Accidental Rescues (3 of 3) - Harley

Drew and I were walking our dogs around our apartment complex on a very chilly November evening. We were discussing our Thanksgiving plans and everything that needed to be accomplished before then. Needless to say, it was a busy time for us. As we rounded the corner, a teeny tiny wee little Chihuahua strutted down the sidewalk toward us. I thought to myself, "Oh God, where is his person? Please tell me his person is chasing after him...please don't tell me he's all alone...". He was all alone. There was no one coming after him, no one watching him from any of the balconies above us, and no one frantically calling for him.

The little guy was obviously quite scared as I approached him, but he let me pick him up nevertheless. He was shivering; the temperature was in the 40s and he weighed just about 5 pounds. I hate to think how cold and scared he would have been all night if we hadn't found him. He was so small, we thought maybe he lived in one of the ground level apartments and had squeezed through the balcony railings. Drew and I knocked on a few doors and talked to a couple people walking by, but no one had seen him before. We decided to go home and warm him up.


I was surprised by how clean this dog was. I knew he couldn't have been on his own for very long at all. He wasn't wearing tags or a collar, but we knew he had to belong to someone. Bunkin and Flea were very unhappy at this point, so we wrapped the little Chi in a warm towel and founds ourselves driving to animal services once again. He was just so friendly and we knew this was the best chance he had at being reunited with his owner, so we weren't worried about him having any trouble at animal services.


Unfortunately, we were wrong. I called every day to check on the little guy and the prognosis was not good. Not only had no one come to claim him, but he was so scared and defensive that he found himself in the back holding room instead of in the adoptable pet section. The poor guy was so tiny; at five pounds almost everything in the world must have seemed big and scary to him. This was not good.


Drew made up a found dog flyer that we posted around our apartment complex and a few others nearby (We had all the relevant shelter/contact info on the flyer, but I cropped it out of this picture for anonymity's sake). We shared it on our Facebook pages and with our co-workers. Still nobody came to claim or adopt our little buddy. I couldn't believe things had gone so wrong for this poor Chi. I had expected this cuddly little guy to have no problem, but his chances seemed bleak. Even if he had been in the adoptable pet section, no one would have wanted him. People would take one glance at him and mistake fearfulness for aggression or a bad temperament. It seemed he was just overwhelmed by this stressful environment beyond the point of return.


When I called to check on him the next day, I was overjoyed to find out that he had been pulled by a local rescue group earlier that morning. He had spent a week at animal services, but now he was in a foster home where he could rest comfortably and regain his composure. I was excited to find out that the rescue group had given him a name: Harley.

Harley's journey has a happy ending; he was adopted after spending about 3 weeks with the rescue group. His lady gave him a new name and later sent in the following happy tale update:

Harley / Ollie resting in his forever home

"I adopted Ollie (once known as Harley) a few months ago. I already had 2 Chihuahuas and when I saw him online I just had to meet him. He has become the 5lb. "Boss" around the house and is not afraid of anything. He walks like he's Big Stuff. He does bite the ankles of people that come to visit; I think he just wants to show them who rules the roost but we are working on this. His favorite thing is sunning on the deck on his big fluffy pillow. Thank you so much for allowing me to make him apart of my pack."


Drew and I were so thrilled that things had worked out for Harley after all and that a rescue group had come through in the nick of time yet again. I wanted to do what they did, to be able to play a part in saving lives when there seemed to be no other options. Even though I knew we were following the law, I was tired of taking strays to animal control and looking like the bad guy. I was tired of feeling helpless as I called to check up on them day after day, hoping desperately that someone would save them. I knew there had to be more we could do to make a difference.