Ditto Dolly (You've Come a Long Way Baby! Cotton Soft coat) Jack Russell Terrier & Beagle Mix Marble Hill, MO

Every year, we encounter a stray beagle mix dog, usually black and white that is starved, and often covered with mange or serious ringworm. We usually call them Dolly, in this case, Ditto Dolly. Ditto Dolly came to us in the Spring of 2013.

Dolly is a Beagle/Jack Russel type-mix that was severely starved and had Demodex mange. She was a "god patient, easy to work with. We nursed her back to health, and now she is ready for her forever home. We have had her nearly a year with no calls to adopt... Sad for her because she is a treasure. She has been easy to care for, always pleased for any attention and yet not demanding of it. She is 1 year old, around 20 pounds.

She is house broke, crate trained, loves to cuddle and although she will be shy at first, she will bond with a caretaker who shows her how special she is. Her adoption fee is $150. Call Marilyn at 573-722-3035 from 9:30am to 9:30pm Central time.

Here’s the story of how Dolly came to our rescue:

I received a call an early summer morning from a family at the edge of the Zalma, a community of just over 200 people. The caller said, "Will you come and pick up a puppy? She has been dumped and I don't want her to touch our cats."

I asked if she had skin issues, “Yes, and she is a rack of bones with hide attached.”

She stunk from open sores and oozing scab matter. She had very little fur and her flesh was bright red on her legs. She was lying under their car near the garage and they were trying to chase her away with a broom. They did not want her on their porch.

I packed the truck with latex gloves, a crate, and treats. When I got there she was already gone. So I called out, "PUUUUUUUUPPPPPY!" several times in a high pitched tone.

She waddled out of a nearby tree stand by the narrow gravel road, with tall grass in the ditch. Her head and tail hung low: no wag to the tail. No emotion in her face until I approached her. I suspect she felt another person was going to sweep her away instead of carry her to safety.

I picked her up wearing my latex gloves. When I stood up a man drove up in his red pickup truck and said, "What you got there?"

The property owners were standing beside me when I said, "Somebody dumped another pup and I think this one has some type of mange."

"I would take a bat and hit that pup in the head," he said.

The property owners dropped their mouths, eyes nearly popped out in shock with disgust. I said, "You mean you would take a bat and hit this pup several times to kill it before you would take a single bullet or take this pup to the vet to humanely be euthanized?”

"YEP," he said.

He has a nice house, drives a nice truck, has a beautiful yard and he has a dog.

"You can put used motor oil on that pup to get rid of the mange," he shouted.

I told him that used motor oil can kill such a pup and might peel the skin as it would surely burn the pup. Today we use Lime dip, Mitaban and Ivermectin as well as topicals such as Revolution for mange. Treatment depends on what type of mange it is.

Nothing this man said shocked me. I have heard it all before. Cases like Ditto Dolly are why we write for the local county newspaper: to educate the community that there are humane alternatives to the old ways of doing things.

We learn from the weekly “Stray Report”, which is always posted on this Facebook site, that all kinds of dogs from all kinds of situations are adopted and loved by families all over the USA. Dogs that were dumped in our and surrounding counties are not trash. They are a treasure to someone.

Ditto Dolly is a treasure. She has been easy to care for, always pleased for any attention and yet not demanding of it.

Want to help rescue a dog?  Share this website link with your friends and family.  Ask them to share this link with their friends.  This is called “cross posting.” 

The Bollinger County Stray Project is pretty easy to work with.  About 80% of our adoptions are with families from the St. Louis area, about 10% from all over the USA and Canada and only about 10% are adopted here, being in a 90 mile radius of our home. 

Our Project dogs are well worth the drive and your time.  Give us a call and share our Petfinder website.  Thank you.  We need you to help us make a difference!