Gateway Pet Guardians (GPG), a local animal shelter, rescued Teddy in East St. Louis in January 2014. He showed up on their feeding route one day and continued to make appearances during later feedings. The volunteers would sometimes see Teddy hanging out with friends on the porch of an abandoned house. This was not an uncommon sight for East Saint Louis. GPG focuses its efforts in that area because the stray population is so high there.

 

The volunteers often saw him with a black lab mix, so they thought she may have been his female companion.

 

Teddy appeared very skittish, but he seemed like a nonaggressive pup. After a while, GPG decided to rescue Teddy.

 

GPG made a few attempts to rescue Teddy. They were close to trapping him once, but the door failed to engage while he was inside the trap.

 

Rescue Day

 

I am so glad that GPG didn’t give up on Teddy. PJ, the person responsible for creating the grassroots organization, was able to corner him in a semi-enclosed area. From there, she and other volunteers carefully captured him.

 

    

 

Here’s a timid and scared Teddy on his freedom ride and on his way to a new life. GPG had named originally named him Clemson. I changed his name to Teddy because nothing suited him better.

 

Teddy was heartworm-positive and had a bald patch on the back of his neck. It could have been from an embedded collar if he had been on the streets for a while. He may have also gotten hurt in a dog fight. I guess we will never know for sure.

We think that another dog that was also rescued was Teddy’s girlfriend (the black lab mix from the previous pictures). This may be his baby. It sure has Teddy’s fluffy good looks!

 

Teddy was lucky enough to find a foster home immediately after his rescue. That allowed him to start on his heartworm treatment in a quiet place. He was never quite like the other dogs at the shelter, so he didn’t fit in there. When the other dogs around him would bark nonstop if someone came into the shelter, Teddy always stayed calm and quiet.

The photo below was a week or so after his rescue. This cowering guy is not the dog that I know today. He’s come such a long way. Revisiting these photos of his journey saddens me as I wonder what stories those sad human-like eyes hold. But then I’m reminded of how joyous I am that he’s found his way into my life. Read his adoption story here.