Thank you for visiting the Harry’s Helpers fundraising page and supporting us in our race to reach our goal! We are participating in the 2024 Strutt with Your Mutt for Wayside Waifs this September 29th.
This year, we are “strutting” for Harry, a very special Wayside Waifs alum. Harry was transferred to Wayside from another shelter in December of 2019 after being picked up as a stray near Fort Worth, Texas. He was only four months old and absolutely terrified. He would shake and tremble if anyone was in his kennel and if you moved towards him, he would flee up the walls of his kennel in an attempt to escape, all while urinating and defecating. Forget walking on a leash or being touched, he didn’t even know how to be in the same space as a human without fearing for his life. His situation was extremely dire and most other organizations would have given up on him, but not Wayside. Our staff, volunteers, and fosters worked tirelessly to show Harry that the world was not what he thought and there was good in it. It was a slow process but we began to see small glimmers of hope that he would someday be okay.
In December of 2020, Harry underwent emergency surgery to remove a foreign body from his stomach. Thanks to the quick actions and expert care of our veterinarians and vet clinic staff, Harry made a quick and full recovery. His foster mom was relieved but devastated to learn that while taking radiographs to assess his condition, the clinic staff discovered that his skin was embedded with more than 25 rounds of buckshot pellets, something that he had to have received before he was even four months old.
Harry was adopted by his foster mom on December 15th, 2020, on his 352nd day in Wayside's care. He is now a happy, healthy, almost five year old who loves playing ball with his mom, lounging in the sun, swimming at the river and, best of all, rough-housing with his siblings and any new fosters that come to stay with him. He is so loved and after a horrible start to life, finally understands kindness and compassion all thanks to Wayside and our generous donors and supporters.
Unfortunately, Harry is not the only dog with a story like this. Wayside serves hundreds of extremely behaviorally challenged animals each year and there are always more knocking on our doors. Funds raised from Strutt With Your Mutt support all of our life saving programs and makes it possible for us to continue helping dogs just like Harry. Please consider making a donation or sharing our fundraiser to help continue the life saving mission of Wayside Waifs (and you may just get a special photo of Harry thanking you if you leave your phone number or email!).
