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This century has ushered in a lot of changes in humans of every age group and class, even though change is constant and creations and creatures of all kinds are bound to change in one way or another, it’s especially heartbreaking, depressing, and unsettling to see some negative changes that have taken place over time. One of those heartbreaking changes is bullying, day in and day out, we see, hear, and some unfortunately experience bullying of all kinds and of varying degrees that ends up brutally affecting the concerned individuals. Indeed, bullying remains a devastating problem in our society but what if we tell you that humans aren’t the only ones who face bullying but also animals especially dogs face cruelty and abuse from the human populace? To say this is utterly shocking and horrifying is an understatement.
This story circles Sandy, a golden retriever who faced the horrific fate of bullying from humans and struggles to find her place in the world.
CALLING FOR HELP.
Bullying this golden retriever is the climax of this story but without touching and narrating the beginning of her life makes the story incomplete.
Sandy was an abandoned dog left in a dilapidated building to fend for herself and protect herself from the worst things that could come from the world. Her story wasn’t really clear since no one was there when it all happened to see or hear. Everyone just saw her one cold morning roaming around from there onward, come rain and come sunshine. That was her routine whether it was cold or sunny, she was always out waiting and searching to find her owners who she thought would eventually come for her one day. Having realized that it seemed they weren’t going to return, she decided to take the rails of her life tightly in her hands by fending for herself, though still held a tiny hope that they would come for her one day so she returned to the same dilapidated building after every day out to feed.
Despite keeping her business and interacting less with humans because she has been betrayed and was still feeling confused and heartbroken as to the reason why her owners had left her. Some teenagers decided to push their luck unfortunately not to make her better but to frighten her more.
Every time the teenagers came back from school they would stop seeing the dog to tease and laugh at her for no particular reason then beat her while she ran away from them and they would leave her writhing in pain and calling for help. This depressing development went on for a couple of days and Sandy was already giving up that she would possibly die in the hands of these teenagers who had taken it upon themselves to punish her for a crime she didn’t commit.
One day, a middle-aged man, Matt was passing by after he had parked his car to check on his property there when he heard the cruel laughter of these teenagers and the consistent barking of a dog and decided to investigate since it was difficult to shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He met them beating the dog and if he hadn’t come there any sooner they would have beaten her to a pulp. This day was unlike any beating they subjected poor little Sandy to, it was as if they were venting their unknown anger and frustration on her, on sighting the man as he approached, they fled leaving behind Sandy whimpering and crying.
Matt moved closer and the sight was gruesome to behold. Sandy had sustained not bruises but a broken jaw, one eye bulging out, and blood from a previous face injury matted on her fur. Matt knew the right thing to do was help her get the help she needed as soon as possible and he took it upon himself to take her to the nearest shelter so they would take her into custody and take her for the appropriate medical treatment and care away from the cruelty of these teenagers who might want to return to continue their inhumane act.
Three days later, Matt went to the shelter to inquire about Sandy’s condition but was surprised to see that she had not been treated at all and the shelter itself was deserted. He called another shelter to take it up from there, he waited to receive them so he would be sure that Sandy was in safe hands. When they came, the shelter owner said he didn’t have money to treat her so he left her in the cage, saying this was a terrible decision for a dog that was fighting for her life and in pain was an understatement.
Sandy was met lying helplessly in pain and hadn’t had any food for days. With broken hearts, one of the shelter workers carried her in her arms and rushed her to the nearest vet wondering if their help was too late or not to save Sandy. While awaiting the assessment of Sandy’s condition, they reported the case to the nearest police station and Matt provided video evidence from his car’s dashcam to prove that some teenagers had done this gruesome and unthinkable damage to a dog.
After assessment at the vet, they consider it a miracle for her to still be alive as Sandy was found to be in a serious condition, the broken jaw was at an unusual angle, and it was inflamed and infected. She was to undergo major surgery as soon as possible to correct the damage. Fortunately, after several hours, the surgery was successful though some of her teeth were removed and her eye couldn’t be salvaged. Post-surgery assessment was made and she was to have another surgery so she could be safe and sound with no complications.
It was such a difficult time for her and it was a wonder to see her try to come out of this phase as after the second surgery still heavy on prescribed painkillers and antibiotics, she still looked into the eyes of Matt and one of the shelter workers who came by to see her through this hard times.
It was found out that Sandy was only a year old and the most shocking revelation after the police had found the teenagers was that one of the teenagers was her owner but decided to abandon her as his punishment for her being disobedient, and came back along with his friends to inflict this sacrilegious cruelty on her.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE.
Everyone knew it would take time for Sandy to heal physically but that a time limit when she would heal psychologically is a question of forever. A month later, Sandy was healing fine but was still placed on limited jaw movement because if she moved her mouth too much it would cause dislocation leading to another surgery which everyone was avoiding. Sandy spent a long time in the clinic with no discharge date named but throughout this journey of healing, Matt and one of the shelter workers would come visit her, pet her, and encourage her that she would soon be out of there, playing out on the field in no time. Even though she was still scared of humans, she has grown to love the vet workers, Matt, and the shelter worker who had been her pillar of hope throughout her difficult times. Day by day, her jaw started coming to full recovery and she soon could open her wider than the beginning about 3 months later, his jaw was back to normal and she could open it as widely as before.
The teenagers came only once to visit and one of them wanted to take him back but the offer was turned down as no one knew what devastating act they would let the poor dog undergo once again.
The shelter worker was worried that when Sandy was discharged, no one would want her with one eye and a broken spirit and even if anyone wanted her it had to be someone she could be trusted with so that she wouldn’t be caused any further harm physically and mentally. When Matt decided to take up the reign of her adoption, he wanted to take Sandy in as his dog and give her a much better life, the worker couldn’t resist having seen how the man cared for her and would come visiting to assure and encourage her throughout her recovery and the role he played in making sure that Sandy was safe and sound and received the best care, the worker had no choice than to let him have her as she was sure she was in good hands.
Sandy was happy to be leaving the facility with Matt as her new dad.
We are happy that despite the circumstances surrounding her past and the problems she had to face, she now has a more stable, happy, and healthy home and a father who cares for her and would go to extra lengths to prove that he does.