Rick Raw: Harley–Rescuing Exotic Basenji from Heartless Lowlifes

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

When an abandoned dog appeared outside my kitchen window for three days, I just couldn’t let the poor dog starve to death. I took action by going to the owners, a young couple living across the street.

Their heartless attitude shocked me. The loutish bastard had broken up with his girlfriend and taken up with another woman. She said, "We are not dog people." Indeed! Neither his ex-girlfriend nor the lowlife wanted the dog. They had cruelly abandoned the dog by not feeding it or giving it water. Hiding my anger, I told them I’d take the dog and they just shrugged. Her name is Harley.

So I put a leash on her and took her inside my apartment to see if she could get along with my other two dogs, Pepe (Chihuahua) and Jazz (Mixed breed). Happily, Harley bonded with Pepe and Jazz right away.

Now, officially I have a pack. Then I took Harley to my vet. She gave her the standard shots and tested her for heartworm, which is epidemic in Florida. It’s caused by a mosquito bite. The worms travel from the stomach to the heart.

Anyone with a dog in Florida should know that they need to give their dogs heartworm preventitive medication on a regular basis. It turned out Harley tested positive for heartworm and needed a series of expensive chemo-therapy treatments.

The good news is, we caught this insidious parasite in it’s early stages inside her stomach. If the worms get into her heart, she’ll die. Harley needs to be spayed as well. The previous owners were just too stupid and cruel to know how to care for the dog.

Although it would hurt me financially, I made the decision straightaway to save the dog. I researched the Harley’s breed and it turned out she’s an exotic Basenji, whose ancestry dates back to Egyptian times. The dogs now come from Africa and are bred here in America.

The people who abandoned Harley obviously didn’t know they had an expensive breed. Not that they cared! Of course, people like Harley’s former owners are clueless about the responsibilities of owning dogs. They just cast her aside without any conscience or feeling for the dog.

So many abandoned dogs and cats end up in shelters because their owners are irresponsible or fell victim to our economic collapse and couldn’t afford the vet bills to keep their pets. Owning pets is like having children, they have to be cared for, disciplined with calm assertive energy, (Thanks Cesar Millan) and loved.

Lately, in my apartment complex, not only do people abandon their dogs, I’ve been observing kids gone wild, without any parental supervision. I see toddlers running around late at night with no parents in sight. More disturbing, kids are in the pool after midnight. Where are the parents?

These degenerates have kids like they own dogs, with no sense of responsibility. Then when the negleted misfits get shot or abducted, they scream bloody murder. It’s not a racial issue but a lack of high functioning intelligence issue.

Yes, another four legged soul has come into our family. Our dogs live to ripe old ages and we adore them. All our dogs and cats who have passed away are remembered in a special photo shrine on top of our television.

Harley is an angel sent by God to brighten-up our lives. Pepe is already famous for being on NBC news about families going bankrupt. The calls we received from friends said they saw Pepe on TV. Funny, they didn’t mention us. So, Harley has a lot to live up to.