Leon

 Tennessee Ridgeback

This rescue couldn't happen. The odds were just too great. And yet today Leon stepped out of the trailer at his new home and saw for the first time in his 2 years on this planet, grass and woods and a creek and the freedom to run or wallow or sleep under a tree or just nose around and feel the breeze ruffle through his fine mane.

Two months ago Leon was languishing in a cold, dark, mud filled stall in Northeast Tennessee with no chance of getting out of there alive. The keepers of this boy had in mind to fatten and eat him, though he wasn't fattening fast enough and they were sick of having to feed him.  A lady who came to their house to buy a dog somehow saw him during the transaction and was appalled at his conditions. When she got home she started calling around and found us. She said the people would sell him for $50 and she would gladly pay it if we would take him out of that nightmare. I agreed and the rest is the story of a slow but certain path to freedom and health. First he was taken to a pig rescue/foster home in the area  where he was put into a clean dry stall and fed a proper diet and allowed to gain some strength in his weak rear legs for a few weeks. Treated for mange and worms. Then Chuck from our quarantine farm went to pick him up and get him to their place to await neutering. A long 5 hour ride to yet another clean and dry stall. Sunlight filtering through, Leon waited with wariness for the next move. Helen and Chuck spent lots of time with him and he mellowed a bit.

 Then finally the long awaited trip to the vet.

 And today when I brought him home, he was calm and dignified as he evaluated his new surroundings with a smile.

A drink of water out of the brook, a trip up into the woods, and a pose in front of the oak tree that says it all ..

        I am Leon         I have arrived.