24-046 Mickey has quite a story to tell! These words were contributed by Connie, his transporter and eventual adopter:
In mid-July, Mickey was taken to an ER clinic by a police officer who, when she came in, told the staff she had a "seizure case." The attending vet gave him an injection for seizures about a half hour before I got there to pick him up. They also gave me some Keppra to take home and a script for more.
At that point we had no information at all about the dog except that his owner had left town and that whoever was watching him relinquished him to the police, who took him to the ER. I took him home and, in the meantime, it caught Liz’s eye that the police report was worded as “Report of Animal Seizure.” She wondered if, in fact, Mickey really was a “seizure dog” or, more likely, a “seized dog.” She emailed the police officer for more details and left a message to the vet about it too. She did not get any replies, but the owner’s name was on the report, along with the address, but not the phone number.
I went to the address, a trailer park in West Phoenix, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so I went to the manager’s office, where she was very helpful. She tried to call the owner and texted her, with no luck. The manager was kind enough to give me the owner’s phone number, along with a very interesting story of past events, which I won’t go into here. I tried to call and text the owner for several days, and she finally called me back with some more info about Mickey. She had adopted him, she said, from the Humane Society four weeks prior. That’s where he was neutered, and she said he received all his shots. She said she would be back in town August 8 and would give me the records then, so we did not do any vetting until we knew what has been done. Most importantly, she verified that he is NOT a seizure dog. Also, his original name was Bob . When she left to go to California, she could not take him and left him at the trailer for her friend to take care of. But Mickey locked himself in the bathroom and barked so much that the police were called. She agreed to give him to the police, and that is how we got him. I was hoping to get his records before the 8th (of August), so I went to the Humane Society to see if they would give them to me. They looked up the owner on the computer and there was no record of her adopting Mickey, so I think she has the Humane Society confused with MCACC or some other rescue. She never did get back to me, even after I called and texted her numerous times.
Mickey stayed with us for a while and then was adopted by another family, where it did not work out as hoped, because he had some behavior problems and a conflict with a resident dog. We took him back to foster and worked on his issues. After a month or so, he was just the perfect dog with no problems at all, other than barking. We had also grown very attached to him and he to us.
When we lost our Bowie in August, there was a big hole in our family dynamics that festered there, waiting to be filled. So, although you can never, ever, replace any dog, Mickey joined the family to help us be whole again. He is currently training to do home evaluations and attend meet-and-greets. He's doing a great job and will hopefully be attending the Parada Del Sol in February.
Three-year-old Mickey, already neutered when he came to AGR, has now been fully vaccinated and tested for heartworm and valley fever, both negative, fortunately.
More about Mickey
Good with Dogs, Is Not Good with Kids, Good with Adults, Quiet, Requires a yard, Likes to play with toys, Affectionate
Other Pictures of Mickey (click to see larger version):
