LaChrystal Ricke is the founder and director of ,,Reggie’s Friends’’. Reggies Friends is a rescue group in Houston Texas. When she saw a picture of a dog sleeping outside on a dirty armchair she felt heartbroken. She immediately went to go pick him up.
The dog was out at a parking lot. It was a rather unpleasant area. Thats what Ricke told Dodo. Ricke went to the gas station with the intention to pick the skinny dog up after somebody had posted the picture of him. It clearly wasn’t a safe place there.
The sun already went down and it got dark at the unsafe part of the town by the time Ricke reached the gas station. Ricke knew the dog was dependent on her help that’s why she didn’t want to leave without him. It was a challenging affair. At first the dog was undetectable. Ricke gave him the name Aniken. She requested help by posting on Facebook: ,,Hey guys. Can someone come out here? I can’t find him. I’m sure he found a safe spot for tonight so i’m going to leave.’’
Two volunteers went to the spot to find him the next morning. They knocked on doors to ask other people if they saw him. Unfortunately nobody seen him. Suddenly a little healthy female street dog appeared. They gave her the name Tessa. The dog tried to get the attention of people to lead them back to this little shack. It was a shack in the back where people dumped all sorts of garbage , car parts and food leftovers. Because of Tessa they found Aniken. Ricke said: ,,He was laying on that seat that you could see in all the pictures.’’
When Ricke reached to the gas station she met the two volunteers. Ricke was so excited to see Aniken. They decided to bring Aniken to the rescue center together with Tessa. They thought at first that Aniken was a poor malnourished street dog. His situation was a lot worse as they later came to realize.
When they got home and he started to come out of the crate they saw a massive infected wound. Ricke and her husband knew they need to get him straight to the emergency vet. They arrived at the BluePearl Emergency Pet Hospital. Sadly they found even more issues with Aniken. Ticks had covered him that fed full capacity and put an enormous strain on his organs. Another concern to the medical team was that they used Aniken as a bait dog. It was the worst case they had ever seen! They sadly used the poor dog for target practice.
Ricke didn’t believe it at first. That term was claimed too often in her opinion. As soon as the vet opened Aniken’s mouth to show her that nearly all his teeth had been pulled so he couldn’t bite back she knew that was the truth. Ricke now is aware that this dog is a victim in more than just one way.
Aniken is covered with scars and wounds that don’t heal. Everything got worse because of the tick infestation. Wounds that should heal were badly infected. He wasn’t even clotting properly.
All his wounds were oozing. Somebody tried to sew them up by hand. By taking account all his scars on his face and start to put it all together you realize what he had to go through. Aniken was a bait dog. They had the intention to not give him a basic life wich is frightening. He’s come a long way. Aniken had to stay at the medical center. A nurse took care and wanted him to feel as safe as possible. To keep him company she put a stuffed elephant in his near.
Aniken been tortured and discarded. He had nothing. In the medical center with his stuffed elephant he finally had a safe space and some company. He unfortunately is far from being healed but he seemed to realize that his past life will forever stay behind him. Aniken made his way to a foster home as he began to heal. Of course not without his new friend. Yes, his stuffed elephant.
Nobody knows what dogs remember or what they put behind them for good. But finally Aniken’s bad past on filthy armchairs at the gas station find an end. Being used as a bait dog just like being abused, dumped and never loved was thankfully over.
