Millie's story, as told to me by her rescuer,
"Millie [originally Mocha] started out as a free box puppy at Walmart. My stepdad's neice and nephew wanted to get their kids (8 and 14 now, 6 and 12 at the time Millie arrived on the scene) a puppy for Christmas and so she came into the family. Unfortunately, the kids were VERY cruel to her. The oldest use to hold her up by her back legs and swing her around while Millie cried to be put down. I witnessed this many times, and saved her from this abuse as often as I could, but Millie went home with these people and I did not. When Millie would puppy bite the kids (they would rough her up and cause it) they would slap her in the face as hard as they could and laugh at her reaction. The kid's grandmother would tell me not to worry, "they're just being kids and puppies are tough." It broke my heart to see such a sweet dog in such a terrible home."
"As time went on, Millie became just a "thing" and quickly forgotten. She began to bark constantly in the backyard and the neighbor called the police and complained enough. Millie was uprooted from one bad home to another- the grandparent's house. She was running loose for awhile but she had a bad habit of jumping on people to eek out even a little affection from anybody, and she was then tied up on a 6 ft chain to live out her days. Everytime I went to the house I would spend hours with her, and I silently made a promise to her that when I was able, she would leave that chain behind.
This went on for 2 years. Then, I seen Millie was losing alot of her hair, she had such a foul odor to her like pure infection, and her skin was bubbly and sticky. I asked what was wrong with her and was told mange, she was being treated. This went on and on and on for 9 months I'd say. It only got worse and worse. Many times she'd not have any water in the winter.. it was frozen solid in her pan. The linens in her dog house were pure grime- never ever changed. They stunk as bad as she did.
Then, at Christmas, I could no longer take it and I took action on my promise to her. I got together with a friend who offered graciously to foster her and take care of her medical expenses. A friend of mine offered to go with me on "the heist" to steal Millie away from her neglectful situation. We snuck up to the house and the other dogs barked continuously.. we thought we woke up the whole neighborhood. Milie never let out a peep. She knew what we were there for. I ran behind her dog house and unbuckled her oily, dirty and too tight collar, slipped a lead around her neck and buckled her collar back up, staging it as she slipped her collar during the storm and ran away. We ran like bats outta hell to my car, parked down the road in a church lot and drove away quickly. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest with excitement. Millie stayed overnight at my friend's house and kept him up all night, not wanting him to leave her alone. Her primary caregivers have been men that took care of the bare neccessities for her. She likes women too, but seems to attatch more to men, since she relates them as the food bringers. She may have been played with (probably close to abusive) by the kids of her first family, but she was completely ignored when at their grandparent's house, (and possibly she developed some seperation anxiety when she finally received the attention she craved from my friend). The kids wouldn't even ackowledge her. She would sit at the end of her chain watching for ANYONE to look at her, say her name or walk just a foot closer, any indications that she might be able to get a pet on the heard or a back scratch. Her whole body would wiggle and shimmy when she seen me coming, because she knew I was always going to give her loads of affection, more than she received in the time between my visits."
The story breaks my heart everytime I read it.....I'm so glad I was able to give Millie a happy home on May 30, 2007.
(Pictures from Millie's rescuer, taken in 2007)
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