Justin: Leo, the Lionhearted

Justin was a puppy found by Polly at the Battle River dump with his ears crudely cut or burned off a couple of years ago. He went to MARS and was adopted by his foster family. We were so happy to receive an update on this special boy who came to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue from a hopeless situation -- sick, in pain, and terrified.

JUSTIN/LEO NOWYes, I fostered Leo for about 5 minutes and then immediately adopted him. Here is our noble Leo the lionhearted with my daughter.

He is GREAT! He is a beautiful dog, with wolf-like eyes. He also doesn't really bark - he kind of goes right into a long howl. Wolfy!

He has always been skittish around flapping paper, like if you shake out the newspaper, but other than that he doesn't show any trauma from his rough start.

JUSTIN/LEO BEFOREHe loves belly rubs and he does great at our horse barn. He plays with our kitten and they are hilarious. I just adore him and am so glad you guys rescued him!!!

C~

Justin Leo: another transformation

Justin was one of the most heartbreaking cases of the summer. See his first post. It was wonderful to receive this update from his family.

Hi all,
Thought it was time to check in with an update on Leo, now that he has been in our home for 3 months.

JUSTIN/LEO HAPPYI am so happy to report that everything has been excellent for the young boy. All of his health issues have resolved. He still has one bald patch on his tail, but other than that, he is really healthy.

HEALTHYHe has gained at least 15 pounds and is well-toned from all his exercise. He is a really good dog and he has so much fun with my daughter and I and our 3 other dogs. He even comes to our horse barn and is very well behaved. Every hair on his body stood on end the first time I clomped out with one of the horses ("what is THAT?!"), but he has always been respectful - no barking, chasing, nothing.

JUSTIN/LEO & FRIENDSThe Gang o' Four (Jesse, Lily, Mickey and Leo) go to the dog park, swimming, car rides, and every day is filled with wrestling matches. Each has their own spot in the back seat and in my bedroom at night. It amazes me how they all blend so well.

JUSTIN/LEO WHEN HE ARRIVEDLeo still shows some random signs of skittishness, but nothing like when he first arrived. I really think that watching the other dogs showed him how to behave. I can't tell you how happy we are to have Leo as part of our family. He is very well loved.

Thank you again for sending him to us!

XO
C~, E~, J~, L~, M~ and B~ (the 24 year old cat he tries to wrestle with)

Special needs transport on July 7

The transport on July 7 left Bemidji with 20 dogs/puppies, 3 cats/kittens and one rabbit!!

SHEEBAOf this group we had 3 special needs kids including Sheeba with a broken front leg and heartworm; Jake with one eye blinded needing removal; and Justin with cut or burned off ears and mange.

JAKEJake and Justin are headed to MARS where they will both receive medical care and tlc for their health and emotional healing.

NANCY & JUSTINA special thanks to the Tom, Carolyn, Nancy and Barbara for transporting the very large load of animals. There was no extra space as they left Bemidji, so Justin sat on Carolyn's lap on the way to Motley to meet Barbara.

BONNIEBonnie, a female doxie, went to Pet Haven.

BORISBoris, a male doxie, went to Tricounty.

WABOOSEWaboose, which means rabbit in the Ojibwe language, also went to Tricounty.

BRYANBryan, the cat, went to Tricounty, too.

KITTENSTwo darling kittens went to RLRR foster care.

BRANDIJULIABrandi and Julia and a litter of 3 pups went to All Dog.

2 OF 4 LABBIES4 LABBIES4 male labbies went to Animal Ark.

LITTER OF 8 SHEPS8 shep puppies found in the woods in Ponemah- 2 went to Act V, 3 went to Secondhand Hounds; and 3 went to All Dog.

ELENAElena the brown shep went to MARS.

A special thanks to the rescue groups taking the very "broken" ones with so many medical needs.

Karen

Wonderful news: Justin is adopted!!

Happy update on Justin the little earless shep--HE IS GETTING ADOPTED!! YAY- Karen

THIS HAPPY SMILE BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES

FIRST REPORT FROM FOSTER HOME:
The baby is here! We picked up Justin/Beebs this afternoon, fresh off the transport down from Red Lake Rosie's. Grungy, flea bitten, missing big chunks of hair and ears. But sweet, quiet, gentle, wags his tail, defers to the other dogs . . . and Butch, the rickety old cat.

BATHTIMEHe was scared at first when we took a step towards him, but is already following us around and is currently taking a post-bath nap with Jesse. He was in the house for about 30 minutes before E asked if we can adopt him. He has no idea what a Tennis ball is but loves chasing after the other guys who grew up playing tennis : )

A sweet sweet boy! We are so happy he is here and will never be hurt again.

C&E~, promoting fostering/adopting - it rocks!

TERRIFIED JUSTIN BEFORERESPONSE FROM RESCUE GROUP MARS:
Thank you so much Colleen for the update. After meeting him tonight, it just reinforces why rescue is here. This sweet boy has done nothing in his short life to have gone through what he has gone through, yet is so forgiving of us humans.

He knows he is safe with you guys and we thank you for coming to his rescue.

A~

JOY AND CONFIDENCE

UPDATE FROM FOSTER/ADOPTING HOME:
We for sure want to adopt Justin.

We have changed his name to Leo - since he has a noble lion-like face and he is so courageous. He has fit into our home and with the other dogs so amazingly well!

Thanks for sending Leo our way - we adore him!!!

C&E~

Justice for Justin

It seems no end to the cruelty we are uncovering here in Red Lake.

Meet Justin, as Polly did last night while driving by the Battle River dump on the road to Ponemah. She was horrified to find the shep mix with no ears- evident that someone had cut off his ears. Very fearful he holds his head and looks down most of the time. His little short life has been nothing but suffering as you can see it in his eyes.

They were obviously done torturing Justin, so they threw him in the dump.

He has just been taken in here at the RLRR shelter. I will take him to the vet to get verification as to what caused the ears to be severed. One ear may accidently be severed....but not two.

We have a number of abuse cases we could bring forward to HSUS, but are still waiting to have the one with the 2 dogs beaten and hung resolved.

I am hoping a rescue or kindhearted foster home will open up to give Justin some decent contacts with the human race- Obviously- he has not encountered any decency yet.

Justin is a juvenile, about 4 months old, intact, and minus 2 ears.
Can anyone help?

Sincerely, Jo Tallchief, Chairperson
Karen Good
Polly McMaster
Carol Priest
UPDATE:

MARS has stepped forward to take in Justin. Thanks so much!!

Nancy and Tom visited today and Nancy sat in his kennel and held him and he just LOVED it.

Karen

THOUGHTS FROM NANCY O'SULLIVAN:
I am so honored, really, to have held Justin today when we visited Karen's. What a gentle, fragile little soul this guy is. I would have loved to have sat with him in his kennel with a big ol' soft quilt and held him all day long.

He responds to sweet whispers in his ears and soft pets. What an absolute beauty. Thank you for this incredible rescue. Had you not been there for him, surely he would have perished. Thanks...

Nancy O'Sullivan