Outside the front door of the Harbor Humane Society, there is a sign. The sign says "Do not abandon an animal here. Wait until business hours. No fee for bringing an animal to HHS. For the sake of the animal, please be humane." There is also an older version of the same sign at the back of the shelter, near some picnic tables where employees take breaks.
When employees came to work one morning recently, there were no animals waiting for them out front. But sadly, the same could not be said for the sign in the back.
A tiny dog was tied to the bottom of the sign. The dog had been left there the night before. Security cameras showed the dog, who was later named Trixie, had been tied to the sign around 9 p.m. She wasn't found until 7:30 a.m. the next morning. This means she waited there for 11 hours.
"Our team member was just about to turn off the alarm system when she got to work for her morning shift. That's when she noticed the dog tied to the signpost near our back door," said Jen Nuernberg, director of marketing and strategic initiatives at Harbor Humane Society. "At first, Trixie was nervous and scared, and she was barking at her. But once she got down low and gave her some time, Trixie quickly warmed up and crawled right into her lap. She has been very friendly ever since!"
Trixie was scared out there all alone, wondering why she had ended up there. As soon as she met her rescuer, though, everything was okay. She was brought inside quickly and later met the rest of the staff members, who were just as heartbroken by what had happened. Thankfully, Trixie seemed to be pretty healthy, just a little confused - just like everyone at the shelter was confused too.
"When someone abandons an animal without giving us any information, we are just left to guess," said Jen Self Aulgur, executive director at Harbor Humane Society. "So we can guess that she is about 3 to 4 years old, but we don't know her story, her name, her likes, her favorite treats or toys. This is all information we try to get on animals when they are brought to the shelter."
The shelter employees are still hoping someone might come forward to give them some information about Trixie before she gets adopted, just to make sure she's getting the best care possible.
"This pup deserves to have her story and history known," Self Aulgur said. "We do not want to shame or get you in trouble - we just want to help this poor pup."
Trixie is safe now and will be available for adoption in about a week or so. Until then, she's getting as many kisses and cuddles as the staff can give her while she dreams of her loving forever family.