After spending thirteen years with a family in New Jersey, senior dog Jake found himself on the brink of homelessness due to the family’s impending move; apparently, they couldn’t take him with them.
To top it all off, the heartbreaking alternative of euthanasia loomed if no one came forward to help.
Fortunately, Uncle Neil’s Housea New Jersey farm shelter, came to Jake’s rescue, offering him a safe haven.
After meeting him in person, their hearts broke even more, seeing the obvious neglect and hard life this sweet boy had endured.
Jake’s Story of Grief and Healing
In December 2023, Uncle Neil’s Home received a call from a woman who was going to euthanize her 13-year-old dog if they didn’t take him in or find him a home within a week.
Upon hearing this, the shrine immediately shut down a desperate appeal on all social networks in the hope of quickly finding a foster home.
Rian Feldman, founder of Uncle Neil’s Home, told Newsweek:
“I received a call one evening from a woman telling me she needed to rescue her 13-year-old dog because she was moving and was going to euthanize him if she didn’t find a home. I was disgusted to hear this and immediately put out an urgent plea on our social media pages asking our community to help us find a foster home for Jake to save his life.”
Luckily, a wonderful Maryland couple, Valerie and Chris, offered to help and take in this sweet dog.
The sanctuary quickly organized everything, making it easy for the owner to bring Jake in. It was only then that they got a glimpse into Jake’s living conditions over the yearsand it really broke their hearts.
“They barely said goodbye to him. They shouted out the window ‘Goodbye Jake’ and sped off… after 13 years,” Feldman said. “It was obvious he was in extremely neglected condition. He could barely walk, he couldn’t get out of the car and we had to urge them to help him down.”
This poor 13-year-old dog was barely surviving.
“Jake clearly has arthritis and is not receiving any supportive care. His nails have not been cut in over a year and he is sometimes breathing very heavily. His elderly family told us he has never had a bed before,” Uncle Neil’s House wrote on their Facebook job.
Although it was heartbreaking to see him abandoned at his age, it might just be the ray of hope for this sweet boy, considering the obvious hardships he had endured.
In just 24 hours after being abandoned, Jake received more love and care than he had in 13 years. “He is incredibly sweet and it breaks our hearts to see him, but it will be nothing but love and a beautiful life from now on.” the sanctuary said.
The Path to Healing
The next day, Jake had his very first vet appointment and, as expected, his health was in pretty dire shape.
The list of problems was unfortunately very long.
According to the sanctuary, Jake suffered from severe osteoarthritis in all four limbs, enlarged elbows, muscle atrophy, cracked teeth, dental disease, hearing loss, pink eye and several masses under and on his skin.
He also suffered from possible laryngeal paralysis, bladder stones, a mass on his testicle and neurological deficits.
Jake wasn’t even neutered.
Starting treatment immediately was crucial for him, so that’s what they did first.
After just a few days with his wonderful foster family, Jake’s eyes were shining again. He was finally taking pain medication and several of his health issues were being treated.
He was finally loved and cared for.
“Jake needs surgery for the mass on his right testicle and the bladder stones. We’re going to castrate Jake, biopsy the mass and the doctor will remove the bladder stones during that surgery. Later, he’ll need dental work for two cracked teeth.” Uncle Neil’s house wrote about Instagram.
Jake has had his first surgery and is healing, happy and absolutely thriving in his foster home. “He is doing wonderfully in his foster home. We hope it will be a failure.” Feldman said.
You can follow Jake and his journey to recovery on his Instagram profile, @jakeypals.
