Believe it or not, we have another story about a local Craigslist ad involving a potential dog murder. Unlike the horrific -- but thankfully fake -- Belleville ad last month featuring a brutally beaten dog, this one from Morrisonville, Illinois is definitely real. But, fear not, the dog has been saved!
The ad, screenshot below, says, "Dog needs gone or shot." Offensive grammar aside, the post comes with this short, troubling explanation/threat: "Dog showed up at my house and is very thin. I have no need for a dog. So I am waiting a day and if no one takes it, it will be shot."
"The first thing I thought was, we have to get the dog, no question about it," University City resident Liz Pendleton tells Daily RFT. "Then I started crying. It really touched me."
See also: Adrienne Martin, Accused Dog Killer, in Court: Family Intimidating, Harassing Stray Rescue?
Pendleton sent the Craigslist poster a text and said she would pick up the dog as soon as possible. Then she hopped in the car and drove an hour-and-a-half to Morrisonville to rescue the german shepherd mix.
Here's a screengrab of that post, which Pendleton shared with Daily RFT:
"I just naturally have a love for animals," says Pendleton, a 23-year-old veterinary technician student at Brown Mackie College. "Seeing any abuse of any kind is horrible. A gunshot -- just one -- might not even have been enough to bring him down. He could have suffered. I didn't want to take any chances whatsoever."
The woman who gave her the dog told her there were too many dogs being dumped, Pendleton says, noting that it would be a case of animal cruelty to shoot this stray in the way she had planned.
The dog, who she has named Buck, is now safe and recovering from what seems like a pretty rough life without an owner, she says.
"He's completely fine," she says. "He's eating and drinking. He's a happy boy."
She guesses he is about four years old. "You can tell he's been through a lot.... It looks like he has been outside too long with nobody taking care of him."
She adds, "He loves being around people."
Pendleton, who is from north St. Louis county, says, "I've seen a lot of animal abuse growing up, nothing as far as a shooting. I've just seen sheer neglect. It really bothers me."
Now that she has rescued him, Pendleton says she is looking for someone to permanently adopt him, since she doesn't have the means or the space. You can e-mail her at [email protected] if you are interested. Since the story has gotten coverage, she has started receiving a lot of e-mails -- many, however, from folks who just want to say a kind word. "A lot of them are just people saying thank you for what you did," she says.
She has also set up a "No buck for Buck" Facebook page for the dog. And here are two more photos of Buck, courtesy of Pendleton:
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