Esther: Not at shelter

Pit Bull Terrier | North Shore, VA

Age : 1 Year 1 MonthAdultFemaleLargeTan/Yellow/Fawn with White

About

Meet Esther: Not at shelter

It’s time for an update on our gorgeous yet very shy Esther, a dog who has been in a foster care for several weeks now. Her foster family has given her plenty of time to observe the daily activities around her, and to learn the routine. She has become friendlier with other dogs and relies on them to buffer the scary space between a “normal” household and the “no human contact” home where Esther apparently originated. We will never know if she was traumatized due to pure neglect or if a combination of events led to her lack of socialization.  Behaviorwise, Esther wants to melt into the woodwork, to be invisible, and to just exist. She is a dog that needs  a gentle adopter with patience and time who has options and can come up with creative ideas for enriching Esther’s life. We do feel that another dog is going to be an important part of her transformation. Currently, Esther lives with three dogs her age and size, and although she is part of their pack, she is wired to be independent. She is so special!  Original post  March 2024: Sweet Esther! After seven days with us, she is still flighty, but now she at least will eat her food and take her meds as required. Esther’s  background was as a stray, abandoned on a rural county road, apparently within just a few days of her giving birth. No puppies were found, and there was no indication that they had ever nursed on her. she was producing milk and still had post-partum discharge when she was found. she has already had a vet visit, and bloodwork indicates she is anemic as well as fighting off an infection of unknown source, so we are medicating her and keeping it close eye on her as we socialize her daily. She still does not want to walk on her own outside the shelter,  and volunteers are carrying her so she can sit outside and get some sunlight and fresh air daily. She appears to be OK with other dogs, but it’s difficult to tell when she is in such rough shape as we do not want to traumatize her further. She’s very frightened when exposed to new people and new sounds. If you’re interested in helping Esther, we would love to hear from you. Foster applications are found on our site, and we would love to process them quickly. Go to friendsofcampbellcounty.org, under the “how to help” heading, to find a foster application and information.     PLEASE NOTE: This pet has been posted by Friends of Campbell County Animal Control, Rustburg, VA. For questions about the pet, please email us at [email protected]. All adoptions begin with an application, found under the "Animals" tab on our website, friendsofcampbellcounty.org. *Unaltered babies under the age of six months can be adopted only to residents of Campbell County, the City of Lynchburg, and counties touching Campbell County. *Unaltered adult pets six months or older will need to be sterilized before they can be adopted outside our local area of Campbell County, the City of Lynchburg, or counties touching Campbell. *We do not promote dog adoptions to homes where an invisible fence is the fencing of choice. *We do not permit cats or kittens to be declawed following adoption. 

Adoption Process
Begin with an application to adopt. Other pets in household must be spay/neutered, current with rabies vaccines, dogs need to be current with HW testing and heartguard. Fees range between $75 and $300. We follow up on spays/neuters for pets under six months, and the fees include spay/neuter. Contract requires it. Adults are adopted out already spayed/neutered. Pets must be returned to FOAC if adoption ends.