Stevie - Adopted

Name: Stevie

Sex: Male (altered)
Breed: Labrador mix
Age: 4 years approximately
Location: Morganton, NC

Vet/Medical Info:  Stevie is utd on vaccines and is altered.  He has heartworm disease.  He does have a voracious appetite and will need to be watched to be sure he doesn’t put on any weight.   They suspect congenital retinal detachment as the cause of Stevie's blindness.  He weighs about 65 pounds.  Stevie's owners will have him microchipped before rescue.

Owner Info: He came to us in October of 2010 after having been dumped in a neighborhood of Lenoir, NC and wandering the streets for nearly 2 weeks.  Eventually he was taken to Animal Control where he was placed on “Death Row”.  The chances of Stevie being adopted were extremely low because he was completely blind and he had Heartworm Disease.  Fortunately a wonderful person alerted us about Stevie and begged us to go rescue him, this client’s neighbor had helped Stevie out for those two weeks with food, water and shelter, but could not permanently keep him.  When we saw Stevie curled up in a ball on the cold concrete floor of his Animal Shelter cage, my heart melted.  We shortly found out about his heartworm status and agreed to take him home to treat him for his disease and to see if he might be able to make it in our unusual home and with our crazy schedule. It is now a year and a half since Stevie came into our lives and it is with great difficulty that we have accepted we simply must find him the right home.  We have 3 other large dogs and we live on acreage without fencing to keep Stevie safe.  He does play magnificently with our other dogs, but they do not really understand his disability.  Sometimes they become short with him when he runs into them while playing, or if he steps on them while trying towalk down the hall, and they lash out at him.  He has no clue what he has done wrong.  He has 4 cats to contend with and gets along great with them. He has memorized our property inside and out to the degree that amazes everyone, and there seem to be no obstacles he cannot overcome.  But with our grueling schedule, he often must spend very long hours (12+) confined to a crate to keep him from harming himself or having an accident.  It is with great sadness that we have come to terms with letting go of an amazing animal that has taught us so much about gratitude and just needing to be loved.  He also has a chair that he sleeps in every night, that we will be happy to let go with him.  He knows exactly what it means to pat the seat of the chair…..time to go to bed.  Stevie is an indoor dog with run of the house.  He is housebroken and leash trained.  He is good with both men and women.