Fresno Bully Rescue: River

Jun 16, 2018 | 2018 Articles, Animal Rescue Adventures

by Terese Shaw

Terese Shaw is an FBR Adoptions Coordinator for Fresno Bully Rescue. FBR shares their animal rescue adventures with us every other month. You can find more of their columns here and on KRL News & Reviews.

River when we found her

We weren’t very clever in naming her; it’s where our staff found her, early one morning in February of 2016. When the cute little blue and white female was spotted, she was hanging out on a cliff near the bottom of the San Joaquin River, right down the road from our shelter facility. The cliffside area was dangerous and ran aside a busy road. No amount of coaxing could convince her to leave what she considered a safe spot. We had to find a way to get her to safety. She quickly proved she was too smart for our large dog trap and had no interest in coming towards the humans who were trying to help.

It was clear that she was a bit weary of strangers and with good reason. The people that were supposed to love and care for her did what most decent people would consider cruel and unforgivable. Heartbreaking to know that after being driven out into the dark and coyote-filled countryside she was unceremoniously abandoned. A fate many dogs succumb to too often in the Fresno County outskirts. She was skin and bones and had clearly recently given birth to a litter of puppies (which were nowhere in sight).

Needless to say, FBR staff are resourceful and do not give up! If River wasn’t going to come to humans, it was time to try another method. Staff ran to the shelter and grabbed another FBR doggy resident at the time, Clifford. One look at Clifford and River was up the ravine and ready to play with her new friend. Once we leashed her up, she instantly took to the leash. It was clear that had belonged to “someone”. She quickly showed us that she knew “sit” & “shake”.

River has been at our shelter ever since and we’ve learned many things about her nature and her silly personality. She’s even had a slumber party at one of our volunteers house, where she was the guest of honor! Toys are her favorite, she happily tosses, tugs and chews any toy that you give her to play with.

Her specialty, though, is climbing, and boy does she have serious hops! When her home comes along her new family will have a typical happy, active gal. She would do best as the only dog in a home or with a like-sized male dog just like her buddy, Clifford. River is strong enough to go on and live a happy life once she’s in a loving environment with a family that understands her personality. In return, she will teach her family how to hold her while she demands tummy rubs. River’s family will also get unconditional love and endless tail wags and cuddles. To learn more about River and the other adoptable dogs at FBR, please visit www.fresnobullyrescue.org.

Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to Fresno Bully Rescue.