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Lucas is a 5-6 yr old collie/shepherd mix who found himself at the shelter after his owner died during Hurricane Sandy. The grieving dog remained by his owner’s side and wouldn’t let the family members of his owner take him out of the yard they put him in, because he knew his owner had died and he didn’t want to leave him. Unable to resist, he was removed and taken on November, 7 to the Staten Island NYC ACC facility, a place he’d seen before.
Lucas was adopted from the same Staten Island shelter as a puppy, after his original family dumped him in favor of a baby. The multiple traumas of the storm, the tragic loss of his pet parent and home, and the experience of being dropped at the animal facility, showed in Lucas’ behavior and demeanor. He was visibly stressed. Upon his return to the ACC, his life was placed in danger as he was listed for Death Row. He was catalogued with the same photo attached to his listing the first time he was there.
Thanks to those advocates and rescuers who work tirelessly to save animals from Death Row at the New York City Animal Care and Control facilities, Lucas was networked at Facebook. Louie’s Legacy Animal Rescue offered to pull Lucas if a foster could be found to care for him. Due to particulars, they were only able to save him if they had a foster in place before his time was up at the shelter.
The emergency appeal posted on Sunday read:
URGENT FOSTER NEEDED NY- Lucas is a 5-6 yr old that found himself at the shelter after his owner died during Hurricane Sandy. Lucas is VERY stressed in the shelter and it is showing, he excessively licks his nose so its all dried up and he’s scratching himself so much he has some hair loss.
Lucas is not a fan of the cage but we had a trainer come and evaluate him today and we think it’s definitely something that with time he will adjust to. When Lucas is out of the cage and outside his personality shines through. We think that a home with older children is best because he appears to have been in a home as a single dog with no other animals and is used to quiet. If you would like to help us save Lucas please apply. Ideally we would like to get Lucas out in the next couple of days.
Hearts ached for Lucas and his tragic circumstances, as the appeal for his rescue spread. On Monday, Urgent Part 2 -Urgent Death Row Dogs announced at Facebook that Lucas was safe, a foster caregiver had been found and the rescue was cleared to save Lucas. Louie’s Legacy got the word out, too. The dog who’d lost everything due to Hurricane Sandy would not also lose his life. He is set to begin anew.
