The Ark of Hope Rescue

This was Bailey the day he arrived at the Ark of Hope Rescue. He is a Golden Retriever / Yellow Lab mix! Bailey weighed 42 pounds; a Golden Retriever with his height and length should weigh around 90 to 95 pounds!

This picture is Bailey and Bobby only four months after he arrived at the Ark of Hope. As you can see Bailey has fully recovered from the abuse and neglect that he had suffered at the hands of his past owners. Bailey is no longer looking for a family to adopt -- he has adopted one!

This is Bailey. We know he's in real bad shape! Bailey was rescued on Thursday, April 20th. His owners decided that they didn't want him in the house as a house pet so they put him outside, where he proceeded to bark. Of course, the neighbors didn't like him barking and complained. The next place Bailey found was going to be his inviting, comfortable home was the basement of his family's house. There he remained for approximately 1 1/2 years. His mom got sick and his dad didn't really care for dogs so he was the last on their list of things to care about. A call was received in October 2005 from a concerned person that the dog was living in the basement and she believed that he needed help, real bad! A visit was made to check on the dog and his living conditions, but at that time the owners were not receptive to her help so she had to leave and go home. Six months later, Bailey's mom called and asked for help. When we arrived, we were both "a little upset" when we saw the condition that Bailey was in. His mom & dad told us that they believed that he had either whip worms or hook worms, "that's why he is so skinny." What bothered us was, if Bailey's owners thought he was sick, why didn't they get him to the vet's, get him some medicine and help him get better? Who knows!! After explaining how Ark of Hope Rescue would handle Bailey's care and his future, his mom signed him over. 

The next morning we had an appointment to take him to the vet's for a check up, fecal exam, and answers to why this dog was so thin. The vet was a little surprised to see a dog come in in such a poor condition. Bailey weighed 42 pounds, a Golden Retriever with his height and length should weigh around 90 to 95 pounds! After the vet's examination, he stated that Bailey DID NOT have any worms or any other health condition that would explain why he was so terribly emaciated other than he was not properly fed! In other words, he had been practically starved to death. His owner claimed that he fed Bailey; if he did, he sure didn't feed him near enough.

We have been feeding Bailey puppy food three times a day and on Sunday, April 23rd, Bailey was weighed again -- he weighed in at 44 1/2 pounds! He gained 2 1/2 pounds in only three days! He is on the road to recovery, although we know it will be a long road!!

This is Bailey's backbone, as you can see there is NO "Meat" only a skeleton!		This picture is of Bailey's neck. There is no hair from where his collar had rubbed it completely off! Take notice of how skinny his neck is under his fur.

UPDATE: May 18th: Bailey is doing SO WONDERFUL! Bailey has gained 19 pounds in just under a month!!!

UPDATE: Bailey has been adopted! Bailey is one of the greatest dogs! He now weights 105. He's about 5 pounds over weight, but 5 pounds over is nothing to 60 pounds under weight! He has a great home and is very much loved!!! Yeah Bailey!!!