After experiencing their first taste of independence, many college students selfishly think being a full-time student in college is the perfect time to get a dog, but most don’t realize how much time, money, patience, and effort goes into raising a happy and healthy animal.
When one Santa Barbara-based 20-year-old found a cheap ad on Craigslist for a dog, the student jumped at the chance to have his very own dog, and immediately purchased the pup. However, as Rex grew, he struggled to look after and train him, and ended up keeping him locked up in a cage most of the time.
“According to the 20-year-old that owned Rex at the time, he claims that he purchased Rex on Craigslist, which is really shady,” said Julia Di Sieno, the director and founder of the Animal Rescue Team based in California who found Rex starving in a crate in the boy’s room. “You just don’t advertise animals on Craigslist, ever. He was not forthcoming with any information.”
“He was neglecting the animal by keeping him in a confined, cramped crate,” Di Sieno said about the ‘dog’ who was actually mostly wolf. “The dog was only 42 pounds when his normal weight should have been 90 pounds.”
Di Sieno finally convinced the boy to give up Rex as he was clearly unfit to care for a difficult animal that’s not meant to be a pet, and took Rex home to nurse him back to a healthy weight. “He immediately bonded with me,” Di Sieno said. “He’s very protective, but he’s also just a lump love.”
Despite the neglect he experienced, Rex was extremely affectionate towards people, so Di Sieno decided to try and find a good home for him instead of sending him off to a sanctuary with other abandoned wolf dogs.
At first, Rex was adopted by a family, but was returned just 12 hours later to give him back after seeing how much more work wolf dogs require, however, the perfect family came to the shelter soon after and spent the entire day with Rex before officially making him part of the family.
“He is in the best possible home we could have ever begged God for,” Animal Rescue Team said.
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[Featured image: Animal Rescue Team]
Wolf Dog Found Starving And Locked Up In College Student’s Dorm is an article from: LifeDaily