Liberty's Long Road to Freedom
 DDB Headquarters in Pennsylvania received a call from Judy asking for help with a chained dog in Texas. Judy's sister had passed away and left behind her Border Collie/Chow mix, Liberty. Judy lives in Phoenix, AZ and her sister lived in Houston, TX.
Judy's sister also left behind an abusive boyfriend who did not want to keep Liberty especially not in the house, and took her to the home of a family friend, a very elderly man with a big heart who tried to bring Liberty inside, but at 89 years old and only the use of one of his feet, he needed a caretaker to take care of himself, so the boyfriend tied Liberty to the fence at the elderly man's home, where she stayed and waited until someone would remember to feed her or water her. The boyfriend came by once or twice a week, and the old man's caregiver sometimes would feed her and give her water, but she still stayed tied to the fence.
Heather, at DDB Headquarters admired how dedicated Judy was in finding somewhere for Liberty to go. Heather asked her why she didn't just take Liberty herself. She hadn't really entertained the idea because she lived so far away and she didn't drive long distances by herself, she had 2 cats, and she didn't know much about rescues or transports. Heather felt confident that she could get Liberty to her if she wanted her, and once Judy heard that, she was so excited by the possibility of Liberty coming to live with her.
Transport posed many obstacles, but worse was what came next…
 Hurricane Gustav! As Heather scrambled to find somewhere for Liberty to go for safety from the storm in Texas, she was getting nowhere. She spoke with the animal control officers at the Houston SPCA, told them Liberty's story and was given a case number and assurance that they would go out there and bring Liberty to safety, nobody ever came for her. She called DDB reps, and all of her friends who are involved in dog rescue in the area, but everyone had already evacuated.
Heather and Judy watched the weather and worried about Liberty. They couldn't reach anyone by phone because the lines were down, and the electricity was out in Houston. In tears Heather thought that for sure this dog she had never met but had worked so hard to save was going to die tied to a fence during a hurricane. Judy couldn't sleep at night and was crying at work. Finally a couple of days later, Judy was able to reach the old man, and he said that his caretaker put Liberty in his shed during the hurricane. Unbelievably she made it through!
Carla, an attorney in Houston, offered to go and get Liberty to keep her safe until we could transport her. The old man knew that Liberty deserved better, and besides, he couldn't take care of her and he wished she were somewhere else. So, with his permission, Liberty was to be surrendered to Dogs Deserve Better.
Carla knew the neighborhood where Liberty lived and was surprised that she was actually still alive seeing that she was chained up outside. The neighborhood had a lot of drug dealers and loose dogs, and was a very, very run down high crime area of Houston. Carla took someone with her the first time she went, but she couldn't get out of the car because the abusive ex-boyfriend was there. She had to leave Liberty and plan to make another trip.
Carla went back the following weekend and was able to get Liberty. She took her right to the vet to be checked out, and we found out that unfortunately, Liberty was heartworm positive. However, the vet said she would be ok to travel. Carla then took Liberty to a local kennel to be boarded while Heather pulled transport together.
Kori from "Anywhere Pets Go" pet transport she said that she would transport Liberty at a discounted rate. We just had to give her a bit to pull the transport together and try to fill it. Heather was telling Liberty’s story to a recent adopter who stepped right up and said that she would love to donate the money to cover Liberty's transport. How wonderful is that?
On October 15th, Liberty was picked up from the kennel in Houston, and she was delivered right to Judy's doorstep on the 17th. Before her arrival, Judy had a doggie door put in and went to the pet store and bought Liberty all sorts of new things.
Judy says that Liberty is doing great. She's already housetrained herself, and it took her less than an hour to get comfy on Judy's couch. She’s been to the vet, and has started her Heartworm treatments. The vet believes that Liberty will make a complete recovery!
“I've never worked so hard on a case before, but I will tell you it was extremely rewarding, and I am so relieved that it is done and all is well. And the irony of the whole tale is that the dog's name is Liberty!” - Heather Estlow, Dogs Deserve Better
And Judy says, “ I am so happy Liberty is home with my cats and me! I get all teary eyed and choked up thinking about my Sister passing away so suddenly and so young.”
“I believe Sister is up there in Heaven looking over Liberty and my cats and making sure all goes well. Liberty is such a lovable dog. When Heather asked if I would adopt Liberty, I jumped at the idea. It was a long process. There were times I cried myself to sleep thinking Liberty would never arrive in my home. There were tears of joy when Liberty did arrive in her new forever home. I am so grateful for everyone's help and so is Liberty.” – Judy, Liberty’s Mom in Phoenix, Arizona
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