Big Bear

BIG BEAR was acquired as a cute fluffy puppy, and banished to the back yard as he began to grow big… When he was little, his person taught him to play rough. As he grew bigger, he was never afforded proper training, socialization or boundaries, and he continued to play rough. Playtime became less and less frequent, and Big Bear began to bite people. Pretty soon, Big Bear’s most basic of needs began to be denied: food, water, and shelter.

Fast forward two years, and Big Bear is now a forgotten dog in some backyard. He wasn’t chained, but he still lived a “life” of isolation, loneliness and despair. His person had no regard for him whatsoever, and even left him behind on the abandoned property. Because of the fortitude of neighbors and others concerned for Big Bear’s well being, numerous complaints and reports gave animal control the documentation they needed to remove him from the property.

It wasn’t pretty. Big Bear was terribly afraid, he was un-socialized and he was aggressive. Once he arrived at the shelter, he was labeled “too aggressive to vaccinate.” We thought that the least we could do at NMDOG was to give BIG BEAR a peaceful, safe, and loving place to overcome all he had suffered. Big Bear was transferred out of the shelter into our custody and we safely transported him to our private boarding facility down by the river. Here he would have a nice, clean, quiet 30×40 run where he could begin to relax, hopefully learn to trust and just decompress from the whole ordeal. He would learn to have his needs met, learn that people love him and not have too much asked of him in return.

Big Bear remained aggressive with everyone but his daily caretaker and his assigned NMDOG volunteer walker: his friends. Big Bear never really had any friends before NMDOG, other than the neighbor that provided food and lowered fresh water over the wall to him during those two years.

It became increasingly clear that big Bear’s aggression and inability to trust or be trusted would seriously hinder his ability to be placed in a home. Trusted sanctuaries were contacted on his behalf and assessments by multiple trainers and behaviorists were conducted. Sadly there were no available options for Big Bear. In the meantime, his aggression kept increasing…

After four months in our custody, it was decided that Big Bear needed for his misery to be over, and he was humanely euthanized. There are really no words to explain how it makes us feel to have to come to a decision like this, but there was nothing more we could do for Big Bear that would provide him with a quality of life. This is one of the realities of animal rescue. We spend every waking hour cleaning up the messes others leave behind, and sometimes there is no happy tail ending. For some dogs help comes too late.

Big Bear was a good dog. But he was also a very dangerous dog. It was not his fault. We did not fail Big Bear….it was also not our fault. The fault lies with those who inflict the emotional, mental and physical damage onto these dogs. The fault lies with those who hook the chains to their necks, throw them into the backyard when they are no longer “cute” and take no responsibility for the consequences. The fault lies with those who do not spay and neuter their pets and allow innocent, unwanted lives to be born into this world to suffer.

Big Bear paid the ultimate price for these faults…. Rest In Peace Big Bear, there is no more fear, no more aggression, and no more danger. Now….you are free.