Rocky gets second chance

By RUSS AKINS
Abbotsford News

Meet Rocky the Rottweiller - so named because his start in life has been anything but smooth.
Bravely stumping along on a splint on one of his hind legs, Rocky has stolen the hearts of the staff at the City of Abbotsford animal shelter. Almost reluctant to give the little survivor up, they're seeking a home for him.
His story began on the Saturday of the long weekend, when a motorist saw a little ball of fur rolling over and over along the side of a busy Abbotsford road.
The man brought Rocky, a Lab-Rottweiller cross, to the Glenn Mountain Animal Hospital on McMillan Road, where he was treated for a broken leg.
According to shelter manager Brian Nelson, the six-week-old puppy's injury is consistent with being tossed from either a vehicle or a structure. "If he was hit by a car, it would have been more than a broken leg,'' he told the Abbotsford News during a Tuesday tour of the Aldergrove shelter.
Located on 13th Avenue, just south of King (16th), the shelter is home to Abbotsford dogs, cats - and Lucky the chicken, who has become a permanent mascot.
Lucky is most likely a spent laying hen. Unclaimed livestock can be put up for auction, but Lucky's battered plumage speaks of a rough and transient past, with perhaps a few close calls, and Nelson doesn't have the heart to part with her.
A trio of roving Abbotsford pygmy goats recently found the livestock auction their route out of the shelter, after the person believed to be their owner refused to claim them, another of one of the odder calls animal control staff have had to deal with.
The City of Abbotsford's three-year contract with the SPCA expired March 31, and now the Aldergrove-based company is tasked with animal control services for the city.
In July, councillors approved a recommendation from Keith Fletcher, purchasing manager, for a five-year contract with Mainland Municipal Animal Control Services of Aldergrove.
Nelson has 27 years experience in animal control, and is a former director of field services for the Lower Mainland BCSPCA, an organization he said he left on good terms.
He's also confident the contract will save Abbotsford taxpayers a million dollars over its five-year span.
The contract is for the amount of $17,500 per month for the first 12-month period with a two per cent increase each year for the remaining four years of the contract, expiring in 2008.
Prior to the expiry of the city's contract with the SPCA, council was told, the SPCA announced a "restructuring'' of operations and regionalization of animal shelters.
Euthanasia is the last resort for any animal housed at the shelter, stressed Nelson. Thus far no animal has been put down.
Dogs are housed in a series of roofed kennels, while cats stay at a safe distance from their canine cousins in a cat cottage.
Stephanie Frew is one of the full-time staff at the shelter, and Rocky is among her favourites.
"We thought the owner would come forward, he's such a beautiful pet,'' she told the Abbotsford News. "He'll need a lot of TLC - at the very least he'll need the cast removed.
"He's very friendly - he's very sweet,'' said Frew, who began her job as an animal control officer as a shelter volunteer. "He's such a trooper. Since we got him his tail has not stopped wagging.''
Cute and sociable as Rocky may be, vicious dogs are a special focus of attention for Nelson, who has little patience with owners of breeds that end up attacking people.
"A guy might say, the kid only got a scratch, but with dog attacks, kids will bolt - and if it's out into traffic, you could have a dead child.''
He was the first animal control officer in Canada to succeed in getting a jail sentence for the Surrey owner of a dog that attacked a human.
Under the city's animal control bylaw, an animal control officer can enter a property and seize a dog believed to be vicious. Charges can also be laid against the owner.
Adoption fees are $130 for dogs and $90 for cats. That includes a vet check-up, spay or neuter, booster shots and implantation of microchip identification. If an animal goes stray and is picked up, a scanner can match the ID number with the rightful owner.
While Rocky's past has lived up to his name, his future looks good. "The vet says he'll make a full recovery,'' says Frew.
For information on how to adopt an animal or to volunteer (children must be under adult supervision) at the shelter you may call 604-856-7505.

http://www.abbynews.com/ sept 11/03