everybody at GRRR! I’m Winston, a loving Golden Angel who really needs your help. The past few months have been pretty much a blur for me. I’m slowly starting to remember what’s happened. I don’t mean to make you sad, but if you don’t know about me you can’t understand the predicament I’m in and help me. So, here goes………..
I’m only seven years old, but you might guess me to be a lot older. When I arrived, I was missing most of my hair and I was very scrawny. I used to live with a man who must not have loved me as much as I loved him. I should have had thyroid treatment a long time ago. You’d think I’d be overweight from my low thyroid condition, but I’m not. I felt hungry all the time, but there just never seemed to be enough food to eat. I was kept in a kennel, and I have some of the worst kennel sores anyone has ever seen.
Then my owner decided he didn’t want me anymore and gave me away. Gosh, I tried REALLY hard to get my new family to love me, but it wasn’t long before that ended, too. Late one night they loaded me in the car and drove to the shelter. There was this thing outside called a “night box” that they dumped me in, and then off they drove without a word of goodbye or a glance back. But being the optimistic Golden that I am, I figured they must be planning to return for me. The next morning, when the nice shelter employees came to work, they found me in the box – a frightened, emaciated, half bald, shivering Golden boy. I sure was relieved to see them! In fact, I was secretly hoping they were going to be my new family.
A surrender form was filled out with my history, but there was no signature and no phone number. The shelter had no choice but to put me on a five-day stray hold. I was so terribly weak and sick that I couldn’t eat. When they tried to feed me, I would just stand there and stare at the food like I didn’t understand what it was for. By then I was too tired and too sad to even care about eating. The shelter called GRRR knowing they would come to my rescue as soon as my hold time was up.
I went to stay with a wonderful GRRR foster named Cindy. She treated me so well. Even though she tried all kinds of ways to get me to eat, I just couldn’t. My soulful, sad expression told the real story – I was even more starved for love and attention than food. All I wanted was for Cindy to love and pet me, and she did plenty of that.
Dr. Carpenter took some X-rays and suspected I might have a mass in my tummy. I was immediately scheduled for exploratory surgery. I stayed at Mary’s house the night before surgery, and she gave me tons of love and I even got to sleep all snuggled up to her. When she dropped me off at Arvada West, Mary leaned over and kissed me with tears in her eyes. She told me she might not ever see me again. I understood what she meant and tried to be brave. Thankfully, Dr. Carpenter didn’t find a stomach mass. I do have an enlarged gall bladder and small liver. Both could be the result of malnutrition.
I’m back at Mary’s house now and recovering nicely from my surgery. I’m excited that the thyroid medicine has helped my coat grow back (although my tail still doesn’t have much hair on it). Watching the other dogs eat has inspired me, and I’m getting pretty good at it. Sometimes I don’t always get things right. I’m just now learning how to be a dog! Because of my past life, I might not ever be quite like the rest mentally or physically, but I’m doing much better. I’m even becoming more animated. When another rescued dog named Merlena arrived, I acted just like a giddy puppy! Mary says I’m such a lovable goof who makes everyone happy.
Thank you wonderful GRRR volunteers and kind supporters who love and care for Goldens. Because of you I’m receiving all the medical care I need. You have paved the way for me. I’ve gone from the shelter night box to the hope of a new life with a real forever family. It just doesn’t get any better than this!
