Mr. Bones & Company, Inc.

On June 2, nine dogs from a NC dogfighting yard were rescued by local law enforcement and the The Humane Society of the United States, who coordinated the operation. On June 9, we deployed to an undisclosed holding location to meet all of them, along with our #HelperDog, Joey, and understand each case. Unfortunately, two of the dogs appeared to be unable to be rehabilitated but the other seven cases remained hopeful and likely adoptable. We thought we might be able to take on 2-3 dogs, but in the end, we asked to take all seven cases.

Five weeks ago these seven dogs were transferred to our care, but continued to remain evidence in the case. In an unprecedented turn of events, less than three months after seizure, this week our organization signed the paperwork officially transferring them to our ownership. We are excited to finally be able to share their stories with you.

Named in honor of some of the people who saved their lives, STEPHANIE, HEATH, HAZEL, GERTIE, JAMES, CPT. ROLLINS and BUTTERCUP have been decompressing in our #OneLuckyPup rehabilitation program. They have been learning how to run without being chained, to trust not all humans will hurt them and to seek comfort in other dogs, even each other! We will begin sharing their individual stories of survival and triumph, and how you can apply to adopt one, over the next few days. In the meantime, we are working hard to raise 15K to ensure all seven can continue to receive medical care, as well as cover teh extensive costs of a train and board program for four off them, in addition to the costs of ongoing supply and care needs.

We are grateful for the local law enforcement and prosecutors in the state of NC who acted immediately when they discovered a professional organized dog fighting ring. They pursued this case and suspect swiftly, and with great force. We are also grateful for, and honored to work alongside, our newest animal welfare partners, the tireless team at The Humane Society of the United States, who brought us in to assist them on this case.

Knowledge is a powerful tool. We have learned so much about dog fighting, the ignorance surrounding these dogs and the myths that they are working against. In our learning, it is our mission to share this knowledge in our follow up posts this week. The stories of these seven dogs will change the perception of what you might think a dog fighting dog is, and in the most wonderful way.

Please follow this story on social media under #AdoptNCsevenMBC

Mr. Bones & Co. is a volunteer based animal welfare non-profit. Our main function is canine rescue via One Lucky Pup, our rescue, rehabilitation and adoption program. We accept all breeds into our program with an emphasis on pit bull rescue. OLP specializes in dogs facing extraordinary challenges. We focus on the quality of our cases, not the quantity. By keeping our program small, typically no more than fifteen dogs at a time, we put an intensive amount of attention into each dog.

SCOOBY DOO was found under the Van Wyck Expressway back in 2018, abandoned with another dog. While the other dog went to rescue, SCOOBY DOO was adopted out. 12 days ago, after almost three years since we last abandoned, he was tied up outside Brooklyn’s Firehouse Ladder 103, abandoned a second time and in awful condition. He three months shy of 11 years old now, an emaciated #elderbull with multiple masses littering his body. He walks with a pronounced limp and appears to be very, very hard of hearing, if not completely deaf.

We will share more on this gentle senior’s story as he unpacks his fear, pain and sadness in our #OneLuckyPup foster program and sees our veterinary care team later this week. For now, we have set his fundraiser at 3K and will adjust this as his medical needs are better understood. We are grateful for any level of support you want to offer.

Senior dogs are one of life’s greatest gifts, a gentle reminder that love is unconditional. They remain enamored of us no matter the days we forgot to think of them, the nights we stayed out too late while they were waiting for us, the family vacations they missed out on and those times it took us days to remember to pick up more treats on our way home from work. If we are lucky enough to be with a dog during their golden years and able to appreciate all they have generously offered us, their final gift is given. Lock eyes with a senior dog while extending an act of love and you’ll catch a glimpse of their very soul peering right back out at you. These are moments not to be missed.

Please don’t forget this as your dog ages. There is nothing worse to them than losing you.

#AdoptScoobyDooMBC #seniordog

About us:

Mr. Bones & Co. is a volunteer based animal welfare non-profit that was founded in 2013. Our main function is canine rescue via One Lucky Pup, our rescue, rehabilitation and adoption program. We accept all breeds into our program with an emphasis on pit bull rescue. OLP specializes in dogs facing extraordinary challenges. We focus on the quality of our cases, not the quantity. By keeping our program small, typically no more than fifteen dogs at a time, we put an intensive amount of attention into each dog. Learn more at www.mrbonesandco.org

NEW YORK, NY: On November 12, 2020,  a large, injured pit bull being deliberately tied up and abandoned on a Brooklyn Street was captured on videotape. After being contacted by Dottie, the owner of Bushwick Bark, the store he was tied up in front of, we took this dog in and shared his story with the world. In the first week we had him in our One Lucky Pup rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming program, we learned quite a bit about the dog we named ALBERT (affectionately BIG AL.) For dogs whose fate is left to the kindness of strangers with the hope that the wrong people don’t get to them first, background information is an uncommon valuable.

As it turned out, ALBERT already had a name - his owners called him TRAP. We know this because a year earlier, in November 2019 he was brought to our city shelter, NYC ACC, as a stray. Some people told us we were wrong to be so “hard” on his owners, that they probably didn’t know about our city shelter, or that they might have thought it was not a good place, but his owners were aware of the vital services our city shelters provide. Not only did they reclaim for there last year,  they had also previously brought him there to seek veterinary services.

When ALBERT, who we are now calling TRAP (his name is all he has left), was brought to NYC ACC last year he weighed 66 lbs. and was noted to have no mobility issues. When TRAP was discarded by his family a few days ago, who refused to return messages left that TRAP had been located, he weighed 92 lbs. and walked with the majority of his massive body on his forelegs. TRAP, estimated to actually be only 4-5 years old, not the senior he appeared to be when we first took him in, suffers from severe hip dysplasia – one of his hips does not even rest in the socket. In addition to this, his teeth are literally rotting out of his mouth with an infection so severe he needs an immediate dental surgery, or he risks sepsis.

TRAP’s family knew where they could bring him if they could no longer care for him, but they chose to discard him to the mercy of anyone who happened upon him. TRAP was callously abandoned, in pain, frightened to suddenly find himself amongst only strangers. 

Remarkably, despite the trauma of being recklessly discarded, a mouth full of painfully rotting teeth and the incredible pain of severe, advanced hip dysplasia, and painful carpal (wrist) hyperextension due to the majority of weight being concentrated on his forelegs, TRAP has not been aggressive at all. His bark can be loud and demanding, but he gets a pass for this – he is trying to tell us what hurts, what he doesn’t like, that he wants to be comforted, paid attention to and touched.

TRAP kennels beautifully, sadly perfectly, as though he is used to being in his own place and isolated. He is quiet when he is brought back to his comfortable orthopedic bed after his walks, enrichment and hang time with the canine care team at Instinct, where is waiting until we can find the right foster home for him. He has quickly become a staff favorite and decompressed quickly. We see glimmers of the dog he is trying to be, the playful young pit bull who wants to run and jump, but who is held back by a body aged far beyond his actual years. It is for these reasons, for his sweet temperament, for his desire to be engaged with, for his youth and for the brutally unfair way he was discarded that we have made the decision to go all the way with his plan of care.

After TRAP undergoes an extensive dental surgery with multiple extractions and a thorough cleaning, he will be scheduled to undergo a total hip replacement surgery. This procedure is expected to give him back his mobility to that he can run and jump without pain, so that he can start his life over again. The recovery will be extensive, but we believe it is very much worth, and do does TRAP.

We made the decision to keep his name because it is his only familiarity. Erasing his identity isn’t fair. He does not know what we are saying when we call out “Albert!”, but when we greet him with “Hey, TRAP!”, he turns immediately, wags his tail in recognition and heads our way, enveloped in a beautiful smile. Knowing his name means we can connect with him, an integral source of comfort in a very scary, new world for him. We will continue to update TRAP’s remarkable, resilient story as his surgeries begin. His costs will take a heavy toll on our #OneLuckyPup program and so we are grateful for any size donation, though likley not nearly as much as TRAP.

Note: We were able to track his story down is through an unregistered microchip that was routed only the NYC ACC, who went out of their way to assist us in our efforts to learn as much about him as possible so that we could start over with him. While there is still information we do not know, we believe it will come to light in the future as is case is investigated. For now, we are focused on how to best help TRAP.

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Mr. Bones & Co. is a volunteer based animal welfare non-profit. Our main function is canine rescue via One Lucky Pup, our rescue, rehabilitation and adoption program. We accept all breeds into our program with an emphasis on pit bull rescue. OLP specializes in dogs facing extraordinary challenges. We focus on the quality of our cases, not the quantity. By keeping our program small, typically no more than fifteen dogs at a time, we put an intensive amount of attention into each dog. Learn more at www.mrbonesandco.org

TONKA and LITTLE P are joining our #OneLuckyPup rescue program under heartbreaking circumstances and we are asking our community for help. Shortly after SARGE (now known as SAM in honor of the dog whose story led us to cross paths with him) was adopted by his foster parents his new mom, Crysti, learned her cousin, Kris, died during a hiking accident in Colorado. Kris had been hiking with his two dogs, who were his life, and a friend, Mark, when they became lost. They had only prepared to be gone one day and after two days of trying to find their way back, without water or food, they spotted a creek in a canyon below. During the descent down the canyon to get to the water, with Kris holding onto TONKA and LITTLE P beside him, he lost his footing and stumbled trying to pull his dogs to safety. All three of them fell to the bottom of the canyon. Sadly, Kris died upon impact. His loyal and well-loved dogs sustained injuries but were alive. From the top of the canyon Mark, who could not get to them, lit signal fires and hollered for help. He was found the next day by search and rescue helicopters. When search and rescue got to Kris his dogs were next to him, having not left his body since the fall.

Mark refused to leave Colorado without TONKA and LITTLE P. When all three were stable and able to travel he picked them up from the local shelter where police had taken them and is currently making the drive back to Long Island to bring them to Kris’s family before he returns to Florida.

We can all easily place ourselves in Kris’s shoes and would give anything to ensure our own dogs were taken care of in the face of tragedy. His family, devastated to lose him, is overwhelmed with funeral expenses and unable to afford the extensive emergency surgery needed to save TONKA’s badly broken leg and the x-rays to ensure LITTLE P’s jaw is not broken. They are just as heartbroken to not be able to care for his dogs.

Our adopters are family and it is without hesitation that we committed to taking TONKA and LITTLE P into our rescue and rehabilitation program. When they arrive Thursday and will honor their dad by ensuring they receive the medical treatment they need. We will work tirelessly to find one adopter for BOTH dogs so they may stay together and heal from the trauma. If you can please support our rescue and rehabilitation of TONKA and LITTLE P to honor the memory a man whose dogs were his life and help ease the pain on his family, we would be grateful.

Mr. Bones & Co. is a 501 (c)3 animal welfare nonprofit. Your donation is tax deductible to the furthest extent allowed by law. For additional questions please email [email redacted]