A former PAWS worker was driving home down some rural back roads one evening in late Summer when three black lurcher type dogs were wandering down the road looking lost and in bad condition. It wasn’t an unusual find, sadly, there are always many lurchers and sight-hound breeds seen wandering down these kind of back roads, mostly they are lost and straying. They are usually found to be mistreated and underweight, or worse, found with severe injuries or clearly having been used for breeding and deemed no longer useful so dumped down some rural road where they can’t find their way back home. It’s sadly the norm in Ireland and one of the reasons the pounds and rescues are always so full to the brim, struggling with huge vet bills and why it is important to maintain the micro-chipping laws to ensure dogs can be traced back to their owners. These three dogs fell under this category straight away. The only female of the trio, was older, severely underweight with bald patches and mange and looked positively broken. The younger male had a frayed blue rope tied tightly around his neck and bolted into the nearby field as soon as the PAWS worker pulled in.
It took several attempts of sweet talking and some tasty-smelling wet food pouches to convince him to come back. The last dog, the larger male of the trio, and the only one in okay condition apart from some mange and being slightly underweight, helped round the other two up. As soon as the car door opened, he hopped in almost immediately as if to be relieved to find help. It was unclear where they had all come from or how long they had been straying but they were all exhausted and it was clear the big black boy had been looking out for the other two. He somehow knew they had been saved. They all came back to PAWS to a cosy kennel for the night and some grub they all hungrily hoovered up. After some time, some much needed r&r and some treatment for the mange and minor wounds they all blossomed into some lovely dogs and the former shy boy and female found homes of their own. Elrond, our larger boy and aptly named as they had been found near the rural woods and he had clearly been some kind of keeper or guardian looking out for the other two, remained in PAWS. It was unclear exactly as to why this was. The more he got his strength and confidence back the more his personality came out and he was the biggest dote and sweetest boy. This happens quite a lot to lurchers in shelters as they’re a breed that is not very well known and many people don’t see them as pets. His black fur also didn’t help as animals with black coats can be invisible in rescues and are the least likely to be adopted compared to those with different coat colours. Because of these reasons, no matter how sweet a boy our Elrond was, he just didn’t have any luck finding a home.
He was three and a half years in PAWS’ care before being adopted at the start of this year 2020 and we could not have asked for a better start to the year for a sweeter boy. He is now living as a very much loved family pet with another sighthound for company and going on adventures in the woods. He looks so happy in his pictures! If you would like to ask about some of our long termer dogs needing a home, to find out information on sighthound breeds and whether or not they might be the right dog for you or to meet some of our black coated dogs that are so much more than just their coat colour! Please get in touch with us on info@paws.ie or message us on facebook.
