In early October 2018, a man dumped a senior dog named Radar at Houston’s Harris County Animal Shelter.
The man told the shelter staff that Radar was 20 years old, and he asked them to euthanize the dog because he had diarrhea and was vomiting. Then, the man unceremoniously walked out of the shelter, leaving his scared dog all alone.
The shelter staff tried to comfort Radar, but the poor dog was terrified. He didn’t understand what was happening or why his owner had left. The staff shared a video of Radar on the shelter’s Facebook page, and it was clear the poor dog was in bad shape.
The heartbreaking video attracted the attention of Animal Justice League Houston. They quickly agreed to take Radar in.
The next morning, Radar headed to Animal Justice League, and the first thing they did was take him to the vet. There, they learned a few shocking facts about Radar. The vet said that Radar actually wasn’t 20 years old—he was probably closer to 10 years old. He also had a bad stomach virus and was running a fever.
The vet also discovered a startling secret under Radar’s fur: his nails were extremely long. They clearly hadn’t been cut in a very long time.
As the vet treated Radar, the dog looked around nervously, trying to find his owner. When he couldn’t find someone he recognized, he cuddled with whoever was closest to him. The pup clearly loved people, and he was very sweet.
After his check-up, the vets clipped Radar’s nails and gave him a haircut. Once they were done, he looked like a brand-new dog!
After his treatment, Radar headed to his new foster home. His foster mom, Brandi Hendrix, did everything she could to make Radar comfortable. Slowly but surely, the little dog started to come out of his shell.
A few days after Brandi took Radar in, she shared a sweet update about him on Animal Justice League’s Facebook page:
“A sweet little update on Radar. This morning, he got excited while I was making his food and he got so excited and spun around a few times and then ran up to a toy and grabbed it like he was about to start playing with it…it’s the first spark I’ve seen of playfulness in this guy. Everything I’ve seen for the past week has been confusion or fear or survival or kind of…acceptance. But this was the first bit of JOY.”
As Radar came out of his shell, Brandi started to learn more about his personality. Radar absolutely loves food, but he refuses to eat dog food—his favorite foods are pumpkin, chicken, turkey, and rice. Radar also loves cuddling more than anything else, and he’s very gentle and friendly. He even gets along with Brandi’s cat!
Brandi will continue fostering Radar for a little while longer while he recovers from his many health issues. Then, once he’s ready, Animal Justice League will put him up for adoption. Hopefully, this sweet senior boy will soon be in the perfect forever home! If you’d like to help Animal Justice League with their lifesaving work, consider donating to their organization.
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