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Humane Society warns of Craigslist pet listings

Jake
Jake

MASON CITY – Last week, a woman walked into the Humane Society of North Iowa shelter with an elderly dog named Jake. Jake, a boxer mix, was severely emaciated, in serious pain and could not walk on his own; he had to be carried into the building.

The woman who brought Jake into the shelter told staff that he was her daughter’s dog, but the daughter had moved away and abandoned him in her apartment several weeks earlier. Allegedly, someone was supposed to have been checking in on the dog in the daughter’s absence, but had not been doing so. Last week, that person dropped Jake off on the mother’s doorstep. The mother immediately brought him to the shelter.

Jake was immediately seen by the Humane Society of North Iowa’s veterinarian. He only weighed 44 lbs, a full 20 lbs less than the average weight of healthy dog his size. It was determined that Jake had not been given food or water in quite some time. Literally, he was starving to death.

Shelter staff noticed that Jake was wearing an identification tag with an owner’s name that did not match the name of the daughter who had previously owned him. Staff also scanned for, and found, an implanted microchip device in Jake. The name registered to the microchip matched the name on the tag.

Jake
Jake

Shelter Manager, Stacy Rooney, called the number associated with the microchip and got a hold of a woman named Kay* who lived in Cedar Falls. Kay confirmed that Jake has previously belonged to her. Stacy shared with her the condition Jake was in. Kay burst in to tears and told Stacy she was getting in her car and coming to get Jake.

When Kay arrived to the shelter, she fell to the ground in tears upon seeing Jake’s condition in person. She hugged and held him, and then she shared her story.

Jake had been the beloved family pet of Kay’s for over 6 years. She had rescued him from a shelter in Chicago and he made the move with the family when they relocated to Cedar Falls a year later.

Jake was a wonderful family pet, but had several health issues that Kay spent a considerable amount of time and money working with her veterinarian to resolve. Jake suffered from a condition called “auto-immune arthritis” that caused him severe joint pain. He was placed on prednisone. It was effective, but an adverse side effect of the drug caused Jake to have “accidents” in the house. As the mother of two young toddlers, Kay had concerns over her children’s health and welfare relating to Jake’s accidents.

Kay turned to Craig’s List to find an appropriate home for Jake that could manage his health issues. Kay did a lot of research about re-homing Jake on her own. She met a gal named “Donna” whom she conversed with over several weeks’ time about Jake’s medical and physical needs. Donna assured Kay she would care for and love Jake just as Kay did. After careful consideration and research, Kay truly thought she had found her solution.

In August of 2014, Kay turned her beloved family pet, Jake, over to Donna. For several weeks, the women kept in touch and Donna told Kay how great Jake was doing in her care. Eventually, communication from Donna faded away and Kay moved forward with her life with the assumption Jake was doing wonderful in his new home.

That assumption proved false last week when Jake, the once healthy 64 pound vibrant family pet, showed up at the Humane Society of North Iowa, emaciated, unable to walk and in pain.

It was quickly determined that Donna had not been feeding Jake regularly. She had also neglected to give Jake his medications. He was in serious pain and his health had made a complete downward spiral.

With tears in her eyes, Kay carried Jake to her car and took him back to her home in Cedar Falls. Jake enjoyed a night with his original family and Kay slept at his side. In the morning, Kay took Jake to her veterinarian. The veterinarian determined that due to his emaciated state, combined with the symptoms of his auto-immune arthritis and his age, that Jake was simply too frail to undergo any type of treatment, that he was beyond the point of saving.

Kay made the most painful and difficult decision to say goodbye to Jake. She cradled him one last time as he was humanely euthanized by her veterinarian.

This is the end of Jake’s story. But with Kay’s permission, it is the beginning of a new story: a horrible warning to others about using sites like Craig’s List to re-home the family pet.

Every year, thousands of people use Craig’s List (and other sites) to re-home their pets to people they do not know. Individuals often do not have the proper screening tools that animal shelters and rescues use in their adoption process. Sometimes, pets are re-homed to people who have cruel intentions, have a history of animal abuse, cannot properly afford or care for a pet, or are animal hoarders.

Kay learned a hard lesson in using Craig’s List to rehome Jake, and sadly, Jake paid the ultimate price. “I will live with this guilt for the rest of my life,” said Kay. “I can’t bring Jake back, but I can share my horrible story in the hopes that I can bring awareness to the dangers of using online sites like Craig’s List to rehome their family pet. I don’t want any other animal to go through what Jake did,” concluded Kay.

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