Tito, a senior dog struggling on the mean streets, collapsed on a driveway. Luckily for this little boy, a good Samaritan saw him, picked him up, and took him to the Austin, Texas, shelter. He weighs about eleven and a half pounds and is judged to be about fourteen years old.
Maggie and Molly are a bonded pair of miniature Schnauzers. When their humans were no longer able to care for them, they landed in a shelter. The shelter adopted them to a family, but, sadly, the adoption did not work out, and the two pups were returned to the shelter through no fault of their own. The adopters had just lost two dogs, and were simply not ready to adopt. Fortunately, for these two girls, the shelter, thinking they were Westies, then called Elizabeth of Lone Star Westie Rescue, a 501c3, all volunteer rescue. Elizabeth took them in to rescue even though she knew they were not Westies.
Little Buddy Jackson should really be called Lucky. He was thrown out of a moving car in the Austin, Texas, area, but, fortunately, a good Samaritan saw what happened, stopped, and picked up the little dog.
Snoopy is an eight-year-old Westie that was turned in by his owners and is now safely with Lone Star Westie Rescue. Taller and leaner than the Westie standard and weighing about twenty pounds, his foster mom, Kim, nevertheless feels he is a purebred Westie. She does think he was taken from his mom too soon as he suckles on his toys.
Dottie, a little Westie about seven years old, was picked up by a city shelter when she was found wandering alone on the streets. She had numerous health problems, so the shelter called Lone Star Westie Rescue (LSWR).
Riley, at about a year and a half, was adopted from a Westie Rescue in 2008. He had a happy home with a single woman and was well cared for.
Wally, a two- to three-year-old Cairn mix, was picked up by a local shelter as a stray. Since he was heartworm positive, which is more than the shelter could handle, they called Lone Star Westie Rescue (LSWR).
Dallas, a ten-year-old Westie, was surrendered by his owner to Lone Star Westie Rescue (LSWR). His family had come to Texas some years prior, and when his owner had to move to a senior apartment, she could not take Dallas. As is so often the case, no one else in the family wanted him.
Many senior dogs come into shelters or rescues because their owners have become ill or have died. Some are simply cruelly discarded from the only home they have ever known because they have committed the sin of getting old, and their families can’t be bothered carrying through on the bargain all dog parents make, or should make, when taking on a canine companion, i.e. to care for them throughout their lives.
Nicole, a little Westie girl, was brought to a local shelter to be euthanized. She was suffering from severe skin issues that had gone untreated, and although the owner’s vet recommended a number of meds, the owner refused them. Consequently, the skin problems had gotten way out of hand.
