The story of Andy the pit bull is a rags-to-riches tail that surprised even experienced animal advocates.
But with the hard work of determined advocates, the sad and suffering dog was given a chance to experience joy. (And toys. Lots and lots of toys.)
It began last December, when one-year-old Andy and his sister Annie arrived at the City of Vancouver Animal Services shelter as strays. Both animals were emaciated, and suffering from giardia, an internal parasite that caused unending bouts of diarrhea that left them starving and unable to put on weight. They were skinny, scared and confused.
In an email to CTV News, Vancouver Animal Services manager John Gray also described the dogs as “under-socialized due to being raised in isolation without any social interaction from humans and other dogs, and completely terrified of everything.” Neither dog could walk on a leash and would collapse or “pancake” to the floor when staff attempted to walk them. Gray described the dogs as “traumatized,” with no trust in humans.
Andy and Annie also had wounds on their heads and bodies that were in different stages of healing. Because the dogs were strays it was impossible to tell what had happened to them to leave them in such terrible condition.
In early November, the shelter contacted Vancouver-based HugABull Advocacy and Rescue Society to assess Andy and Annie’s temperament and suitability for adoption. HugABull’s director of foster and family placement Kim Federico remembers seeing Andy for the first time.
“He was skin and bones,” she said.“He was just so shut down when I met him. We took him out in the yard and he literally just stood there not moving. And he was hesitant of me — he allowed me to pet him and handle him and we were able to do our assessment but it was just really sad to see a dog that shut down and lifeless.”
Over the next several months shelter staff worked diligently to resolve Andy and Annie’s health issues. They also slowly began to earn their trust, and were especially touched when Andy began to come around.
Andy remained stressed and unsettled in his kennel, but soon learned to accept cuddles, sometimes wrapped in a blanket. “When you go in and sit with a dog that has been through what Andy experienced,” Gray said, “and they eventually crawl in your lap, you know you’ve gained their trust, and the hard work is worth it.”
But unlike his sister Annie, Andy did not adapt to shelter life — in fact he began to show worrying signs of stress and it was clear to his shelter care-givers and to Kim: he needed out.
Andy was in luck. Vancouver couple Tylor Sinclair and Andrea Webb stepped up. In October of 2018 they’d had to say goodbye to their beloved, 16-year-old pit bull, Winter. The loss was devastating, and for five months their home was quietly missing something.
“It’s the little things you miss,” Tylor said, “like hearing them snore while you watch TV, and hearing little feet across the floor.”
Not ready to adopt permanently, fostering was the next option to get a dog back in their home — even if it was just temporarily. They chose HugABull because of their experience and love for the bully breeds.
It was a match made in heaven. “They were perfect,” Kim said.
But no one expected what happened next. Within weeks Andy blossomed from broken and terrified, to exuberant and full of life, a metamorphosis that left some wondering if that dog was the same dog at all.
“It’s been fantastic, because he’s a completely different dog than what we saw four weeks ago,” Tylor said.
In his new foster home Andy enjoys a bed in every room, homemade treats from the neighbours, and of course toys. But would he even know what to do with one?
(Courtesy: Tylor Sinclair)
“He never played with toys at the shelter he didn’t show any interest in them,” Kim said.
So when she arrived to visit Andy a few weeks into his foster, she was floored to be greeted by this:
Bouncing around his new yard, throwing his toys in the air, storming up and down the stairs, ricocheting off the fence and just generally tearing up the lawn, toy in his mouth, Andy looked like a completely different dog.
“It was such a special moment to watch him behave like a carefree dog,” Kim said. “Andy tore at my heartstrings, the moment I met him. He’s really just such a special dog.”
His new temporary care-givers agree, but they’re not sure if they want to make it permanent. For now, they’re happy just guiding Andy along to what they hope will be a long and very happy life, even if he winds up being adopted by someone else. And they’ve given him a new name: Garth.
And happily, his sister Annie, is also now in foster care and doing well.
But it never would have happened without the dedication of the staff at Vancouver Animal Services, HugABull, and of course, Tylor and Andrea.
“You could tell he wanted to be saved,” Tylor said.
