Sadie, a 7-year old pitbull mix, came to the shelter from a cruelty case. She was brought in emaciated and badly in need of some tender loving care. Upon admission into the shelter, Sadie weighed a mere 40 pounds. There were no signs of illness, just malnutrition and within three weeks she had gained 8 pounds. Her first foster home helped her gain weight and by the end she was 57 pounds, an average of 43% gain. According to Tracy, one of the Animal Control Officers that worked with her, Sadie was a sweet girl from the beginning.
Sadie went into foster care soon after arriving at the shelter. Her second foster mom, Brittany, had a hard time getting Sadie to warm up at first. She met her a week after she went to her first foster home and Sadie hid under a desk when Brittany arrived. She came out to grab a treat and went right back into her hiding space. It required a lot of patience on the part of Brittany and her husband to calm her anxiety. Brittany said “the more time we spent with her the more we began to understand her, wonder about her former life and feel a deep amount of love for her”.
When asked about her personality, Brittany raved about how wonderful she is. Sadie is obedient and waits at corners for her command to cross the street. She says goodbye every day at the window and gets so excited when Brittany and her husband come home that she can barely stand and knocks things off tables with her tail. She always wants to be near her humans, and is beautiful and patient. Sadie enjoys nature and hiking immensely. She gives out kisses constantly, is great with kids and warms up to new people quickly now. “It was watching the power of love at work”, claims Brittany, when talking about the transformation Sadie went through.
It took a year and 4 months for Sadie’s case to be settled in court. The owner was found guilty of neglect and she was turned over to SAS permanently. Brittany was ecstatic to get the phone call that Sadie was available for adoption so she could make her an official member of the family. Brittany and her husband adopted her. Unfortunately, cases such as this are not uncommon. In 2016 SAS wrote up about 250 complaints reporting failure to provide veterinary care and/or inadequate food/water/shelter. These calls often lead officers to situations such as Sadie’s. SAS works hard to keep these animals safe and healthy after they are rescued from such conditions. To find out more about SAS’s work with cases like this, go to www.seattle.gov/animalshelter.