Caged dog tastes freedom for first time
Caged dog tastes freedom for first time
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 The estimation from the vet in the shelter is that she was in a small cage on a dirt floor in a dark area,
00:05 just used for breeding, and then dumped on the side of the road when she was no longer useful.
00:09 We are Kate and AJ, and this is Pop-Tart's story for GeoBeats.
00:14 Pop-Tart had been found on the side of a rural highway in Virginia.
00:18 All accounts from the veterinarian are that she had been used for heavy breeding, given a home C-section.
00:23 The vet said it was a fresh, non-professional C-section.
00:27 We went and met her in person. She was terrified in the shelter environment.
00:31 She was underweight and shoulder-hunched, looking like a sad girl.
00:33 And we took her one week later.
00:35 When we brought her home, she was pretty scared of everything.
00:39 We made dinner, went into our little backyard, and lit a little fire.
00:42 And she laid on a pillow in the backyard.
00:44 After we put the fire out, we all got up to go in the house.
00:47 She wagged at us and turned a little circle and laid down to sleep in the grass,
00:50 not knowing that she was going to be welcome in the house.
00:53 And that was the most heartbreaking moment.
00:55 Everyone did the "Oh, no!" and then brought her in.
00:58 From that moment forward, she is queen of the house.
01:03 She really thinks she's an athlete. She gets those little bursts of speed.
01:11 She's a sprinter, not a marathon.
01:15 Every day I drive him nuts because a thousand times a day I say, "Look at her!"
01:20 Look how cute she is. Look how happy she is.
01:24 Oh, my God!
01:25 We tell her loudly and clearly that she is loved,
01:28 and her whole life is never going back to what it was.
01:31 We'll make up for it every single day she's on this planet,
01:33 which hopefully is a really long time.
01:35 She loves the snow.
01:36 Recently, it snowed a few times here, and she won't come back inside.
01:40 She snores loudly. You can see the different styles of her snoring.
01:46 She barks almost never.
01:48 If she wants us to come play with her, and we're not playing hard enough or fast enough,
01:52 she'll give us one little bark to come play with her.
01:54 And other than that, the only time we hear her bark is in her sleep.
01:57 She's a big barker when she's asleep. She's yelling at somebody in there.
02:04 Every meal from the minute we adopted her, she's the happiest thing,
02:10 spinning in circles, doing this dance.
02:11 Want breakfast?
02:12 Here we are six years later, and every single meal is met with the same amount of jubilation as that first one.
02:20 We adopted Doug, and they play together, they sleep together, they eat together.
02:24 They're almost always touching each other.
02:32 Recently, I started being really aware of the stigma that comes with these big, boxy, block-headed dogs.
02:37 And we see it with Pop-Tart, too.
02:39 It breaks my heart to watch her deflate.
02:41 If we're at a patio having dinner, and she's laying there, and people will come pet Doug,
02:45 but completely avoid her.
02:46 She's the sweetest, most gentle creature you'll ever meet in your entire life.
02:50 She's a big lump of mashed potatoes.
02:52 [music]
03:00 you