Teo: 147 Days of Waiting

Teo  waited 147 days at an animal control facility while cruelty charges were brought against his owners.

Teo had been used in a backyard breeding operation for several years until a bizarre set of circumstances led to his rescue. 

Months earlier, animal control officers became aware of Teo’s situation when they received a call from a local school nurse. She was requesting an animal wellness check for dogs at the home of one of the school’s students. The boy had been sent to the nurse’s office because he smelled so strongly of urine that his teacher was concerned. The boy told the nurse that there were a lot of dogs at his home. Child services had visited this home on previous occasions to check on the three children living there, but this was the first time that someone called on behalf of the animals. 

When the officers arrived at the property, they found over a dozen malnourished dogs including pregnant momma dogs. With the property just outside city limits, current law did not allow them to confiscate the animals, so they tried to persuade the owners to surrender them. They refused. It turned out that both adults at the house were heavy users of methamphetamine and relied on the income from selling puppies to support them. The puppies were sold primarily at the livestock sale barns in Memphis, TN.

Thankfully, a few months later, fate intervened. While driving on a residential street within city limits, the owners of these dogs began to argue with one another. The fight escalated to the point that they stopped the van, got out, and walked away from one another, completely abandoning the vehicle in the middle of the street. Some time later, a homeowner called the police to report that there was a vehicle blocking the road.

When police arrived, they opened the van to find twelve dogs locked inside. The interior was covered in urine and feces, and drugs were found throughout the vehicle along with sex paraphernalia. As terrible as it was, it was actually a blessing. If the fight had happened earlier, if they had stopped the van sooner or on a street where no one was home, if the driver had come back before the police arrived -- if anything had gone differently, nothing could have been done. Again. It was only because someone called about the vehicle and the dogs were found within city limits that they were able to be rescued.

Nervous and uncertain, Teo and the other dogs were taken to the city animal control facility. Since the dogs were found within city limits, officials immediately moved to bring charges against the owners. At the beginning of the case, the judge made the humane decision to allow the dogs to go to foster homes rather than stay at the city facility. Teo, however, was not lucky enough to draw the attention of a willing foster.

Most of the people who saw Teo were afraid of him. The way his ears are cropped and his inability to move them fully make it hard for him to fully express himself. He is also one of those soulful dogs who gazes at you in a quiet way. He was passed over time and again, and he has spent the entire court case waiting at the city pound. 

During this time, however, the animal control officers who rescued him from the van developed a deep love for him. They found that he is, for all intents and purposes, a solid sixty-five pounds of “Snuggle NOW!” He loves to go for car rides, especially if there is a drive-thru and hamburgers involved. He is a sweet, kind, and funny guy who liked to climb out of his kennel at the shelter into the side yard to play with orphan puppies who were housed there. 

Teo’s case recently came to a close, and it was this completion that finally allowed him to come to Wright-Way and begin the journey of finding his forever home. The animal control officers who had spent his whole court case hoping that the law would protect him, cried when they dropped him off with our transport driver. But they know that he is on his way to a good life, and there are other animals who need the kennel that he had.

Fines of $11,000 were assessed against each of the adults involved, and they were both convicted of animal cruelty. However, because only one of the dogs found in the van died from the neglect it endured, the charges were reduced from felony to misdemeanor. 

One of the heartbreaking things about rescue work is seeing how the neglect and abuse of animals goes hand in hand with spousal, child, and elder abuse. Filthy living conditions, lack of food and medical care, physical and psychological abuse -- they devastate all those who are vulnerable. Drugs, poverty, and untreated psychological imbalances often lie at the root of the abuse, and they exacerbate the problem as well. Many of the communities that Wright-Way Rescue works with have few if any resources for dealing with these concerns. As a result, the cycle continues.

Teo’s story is just one of thousands we could tell. Donate today to support Teo and dogs like him. Please, help us help them.