What would you do if someone called you and told you they’d found your dog, the one who’d been snatched from your backyard, the one you’d reluctantly given up hope of ever finding again?
What would you do if that call came a whopping 8 years after your dog had been stolen?
For LaShena Harris of Glendale, Arizona, that call came earlier this month. “Shocked, speechless, I cried like a baby at hearing she was found,” says Harris about receiving the news that her beloved dog had been surrendered at the West Memphis Animal Shelter in West Memphis, Arkansas, almost 1500 miles from Harris’ current home. Surprised to see a rare English Bulldog, especially one with an all-white coat, shelter staff scanned for a microchip. Harris’ contact information was pulled up.
Eager to see her pup again, Harris got sad news from the shelter where FatCat was temporarily housed. Riddled with health issues like heartworm, cataracts, and signs of having been overbred, FatCat had obviously been neglected. Upset that her loved pup’s captors had “used her literally as a cash cow, and didn’t even have the decency to keep her healthy in the process”, Harris was now burdened with reversing years of abuse and neglect caused by an irresponsible owner.
Knowing FatCat would require extensive veterinary care, Harris posted her story to GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website popular for helping people raise funds for many causes. In just under a week, donors have helped Harris raise almost $6,500, well over her estimate of $5,000 to cover veterinary treatment.
“I am overwhelmed. It is just amazing. People don’t even know me and they are helping me out,” says Harris in an article from AZCentral, where the story first appeared.
Now FatCat can get the treatment and life she deserves.
Featured image via AZCentral.
