REMEMBER MOXIE
MOXIE'S STORY
A Rescue Gone Wrong
In September of 2013, 'Jessica' was pulled from San Bernardino shelter and transported north to her hopeful new home in Oregon by ‘Songdog Rescue.’ She was renamed 'Moxie' by the rescue, and taken to the rescue director's home. Joan H. Wilson goes by Jony Skye Wolf online, and has been known for years in the rescue circles for her work within rescuing wolfdogs and other look-alike Northern breeds. She lived on a property with her son, Tristan Jared “TJ” Wilson where they received rescue dogs in and coordinated adopting them back out through a volunteer.
Several months went by, and no new pictures were available of Moxie, drawing concerns from volunteers. Regardless of how many times the rescue director and her son were asked for Moxie’s veterinary records or updated pictures, none could be obtained. In addition to this, Moxie was never mentioned as an adoptable dog. Conversations about her adoptability circled back to an undiagnosed skin condition or her inability to keep weight on.
By this time, the rescue had moved multiple times in a short span of a few years, often relocating in the middle of the night to properties that were bare land without running water. Rumors began to circulate that the dogs were in poor care, and a volunteer scheduled a visit to their location to determine if the rumors were true.
At first, the volunteer didn't see Moxie in the numerous pens housing dogs outside. However, the volunteer knew to ask about her after comparing the dogs present to previous intake records. Upon request, the rescue director brought the dog out from a remote shed on the property where Moxie had been crated.
The dog was visible emaciated – her vertebrae showing underneath a patchwork hide of dead fur and blistering skin. Her paws were swollen, cracked and blistering with overgrown nails. Her brown eyes were full of gunk, but she still wagged her tail politely. The volunteer immediately offered to foster the dog to get her off the property and safe. Jony reluctantly agreed.
In the two years that Moxie was in the care of Songdog Rescue, she had been starved, neglected and warehoused in a crate with no hope for adoption. The veterinarian that treated her said it was one of the worst cases of neglect he had seen in his long career. When she was weighed the same day she was saved from Songdog, she weighed 65lbs.
Her healthy weight now is between 95-100lbs.
Since 2015, the volunteers and district attorney for Deschutes County have been working hard to get a conviction in this case – 16CR26720 and 16CR26166 – and in January 2019 we experienced victory.
Animal Neglect in the Second Degree is a misdemeanor in Oregon, but the judge assigned jail time to both convicted parties. As conditions of their 5-year probation, the longest period allowed by law for this, they are not to possess dogs, wolf-dogs, or other domestic animals. They are not to engage in any ‘rescue’ activities where they possess, care for, manage, or are responsible for the care of dogs or wolf-dogs.
Next time you give a rescue the benefit of the doubt on their unwillingness to be transparent, let you visit their home, or show records for animals in their care – remember Moxie.
Remember she suffered for two years because the volunteers thought the rescue director and her son were good people who were just ‘overwhelmed.’ They believed the lies of ‘no signal to send a picture from here’ or ‘we can meet you at Starbucks instead of the house.’ In the two months prior to Moxie leaving the property, the rescue had been awarded a $1,000 grant to enable them to care for the medical dogs in their care and were sent almost $400 worth in premium dog food.
Do you think Moxie saw any of this assistance if she looked like this?
LEAVING SONGDOG RESCUE
Moxie weighed a mere 65lbs when she was taken to the vet. She had untreated demodex, a bacterial infection and a yeast infection on her body. Both ears had infections. She had broken teeth, a large tumor on her chest and lymph edema on her feet to where they were open an oozing. Her tail had been broken at some point but never treated. Fleas and several types of worms were present.
And unspayed. Two years after being received into rescue.
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RECOVERY
Recovery was slow and took many visits to the vet. While Moxie's body had been broken, she was living up to her name and had a wonderful personality. She played nicely with other dogs, was non-reactive with cats, and enjoyed walking on leash and riding in the car. She was non-destructive in her new mom's house and could wait politely in the car without chewing up the seat belts.
In other words, Moxie was a highly adoptable dog that the rescue chose not to provide treatment for until her medical conditions deteriorated so significantly she became 'unadoptable.'
MOXIE NOW
Moxie has regrown her coat and lives with her foster mother where she alternates between playing in the yard with her rescue siblings, going on walks and sleeping on the couch.
At healthy weight is is between 95-100 lbs.
Her coat is thick and glossy on a regular kibble diet and her ear leathers are solid and upright now.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Moxie is safe, but there are thousands of other dogs in shelters across the country who are not. Retail Rescue and Scamtuary establishments are a growing problem in the United States, an unfortunate side effect of an otherwise positive movement to find homes for unwanted pets.
A 501 charity designation is not a guarantee of a good rescue.
Songdog often advertised its 501 status to gain access to adoption events, grant opportunities and to solicit donations. That money did not get to the dogs.
When you adopt a dog, ask yourself - Is the dog in good health and weight? Did you receive medical records upon adoption? Were you screened in any way for the adoption? Could you visit where the dog was kept prior to adoption? What happened if you could not keep the dog - did the rescue take the dog back or expect you to place it?
Rescues are popping up everywhere, especially in the Pacific Northwest, and often brag about their 'no-kill' status or the fact that they aren't a shelter.
There are fates worse than death at a shelter - such as slowly starving to death in a crate with broken teeth aching and your skin peppered in open sores as it sloughs off of you.
If you see something - say something.
We fought for two years to get a conviction so dogs like Moxie could be safe from people like Jony and TJ
Keep fighting.
