Every day, Forgotten Dogs of the Fifth Ward volunteers go out and feed the homeless dogs in Houston, Texas. They feed approximately 40 and 60 dogs in about four hours. It’s illegal for them to be doing this, but they don’t care. They know someone needs to be responsible for the problem humans created.
Why aren’t all these dogs picked up? The answer is heart-breakingly simple. In Houston, there is nowhere for them to go:
“The question is always, ‘why can’t you pick them all up and how do you choose which to take?’ and the answer is not cut and dry. Dogs that are injured or need immediate care are picked up, however, without a foster immediately available, many dogs that are doing okay must be left because there is nowhere to place them. The rescuers themselves can only house so many dogs. Thus the feeding, so these strays can at least have a good meal. This is the dog we saw within 2 minutes of leaving the parking lot.” (wa2s.org).
On this day, Kelle, Cynthia, and Brittany from the Fifth Ward come across a beautiful, starving Husky.
Kelle called to her, and she ran right to her! She was in awful shape, terribly skinny and her teats were red and swollen. Kelle was worried she may have mastitis, an infection that causes, pain, swelling, warmth, fever and chills. It was clearly the Husky was a mother, though no puppies could be found.
The volunteers followed the dog, hoping she would lead them to her puppies. She was very friendly – clearly she had been owned as some point, before being dumped.
To aid in the search, Kelle used an app of puppies crying that can cause a mother dog to go and find her own. In response, she howled and wandered around, but there were no puppies to be found. It wasn’t clear where they were.
One thing that was clear was that the mother needed help. So, the volunteers picked her up to take her to the vet. They named her Maxine.
There, they found out she weighted just 34 pounds! The veterinarian said she had most likely not nursed in one to three days and it has caused a build-up of milk. Luckily, she was free of mastitis. Another test revealed she was also heartworm free.
Watch Maxine’s full video below, created by The World Animal Awareness Society (WA2S), here:
Maxine is now looking for the love of her life to keep her off the streets. She is just over a year old, with one blue eye and one brown eye. If you would like to be her Valentine contact Kelle Davis at kellek-9@peoplepc.com or Yvette Holzback at yvettehphotography@gmail.com.
Can’t adopt? Please SHARE to help her find her home! You can also help the dogs in Houston by donating to the WA2S’s Operation Houston Fund.
