Gentlemen,
I know there are a few of us that still enjoy dirt bikes. I've been doing it since I was a young boy and still enjoy it. (In my next life I want to be Ed Sims who is a 5 Star off road ace rider!) Every ride is different and you never know what you might run into out there. 3 weeks ago I went dirt biking on Sunday. I loaded my bike into the back of my F-150 at 10 AM and headed up the Beeline Highway to ride the single track trails leading to Sycamore Creek. By 11 AM it was 95° as I unloaded and wrapped a wet towel around my neck tucked into my long sleeved T-shirt to keep me cooler. I have ridden these trails since I was a teenager. Over 10 miles from my truck and beyond some small mountains I was still a couple miles from Sycamore Creek which is a completely dry sand wash. There is no water in it 90% of the year. I came over a rise and headed downhill when I saw what I thought was a dead Javelina or perhaps a dead coyote by the side of the trail. Curiosity got the best of me so I turned around and was stunned to see a bone thin severely dehydrated and emaciated young dog stagger to its feet. It was horrible. I stopped my motorcycle and as I approached the little dog just laid back down. It was a female Border Collie mix and although it was alive, she smelled like she had been dead for days. Both of her eyes were caked with dry pus and the right one was welded shut with that material. Her face was covered with Cholla spines and one of them was driven into her right eye. In addition to the cactus spines the dog had horrible wounds on both sides of her face, the type of damage you see on dogs that have been chained up. She had other strange wounds on her ears, feet, and legs. She laid there without complaint as I pulled all the spines out. I took the wet towel from my neck and wiped her face until she could open both eyes. I had one 16 ounce bottle of water with me and poured it into my hand and she drank. A couple minutes after drinking all the water I had she came to life a bit and stood up. She looked like an Auschwitz survivor with her hipbones and ribs protruding in an awful way. Then she ran away from me. After a few minutes of coaxing her back she returned but there was no easy solution to this mess. I was in an area that I couldn’t get my four-wheel-drive truck into without tearing it up and even then I doubt I could’ve gotten it back out. I had no way to carry this dog on my bike. Walking back to my truck which was mostly uphill and in rough terrain wearing my motocross boots in 100° heat would probably take 6+ hours and although I think I would’ve made it, it would have been really bitchy without any water and I don’t think the little dog would make it. There was no way to secure her on the bike so I tried to put her on my lap thinking if I went slowly enough she might stay there. But the moment I started the motorcycle she freaked out and sprang off the left side of the motorcycle sending me and my bike crashing to the ground on the right. No dice there. I picked up the motorcycle and thought perhaps since she’s so thin I can jam her in my long sleeved T-shirt and tuck it in carrying her like a baby kangaroo in its mom’s pouch. When I tried that she went crazy again raking the skin off of my chest with her paws, another fail. I considered riding back to my truck and trying to 4 wheel back as close as possible but that would take at least two hours round-trip and I doubted I would find her again as she was now up and moving after drinking my water. So I walked her to a Palo Verde tree, removed my long sleeve T-shirt and tied one sleeve as tightly as possible (without choking her) around her neck with a double knot. I tied the other sleeve around a low branch and left my wet towel for her to lie on. I thought that set up would keep her in one spot until I could ride to my truck and then four-wheel back as close as possible to where I tied her up. I was highly confident this brilliant idea would work but when I got back to my bike, put my helmet back on, and fired it up I looked down and she was standing right next to me. She had already pulled out of my improvised restraint. Three strikes. Shit, I can’t solve all of the world’s problems. I put my motorcycle in gear and looked at her one last time. Ugh, if I ride away I won’t be able to sleep without thinking about her dying out here in this desert. How the hell did she get so far out here? How on earth did she survive with all the coyotes in this area? So I abandoned my new Honda CRF250 and took off my belt to use it as a leash. This trek is going to suck! The little dog had no collar, no license, and I could feel no microchip in her neck. I put my now filthy t-shirt back on. I didn’t have a hat and the sun was cooking my bald head so I put my helmet back on and we started walking. Using the GPS map on my phone I saw the closest building was about 5 miles away across the desert. I figured we could make it there in about 2 ½ hours. My new motocross boots were not broken in and it was like walking in ski boots in 100° heat dragging a dog that did not want to walk anymore. Every time we came to a spot even slightly shady she stopped. Keep going little girl, this is your last crack at it. I named her “Abandon” and intended to get her out of the desert and to a veterinarian, restore her health if possible and either find her owner or find her a new owner. I’ve been looking for a new Labrador puppy to train as a bird dog and I didn’t want a stray Border Collie. 2½ hours later I was burning up and would’ve paid $500 for a bottle of water as we trudged up to the building I had seen on my phone. Two enormous dogs ran out bearing their fangs and barking in a very unfriendly way. This is not my day. But they didn’t bite me or the little dog who was terrified. A man came out and after explaining my situation he gave us both water. I called Peggy and she left work to meet me out there. The man offered to give me and the little dog a ride in his Can Am side-by-side back to my truck which was about 6 miles from his house. I picked up the dog and got into the passenger seat with her on my lap. The moment he started that machine she went berserk and it took all my strength to keep her from jumping out. Then she peed all over me! Peggy met us at my truck and she took the dog. Then he took me in his Can Am over 10 miles back to where I left my bike. I tried to pay him $200 and he refused any money. He told me there was a website for that housing development and another website for an off-road riding group out there. He took pictures of the little dog and said he would post them and see if anybody knew whose dog it was.
When I got home the dog was laying on my living room carpet with Peggy but from 10 feet away the dogs stench was awful. I got out the flea and tick shampoo I had left over from my last dog and attempted to wash her off. She again went berserk. It took great force to lather her up and then Peggy literally took her into my swimming pool to rinse her off as running any water over her body made her go crazy. The dog was completely untrained, not housebroken, and didn’t seem like it had ever been indoors as everything in the house scared her to death. Even simple things like going through a door. She had clearly been abused as she walked with her tail between her legs and cowered at everything. She took a big dump in my house and peed on the carpet. Good grief.
The vet visit the next morning was heartbreaking. He told me she’s probably about one-year-old, has clearly been abused, and that the marks on her face were almost certainly from being chained up. But he also pointed out multiple scarred over puncture wounds from other dog bites. He said this little female has certainly led a tough life but amazingly, she’s sweet and gentle and loves affection. Often abused dogs are very aggressive and not affectionate at all. He confirmed she had no microchip and probably had never received shots so he gave her injections for everything. She had intestinal parasites and both eyes were badly infected as well as her lungs. It has taken two different kinds of eye drops and four different types of antibiotics to clear her eyes and intestines up.
______________________________________________________________
Below you can see some of the chain damage to her face and some of the scar's from dog bite wounds.
I know there are a few of us that still enjoy dirt bikes. I've been doing it since I was a young boy and still enjoy it. (In my next life I want to be Ed Sims who is a 5 Star off road ace rider!) Every ride is different and you never know what you might run into out there. 3 weeks ago I went dirt biking on Sunday. I loaded my bike into the back of my F-150 at 10 AM and headed up the Beeline Highway to ride the single track trails leading to Sycamore Creek. By 11 AM it was 95° as I unloaded and wrapped a wet towel around my neck tucked into my long sleeved T-shirt to keep me cooler. I have ridden these trails since I was a teenager. Over 10 miles from my truck and beyond some small mountains I was still a couple miles from Sycamore Creek which is a completely dry sand wash. There is no water in it 90% of the year. I came over a rise and headed downhill when I saw what I thought was a dead Javelina or perhaps a dead coyote by the side of the trail. Curiosity got the best of me so I turned around and was stunned to see a bone thin severely dehydrated and emaciated young dog stagger to its feet. It was horrible. I stopped my motorcycle and as I approached the little dog just laid back down. It was a female Border Collie mix and although it was alive, she smelled like she had been dead for days. Both of her eyes were caked with dry pus and the right one was welded shut with that material. Her face was covered with Cholla spines and one of them was driven into her right eye. In addition to the cactus spines the dog had horrible wounds on both sides of her face, the type of damage you see on dogs that have been chained up. She had other strange wounds on her ears, feet, and legs. She laid there without complaint as I pulled all the spines out. I took the wet towel from my neck and wiped her face until she could open both eyes. I had one 16 ounce bottle of water with me and poured it into my hand and she drank. A couple minutes after drinking all the water I had she came to life a bit and stood up. She looked like an Auschwitz survivor with her hipbones and ribs protruding in an awful way. Then she ran away from me. After a few minutes of coaxing her back she returned but there was no easy solution to this mess. I was in an area that I couldn’t get my four-wheel-drive truck into without tearing it up and even then I doubt I could’ve gotten it back out. I had no way to carry this dog on my bike. Walking back to my truck which was mostly uphill and in rough terrain wearing my motocross boots in 100° heat would probably take 6+ hours and although I think I would’ve made it, it would have been really bitchy without any water and I don’t think the little dog would make it. There was no way to secure her on the bike so I tried to put her on my lap thinking if I went slowly enough she might stay there. But the moment I started the motorcycle she freaked out and sprang off the left side of the motorcycle sending me and my bike crashing to the ground on the right. No dice there. I picked up the motorcycle and thought perhaps since she’s so thin I can jam her in my long sleeved T-shirt and tuck it in carrying her like a baby kangaroo in its mom’s pouch. When I tried that she went crazy again raking the skin off of my chest with her paws, another fail. I considered riding back to my truck and trying to 4 wheel back as close as possible but that would take at least two hours round-trip and I doubted I would find her again as she was now up and moving after drinking my water. So I walked her to a Palo Verde tree, removed my long sleeve T-shirt and tied one sleeve as tightly as possible (without choking her) around her neck with a double knot. I tied the other sleeve around a low branch and left my wet towel for her to lie on. I thought that set up would keep her in one spot until I could ride to my truck and then four-wheel back as close as possible to where I tied her up. I was highly confident this brilliant idea would work but when I got back to my bike, put my helmet back on, and fired it up I looked down and she was standing right next to me. She had already pulled out of my improvised restraint. Three strikes. Shit, I can’t solve all of the world’s problems. I put my motorcycle in gear and looked at her one last time. Ugh, if I ride away I won’t be able to sleep without thinking about her dying out here in this desert. How the hell did she get so far out here? How on earth did she survive with all the coyotes in this area? So I abandoned my new Honda CRF250 and took off my belt to use it as a leash. This trek is going to suck! The little dog had no collar, no license, and I could feel no microchip in her neck. I put my now filthy t-shirt back on. I didn’t have a hat and the sun was cooking my bald head so I put my helmet back on and we started walking. Using the GPS map on my phone I saw the closest building was about 5 miles away across the desert. I figured we could make it there in about 2 ½ hours. My new motocross boots were not broken in and it was like walking in ski boots in 100° heat dragging a dog that did not want to walk anymore. Every time we came to a spot even slightly shady she stopped. Keep going little girl, this is your last crack at it. I named her “Abandon” and intended to get her out of the desert and to a veterinarian, restore her health if possible and either find her owner or find her a new owner. I’ve been looking for a new Labrador puppy to train as a bird dog and I didn’t want a stray Border Collie. 2½ hours later I was burning up and would’ve paid $500 for a bottle of water as we trudged up to the building I had seen on my phone. Two enormous dogs ran out bearing their fangs and barking in a very unfriendly way. This is not my day. But they didn’t bite me or the little dog who was terrified. A man came out and after explaining my situation he gave us both water. I called Peggy and she left work to meet me out there. The man offered to give me and the little dog a ride in his Can Am side-by-side back to my truck which was about 6 miles from his house. I picked up the dog and got into the passenger seat with her on my lap. The moment he started that machine she went berserk and it took all my strength to keep her from jumping out. Then she peed all over me! Peggy met us at my truck and she took the dog. Then he took me in his Can Am over 10 miles back to where I left my bike. I tried to pay him $200 and he refused any money. He told me there was a website for that housing development and another website for an off-road riding group out there. He took pictures of the little dog and said he would post them and see if anybody knew whose dog it was.
When I got home the dog was laying on my living room carpet with Peggy but from 10 feet away the dogs stench was awful. I got out the flea and tick shampoo I had left over from my last dog and attempted to wash her off. She again went berserk. It took great force to lather her up and then Peggy literally took her into my swimming pool to rinse her off as running any water over her body made her go crazy. The dog was completely untrained, not housebroken, and didn’t seem like it had ever been indoors as everything in the house scared her to death. Even simple things like going through a door. She had clearly been abused as she walked with her tail between her legs and cowered at everything. She took a big dump in my house and peed on the carpet. Good grief.
The vet visit the next morning was heartbreaking. He told me she’s probably about one-year-old, has clearly been abused, and that the marks on her face were almost certainly from being chained up. But he also pointed out multiple scarred over puncture wounds from other dog bites. He said this little female has certainly led a tough life but amazingly, she’s sweet and gentle and loves affection. Often abused dogs are very aggressive and not affectionate at all. He confirmed she had no microchip and probably had never received shots so he gave her injections for everything. She had intestinal parasites and both eyes were badly infected as well as her lungs. It has taken two different kinds of eye drops and four different types of antibiotics to clear her eyes and intestines up.
______________________________________________________________
Below you can see some of the chain damage to her face and some of the scar's from dog bite wounds.
