INTRODUCING A NEW MEMBER OF THE DELGADO CLAN: "Van Halen"!

How is started..... (Oct 2020, Miami Dade Animal Shelter)
How it's going... (Oct 2020, now a member of the Delgado wolf-pack, and Wills' new favorite)

A THREAD:

As many of you know, earlier this year, Luna passed away, the greatest dog in the world and Wills' self-appointed bodyguard, K-9'anny, after a brave battle against cancer. While nothing can fill the void, we did have room for one more now in the wolf-pack and.... 1/

with so many dogs waiting, anxiously, to be adopted/saved, I knew we had to rescue another. It's what Luna would want. 2/

The first week of this month, I was looking at Twitter one morning and noticed a rescue organization had posted about Archie, a blind/senior dog that, I thought I'd read, had already been adopted/saved by another rescue org. 3/

I immediately told my sister, "Look! It looks like Archie wasn't saved after all!" So we were like, "Hell no!" And off to the shelter (Miami Dade Animal Services we went) with the print out Archie's picture and ID number. 4/

I stayed in the car with Wills while my sister went inside to get more information. While i"m in the car, I look and the rescue post and I realize I'd misread: the dog's name was "Rocky" (not Archie -- i.e., not the blind/senior dog I was thinking of). 5/

I text my sister, who's already been inside the shelter for about 10 minutes: "Hm, sis. I messed up. I misread the post. It wasn't about Archie. I got the name's wrong. The dog you're looking at is a "Rocky." Totally different dog." 6/

Too late. My phone rings. My sister is crying. Like ugly-crying, over the phone. "Sis, we have to help him. You have to see how skinny he is." So I'm like, "Oh man." So I go inside the shelter with Wills and meet this mistaken-identity "Rocky." 7/

It’s love at first sight bt Wills and this “Rocky”

The shelter staffer (a lovely young woman, so friendly) took her time talking to us about him. As you can see, he had some skin issues, making him “unattractive” to potential adopters 9/

Though he looks fatter in the picture, he was so skinny one could see his bones and his waist was TINY. He also had trouble walking. He was an "owner surrender" (his previous 'family' took him to shelter bc they didn't want him anymore). 10/

Despite all he has been through, he was extremely friendly, gentle, and playful, immediately greeting us with a cheerful step. 11/

Within 30 seconds of sitting inside his little 'room', I'm already ugly-crying, too. (Poor staffer must've been like, "Damn, these ladies are REAL dog people.") 12/

So we adopted him a few minutes later. 13/

I should add that I encourage everyone to visit their local shelter, especially those of you in Miami-Dade. The experience at the shelter is nothing short of AMAZING. 14/

This is what it looks like when you walk in 15/

Everyone is so friendly and there's an air of excitement, with other folks literally finding their forever friends. 16/

Anyway, as for the other dogs welcoming him, it's a complete myth that dogs will resent it. Dogs are WOLF-PACK, GROUP-MENTALITY creatures and, while it may take a few hours or days, they love an addition to their crew. 17/

As for his name, we already have a "Rocky" in the clan, so I wanted Henry but my sister won out with "Van Halen" (in honor of Eddie Van Halen). So he's now "Van" (I know, it only means 'of' but whatever ,go with it)

I took him to our vet for a general overview and the skin marks are lesions, likely from spending the day on scorching hot concrete (he was probably a chained dog somewhere, on concrete).

He also can't walk perfectly or do stairs because his femur inside is completely broken/fractured and basically hanging. Someone either beat the shit out of him with a bat or he was trampled by a car. But the injury is so old that he's not in an actual pain from it rn.

It's fixable so, the doc says, at some point down the line we can look into doing that surgery and repositioning his femur with an orthopedic vet.

He also had anemia from lack of prior food but, as confirmed at his follow-up appointment today, that is now gone (WOOOOOO!!!!!) and, also, HE HAS GAINED FIVE POUNDS!!! (Thank you, @Pedigree!)

So anyway, Van the Man, the Man with the Masterplan, is now living life. His new dog bed just arrived, and he is no longer spending his days on concrete but rather hanging with his wolf-pack, taking naps, eating like a king, and loving life.

It's funny bc the only reason we went that day was because I had some sort of Saint Paul moment where God blinded me and my eyes saw the word "Archie" instead of "Rocky" and that mixup led us to go over there.... and meet Van.

I will keep you all posted on Van's adventures. Life can always improve. And we humans have the POWER to change it for these angels who depend on us, DOGS. So please, please, please consider a visit to your local shelter this wkd and BE THAT FORCE.