The Saga of Neville
Freedom Flight
As many people know a bill was recently passed in Ontario Canada banning the American Pit Bull Terrier. The day the bill passed the cry went out to help save the dogs in shelters who will all be doomed in short order. I was fortunate enough to belong to a message board (
www.PitbullForum.com) when the cry went out and offered to take an Ontario dog.Thaank you to Holly at the Gerogina shelter in Ontario (where Nev came from). When BULLIES IN NEED contacted Holly and let her know that we found a wonderful place for Nev to go, she jumped on board and agreed to keep hiding Nev when he went past his due date to be PTS. Also a person in Seattle heard about one that SHE wanted to adopt. So..two people in particular(thank you Jamie from Puyallup, WA and Laurel from Rolling Rescue )quickly began to try to put together a ground transport to bring the two dogs the 2500 miles from Ontario to Seattle, Washington USA. Despite the best efforts of many people the trip was just NOT coming together. Nitro and Neville were waiting in shelters as the clocks ticked on their lives and the volunteers were running out of time. It was becoming truly desperate..here were two dogs..with places to go, scheduled to die simply for being Pit Bulls in a place where they were banned. It was getting to the point where I think some people were close to giving up. This was when one wonderful person stepped forward and offered to pay for the dogs to FLY to Washington. This still involved the work of MANY volunteers. We had Bullies-in-Need in Ontario praying and crying desperately from their end. One person(thank you Amy Watts )in Ontario fostered Nev overnight and then drove him from Toronto to Michigan. Where he was then boarded, at no cost, for a week at Capital Area Humane Society in Lansing, MI. They also had both dogs neutered at their cost while they were there. Then another volunteer picked the boys up and transported them to the Detroit airport. Finally it all paid off and the boys landed safely in Seattle on March 20, 2005.
Life in America
Nitro started his new life with his new owner and Neville settled in as a foster dog in search of the perfect family. When Nev arrived I really knew next to nothing about him. All I knew is what he looked like and that he loved people. I had been told he was thin but upon arrival it was quickly apparent that more than thin..he was very conditioned and athletic. Much to my surprize and delight..he was also well trained. Neville was just full of surprizes. He was unreactive to other dogs, ignored my cats, loved my kids and was just a joy to have around.W discovered a dog that was extremely wel behaved and had wonderful manners. No matter what I thought of he was completely unflappable. I even took him to a parade where he made a ton of new friends and never ceased to astound me.
After I posted a few brags about him on a few forums several people suggested I contact Diane Jessup as she was looking for dogs to try out for the Washington State Patrol to be trained as bomb sniffing dogs. I thought it was highly unlikely but what the heck..I emailed Diane anyways.
Now Nevilles Story Gets REALLY Exciting
Much to my surprize I heard back from Diane rather quickly. She belongs to the same board as I so she had seen Nev's story and was willing to come and test him out. It took some time to get our schedules to work together but at last, we managed and she came to my house to meet Nev. I fully expected to hear "what a nice dog, thanks for trying" and I am pretty sure she expected to say something along those lines. That did not happen. She liked Nev immediately and within a short time, before she even left my house, she was on the phone with her contact from teh State Patrol, scheduling a time to meet. I don't want to speak for her..but I could swear she was excited about him.
Things moved really fast from there..a few days later Diane and I went to meet with the State Patrol Officer. Again I was preparing myself for a no. I mean..this was just TOO good to be true..or was it?
No, turns out it was NOT too good to be true. The officer was VERY pleased with Nev and was trying to contact his superior to get Nev into the K-9 academy immediately. Unfortunately he was not able to reach him. We were fairly sure they would want him but we had to wait yet again. So Diane took Nev home with her and we were stuck waiting again. The next day the call came..Nev was in. But he had to pass ONE MORE TEST. After one more incredibly long 24 hour wait..word came at last. Nev had passed with flying colors and soon his training will begin.
From banned dog to cop in training. What a difference 2500 miles and a month can make in one very special dog's life.
Stay tuned for updates!!!
And as of today..August , 2005..Neville is officially Officer Neville of teh Washington State Patrol!!!!
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New and GREATLY improved Neville design!!
http://www.cafepress.com/newliferescue.26580821
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