Connie has spawned another successful rescue (in addition to Randy) - a wonderful couple who applied to foster Randy has taken in Layla. Layla has a similarly heartbreaking backstory - she originally landed in a shelter as part of an abuse case. She spent 2 years there while the case made it's way through the courts. When that was through and her time was up, a solo rescuer pulled her.
Unfortunately, the rescuer had a bigger heart than she did capacity to help animals, and Layla spent the next couple of years in an outside kennel with lots of other dogs. She didn't have a place to go indoors in the winter (and pit bull coats are *not* made for outside living), didn't get any attention and developed a bad skin infection.
When we found out about Layla, we brought her to the northern VA area for vet care. Her skin condition cleared up with regular care, but finding a place for a 10 y.o. pit bull is not easy. However, she's now spent the last week in a home; above is a photo of her with her foster brother, enjoying a sunny nap. (Layla is the white dog in the back; her foster brother she's snuggling with was adopted from the same shelter Connie and Randy had been at.) More pix and info about Layla are
here.
Before this whole experience, I'd only placed 3 pit bulls - hounds and shy herding dogs are more my "thing" (since that's what my dogs are). But working with Connie and the associated dogs has really made me think more about helping these pups that die at such disproportionate rates in shelters, and are treated so much worse as a group than other dogs outside of shelters.
I take this phase of puppy fostering very seriously. Proper and consistent socialization is key to the development of a friendly, well behaved dog. My husband, two daughters and I make a point of holding and petting the puppies many times during the day.
