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Jackson, the horribly neglected Yorkshire terrier who was abandoned in the Night Drop of the Berkeley Animal Shelter in July, has made a full recovery.
The 21-month old puppy looks great. Gone are all the telltale signs of his neglect: No more scabs, open sores or blood. His skin has cleared up and his eyesight recovered. His bald spots and patches of hair have been replaced with a full coat of gray, white and red hair.
"We had to give him a haircut recently," said Christina Alvarez, executive director of Hopalong & Second Chance Animal Rescue in Emeryville.
Alvarez rescued Jackson from his cage and a likely euthanization on one of her regular tours of the animal shelter and took him home with her. She has brought
Jackson's road to recovery was quick but not without its trials. He had surgery to scrape his skin of yeast and bacterial infections, remove baby teeth, and was neutered, too. Alvarez and her family dutifully gave him medicated baths and antibiotics.
In three months of Jackson's rehabilitation, Alvarez and "Jack Jack," as she calls him, were rarely apart.
As the time arrived to adopt him out to someone after his recovery, Alvarez found herself in a quandary. After nurturing Jackson back to health, Alvarez didn't want to give him up
"I just couldn't let him go," she said.
So, she decided to keep him.
For Alvarez, who had fostered 175 animals before Jackson, this was
"We fell in love with him. We had a lot of family meetings and tears over what it would be like to let him go. We went through so much with him and his problems," she said.
Alvarez said she always prides herself in not adopting animals she takes in temporarily, but has now joined the failed foster club.
"I couldn't go through with the process. It felt like giving away a dog we'd had for years," she said.
While Alvarez and her family gave him lots of love during his convalescence, Hopalong provided $2,500 toward Jackson's recovery with its Special Needs Medical Fund.
Since Jackson's rehabilitation cost the agency so much money, she and her family decided to donate the amount in-kind.
"It was very important to me," she said.
Jackson's health has improved greatly. The only lasting ill effects of the neglect he suffered are the eye drops Alvarez has to give him each day to substitute for his tear ducts that no longer work and his tendency to drink too much water.
The dog's enthusiasm for life and people has remained a constant throughout his ordeal. He is just as friendly and perky when he greets a stranger today as he was three months ago. He pants happily, dances on his back two legs, wags his tail and demands to be petted.
But he's no longer the underdog that he was before. Now he rules his domain and gets more attention from the volunteers than any other animal at Hopalong. He's become the office mascot.
"Volunteers come in the morning, hear what there's to do, and make a bee line for Jackson. Someone's always taking him on a walk," said Alvarez.
Although Jackson's appearance has improved dramatically, one quirky thing about him will never change. The tip of Jackson's tongue permanently sticks out due to a jaw problem. It gives him a fixed smile and is what initially attracted Alvarez's attention when she first saw him at the shelter in July.
"It's very endearing. It was the moment when I decided to bring him home. He grabbed my heart strings," said Alvarez, who has two other terriers. "He fits right in with the pack, and did from the beginning."
To donate, or find out about an animal in need of adoption, call 510-267-1915, or go to www.hopalong.org.
