Join Lauren's Mission to Save This Dog

My name is Lauren Shelton and I live in Memphis, Tennessee. About 4 days ago, my husband found a pit bull shivering and starving in a ditch. It was 20 degrees out and dropping to 10 overnight, and we simply could not leave him. I got a slip lead over the dog’s neck and walked him back to our garage. He has been in our garage with a heater for the last few days.

We took him to get scanned with no luck. We posted him on Nextdoor and all the lost dog pages on Facebook. We have searched missing dog posters and haven’t found anyone to claim him. Our local humane society is full; they also refused to offer us any medical help because he was a pit bull. The Memphis Animal Shelter has had a distemper outbreak and is currently closed to euthanize over 140 dogs. I have contacted every rescue in the city, and everyone is full to the breaking point.

I am desperate. My husband works nights and is unable to help me with our animals during the day. I am currently dealing with some serious health issues and am a full-time graduate student who runs a full-time horse farm. We are paying the equivalent of 2 mortgages every month for my school and were struggling financially before adding this dog to our responsibilities. We have no extra money to get this dog the proper vet care he needs. He needs to be neutered ($250), yearly shots so he can be introduced to other dogs safely ($160), skin scraping, worming, flea and tick medications, and bloodwork ($300).

He seems to be a little over a year old. He is very much in his teen years. He is scared of strangers at first, but after he gets a treat and decides he loves you, he just wants to be in your lap. He has not shown any signs of aggression to me or my husband. He met my parents and loved them instantly. He loves car rides and he walks on a loose leash. Since he is underweight, he is very food motivated, but he has not offered to growl or react when I have been near/moved his food dish. He doesn’t bark or get riled up when my dogs are barking or crying inside the house. A stranger walked outside of our parked car the other day, and he simply watched with interest instead of lunging at the window. In about 2 days, he has learned that he needs to either potty on pee pads or wait to go outside. He learned the sit command in about 5 minutes and seems to understand that that is a more reliable way to get pets instead of jumping. I think this dog would be a huge couch potato.

He just wants to be where his human is. We desperately want to find him a foster family or rescue that can help him find a family of his own. We are willing to drive him to you. We are willing to pledge money to support his care. Can you please help us? This guy just needs a chance.