Wednesday’s Story
Bobbi and the Strays got an email from a woman in the Bronx asking us to help with her female pit bull that she could no longer keep due to landlord issues. She was hiding the dog named Wednesday in her bathroom in her apartment for fear of being kicked out. Wednesday was a beautiful unaltered female pit bull. We feared what would happen to Wednesday if we didn’t step in to help. Many people want pits like her to breed and sell puppies or to fight. A lot of them end up abused, abandoned or euthanized at our city shelters.
One warm May morning, I drove up to the Bronx, dragging two friends a long with me for the ride to pick up this pit bull named Wednesday. We found the building without too much trouble and the girl met us outside with a large tannish/red and white pit bull that was being walked with a pocket book string- no collar, no leash.
Wednesday looked healthy. She was a good weight. She had a huge block head and I could tell she had puppies already in the past. The young girl was crying when she gave me Wednesday. She said she had no choice. Her landlord was forcing her and she didn’t want to put Wednesday on the street. She feared what would happen to her there. She said she would rather have Wednesday euthanized. There wasn’t much I could say. Both things were horrible to me. Wednesday hopped right into the back seat of my car. I sat in the back with her and one of my friends drove. Wednesday looked longingly out the back window as we drove away.
Wednesday at an adoption event
When we got to the shelter we brought Wednesday inside. She looked unsure and scared. Even though we were saving her life, I always feel sad leaving at them at the shelter. They may feel like we are abandoning them. But then they learn that we come back everyday to take care of them and they start to feel comfortable.
After we took Wednesday to the vet and had her spayed we enrolled in obedience classes at Pawsative Dog Training. We saw this dog had a lot of potential. She was smart and attentive, eager to please her people. I had a feeling she could earn her Canine Good Citizenship Certificate which would help her get adopted and help dispel any notions that she was an aggressive dog just because she was a pit bull. One of our dedicated volunteers started to bring her to beginners classes. She passed basics with flying colors after eight weeks and then was enrolled in the CGC class.
Diane took her to classes once a week and then came to the shelter in between to practice with Wednesday. When she passed her Canine Good Citizenship test we were all ecstatic, though not surprised. Wednesday had such a fabulous temperament and Diane was devoted to helping Wednesday reach her potential.
Not long after she earned her CGC, Wednesday was selected to appear in a runway show at Pet Fashion Week in Manhattan. Several other Pawsative graduates were also going to be models! Wednesday was a super star! She did a wonderful job at representing her breed and representing shelter dogs!
Wednesday was adopted soon after by a new volunteer who fell in love with her. She now lives in a home in Queens. She has retired from modeling and is content to spend her days being the faithful companion to her person.
When I think about Wednesday’s story, it amazes me. Here is this dog that was locked up inside a bathroom in the beginning of her life, being bred and having her puppies sold and then almost being homeless on the street or taken to be euthanized. Then the next thing we know she is an AKC Canine Good Citizen and runway model! Never underestimate the potential of a shelter dogs. Many of them are just like Wednesday, waiting for someone to recognize their potential.
