Crate-Hating Dog Challenges His Rescuers, But Gets A Second Chance, Thanks To You!

Part of each sale through the iHeartDogs store is donated to Greater Good Charities, which helps support various charitable programs. Thanks to customers like you, happy endings, like the one below, are made possible – this one specifically through the Second Chance Movement™ program. Animal Investigation & Response (AIR) recently shared with us the success story of Goliath, a dog rescued from Hurricane Harvey who wouldn’t stay in a crate long enough to be flown to an area where it would be easier for him to be adopted.

As told by the Animal Investigation & Response team:

At the request of the Houston Humane Society (HHS), Animal Investigation & Response (AIR) deployed our resources to the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Our role during this response was to help with the influx of animals from the immediate affected area, as well as provide daily care and veterinary care and track and log the animals that were coming in from the Texas coastline shelters.

We assisted with transporting animals from the affected shelters to HHS where our team was ready to get them settled in and prepare for medical examinations in the coming days.

Our team worked with veterinarians to get the animals medically evaluated and up to date on all the requirements of an out of state transport to other shelters. Our next step was to prepare for transport day. Once the animals were ready, and the flight was scheduled, we got them loaded up on our Response Unit and to the airport where we then loaded them up on the plane.

Goliath – Wow, Goliath was a force. We met Goliath when he busted out of his crate while the dogs were sitting in them, waiting to load into the plane. He came from another organization that was sending animals on the same flight. The flight got full and so Goliath and several others didn’t make it on to that plane. Goliath is not one to be contained, so he busted out and tried to escape. Two of our team members were able to corner him. He had destroyed the crate, so luckily we had another to put him in since we had to take him back with us to the shelter to await another flight.

On the way back to the shelter, he escaped his crate again. We quickly realized that he was going to be a challenge. While at the shelter, he learned how to dodge the shelter employees so he could take a tour of the property. So we decided it was best to put a harness on him, so it was easier to hold him to keep him from dodging. We also realized that this was a dog that needed a lot of exercise and mind stimulation.

So we set him up with two of our responders to get him busy thinking of other things besides escaping. They realized he became a well-behaved boy while on car rides and he loved the agility course. When it came time for the flight out of state, we decided that it was in his and the pilot’s best interest not to send him for fear that he would bust out of the crate mid-flight. Instead, we found placement with one of our local placement partners.

All the others dogs and cats rode in the Response Unit back to the DFW area…except for Goliath. He had a whole back seat to himself for the 4-hour drive. We just received great news that he just got adopted! If there is a success story of an animal that seemed unplaceable, it is Goliath’s story! We love a challenge with a happy ending!

Animal Investigation & Response (AIR) is just one of the many groups that benefit from iHeartDogs’ Second Chance Movement™ program. When you shop the Second Chance Movement™ Collection, part of your purchases help fund success stories like this one!