Sweet Freedom

We had something rather unusual happen this week at Dogtown. Up at the Lodges, we received four new dogs that were not coming to us from another area of the sanctuary, but rather, from the “outside” world, without making a stop in the clinic or admissions first. Let me go back a few steps here and explain.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, BF was the first animal rescue group into NoLa and they were the last to leave about eight months later. During their time in Louisiana and Mississippi, BF rescued over 6,000 animals, far more than could be accommodated at the sanctuary here in Utah. As the animals were processed through the temporary sanctuary in Tylertown, Miss., most were either reunited with their families, fostered out to individuals, or sent to other rescue groups across the country that offered up their facilities and time to care for and adopt out these orphans of Katrina. As part of the agreement BF made with these groups, the animals remained the ultimate responsibility of BF, so if under any circumstances the group could or would no longer care for the animals, they would come back to BF. As it happens, three years after Katrina, a rescue group in Texas that took many dogs from Tylertown felt they could no longer adequately care for the dogs that remained from BF’s rescue efforts. And so, this week, a team from BF went down to Texas and brought the fifteen or so dogs back to Utah. It turns out, these dogs have been living for part or all of the last three years in crates, getting walked twice a day.
And so, rather than receiving dogs from different areas of Dogtown that already have some set of known behaviors and quirks, we will get to make these discoveries ourselves. Quite frankly, this can be either a very exciting or slightly scary prospect, depending on the temperament of the dog. But it appears that we have hit the jackpot - Jager, T Boy, Bo Bo, and Beauregard are four of the most adorable and playful and loving pitties you can imagine. These are their official names, though we have already given them each new nicknames,

Jager, the only girl of the group, clearly has some French Bulldog mixed in with the Pittie - look at those ears - and is lovingly called “Frenchie”,

“T-Dawg” just seems much more fitting for this guy than T Boy,

Bo Bo was dubbed “Mr. President” after it was observed that B. O. are the initials of our new president,

and initially we were calling Beauregard “Vice” (as in Vice President because he and Bo Bo came in both named Beau and look almost exactly alike and live next to one another), but decided that “Regar” suited him better.
I was their to witness their first moments in their new surroundings and it was a scene of unrelenting joy and excitement at having the space to run and dig and play, to meet new dogs on the other side of the fence, chew sticks, pee on a tree and then shoot sand everywhere with their own unique style and enthusiasm. It has been a long time since I have been a party to such pure and simple happiness, zooming around the run, barreling into whomever was closest and just being loved and adored. Each of the new kids had a delightfully playful celebration of their new found freedom and I am so happy that I could be a part of it.

Click here for a link to the Web story BF wrote about their arrival.

(All photos copyright Molly Wald, Best Friends Animal Society.)