A dog found wandering alone at a trailer park is so terrified of life at the shelter that all he can do is stare at the wall.
The dog named Barkley was picked up as a stray and brought to the Daviess County Animal Shelter in Owensboro, Kentucky a few weeks ago. But since arriving, the senior Dachshund mix has been so scared that he just sits in his enclosure and refuses to move or go on walks.
For his first week, he also refused to eat, but after much gentle coaxing and caring, the shelter staff were able to convince him to take some food. The shelter shared a heartbreaking video of the traumatized dog on Facebook.
“If you can get him to trust you, you can pick him up and he lightens his defenses,” they wrote. “What you see in this video is what shelter staff are faced with each day while cleaning. This makes moving him very traumatic for him and sets him back daily.”
The shelter believes many of Barkley’s problems may be because of his health issues. They suspect that his medical concerns were probably the reason he was abandoned by his owners.
When a vet looked him over he found that his paws on one side of his body were badly infected. He also had horrible teeth and needed emergency dental care.
“He didn’t have many teeth to begin with but he now only has 2 left due to how bad the teeth were,” the shelter wrote.
Having such bad teeth and bad feet would likely have made eating and walking very uncomfortable for him. The staff consider Barkley a special needs dog as he “acts like a dog who may have been abandoned for a VERY long time and has basically been fending for himself. He is horrible on a leash and he needs someone experienced in rehabilitation as Barkley has a very hard time trusting humans.”
The shelter is looking for someone with experience with special needs dogs or a rescue or trainer who can rehabilitate him. As he is such a sweetheart, they say that he deserves to find someone “extra special.”
If you’re interested in adopting Barkley and giving him a new beginning, contact Daviess County Animal Control at 270-685-8275.
Share Barkley’s story with your friends and help him find a loving home!
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