03/10/2025
Hazel-Rescued!
I first saw Hazel when I was driving a couple of years ago. She was a reddish little pit bull chained to a wooden dog house. I pulled over, went to the door and an older gentleman opened the door. I introduced myself and asked him about the dog. He said her name was Hazel and that she was his son’s dog.
We went over so I could meet Hazel and she was the friendliest little thing! I explained to the man what we did. I hooked them up with food, treats, toys, pig ears, straw and our information. I asked him if Hazel was spayed yet and he said no. I offered it for free and he said he would talk to his son. I told him I’d love to be able to help them out once a month with food and things once she was spayed.
A couple of weeks went by and I stopped back by Hazel’s house. The man came out and he said his son would like to get Hazel spayed! Thank goodness. At the time we were picking up the dogs for spaying and neutering so we made an appointment for Hazel and made arrangements to pick her up.
Although Hazel’s wooden dog house looks a little rough, it was water-tight and actually pretty good. She also had another two-piece plastic house she could get in, but she preferred the wooden one. We put straw in there and got her fixed up.
This began a two-year relationship with Hazel and her people. The older man was always home and he almost always came out when we stopped by. I think he was rather lonely (Bring Hazel in the house and you won’t be lonely!). I only met the son once. We kept a close eye on Hazel. I would spot-check them when the weather was bad, and almost all the time, she was inside!
Hazel always had clean water, she was at good bodyweight, she had a lot of shade in the summer. She was also friendly and social so we knew at least the older man paid some attention to her. She always got so excited when our van pulled up! She recognized it and would start dancing around! She knew she was going to get a new toy and a pig ear-that’s what she cared about!
We always told this man that if his son ever decided that he didn’t want Hazel, that we would take her. We loved this little girl. Her situation wasn’t ideal, but she was better cared for than most of our chained dogs.
However, this past summer did not go well for Hazel. Her care started slipping. We would find not-so-clean water at times. She was out on very hot days. I told the man that he needed to get her in one day when the heat index was well over 100 degrees. He told me that the son had the “cage” in his car and that when he got home with the “cage” they’d bring her in. I asked him if the cage was big enough for her and he said it could be bigger. I told him that I would bring them one, but he needed to get her inside.
The next day I took them a nice sized wire kennel and some blankets and more treats to help her go into her kennel. They were to use this kennel to get her inside when the weather was extreme; however, we would continue to find her outside and it was so hot. They were not using the kennel to bring her in. I would stop by with ice and make her a bucket of ice water. I’d spray her down for flies, hang fly traps and put the ear cream on her ears. I left notes on the food that we left telling them to get her inside.
At this point, the older man didn’t really come out all the time like he did before. He was able, but I think he knew that they weren’t doing right by Hazel anymore and he probably didn’t want to face us. We were super disappointed in these people.
One day, Erica and I stopped by and we didn’t like what we found at all. Hazel’s ears were bleeding a bit, her water was dirty and she had lost weight. There were flies everywhere. I asked the man if his son was home and he said he was. I asked if I could speak with him and he said he’d go get him.
This house had a screened in front porch and then it also had really tightly woven, dark brown lattice all around it, so you couldn’t see onto the porch. I had been petting Hazel when all of a sudden, I heard a deep voice. I looked to the porch and it was coming from behind the lattice. It was apparently the son. He said, “Yes?” and I just flat-out asked him if we could have Hazel. He simply replied “Yes”. It was so weird because I couldn’t see him at all, all I could hear was this voice. I told him I would need him to sign our surrender form before we left, so he finally had to actually step out onto the porch with Erica.
We loaded up Hazel and off we went, back to Chain of Hope! We got her set up in our quiet isolation room so she could just decompress and rest in the cool air conditioning. She was such a petite little thing and so very sweet. She was scared, though-everything was new.
Hazel adjusted very well to being here. We put her with Iris, another little pit, and they became two peas in a pod! Those girls played all day long!
A foster home came along and Hazel went home with them. Iris went to Amber’s house for foster so she wasn’t left alone. Hazel is very affectionate and playful! She has some energy but who can blame her after being chained her whole life? She’s free now and she’s loving it!
Hazel is a petite little girl, weighing in at 39 lbs. She is in a foster home with two other dogs and kids. She really needs a playmate in her new forever home. She enjoys other dogs so much and for so long, being chained, could never experience playing with another dog. Now it’s the best thing ever and we want that for her. She deserves it after all she’s been through.
Our outreach teams made numerous visits to Hazel, to keep her going, to provide some comfort items which brought her some joy and to monitor her situation. That is why we could finally get her, when her care was failing quickly. So sad it took that, but thank God she is with us and she will have the best life ever now!
Here is an application if you’re interested in amazing Hazel: https://new.shelterluv.com/matchme/adopt/CHKC/Dog
