Orphan Annie left Behind: Victim of Foreclosure

We received this email that we want to share with you as a response to our foreclosure article about pets being left behind.

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We have never left a pet behind, but we do have a story to share about someone who did.

When we moved into our home in 1998, we purchased it from a realtor. After we lived there for a while, a dog came to stay at our house and would not leave. She was a sweet animal, we played with her, our dogs loved her too and we fed her and gave her water.

We later found out through a neighbor, that the house that we purchased had went through foreclosure before the realtor bought it, and the family that lived there left the dog behind.

She thought in her mind that we were her new family. Her owners actually left a note and her bowl on a neighbor's doorstep and it stated, "Could you please take care of our dog and see that she gets proper care, we can no longer take care of her and have lost our home, thank you." No one even knew her name. The neighborhood, then gave her the name, "Annie", from the famous orphan Annie movie. Our neighbors had taken care of her for almost a year before we moved in, they fed her and kept her shots up to date and gave her lots of love. But actually the whole neighborhood all pitched in and gave her treats, played with her and always watched out for her. She was the neighborhood dog and was very loved.

Annie lived in our neighborhood for almost 10 years after her family left her. One day about three years ago, there was a terrible storm and Annie was nowhere to be found, she was terrified of storms and usually would need to come inside during a storm. After the storm everyone in the neighborhood looked for her and we could not find her. We contacted shelters and other neighbors, everyone knew her, but we never found her. She was very old and we sort of felt like she had a heart failure and died somewhere in the woods during the storm. We gathered that she was probably almost 15 years old. Not all dogs are as lucky as Annie to live in a neighborhood where everyone would pitch in to take care of her, she had several families, not just one to love her.

Our Gold Retriever just passed away last December and we are considering that we are now ready for another outside dog and we are going to the shelter to look around. It breaks my heart to go in there; I wish I could take them all home. Maybe this story could touch some and maybe even reach out to someone. We recently had a neighbor who did not loose their home, but had to downsize financially before they did loose it. We kept their dog temporarily for them until they found a home for him. Maybe if someone cannot take your dog, you can find someone to be a foster parent to them until they find a permanent home for them like we did for someone. At the time we could not keep him permanently, but we were able to help out for little while. Please do not leave your animals behind, try very hard to find a place for them and make sure that they are taken care of too, they are part of your family.