The kiss of death -- that's what Stevie's mom gives him before letting her husband take the dog she lived with for five years and abandon him in a small cage in a shelter where he will be killed. The kiss of betrayal, it could also be called. The family claimed they were "moving," like many others who abandon the dogs they once loved.
Watch Stevie's videos. They will break your heart. The first video shows his family of approximately five years leaving him at the high kill shelter. They know that his chance of getting out is very slim, yet they walk him in showing no emotion. The father tells his son to get out of the car (to say goodbye to the dog) and the son refuses. The mom leans over and pats him, kisses him on the head, and lets her husband take the dog to the tiny cage where he will be left.
Stevie walks alongside his owner, tail tucked between his legs. The sounds of the desperate barking of dogs inside the building are letting Stevie know that this is not going to end well. But he follows his owner, obediently, and is shoved into the cage and abandoned. The person who took the video wrote:
Sorry for the camera movement, but I literally needed a moment to compose myself when the owner asked his son to get out of the car and say goodbye to his dog, and the son refused. Watch when Stevie looks up at the car in a final bid to rejoin his pack."
She then wrote about what would happen to Stevie. She said that next, Stevie is taken in back for his "intake" photo, and initial vaccinations, and then deposited into a shelter kennel. He paces back and forth, confused about where his people went. He doesn't relax for hours. And then he starts to panic. Maybe he barks or jumps on the kennel door to release energy and get noticed. Then he'll be made Rescue-Only, pull-able only by rescue groups who are already stretched thin."
The second video is of Stevie in his kennel. He is distracted and looks away from the visitor as if trying to find the family that he is sure will be returning for him. What do dogs think in situations like this one? Stevie sure seems as if he is sure it is all a mistake. He won't take a treat from the visitor, but when he sees, out of the corner of his eye, a visitor in the back of his kennel, he immediately turns his head. Is it his family? He keeps looking and looking. It is truly heartbreaking.
Was the family even sad? The person who took the first video noted that the owner kept Stevie's choke chain. He couldn't even leave his dog with that one possession. Owner surrenders can be killed immediately. Pit bulls are given less time that other dogs and are harder to find a good home for. Yet Stevie seems like a sweet family dog who was dumped by a family that didn't deserve him.
Stevie urgently needs someone to request a temperament test, in person, at the shelter. Without that test, no one will be allowed to adopt him, and he will be killed. Please share Stevie's story and his videos. This is a dog who by all appearances is sweet and gentle. He is also heartbroken. It will take time for his heart to heal. That means that he will not show to advantage behind the bars of his kennel. He is still hoping that his family is coming back. He is heartbroken.
Stevie is ID#A4956956. He is five years old and listed as a male pit bull. There might be more information on Stevie's Facebook thread. His current status will be available on his PetHarbor page. He is located at Carson Shelter, 216 Victoria Street, Gardena, California. He is in kennel C345. The phone number is (310) 523-9566. The shelter is open Monday through Thursday from 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Friday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
