Rescued from a fire, Stasch is a goofy lover boy in training to be your very own couch potato!
Stasch is one of a litter of Lab Mix pups evacuated from their original home, a mom-and-pop rescue in Kentucky, which caught fire almost exactly a year ago. The local Humane Society called local resident Donna Champion to assist with fostering as the animals were removed from the burn site. Stasch and his littermates were named by the acronym SMOKE, each taking a letter of that word. Stasch and the others were evacuated from underneath a burning porch, which caused them to sustain scorching injuries to their backs (see photo of Stasch’s littermates), and some smoke inhalation and trachea damage due to the heat.
Donna has continued to foster Stasch as best she can, though she is on Social Security Income and is elderly - she is 70 and her husband 73. They actually spent money on 12 training sessions with trainer Cathy Trembly, who is a 15-year veteran assistance dog trainer for Guiding Eyes. Cathy considers Stasch an extremely good dog with puppy exuberance and the need for further socialization. She has had him in a variety of dog-to-dog encounters and he is peaceful and accommodating in the group. His high energy and tendency to pull a bit on lead are well managed by Gentle Leader and the handler being mindful not to let him run in at-risk locations.
Kathy Hodge, Executive Director of the
Humane Society of Calloway County says that Stasch is “a big, undisciplined dog with the potential for making someone a wonderful pet and devoted couch potato.” Stasch has been advertised on their
PetFinder listings for the last 10 months with no luck With his bounciness and the fact that his left eye is obviously blind (a prenatal injury presumed) he’s shown poorly at the four or so adoption events he’s been taken to.
The rest of the human drama on this case includes the fact that Donna, Stasch’s foster person, has had a year full of health problems, including a leg injury which prompted her to have three surgical debridements, home wound care, and then a skin graft. Because of the low threshold for re-infection of this injury, Donna can’t spend time with Stasch or her other animals (she has a mere four of her own) and so her elderly husband must exercise and interact with Stasch by himself.
STASCHThis 13-month-old Lab Mix (neutered, up-to-date on vaccinations, good with other dogs, cats and people) is in New Concord, Kentucky (near Murray).
FOR MORE INFORMATIONDonna Champion, Stasch's Foster Mom
Phone: (270) 436-2405
Email
lblwolf@vci.net or
Kathy Hodge, Executive Director, Humane Society of Calloway County,
Phone: (270) 759-1884
Email:
HumaneSociety@murray-ky.net