June Pet of the Month – Chelsey
Sue and Tish would like to honor Chelsey as pet of the month.
Dr. Allan Stein and Rich Wilkerson’s story on how they rescued Chelsey is below. Thank you both for your continued generous support to Sarge’s.
Through our friends, who were deeply involved with animal rescue, I was introduced to Sarge’s and it touched something deep inside of me. I saw all the dogs and cats they rescued from the needle of death and saw the joy all those animals brought into people’s lives and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to help save the lives of these animals and be a part of letting them bring happiness into our world. I talked my husband into joining me, and in the summer of 2014, we began volunteering at Sarge’s.
At that time, all the dogs were brought to crates inside the facility for the night. Rich and I would arrive by 7am, take the dogs to their outside enclosures, clean the crates and feed them breakfast.
After we had completed our “chores”, we would spend time with any of the dogs that needed some attention, love, or socializing to get them ready for adoption to their forever homes.
One morning we arrived and there was a new dog brought in from Hayward County Animal Shelter. Dogs brought in from the Shelter were saved by Sarge’s from being euthanized.
This mixed breed boxer female, named Chelsey, was the most terrified little thing I have ever seen. She was crotched up at the back of the crate, shaking, refusing to come out or eat. But she had the most expressive eyes I have ever seen on a dog. For some reason she touched both of our hearts like no other rescue had before. We started spending extra time with her every day, trying to calm her, show her love and gain her trust. She responded to love by giving love. We were thrilled when Chelsey was adopted by a couple after being at Sarge’s for two weeks.
About 4 weeks later, we arrived early in the morning to find Chelsey back in a crate, shaking and looking totally miserable. We looked in her beautiful, big, sad eyes and neither of us could leave her to spend another night in a crate alone. We decided on the spot to foster her. We already had two dogs so there was no possible way we could even think of adopting her.
Fortunately, both dogs welcomed Chelsey when we got home with her and she immediately found her place in our pack. That first night, Chelsey jumped up on our bed, used her nose to lift the sheet and burrowed her way to a spot between us where she could touch both of us at the same time. She let out a long sigh that said “I’m home now” and went to sleep peacefully. Rich and I both knew when we heard that sigh that we would never give her up and we never did.
Chelsey came with a lot of emotional baggage. She had terrible separation anxiety and a problem holding her urine when she moved. It took over a year of constant love, reassurance and patience, but Chelsey became the most affectionate, wonderful dog anyone could imagine. She has enriched our lives and we are so thankful to have her.
I still tear up when I look in those huge, expressive eyes and think of all the dogs in shelters everywhere who just want the chance to love us and make our lives better. – Dr. Allan Stein and Rich Wilkerson
